Chapter 7: Strange Woman
The faded "Fa" sign swayed in the cold wind, making a creaking sound, as if it would be blown down at any time. Yu Hao pushed open the door, and a turbid smell of cigarettes mixed with the bitter smell of cheap tea hit him in the face, making him frown slightly. Under the dim light, the smoke was lingering, and the figures were hazy. "Ouch! Captain Yu." A hoarse voice came from the smoke, with a deliberately flattering tone. Yu Hao squinted his eyes and saw Liu Bing standing up from the card table. He was biting a tea stick in his mouth, and dark brown tea stains seeped out between his yellow-brown teeth. His beer belly knocked the mahjong table against the mahjong table, and several mahjong tiles fell to the ground with a "clatter". Yu Hao nodded at him. Liu Bing was an old bachelor in the village. His grocery store was opposite the chess and card room. When there was no business, he would come here to play tea and cards. The house was full of familiar faces. Uncle Zhang, Zhang Li and his daughter, Xiao Fang with big curly hair, and a few idle old people in the village. They were either intently focused on the card game or numbly puffing away, their faces blurred in the smoke. Yu Hao approached the card table. Uncle Zhang pulled out a badly painted wooden stool from under the table and handed it to him. "Captain Yu, would you like to win a hand?" Zhang Li immediately stood up to offer her her seat, but Yu Hao stopped her, shook his head, and took the chair, sitting down beside her. "You guys continue. I'm just here to get some information." Liu Bing leaned over, his belly trembling through his cotton coat. "Is this about Wang Shun?" He patted his chest. "Ask!" "I want to hear everyone's opinion on Wang Shun." Yu Hao's gaze swept across the faces, finally landing on Uncle Zhang. Here, his knowledge of village affairs was the most authoritative. Uncle Zhang slammed a card with such force that the entire table shook. He glanced sideways at his daughter, his voice low but piercing with hatred: "Wang Shun, that's a beast." "Dad!" Zhang Li looked up suddenly, her voice trembling slightly. "He's dead..." "He deserved it!" Uncle Zhang slammed his fist down on the table. "I wouldn't be angry even if I didn't talk about him! This beast tricked my daughter into being a mistress, and usually..." Before Uncle Zhang could finish his words, Yu Hao caught sight of Zhang Li kicking her father under the table. The kick wasn't too strong, but it carried a kind of veiled warning. Uncle Zhang's scolding stopped abruptly. He glanced at his daughter, muttered a few words, and returned to playing mahjong, only to find the cards in his hand making a creaking sound. Yu Hao had heard about Zhang Li and Wang Shun's affair before. Two years ago, when Wang Shun first arrived in Nan'an Village, he used some kind of trick...
The faded "Fa" sign swayed in the cold wind, making a creaking sound, as if it would be blown down at any time.
Yu Hao pushed open the door, and a turbid smell of cigarette smoke mixed with the bitter aroma of cheap tea hit him in the face, making him frown slightly. Under the dim light, smoke lingered, and figures were vague.
"Ouch! Captain Yu." A hoarse voice came from the smoke, with a deliberately flattering tone.
Yu Hao narrowed his eyes and saw Liu Bing standing up from the card table. He was chewing on a tea stick, dark brown tea stains seeping out between his yellowish-brown teeth. His beer belly knocked the mahjong table against him, and several mahjong tiles clattered to the ground.
Yu Hao nodded at him. Liu Bing was an old bachelor in the village. His grocery store was across from the chess and card room, so when there was no business, he would go there to play tea and cards.
The room was filled with familiar faces: Uncle Zhang, Zhang Li and her daughter, Xiao Fang with her long, permed hair, and a few elderly villagers wandering about. Some were absorbed in their card games, while others were puffing away numbly, their faces blurred in the smoke.
Yu Hao approached the card table. Uncle Zhang pulled out a badly painted wooden stool from under the table and handed it to him. "Captain Yu, do you want to win a hand?"
Zhang Li immediately stood up and offered her seat, but Yu Hao stopped her with his hand, shook his head, took the chair and sat down next to her: "You guys continue, I just came here to understand the situation."
Liu Bing came closer, his belly fat trembling through his cotton coat. "Is it about Wang Shun?" He patted his chest. "Just ask!"
"I want to hear everyone's opinion on Wang Shun." Yu Hao's gaze swept across everyone's faces, finally landing on Uncle Zhang. He was the most authoritative person here regarding village affairs.
Uncle Zhang threw a card with such force that the whole table shook.
He glanced at his daughter sideways, and said in a low voice, but the hatred that filled his voice could not be concealed: "Wang Shun, he is a beast."
"Dad!" Zhang Li raised her head suddenly, her voice trembling slightly, "Everyone is dead..."
"He deserves to die!" Uncle Zhang slammed his fist on the table. "I wouldn't be angry if I didn't talk about him! This bastard tricked my daughter into being his mistress, and usually..."
Before Uncle Zhang could finish his words, Yu Hao caught a glimpse of Zhang Li kicking his father under the table. The kick was neither too strong nor too weak, but it carried a kind of hidden warning.
Uncle Zhang's scolding stopped abruptly. He glanced at his daughter, lowered his head and muttered a few words, then continued playing mahjong, but the cards in his hand made a "crunching" sound when he squeezed them.
Yu Hao had actually heard about the matter between Zhang Li and Wang Shun a long time ago.
Two years ago, when Wang Shun first came to Nan'an Village, he used some sweet words to make the introverted and young Zhang Li fall completely in love with him.
Uncle Zhang couldn't persuade his daughter and finally agreed to the marriage. But when preparing for the wedding, Zhang Li accidentally discovered that Wang Shun already had a wife in his hometown.
Uncle Zhang was so angry that he gathered several neighbors on the spot and beat Wang Shun up.
Since then, Zhang Li seemed to have become a different person, becoming taciturn and rarely going out.
Until a year ago, she suddenly married a man, an honest man who worked as a lobby manager in a KTV.
Yu Hao attended her wedding and remembered that the man was also shy and introverted, and he always didn't dare to look people in the eye when speaking.
Uncle Zhang was very satisfied with his son-in-law, saying that he was "grateful and filial." As for his name, Yu Hao couldn't remember it for the moment.
He looked at Zhang Li. Although she was already married, her eyes and eyebrows still had the delicate beauty of a girl. She was just thinner than before, and her face was so pale that it was almost transparent.
At this moment, she was sitting next to her father, with her head down, her fingers unconsciously stroking the mahjong tiles, as if trying to hide her inner anxiety.
Xiao Fang suddenly chuckled, leaned back in her chair, took a deep puff of cigarette, and the smoke slowly came out of her nose, forming a blurry gray shadow under the light.
She brushed her long wavy hair, and a hint of sneer appeared on her red lips: "That bastard touched my butt in my barber shop last time..."
"Can you tell me something useful?" Liu Bing glanced at her, his eyes wandering unscrupulously over her breasts and buttocks. "Captain Yu is asking about the case. What's so great about showing off a buttocks?"
"Fuck!" Xiao Fang sat up straight, her high heels clicking on the ground. "You old bachelor, if you look at my butt again, I'll dig your eyes out!"
The onlookers laughed.
Liu Bing slapped a card with a playful smile: "You can't dig out the eyeballs, do you want to dig out other parts?"
"Can you please stop being so disgusting?" Xiao Fang's face darkened, and she raised her leg and kicked Liu Bing hard on the thigh with the tip of her high heels.
"Ouch!" Liu Bing grimaced in pain, covering his thigh and gasping for breath.
Uncle Zhang's eyes flashed with disgust, and he scolded, "Fatty Liu, stop making dirty jokes. My daughter and Captain Yu are here!"
Liu Bing rubbed his thigh and muttered angrily: "Tomboy, I really don't know what's so good about you. I wouldn't touch you even if you put it in front of me."
Xiao Fang snorted coldly, and made a scissors gesture with her slender fingers: "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll make you a eunuch!"
Liu Bing shrank his neck and dared not say another word.
"A wild boar can't eat fine bran, get out of here!" Xiao Fang glared at him and bent down to touch the cards. "Seven tubes! Haha, I win! Hurry up, give me the money!" She laughed, her laughter was sharp and piercing.
Yu Hao watched the two men bickering back and forth, not getting the information he wanted, so he asked, "Do you know who in the village has a major conflict with him?"
Liu Bing reluctantly tossed the crumpled change in front of Xiao Fang, then turned to Yu Hao and said, "He owes me 372 yuan! I wonder if that's a big deal?" He counted on his stubby fingers, "Beer, cigarettes, instant noodles...who can I ask for money now?"
At this point, he suddenly leaned in close, and the smell of alcohol mixed with bad breath sprayed on Yu Hao's face: "I saw a woman wearing a down jacket the other day. Is she his wife?"
"What?" Yu Hao leaned back slightly to avoid the disgusting smell.
"If it's her wife, I will definitely ask her for money next time I see her! It's only natural for the wife to pay off the husband's debts!" Liu Bing said righteously.
Yu Hao didn't respond, but instead asked, "Did Wang Shun buy you some wine yesterday afternoon?"
"That's right!" Liu Bing slapped his thigh. "Around 5:30, on credit!"
"Five thirty-five." Uncle Zhang suddenly interrupted.
Yu Hao thought to himself, remember it so clearly?
Uncle Zhang tapped his knuckles on the table and said in a low voice, "I saw that bastard go buy some wine and I happened to check my watch."
He noticed the look Yu Hao was giving him, and Uncle Zhang frowned slightly, but still explained, "I had to pick up my daughter and son-in-law at 5:40, so I checked my watch." After that, he looked at his daughter.
Zhang Li's hand, which was picking up cards, suddenly trembled, and a "30,000" card slipped from her fingers and fell on the table with a "pop".
"I didn't expect that would be the last time I saw this beast..." Uncle Zhang sneered, "It's a good death."
Liu Bing suddenly slapped his forehead. "Damn! The 372 yuan I mentioned earlier doesn't even include the cost of the drinks! That should be 392 yuan!" He grew angrier and angrier, gritting his teeth and cursing, "Almost 400 yuan, this bastard!"
"Did he tell me why he bought the wine? Is there anyone to entertain?" Yu Hao looked at Liu Bing with a cold and deep gaze, revealing an indescribable seriousness.
"What else can this bastard do? Drink!" Liu Bing rubbed the mahjong tiles vigorously, as if they were Wang Shun's face. "But..." He paused and looked up at Yu Hao. "Now that you ask this, I seem to remember something he said."
"What?" Yu Hao leaned forward.
Liu Bing winked and imitated Wang Shun's tone: "'I'm going to entertain a beautiful lady tonight', bah! You're still thinking about picking up girls when you're about to die!"
Sure enough, there was a woman.
Yu Hao sat up straight again and continued to ask, "What else did he say?"
Liu Bing shook his head, a look of disdain on his face: "You believe his nonsense? What woman could be interested in this guy?"
At this point, Liu Bing seemed to realize that he had spoken out of turn. He secretly glanced at Zhang Li, and seeing that she had no reaction, he continued to draw cards and said no more.
Uncle Zhang took a sip of tea from his thermos cup and said slowly, "Captain Yu, speaking of Wang Shun... If you want to find out from us who he's in conflict with, let me tell you this—"
He looked around and sneered, "Pick up any random person on the street and you'll likely have a conflict with him. On the other hand, the number of people who don't have a conflict with him is extremely small."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Liu Bing quickly agreed, "That's what I mean!" After saying that, he unconsciously glanced at Xiao Fang, wanting to see if she was still angry with him.
Xiao Fang still had a smug smile on her face, as if she was still immersed in the joy of winning the cards just now, and she didn't care at all that Liu Bing took advantage of her.
Yu Hao nodded. This trip wasn't in vain, as he could confirm that a woman had indeed been to Wang Shun's residence on the day of the crime.
It seemed that he couldn't get much information out of Wang Shun, so Yu Hao suddenly changed the subject, "When did Sun Yong come yesterday?"
At this point, the four people playing cards stopped at the same time, and the onlookers all looked at him, and even Zhang Li raised her head slightly.
"What? Do you suspect him?" Liu Bing asked what everyone present wanted to ask, but there was a hint of gloating in his tone.
Yu Hao waved his hand: "That's not what I meant. I was just verifying some information."
Everyone looked away, a little bored.
Xiao Fang twirled the lighter in her hand. "We started around seven yesterday. He must have arrived half an hour earlier." She blew out a smoke ring. "Sun Yong rarely plays cards with us. He's usually either setting up his stall or on his way to set up his stall."
Uncle Zhang nodded in agreement.
"Did he tell me why he didn't set up the stall?" Yu Hao asked.
"Who knows?" Xiao Fang relit a cigarette and turned to Yu Hao, "Want one?"
Yu Hao shook his head. Liu Bing reached out and took a cigarette.
"Do you have any shame?" Xiao Fang said with disgust.
Liu Bing put the cigarette in his mouth and leaned forward with a playful smile: "Can you light it?"
"roll!"
Liu Bing didn't get angry. He took out his lighter, lit it, and took a deep puff. "It's better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone!"
"Did he ever leave during the process?" Yu Hao asked.
Xiao Fang narrowed her eyes and recalled, "He seemed to disappear for more than ten minutes... He said he was going to the bathroom."
Yu Hao's fingertips paused.
It only takes five minutes to get from the chess and card room to Wang Shun’s house if you run fast.
"When he plays cards with you guys, does he usually leave in the middle of it?"
"What's so strange about this?" Liu Bing pinched the cigarette between two fingers, squinting his eyes and enjoying the pleasure of puffing out smoke. "Everyone doesn't need to take a shit!"
He pointed at Xiao Fang: "She's been there too." Then he pointed at Uncle Zhang: "He's been there too."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Fang stood up suddenly, and her high heels clicked on Liu Bing's stool.
Liu Bing leaned back in fear. "What are you doing?" He looked at Yu Hao and defended himself, "I was saying that according to Captain Yu's logic, all of us here are suspects!"
Xiao Fang snorted coldly and sat back heavily in the chair.
Uncle Zhang took over the conversation. "Sun Yong, that kid, usually leaves early and comes back late. It's not easy." He sighed, "I heard he works very hard just to buy an apartment in the city for his son."
Yu Hao thought of Sun Yong's son, the quiet boy. Perhaps the villagers didn't know about the child's special situation.
"His wife seemed to be here before, why haven't I seen her for a long time?"
Uncle Zhang shook his head and sighed. "Well, you're usually busy, so you don't know much about the village. Although the three of them aren't from our village, they've been here for seven or eight years. It should be two or three years ago that his wife died of a sudden illness." He looked at Xiao Fang. "You're familiar with Sun Yong's wife, right?"
Xiao Fang flicked the ash off her cigarette. "Yes, she's been gone for three years. That woman was quite capable and a nice person."
Dead? Yu Hao had seen that woman a few times before. She was in her early forties, but from years of hard work, she looked like she was in her fifties. Her back was slightly hunched, and her face was covered in wrinkles.
He suddenly remembered the boy named Sun Lei, and his heart inexplicably tightened.
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