Chapter 14 The Pregnant Rabbit Seeks Help and Discovers Xu Hua's Ring
"If it's necessary for the case, he can stay here if he wants." Gu Yiliu nodded casually, picked up a slice of watermelon, and took a bite.
The next second, Han Yi unexpectedly said, "So, I'm going to stay at the outpost for a few days."
Gu Yiliu froze for a moment, then bit his tongue, coughing.
Gu Yiliu swallowed the watermelon in his mouth with a pained expression, then glared at someone with dissatisfaction, "Can you stop talking so dramatically!"
Han Yi handed her a handkerchief, which Gu Yiliu took and used to wipe her mouth.
"Did you tell Uncle Ma?"
Han Yi shook his head. "Not yet, but I've already submitted an application to your superiors." As he spoke, he took out a pass and gave it to her.
Gu Yiliu glanced at it; it read, "Due to... needs, please provide assistance," and was stamped with the red seal of the Forestry Public Security Bureau.
"..."
“There’s still an empty room at the outpost, but it hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. You might need to clean it yourself, Comrade Han.” Ma Quan, who had come back with Min Songyue, had been sitting to the side until Han Yi produced his pass before speaking.
"That's no problem. It's me who's causing trouble for the outpost."
Han Yi smiled and agreed.
"Are you going to stay at the outpost today?" Ma Quan asked again.
Han Yi nodded. Qingshi Village is far from the town, and it's inconvenient to travel back and forth between the village during the day and the town at night. That's why he had to stay in Qingshi Village, and even the police officers from the town's police station lived there.
In the village, most of the government offices with available rooms had people living there. The outpost was another option; he chose it from among the many people.
Living in the countryside on someone else's land is inconvenient, but compared to other police officers, he was only more willing to do so because Gu Yiliu was there.
Han Yi handed the pass to Ma Quan, chatted with him for a while, and then left the outpost. He was going down the mountain to get his luggage. He had been holding watermelons in both hands and hadn't had any free hands, so he had left his luggage down the mountain.
His luggage consisted of a uniform and some rations. He handed the rations and a dollar to Ma Quan, saying, "I'll need Uncle Ma to cook three meals a day for me in the next few days. I don't want Uncle Ma to work for nothing. If I'm short, just let me know."
Han Yi has settled down at the outpost.
They rarely stayed at the outpost during the day, only returning at night under the cover of darkness. This continued for two days in a row.
That day, Han Yi didn't return until dark, his uniform soaked through from the rain that had fallen during the day.
Ma Quan: "No progress yet?"
Han Yi shook his head, wrung out the water from his hair, and went back to his room to change his wet clothes. When he came out, he first asked Ma Quan, "Uncle Ma, do I have any food left?"
"Don't worry about that, Uncle Ma won't tell you. Sit down and eat."
Han Yi nodded, and as he sat down, he answered Ma Quan's question, "There are suspects, but no witnesses or physical evidence to prove it."
"Whom do you suspect?" Gu Yiliu asked.
"Xu Hua's sister said that Xu Hua's eyes were red when she came back. When asked, she said that she had quarreled with her brother-in-law. Later, when asked, people in Xu Hua's husband's village said that they had indeed quarreled, but also said that Xu Hua and her husband Li Dexia had a very good relationship and rarely quarreled. The family was very happy together."
"But I still suspect that the murderer is Li Dexia. He was too calm when he first saw Xu Hua's remains, and I observed that he wasn't wearing his wedding ring, but he repeatedly rubbed the spot on his ring finger where the ring was. Usually, only people who are not used to it would repeatedly touch the same spot. He must have always worn the ring and felt uncomfortable taking it off."
Even her mother-in-law, Wang, remained remarkably calm. Neither of them cried when they first met Xu Hua, but they did so the second time when they were crying alongside Xu Hua's family. Their mental fortitude was truly impressive.
Therefore, I believe Wang is someone in the know. However, no matter how much we try to persuade her, she denies it and even accuses us of slander. Yet, her composure during interrogation precisely demonstrates that she is not simple. According to the villagers, the Li family are all good people, honest, and law-abiding. Would such people be afraid of the police?
Min Songyue: "I don't know if she's afraid or not, but how could she possibly testify against her own son? It's impossible."
Han Yi nodded, "That makes sense."
After dinner, the four of them sat in the yard chatting and eating watermelon.
Han Yi brought two watermelons, and there was still one left uneaten. It would spoil easily if left too long, so he cut it up and put it on the table.
However, since everyone had just finished eating, no one really wanted to eat anymore, except for Min Songyue, who said, "This watermelon is quite sweet. Where did you buy it? I'll buy a few next time."
“In Hemu Village, the normal price is 9 cents per jin (0.5 catties). A watermelon weighs 10 jin. You can do the math yourself. These two bosses of mine are practically giving me a 50% discount, like they're selling it for free,” Han Yi said.
"It's a bit pricey, but it's worth buying once in a while." Min Songyue wasn't deterred by the price.
"Gu Yiliu, aren't you going to eat? Han Yi bought this especially for you. If you don't eat, everyone else will feel embarrassed to eat it."
Gu Yiliu glanced at him and rolled his eyes. "I didn't see you being embarrassed either."
Min Songyue chuckled twice, then took the watermelon rind to the chicken coop in the backyard to feed the chickens and ducks.
He hadn't been gone long when his exaggerated voice rang out again in the empty night, "Gu Yiliu, come and see!"
"What's wrong?" Gu Yiliu stood up helplessly. "Can't you be a little more composed?"
"These chickens have hatched so many chicks!"
Gu Yiliu walked to the backyard and had just stopped when he heard...
"Chirp! Chirp!" Officer Gu, there are eight chicks! Our Yellow-bellied Horned Chicken population has expanded again! Yay!
"..."
"Help!"
Gu Yiliu paused, wondering if he had misheard, and looked around at the pitch-black night.
"Help!"
"Help! Officer Gu, I'm about to give birth!"
Dian Dian's voice rang out at just the right moment, "Host, a pregnant rabbit is asking for help."
Just as Dian Dian finished speaking, the rabbit's voice rang out again, "Officer Gu, my house was washed away by the rain, and I'm looking for a place to stay. Please help!"
Gu Yiliu asked Diandian, "Where is it?"
Dian Dian: "It's outside the yard wall. There are two female rabbits, one of whom is pregnant. The rabbit is asking for help from the pregnant one."
Gu Yiliu responded with an "oh" and accepted the call.
Then he turned and walked out.
"Where are you going?" Han Yi, who had been watching her, noticed that she had snapped out of her daze and was walking straight out, so he quickly chased after her and asked.
"Go out for a bit," Gu Yiliu said softly, without stopping him from following him.
Han Yi followed her all the way to the backyard wall. When he saw the two rabbits, he paused for a moment and looked at Gu Yiliu.
“Come with me,” Gu Yiliu said.
"Officer Gu," the two rabbits hopped over and stood in front of Gu Yiliu.
Then, he carefully spat something out of his mouth onto the ground. "This is a thank-you gift for Officer Gu. Thank you."
Helping others always comes with a reward. Officer Gu certainly wouldn't accept the grass it ate, so it took out this ring.
Gu Yiliu looked down at the ground in confusion. The light was dim, so Han Yi shone his flashlight on the ground. Looking into the light, they discovered it was a silver ring. Judging by the size, it was a human-made one.
"Where did you get this ring? Did you dig it up from a grave?" Gu Yiliu frowned, worried that the rabbit really did come from some grave.
“It wasn’t dug out of a grave. I saw that it was originally on a woman’s wrist, and then it fell into my vagina. I didn’t see them come to get it, so it’s been left in my vagina ever since. Today it rained and my vagina completely collapsed. I’m about to give birth, so I had no choice but to contact Officer Gu.”
"A woman?" As she looked at the two rabbits, something flashed through Gu Yiliu's mind.
"What's wrong? What woman?" Han Yi asked quickly when he saw that her expression was off.
Upon his question, Gu Yiliu suddenly realized something. Her expression changed, her heart pounded, and she subconsciously looked at Han Yi. But she knew that Rabbit was about to give birth, so she told Rabbit to wear the ring and come with her.
Not long after they entered the outpost, the mother rabbit gave birth. She gave birth very quickly, delivering three baby rabbits in just 10 minutes.
Gu Yiliu watched the birth and was amazed. He then prepared some food for the mother rabbit to help her regain her strength.
After finishing his work, Gu Yiliu took the ring and handed it to Han Yi, who was also watching from the side.
"This should be the ring you're looking for, Xu Hua's ring."
Han Yi's expression changed. "Are you sure?"
Gu Yiliu nodded. "If you don't believe me, you can ask this rabbit. It didn't say much detail just now, but I think it's pretty much right. This rabbit should have seen the person who killed Xu Hua."
Han Yi gripped the ring tightly. "Okay."
He reached out his hand to Gu Yiliu, and Gu Yiliu placed his hand in his palm.
Han Yi squatted down in front of the rabbit, which had eaten its fill and replenished its energy, and asked, "Rabbit, can you communicate with me now?"
The rabbit looked up at Han Yi, then glanced at Gu Yiliu, and asked her who this was.
“You can call him Officer Han. The ring you gave me might belong to someone he killed. He’s looking for the killer right now. Tell him what you know, and when he’s done with his job, you can ask him to help you and your sister find a safe and comfortable place to retire.”
The rabbit's eyes lit up as it looked at Han Yi, very eagerly, "Officer Han, you can call me Kuai Kuai because I run very fast. You can ask me anything you want to know, and I can answer you now."
"Thank you so much, Kuai Kuai! When did you find the ring?"
"About 10 days ago, well, that was a while ago," he said quickly.
Ten days ago was the correct time; Xu Hua had been dead for twelve days now. Han Yi asked it, "You saw the ring on a woman's hand, right?" It nodded quickly. "Was there anyone with the woman? What was she doing at the time?"
The rabbit thought quickly and carefully, "Yes, there was a woman. They were arguing. I saw them that day and hid, but not long after, I heard a scream, and then the ring fell into my hole."
A woman? Gu Yiliu and Han Yi exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. Was there another murderer? Or more than one?
"Thank you, please wait a moment." Han Yi went back to his room and came out with a notebook and a pen.
He placed the notebook on his lap, held Gu Yiliu's hand in one hand, and quickly finished two sketches with the other. Then he asked Rabbit Kuaikuai, "Kuaikuai, have you seen this woman before?"
The rabbit quickly looked at the person on the paper and nodded, "I've met them before."
Han Yi nodded, quickly greeted Xu Hua, and then showed it another piece of paper, this one with Wang Shi's name on it. "What about this one?"
The rabbit nodded quickly again, "I've seen it before."
Han Yi was certain that things would be easier once he had seen the person.
He then asked, "Are they arguing?"
Nod quickly.
"Besides those two, have you met anyone else?"
Shake your head quickly.
Han Yi was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this. He had always felt that Li Dexia was a suspect, but now it seemed that only Xu Hua's mother-in-law, Wang Shi, was a suspect.
"Quickly, can you take me to your cave tomorrow?" Han Yi asked. This should be the primary crime scene where Xu Hua was killed.
Nod quickly.
"I've seen it!"
These three words struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Han Yi suddenly looked to the side and saw the rabbit that had come with Rabbit Kuai Kuai.
Han Yi clenched his fist tighter. "You saw other people 10 days ago? Men or women?"
"My name is Slow!" the rabbit said, raising its head. "Because I eat slowly!"
Han Yi nodded. "Hello Manman, would you be willing to answer my question?"
"I'll answer since you'll give me food."
Han Yi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Manman expectantly.
"I've seen a man," she said slowly.
"He was digging a hole, and then I was afraid he would find me. You know, if a rabbit is caught by humans, it will be eaten, so I ran away."
Han Yi quickly sketched a portrait of Li Dexia. "Is the man you saw him?"
He nodded slowly. "There was also a towel draped around his neck, white and red."
A note from the author:
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Here it comes!
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