Who died?!
The next day, you arrived at the police station.
As soon as I arrived, a handsome young police officer came up to me and asked me questions.
“We came here last month to file a case, and then we received a message from you saying that things had progressed, so you asked us to come here.”
"Oh, okay, please follow me, both of you."
You nodded and followed the young police officer into a room. There was a table in the center of the room and several chairs on both sides.
"Please sit for a moment, I'll go report to them." The young police officer said before leaving, considerately closing the door behind him.
You sit in your seat, looking around, and think, "This is the first time I've come to the police station this way; it feels quite surreal."
Chen Peiyuan's eyes crinkled with laughter. "Hehe, this is also my first time here as the fiancé accompanying his fiancée. It feels quite surreal." He sat down next to you, looking relaxed.
You glanced at him upon hearing this, and said, "Oh, then I'm really sorry to have troubled you to come with me."
Chen Peiyuan suppressed a laugh, keeping a serious expression, "I'm not wronged, Lanlan, I'm willing."
You hummed twice, neither saying you believed nor disbelieved.
Chen Peiyuan stood to the side, his eyes crinkling with a smile.
"Knock knock".
Someone came in, and you and Chen Peiyuan immediately tensed up and got into position.
The door opened, and a middle-aged man walked in. He had a square face and a serious expression, looking as if he carried an aura of justice. He slowly nodded to you.
He was wearing a police uniform and holding a document in his hand. "Hello, my name is Zhao Kui, and I'm the person in charge of your previous report."
He introduced himself, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite you.
You introduce yourself, "Officer Zhao, hello. I am Chen Yulan, the person who filed a report here a month ago." You then look at Chen Peiyuan, "This is my fiancé, Chen Peiyuan, who came with me today."
Officer Zhao smiled at you, his eyes crinkling with wrinkles, and nodded, indicating that he understood.
Then, a thick, sealed document bag was placed in front of you. "Ms. Chen, this is what we've collected over the past month. Please take a look."
Officer Zhao opened the bag, and the contents were neatly arranged on the table: a pile of photos stacked on thick sheets of paper.
As you pick up that stack of photos, Officer Zhao explains them to you.
The first image is from surveillance footage. In the dark of night, a dark figure enters a residential building.
"This is May 21st, the day you mentioned your employee, Mr. Li, encountered that assailant. Ms. Chen, please look at the next image. We originally wanted to retrieve the surveillance footage from Mr. Li's apartment building, but the security guards informed us that the system was under maintenance and the surveillance was turned off. We then searched for nearby surveillance footage. Because Mr. Li's residence is relatively remote, there are few places with surveillance cameras around. Fortunately, a hotel located 500 meters to the right of Mr. Li had a surveillance camera installed at its entrance, and the camera's range just covered the area Mr. Li passed on his way home from get off work."
You listened and kept nodding, then looked at several more pictures. The next two to five pictures all featured the same person, appearing on the left, right, and top and bottom edges of the image. A profile of a face with slightly visible features was exposed in the surveillance camera, as if magnified dozens of times, with densely packed pixels distributed across the photo.
“Through screening, we found a suspicious person who frequently appeared in the vicinity on the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st. The common point was that he appeared within five minutes after Mr. Li returned to the residential building. We suspected that this person was following Mr. Li. He also appeared on the day Mr. Li was threatened and attacked by thugs, and left 40 minutes later. When he left, his makeup was disheveled, his leg seemed to be limping, and his walking posture was abnormal. Compared with before, it was obvious that his right foot was injured.”
Officer Zhao took out two photos and placed them on the whiteboard, with the dates written below each photo. He held a thin stick in his hand and kept comparing the differences between the two.
Looking at Officer Zhao's serious expression as he meticulously explained the situation, you were momentarily transported back to your high school days, feeling as if your teacher wanted to cram all the knowledge into your mind.
Wait, you remember there wasn't a whiteboard in the room just now!
Officer Zhao tapped the whiteboard again, seemingly somewhat displeased with your daydreaming.
You immediately pull back your inappropriate thoughts and focus, feeling a real sense of embarrassment, like being caught red-handed by the teacher.
"After identifying the suspect, we immediately launched an investigation. We eventually confirmed the suspect's identity. The man's name was Liu Hao, and everyone called him 'Rat.' He was 34 years old, unmarried, and a hoodlum. He usually followed a man called 'Bull Bull,' and his livelihood came from collecting protection money from stalls with 'Bull Bull.' He was responsible for intimidating people and fighting to earn money as a thug. We went to Liu Hao's house, but didn't find him. We asked the nearby residents, and they said they hadn't seen him for half a month."
Officer Zhao then took out another photo and pasted it on the whiteboard. After stepping back, you can see what the person in the photo looks like. It's a headshot. The person has a long, thin face, a flat nose, thick lips, and triangular eyes. The most striking feature is a long scar on the face that runs from the forehead to the brow bone, almost reaching the eyelid. Because of the scar, the thick, dark eyebrows are broken in the middle, forming a broken eyebrow.
What a villainous face! Anyone who looks at him would be intimidated. That's Liu Hao, Officer Zhao said.
Chen Peiyuan took your hand, and you turned to look at him. He looked at you with a worried expression.
Your heart warmed, and you took the initiative to shake his hand, shaking your head to tell him you were alright.
"Then we found Niu Ba. According to Niu Ba, Liu Hao disappeared on the 15th. They were drinking together on the night of the 14th, and Liu Hao told him something."
"Haha, drink, Rat." A rough-looking man grabbed the man with a scar on his face next to him and shoved a wine glass into his mouth.
The scarred man took the wine from his hand and drank it straight from his lips. Niu Ba clapped his hands in approval, which he liked about Haozi – his straightforwardness and decisiveness.
The mouse finished its drink and left it at its feet; the wine shattered on the ground.
Niu Ba also drank a cup, picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a peanut, and said, "Great job, Haozi, I like that about you. Not bad." He popped it into his mouth and smacked his lips.
"Brother Niu, eat as much as you want, it's on me today." After saying that, Haozi took a big bite of the lamb skewer.
Niu Ba glanced at him sideways and said, "You're being so generous today, did you steal some money? You made money and didn't tell your brother, you've got some tricks up your sleeve."
The mouse chuckled and then silently chug down another bottle.
Niu Ba knew something was wrong as soon as he saw him like this, and forced him to tell the truth.
At first, the mouse denied it, saying that he had just picked up some money on the road.
Niu Ba scoffed inwardly. He would never believe Haozi's words; there was definitely something fishy going on.
Niu Ba swayed as he straightened up, one hand on his hip, his right leg bent and placed on the stool. "Rat, we've been inseparable since we were little. The moment you take your pants off, I know what you're going to say. You're definitely hiding something from me. If you don't tell me today, I'll pretend I don't have a brother like you."
Seeing that Niu Ba was serious, Hao Zi quickly urged him to sit down, and then he would talk.
Niu Ba then agreed to sit down.
With his face flushed, the mouse picked up another bottle of wine and drank half of it.
Mouse glanced around. There were only a few pedestrians on the street late at night. The owner of the stall not far away was playing on his phone. After confirming that no one was around, he lowered his voice and spoke.
“A boss contacted me, or rather, one of his subordinates contacted me, asking me to do something.” He said, then held up his hand to indicate a number. “If I complete the task he assigned, he promised to give me this amount.”
"Fifty thousand?" Niu Ba exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Haozi's open palm.
The mouse smiled and shook its head, opening and closing its mouth as it pulled out a bulging black plastic bag from its pocket. Upon opening it, it found the bag full of red bills.
Niu Ba was momentarily confused, rubbed his eyes uncertainly, and listened to Hao Zi repeat it.
"How much?!" Niu Ba couldn't believe it.
"Five hundred thousand!" Niu Ba slammed his fist on the table, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted at the two policemen in front of him. He jumped up excitedly, almost standing up. He still felt like he was dreaming. He had never heard of such a large number before. The amount of money that Haozi had taken out was more than he had ever seen in his life.
"What are you doing! Sit down!" Officer Zhao's colleague immediately pressed him down and made him sit down.
Officer Zhao frowned. "Calm down, Niu Ba. Didn't you even ask which boss asked him to do what and pay him so much money?"
Niu Ba was pressed into the chair, his hands were also handcuffed to both sides of the chair, and he could not move. He stared at Officer Zhao who was speaking in front of him. A blinding halo was shining behind him, which was both dazzling and dizzying.
Didn't he ask Haozi where he got all that money?
Of course he asked!
Niu Ba stared wide-eyed at the money in Haozi's arms. So much money! In all his life, the largest sum he had ever seen was ten thousand, and that was from a rich young master they had robbed on the way.
He couldn't help but fantasize about how he would spend the money if he got it.
The red dazzled his eyes and occupied his heart; he couldn't help but reach out to grab it.
The next second, the red color disappeared, and the mouse was put back in his arms.
"Brother Niu, what are you doing?" Haozi looked at him warily.
Seeing his expression, Niu Ba coughed twice. "Cough, Haozi, you... hey, I'm not that kind of person. Let's drink."
After saying that, he took another sip. "Haha, what is the boss going to do with all this money? It can't be..." Niu Ba made a knife-like gesture and slashed his neck.
Upon hearing this, Haozi stared intently at Niu Ba, making Niu Ba uncomfortable. "Brother, what are you thinking about?" he asked, patting Haozi's shoulder casually.
"Brother Niu, you'd better not ask about this. I'm leaving tomorrow." After saying that, Haozi started drinking again.
Then, he took out his money bag, counted out a dozen or so bills, and handed them to Niu Ba.
"Rat, what are you doing? You're leaving tomorrow? Where are you going? Why so suddenly?" Niu Ba held the money, completely bewildered, not knowing what Rat was up to.
After giving him the money, Haozi turned around, picked up a plastic cup, filled it with wine, and then filled Haozi's cup as well. "Brother, this is the last time I'll call you brother. After I leave tomorrow, you live well on your own. I won't be coming back. Brother, this is my final toast to you." With that, he finished the wine in his hand in one gulp.
"That's it?" you asked in confusion.
Officer Zhao nodded.
Doesn't this say nothing at all? Your eyes turn to the face on the whiteboard again. He's silently nailed to the whiteboard, motionless. Who sent him?
"Yes, he drove away at 5 a.m. on the 15th. The last time he was seen was on the 20th, near Mr. Li's house. But we found Liu Hao later."
Officer Zhao stopped speaking at this point.
This strange pause naturally caught your attention, and you wondered why he wasn't continuing.
A photograph suddenly appears in your field of vision, your eyes widen, then everything goes black as someone covers your eyes. You reflexively grab the hand in front of you, holding it tightly, while he holds your eyes tightly.
Officer Zhao's next words will shock you even more.
"What?!" You almost bit your tongue.
“But we only found Liu Hao’s body,” Officer Zhao said.
Who? Who died?!
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