Chapter 44
Seeing that the woman was about to cry herself to death, Cui Jiafu had no choice but to step forward and try to persuade her.
A group of people blocked the stairwell tightly and made a lot of noise for a while. Cui Tingting came out from inside at some point and walked straight to Lin Jiafan.
"Excuse me, Officer Lin, has my brother's case been solved?"
Lin Jiafan did not respond directly: "There are still some follow-up issues to be dealt with, and it will probably take some time before the case is officially closed."
"I don't mean to rush you. Ever since my brother passed away, my parents have..." Cui Tingting said, turning back to glance at the two people hugging each other and comforting each other. "As his family, we just want him to be buried as soon as possible, so that my parents can rest in peace."
"I understand. We'll be sure to notify you as soon as the case is closed." Lin Jiafan was friendly and looked towards the stairs. He offered sincere advice, "I think your mother's emotions are really out of control. Why don't you let her go back to her room and rest? I can discuss the rest with your father to prevent her from getting upset again."
Cui Tingting naturally had to agree. She turned around, pushed through the crowd, and helped the woman up.
Because she had been crying for too long, Cui Jiafu's wife's legs were still weak and she fell down uncontrollably.
Cui Tingting clenched her teeth and concentrated all her strength on her arms, but the next second she felt her hands become lighter.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Cui Jiafu's wife, Luo Jingyao had spontaneously stepped forward to help. Facing the Cui family's daughter's suspicious gaze, she offered a friendly smile, "Let me help you."
Neither mother nor daughter refused, so the three of them went up to the second floor side by side and turned into the first bedroom on the right.
Before entering the bedroom, Luo Jingyao looked vaguely in the direction of Cui Da's room, only to see that the door was closed, making the light on the entire second floor dim.
"Sister-in-law, be careful and go slowly." She and Cui Tingting worked together to put the person on the bed and gave her instructions.
"Thank you so much for troubling you." Cui Jiafu's wife looked much better now. Although she still sobbed from time to time, she was no longer as hysterical. "I didn't expect to see you today. I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself."
"It's all human nature. Don't worry, sister-in-law." Luo Jingyao consoled him, "I just happened to run into Officer Lin and the others just now, and I followed you here."
The following sentence is an explanation.
Cui Jiafu's wife nodded weakly, then half leaned against the head of the bed and closed her eyes, looking extremely tired.
Instead, Cui Tingting, who was standing next to him, asked curiously, "Aren't you a police officer?"
Luo Jingyao shook her head. "I work at the subdistrict office. I'm just here to help the police. I can't play any substantial role."
She casually raised the banner that Lin Jiafan gave her without blushing or feeling nervous, and she felt very at ease.
And what the man said is very true. People have a natural fear of the police, and they will unconsciously relax a lot when interacting with people of other identities.
Sure enough, after getting the answer, Cui Tingting put away her scrutiny and began to inquire, "So what the police said is true? Did Zhou Hong really confess?"
"That's right. I was also at the scene when the police took Zhou Hong away yesterday." Luo Jingyao had obviously learned 80% of Lin Jiafan's way of doing things, and the main point was that saying it was as good as not saying anything.
Seeing that the other party seemed to want to ask something, she simply opened her mouth preemptively: "We should be about the same age, so I will call you Tingting. Last time I came to see you, it seemed that you were not at home. When did you come back?"
"Well, my mother called me and told me that something happened at home, so I rushed back overnight." Cui Tingting responded.
"You are so strong." Luo Jingyao suddenly said this without any context.
Under the woman's puzzled gaze, she continued, "Be strong. You are the pillar of the family now. There must be someone in the family who can withstand the hardship. We can't all fall down."
As she spoke, she pointed meaningfully at the person on the bed.
Perhaps sensing the deeper meaning in her words, Cui Tingting's fair face froze for a moment, then a hint of sadness appeared on her face. "Yeah, if I act too sad, my parents won't be able to bear it any more."
Luo Jingyao nodded slightly in understanding, sympathy in her eyes: "I heard my sister-in-law say before that you two siblings are not much different in age, so you must have a very good relationship."
"...I'm fine. Cui Da dropped out of school at a young age and started hanging out. I've been studying away from home, so I don't see him often." After these two simple sentences, Cui Tingting seemed to have no desire to continue the conversation. "Let's go downstairs. I'll get you a glass of water."
Faced with such an obvious order to leave, Luo Jingyao couldn't pretend not to understand, so she turned sideways and said goodbye to the person lying on the bed: "Then sister-in-law, you can rest assured. I'll be leaving first."
"Oh, thank you so much." Cui Jiafu's wife heard the noise, forced herself to open her walnut-shaped eyes that were swollen from crying, and stretched out her hand tremblingly.
Taking two steps forward, Luo Jingyao gently held the other person's hand back, and then let go immediately.
At this time, Lin Jiafan had almost finished his talk with Cui Jiafu. He just asked about some things between Zhou Hong and Cui Da. Cui Jiafu didn't know much about the specific situation, and what he said was not much different from what the police had learned in the past.
Seeing her and Cui Tingting coming down the stairs together, the man stood up and said, "Mr. Cui, that's it for today. We will inform you of any new developments later."
Seeing this, Cui Jiafu hurriedly stood up and called his daughter to send everyone out the gate.
After the Cui family's door closed again and the village director waved goodbye, Lin Jiafan turned to look at the people around him: "How is it?"
Luo Jingyao paused for a moment, her words tinged with uncertainty. "Cui Jiafu's wife does seem overly sad, but their daughter...it's hard to say, she doesn't seem sad at all."
"I asked her about her relationship with Cui Da. She didn't say it was good or bad, and she avoided the word."
"But if what Zhou Hong said is true, I have such a jerk brother, and our relationship probably won't be much better."
"Yeah." Lin Jiafan didn't express any opinion after listening to it. Just at this moment, his mobile phone rang. After taking it out and taking a look, he had an expression of "as expected".
After putting away the phone, he curled the corners of his lips at Luo Jingyao: "The fish has taken the bait."
"The spy I planted followed Fatty Wang and found a very interesting place. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Of course.
But what Luo Jingyao didn't expect was that the 'interesting place' the other party was talking about was actually the ancestral hall in Bo'an Village.
When the familiar building with white walls and a black gabled roof appeared before her, she couldn't help but feel strange.
If she remembered correctly, the police had thoroughly searched the ancestral hall and the small kitchen on the day they received the report. She didn't think that with the meticulous work style of the laboratory, there would be any hidden evidence that had not been discovered.
It is not a traditional festival right now, and the incident two days ago has caused panic among the people. Therefore, the inside and outside of the ancestral hall are extremely quiet today, and there is not even a single person around.
As if seeing through the doubts in Luo Jingyao's heart, Lin Jiafan signaled her with his eyes to follow him, and then took the lead and walked to the east side of the ancestral hall.
In the dense woods on the east side of the building, there is a path trampled out by the villagers.
The two people carefully stepped onto the path, and within two minutes they met someone.
After seeing Lin Jiafan's face clearly, the man casually raised his hand and lowered his voice to the lowest point. "Captain Lin, Fatty Wang is just ahead. I've found out that the ancestral hall houses the golden statue of Huo Zao Ye, which was newly built two years ago with funds raised by the villagers. This one on the back mountain is the village's oldest Huo Zao Ye temple. Villagers occasionally come here to burn incense."
"Thank you for your hard work. Call everyone over." Lin Jiafan patted the man on the shoulder, then strode out of the path.
There is an open space in front. Perhaps because not many people come here usually, the ground is overgrown with weeds.
There is a small earthen temple at the very front. The temple is very small, less than one person tall.
Through the open door in front of the small temple, you can vaguely see the clay statue of the Fire God inside. On the ground in front of the small temple, three incense burners are placed side by side, and next to them are some rotting fruits and bones gnawed by wild cats and dogs.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing in that open space was the chubby figure that was constantly wandering in the corner.
"What is Boss Wang doing?"
This sudden question successfully scared the person in the corner. Fatty Wang turned around stiffly, and the fine beads of sweat on his forehead shone in the sunlight.
After recognizing the two of them, a flash of panic flashed across the man's eyes, yet he maintained composure on the surface. "What a coincidence... what a coincidence, Officer Lin. Are you here to burn incense too?"
As soon as he said that, he was met with an empty silence.
"Then you guys go ahead and do your work. I'll go back to look after the store." Fatty Wang said this, lowered his head and tried to walk around the two of them.
Unexpectedly, someone blocked my way.
He raised his head in surprise, and what he saw was Luo Jingyao's face, which was smiling sweeter than honey.
"Did you find what you were looking for, Boss Wang? If not, we can help you. You're welcome."
Who the hell is being polite to you!
Even though he was cursing in his heart, Fatty Wang still had to force a smile on his face. Under the scrutinizing gazes of the two men, the cold sweat on his head became more visible.
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