Fireworks +8
The schedule was disrupted, so Xu Liang had to let Liu Zhu go back first and she went to the police station by herself.
Officer Lu had been waiting for her for a long time. As soon as she entered the door, she was led into the interrogation room.
Officer Lu asked some routine questions.
It’s nothing more than the degree of familiarity between Qi Yu and Zhang Qilin, and the source of the photo.
After Xu Ying explained the truth, she learned that the old man in the photo had died at home on Saturday morning, and the person who called the police was a man who had just returned home from the night shift that morning.
According to him, when he passed by that day, he saw a man wearing a hat rushing out of the old man's house. The man ran very fast and he couldn't see clearly. There were no cameras in the deep alley, so there was no way to verify it.
After investigation, it was found that the elderly man was a lonely widower with simple social relations. He lived in Yikan before it went bankrupt. After the bankruptcy, the elderly man returned to his original residence.
However, according to people around who have seen the old man, his mental state has been getting worse and worse in recent years. He used to be able to recognize people, but now he can't recognize them at all.
As for the warehouse, there were no traces left inside, no fingerprints, no traces of drugs, and even no trace of the ropes and stools photographed in the photos.
It should have been cleaned.
The police also sent manpower to search for Zhang Qilin, but there is no news yet.
We checked at the pharmaceutical company where Zhang Qilin worked and found out that he had suddenly completed the resignation procedures. His belongings were still there at home, but he was nowhere to be found.
Just like what Qi Yu said.
So Zhang Qilin hid because he killed the old man by mistake?
At the end of the question, Xu Kyung added, "Officer Lu, I have another recording here that's also related to Zhang Qilin. This incident involves an accidental car accident a year ago. The person who caused it is currently in prison. Can I ask for a favor?"
Xu Liang took off his smart bracelet again and found the recording.
Officer Lu stared at the paused audio, hesitated for two seconds, and reached out to her.
The recording of only a few sentences ended quickly, and Officer Lu looked a little stern and serious.
"Officer Lu, could you please let Mr. Zhao and his wife meet? Perhaps we can learn more about Zhang Qilin, and… and this matter concerns two elders in my family… I really want to know what is going on…"
Xu Liang lowered his voice, his tone sincere, almost begging.
Finally, Officer Lu asked someone to archive the recording and asked her to go back and wait for news.
It was already late when we came out of the police station.
However, Xu Liang did not rush home, but went to Yikan.
Standing here again, the signboard that flickered with a faint red light in the heavy rain had long been removed, leaving only the bare old wall.
Xu Liang stared at the wall covering for a while, his eyes slowly focused, and he walked straight inside.
She had been here several times, but this time she was filled with doubts.
The old man who passed away was from Yikan, and Grandma Zhang was also from Yikan, and both of them were even related to Zhang Qilin.
Could it be that the so-called person in charge is using this place to "collect" the elderly to achieve his own dirty purposes?
Is this place really as 'clean' as they say in the background checks?
In the dim space, Xu Liang turned on the flashlight. Messy and damp dust mixed in the air. She raised her hands to cover her nose and lips.
After finally finding the light switch, the room finally became bright.
There was still some garbage in the house that had not been swept away, and the off-white floor was so covered in dust that it was almost unrecognizable.
Xu Liang walked around the hall and went to the back room.
She remembered the layout of Yikan: the front was the lobby and staff offices, the back floor was the rooms for the elderly, the second floor was the logistics and administrative departments, and through the back door was the restaurant and back garden.
The layout is fairly simple.
Except for the door, everything inside the room was cleared out.
Still seems to be fine.
The room faces the sun and is very suitable for living.
She checked every room, and it was still the same as when she first did the background check.
She continued walking back and went to the back garden.
No one has taken care of this place for a long time, and the flowers and plants have almost withered. The broken branches and leaves have fallen randomly, and there is no sign of life.
Looking around, whether it's the walls, the swings or the benches, everything looks normal.
Unless there is a secret door or a basement, there is no place to tie up the old man.
While he was lost in thought, there was a sudden muffled sound from the wooden bridge in the garden. Xu Liang's heart tightened, thinking that someone was there.
Turning her head, she breathed a sigh of relief: it was a kitten running by. Perhaps it sensed a living creature, but the cat ran to her feet.
There was a small piece of bread crumbs in her pink mouth.
Xu Liang walked over and tried to comfort the kitten, but the cat was not very approachable and disappeared before she could touch it.
She stood up again.
Standing on the wooden bridge, you can see the whole picture of a small flat outside the wall.
The small flat was said to have been built a year ago, but it has been locked with iron chains and seems to be unused.
From Xu Liang's angle, he could even see the iron chain hanging on the door.
Suddenly distracted, Xu Liang was about to continue his thoughts when his phone rang again.
It was Qi Yu calling: "Are you working overtime today?"
"No, I went to the police station to give my statement, and then came to Yikan to check it out." Xu Liang explained.
The person on the other end of the phone was stunned: "Why did you go there?"
"I'm going back now and will tell you when I get back." Xu Liang glanced at his watch and decided not to stay any longer.
After coming out of Yikan, she brushed off the dust and was about to get into the car when there was a roar beside her.
She subconsciously glanced sideways and saw a black sports car speeding past, and the sound of its engine came from it.
She didn't see the type of car or the people in the car.
I was secretly amazed that I could drive so fast on this kind of road.
The roar of the car disappeared quickly, and Xu Liang didn't pay any more attention to it and prepared to go home.
…
Tonight's dinner is baked crab with bread and cheese, a new dish that Qi Yu learned, saying it was for a change of taste.
Wearing gloves, he peeled the crab meat and put it into her bowl.
Two more pieces of bread were placed in her bowl.
"How does it taste?"
Xu Liang wasn't in the mood to eat right now. She was still thinking about Zhang Qilin. She asked with a slightly dissatisfied tone, "Are you listening to me?"
"Didn't the police tell us to wait for news? Then let's wait for news first. Eating is more important now."
"But……"
She was about to retort, but Qi Yu stuffed the cheese-covered bread directly into Xu Ying's mouth and said righteously, "Mr. Xu, as your new boyfriend, I feel I need to show off a bit in front of you. Is it too much to exchange the fruits of my labor for a meal?"
The salty and sweet taste of the cheese melts on the tip of the tongue, along with the soft and slightly sweet taste of the bread, completely eliminating the disturbing words.
Although Xu Liang was full of doubts, he still compromised at this moment.
She cupped one hand under her lips, trying to catch any broken pieces of bread that might have fallen.
Sure enough, after chewing it twice, a small piece of bread fell into my palm.
She took a piece of paper to wipe her mouth and was about to throw away the crumbs in her hand, but her thoughts suddenly shook, her eyes widened subconsciously, and she stopped chewing.
Qi Yu peeled some fresh crab meat and put it into her bowl. Seeing that she was in a bad mood, he stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xu Liang slowly raised her eyes, her gaze melting into his, her expression growing more solemn. She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and said, "How could there be bread crumbs in a place where no one has been for a long time?"
"What do you mean?" Qi Yu was puzzled.
"I ran into a stray cat in the back garden of Yikang today. It had a piece of bread crumb in its mouth."
But after saying this, Xu Liang relaxed again and thought of another possibility: "But maybe the cat ran in from somewhere else..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Yu took off the gloves stained with cheese sauce and quickly wiped his hands, "What if there really is someone hiding in Yikang?"
The two looked at each other in silence for two seconds, then stood up at the same time, took their coats and went out.
After nearly an hour's drive back to Yikan, it was still the same as when Xu Liang left.
The two turned on the lights and searched every room again.
Xu Liang looked around warily, and when he walked to the back garden, the sky was as dark as ink, completely black.
Such an atmosphere can easily make people feel insecure. Xu Liang didn't know if it was due to the darkness, but a terrifying chill quietly arose in his heart.
The two of them held hands, standing on the wooden bridge, about to move forward.
Suddenly, a shrill cat cry rushed into my eardrums, accompanied by the sound of a falling chain and the sound of a door slamming shut somewhere.
Both of them were stunned, but the next second, Xu Liang suddenly squeezed Qi Yu's hand tightly——
She glanced sideways and saw the small bungalow outside the wall. The light inside was dim and a figure was lying on the ground. The face could not be seen clearly and there was an overturned drink bottle next to him.
Xu Liang saw that the cat ran faster than when she was there, and its sharp screams could still be heard clearly even from a long distance away.
Xu Liang subconsciously wanted to look forward, but the people around him pulled him back: "Wait!"
Qi Yu's face was serious, and his voice was trembling, which was rare. "Don't go over there yet. It's very strange. Call the police immediately."
…
Twenty minutes later, the lights in the small bungalow came on, and the face of the figure lying on the ground was clearly visible.
Xu Liang never expected this result——
Zhang Qilin drank a drink containing cyanide and no longer had any vital signs.
At his feet, there was a suicide note.
The suicide note appeared to be written by Zhang Qilin: I have too many sins, I just want to leave early.
In this bungalow, in addition to Zhang Qilin's body and the food he had not finished eating, there were also several boxes of unopened syringes, large and small glass test tubes and alcohol lamps on the table, as well as some remaining medicines.
Xu Liang and Qi Yu stood outside the cordon, their palms wet with cold sweat.
Zhang Qilin committed suicide?
Did he commit suicide in this small bungalow?
Is this small bungalow his?
Did he die in there when she was there or did he die after she left?
Xu Liang's hand, which was holding Qi Yu's, was trembling slightly, his back teeth were tense, and two small semicircular bumps appeared on the sides of his cheeks. He stared at the small bungalow with the door open.
The cheese still in the throat suddenly gave off an astringent taste, which stimulated stomach acid and filled the esophagus with a feeling of nausea.
Seeing the two legs across the doorway again, she could hardly hold back.
Suddenly, someone pulled my body twice, and everything in front of me was blocked behind me.
Qi Yu stood in front of her, holding her tightly with both hands: "Don't be afraid."
Xu Liang's face was pale. She tried hard to suppress the unbearable pain on the tip of her tongue. The corners of her eyes felt slightly sore. She frowned and nodded.
The two were taken back to the police station and questioned before being released.
Three days later, Xu Ying and Qi Yu learned that the small bungalow was indeed under Zhang Qilin's name. The suspicion of homicide has been ruled out and it has been confirmed that Zhang Qilin committed suicide. The drugs were stolen from the pharmaceutical company where he worked not long ago. This has been confirmed by the company's boss Chen Yixuan through surveillance footage.
After seeing his wife in prison, Zhao Qiang admitted that he met Zhang Qilin by chance a year ago and offered him one million yuan in exchange for driving a truck to hit a car with a license plate number he specified.
Zhang Qilin did not ask him to hit anyone to death, but the two people in the car died because the force of his collision was too great.
The extra 200,000 yuan given to his wife might be Zhang Qilin's "reward" for exceeding his task targets.
Later, Zhao Qiang continued to serve his sentence. His wife could not bear the blow and developed mental problems and was sent to a mental hospital.
Testing revealed that the drugs remaining in the small bungalow had the same composition as the drugs remaining in the body of the elderly widower.
After testing, it was found that this drug can filter cells and remove certain harmful substances in the cells, thereby achieving the purpose of delaying cell aging.
However, the success rate was extremely low. Among the dozens of culture dishes tested, only one successfully removed the harmful substances, but the cells quickly aged and died after maintaining a "super-active" state for a moment.
Police speculate that Xu Kyung's grandparents likely stumbled upon Zhang Qilin's illegal drug experimentation with the elderly man, attempting to create a drug that could slow cell aging. He then murdered the elderly man to silence him. The elderly man died from an inappropriate injection of a drug.
At this point, the deaths of Xu Liang's grandparents in a car accident a year ago and the death of an elderly widower on Saturday both ended with Zhang Qilin's suicide.
As for the case of Lin Cheng's disappearance mentioned by Xu Ying, it is unlikely to be connected to the Zhang Qilin incident, and there is no evidence pointing to it.
Xu Ying and Qi Yu planned to keep this a secret from their parents. After all, they had finally returned to their normal lives, and their parents were about to retire. If they told them, she was worried that they wouldn't be able to bear it.
Only Song Ying knew about it, and Xu Liang had not told Zhou Qingyue yet.
Xu Liang and Qi Yu took two days off and stayed at home.
Xu Liang cried at home for two days, and Qi Yu stayed at home with her for two days.
Qi Yu brought a glass of lemonade into the room, held Xu Liang in his arms, and fed her: "Xiao Liang, don't cry..."
His tone was like warm lemonade flowing down his throat, sweeping away the stickiness brought on by the sobs.
Wiping away the tears from his eyes, Xu Ying whispered, "I just... I just can't bear to see grandpa and grandma leave like this... And I don't understand, did Zhang Qilin sell Yikang to me because he wanted to use Yikang to disgust me?"
The person next to her was silent for a moment, then gently patted her shoulder with his hand.
"Don't overthink it. Yikang is just an abandoned piece of land. We bought it cheaply. It has nothing to do with Zhang Qilin. We shouldn't let that disgusting person stay in our hearts and annoy us anymore, okay?"
Xu Liang didn't say anything, but just hugged her tighter.
The room finally quieted down when the cell phone suddenly rang again.
Song Ying said on the phone: "Grandma Zhang's examination report is out, and there are new findings."
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