Chapter 49: Renewal
It was around six in the afternoon when we returned to Yuxin Village, in the evening.
Because of the typhoon, the sky was dark everywhere.
The grayish-white misty rain fog was like a thick layer of snow, piling up in the air.
Zhang Jinzhi parked the car, changed into inconspicuous clothes, and took out a large box of medicine from the trunk.
When it rains, the dirt roads in the countryside become very muddy and slippery, which is very unsafe.
But the closer he got to his destination, the more at ease he felt.
The faint sound of dogs barking stood out against the noisy rain.
He was holding an umbrella, with a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth. The scarlet sparks flickered, and the bluish-white smoke drifted in the misty snow-colored rain.
The snowy and foggy scene made him feel familiar. It seemed like the weather was similar on that day more than 20 years ago.
I hear a dog barking behind the wooden door, and someone returns home on a windy and snowy night.
He is a person who dares not return to his hometown or his home.
The street lights in the village were useless in such bad weather. After walking in the dark for an hour or so, I finally saw the old and dilapidated bungalow.
On the roof is a stainless steel awning installed by the government. The heavy rain hits it, making a loud crackling sound.
The sound was so loud that it seemed to completely submerge and destroy the small bungalow.
The cigarette butt was thrown on the ground, and he crushed it a few times with his feet to completely extinguish the spark.
After a while, his cell phone rang. He answered it and saw a dim light coming from one of the windows in the house, although it was extremely dim.
"Azhi, why haven't you come into the house yet?"
The familiar accent and concerned tone left him stunned.
After a while, he responded, "I'm at the door."
When I entered the house, the furnishings were almost the same as they were more than 20 years ago.
A shiny wooden table faintly exudes a strange smell of food accumulated over the years.
"Is there no food?" A hunched figure limped back and forth busily in the cramped and dim living room.
After a while, a bowl of tofu rice and a plate of braised pork with preserved vegetables were brought in.
There was a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, emitting a small circle of gray-blue light, which occasionally flashed twice with the sound of thunder.
Zhang Jinzhi put the box of medicine on the table. "Don't bother. You're not in good health to begin with. This is the blood pressure medicine I brought back from the city for you."
Seeing that people were still busy, he sighed, "Dad, stop it. Your feet hurt. Come over and rest for a while."
Hearing him calling Dad, the busy figures suddenly stopped.
The old man's cloudy eyes were covered with a layer of mist, his nose wrinkled, and he kept saying "Yes, yes."
After more than 20 years, the father and son sat at the same dinner table again, feeling extremely awkward.
Silence continued to ferment in the damp old house, making people feel uncomfortable.
He saw a small TV on the cabinet, so he walked over and turned it on, trying to change the atmosphere.
Perhaps due to the bad weather, the signal was not very good and the FM search only showed a local station.
A cheesy commercial was playing, and the number of seconds left until the news section began was displayed at the bottom of the screen.
"Eat more! I called you back for dinner." Father Zhang piled several pieces of preserved vegetable braised pork on top of the rice, his tone filled with regret. "I remember when you were little, this was your favorite food."
Zhang Jinzhi silently ate the rice mixed with bacon and stuffed it into a big mouthful.
He chewed it over and over again until he was almost vomiting.
My eye sockets became more and more sore, and a hot current slid down my face to my mouth, making the food saltier.
The news anchor's clear and melodious voice echoed in the old house.
After talking about some precautions during typhoon weather, he began to report social news.
"Zhang Jinzhi, a drug trafficker wanted by our city recently, remains at large. Citizens should be on the lookout. If you see him, please contact the police immediately."
Both of them were watching TV and heard the announcement.
"Son, I'm sorry." After a while, Zhang's father apologized to him with his throat choked.
The old man kept shaking his head, his untidy gray hair sticking to his wet eyelids. Tears fell heavily on the table, mixed with oily tears. "Son, it's Dad who is sorry for you."
Zhang Jinzhi finally remembered what that familiar feeling was.
More than 20 years ago, at the entrance of the village, in the same weather, he watched his father, who was working away from home, leave the village.
Before his father passed away, he gave him a radio and said to him, "When I go out to work and earn some money, I'll buy you a TV. Do you want one?"
He said yes with a smile, and then looked forward to his father's return.
During this period, he lived with his mother and waited for more than three years.
We added several new pieces of furniture to our house, but we still haven't waited for our father to come back.
One year, my father didn't send back living expenses, and when my mother went to the town to look for a job, she met a man named Hu.
It wasn't long before his mother started living with him.
In that feudal and closed-off little village, a woman who did such a thing would be scolded and criticized, so the mother lied that her father had started a new family outside.
He also said that he had a miserable life and had to live with a burden. The village's attitude suddenly changed and everyone blamed his father.
Zhang Jinzhi moved in with his mother to live in the new family.
This was also the beginning of the first pain and despair in his life.
In order to please his new family, his mother would beat and scold him at every turn, withhold his food, clothing and other expenses, and call him a burden all the time.
The following year, a new child was born in the family, his younger brother Hu Xiang, which made his life even more difficult.
His stepfather didn't let him go to school anymore and asked him to be responsible for taking care of the children.
All the farm work and chores at home fell on him, leaving him no room to breathe.
After more than three years of living like this, he was seventeen years old and wanted to go out to work and earn money to escape from this kind of life.
When his stepfather found out, he said he was trying to evade his family responsibilities and beat him up severely.
Word spread in the village that Zhang Jinzhi would be a beast raised by the Luo family and eat free meals for the rest of his life.
In rural areas, animals are born to work for humans.
As his younger brother Hu Xiang grew up, he was influenced by the Hu family and their attitude towards him was also very bad.
However, the mother turned a blind eye to this and even added fuel to the fire.
She told him that if you live under someone else's roof and eat their food, you should know how to read their expressions and be grateful.
She kept him by her side to preserve the facade of being a good mother.
The repressive life was like a dark cloud hanging over him all the time, and finally broke out completely one day.
That day, Hu Xiang broke the radio left by his father. In anger, Zhang Jinzhi pushed him hard.
As a result, he was seen by his nominal grandmother Luo Xiahong and was beaten severely.
Insults were heard everywhere.
The resentment and humiliation that had been accumulating for a long time surged into his mind like a wave, pushing him onto the path of crime.
After killing Luo Xiahong, he threw the body into the well. Hu Xiangze, who witnessed the incident, was sold to human traffickers for more than 200 yuan.
With this little money, he evaded the police search, traveled around, and finally arrived in South City.
Because he had no ID card and was a fugitive, he had no future, so he worked in a bar to make a living.
He also became addicted to drugs in the bar. In order to be able to take drugs, he began to kidnap and sell children in exchange for drug money.
From then on, he went down a dark path, becoming notorious, yet as humble as an ant.
Later he found out that the reason his father didn't send him living expenses that year was because he fell from the scaffolding.
My legs and feet have become less agile and I can hardly do any physical work.
After finally saving enough money to go home, he found out that his wife had remarried and his son was a fugitive murderer.
"If I had sent money home back then, your mother wouldn't have remarried, and you wouldn't have gone to the Hu family to make a living. It's all Dad's fault. I've let you down." Zhang's father choked up and said, "Later, I searched everywhere for you. I was afraid you'd run into bad guys out there, or get into a fight with the police and get shot. I was terrified every day."
Many years later, Zhang Jinzhi listened to his father's confession, and his long-numbed heart gradually became sore.
In order to survive, he gave up too many emotions, but he was only worried about his father.
After making money, he sent living expenses to his father anonymously and regularly.
A mistake in their youth resulted in two people wandering for the rest of their lives.
Humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless?
In this life, he only felt that he owed two people, one of whom was Chen Shan, who saved his life.
One is his father, who gave him life.
"My dear, Dad is old and his legs are not good. I really can't walk anymore. I have been looking for you for more than 20 years. I am worried every day, afraid that one day I won't even hear from you." Father Zhang pounded his weak legs and feet, and said in a vicissitudes of life, "Dad is old and wants to live a stable life."
As Zhang Jinzhi listened to his words, waves of stomach acid surged up, making him feel so uncomfortable that he almost vomited.
He hid in the dark for more than twenty years, and his father followed his trail for more than twenty years.
Both of them lived in fear.
The house fell into dead silence again, and the heavy rain outside the window brought a large amount of cold air in.
In the next two days, he stayed at home with his father, but received news that Chen Shan was in private contact with the police.
Not long after Zhang Jinzhi received the news, before he even had time to express his opinion, he learned of Chen Shan's death.
Chen Shan betrayed him, but before he could feel angry, he died.
The strange thing is that he didn't feel happy either.
A bad person who has learned to feel remorse should not hate a good person.
What's more, that person is his only friend.
When we were about to leave, the sun came out.
His father handed him a cloth bag containing a large roll of money.
It goes without saying that his father never used the living expenses he sent over the years.
He said, "My child, only when you stand under the sun can your heart be bright."
When people are afraid of the dark, they are actually afraid of unknown risks.
Only by standing in the sun can you see your own heart clearly and avoid going astray.
He didn't take the cloth bag. He looked at the sun, smiled, and asked his father, "You said you wanted to live a stable life, didn't you?"
The stability my father wanted probably meant that he no longer had to follow his footsteps and wander around because of fear.
Just knowing his son's whereabouts and destination is the father's only wish.
Zhang Jinzhi glanced at his father who was standing in front of the car with a hunched back and a limp, the sunlight shining on his gray hair.
He was both pitiful and vicissitudes of life. He had endured too much suffering and even lived a miserable life in his later years.
My father is old. He has spent half his life looking for him and has been with him for half his life. Now he really can't walk anymore.
And he didn't want to escape anymore.
"I will turn myself in." He stuffed the cloth bag back into his father's hands. "You can keep this money. Consider it my filial duty."
Hearing him turn himself in, the wrinkles between his father's brows slowly drooped. He looked at him with wide eyes and asked in disbelief, "What did you say, son?"
Zhang Jinzhi repeated what he had just said, and then said, "Now you know where I am and you don't have to follow me. We are both tired."
My father lowered his head and sniffed twice. Hot tears welled up in his cloudy eyes and fell on the uneven road surface.
It was like smashing out tiny holes.
After a while, he nodded and said, "Yes, yes, my child has grown up and become sensible."
Zhang Jinzhi lived to be over 40 years old before he was considered sensible.
"I'll save this money for you. Reform yourself in there and try to get your sentence reduced. When you get out, use this money to find a decent job again."
Only by repenting and reforming can you reform yourself.
......
After walking out of the interrogation room, Qiao Yue sighed deeply. After listening to Zhang Jinzhi's story, she didn't know what to feel for a moment.
He killed Luo Xiahong out of hatred, kidnapped Chen Wan because he wanted to make up for Chen Shan's regret, and now he surrendered himself to let his father spend his old age in peace.
He did a lot of bad things, but in the end he still had some conscience.
Lin Yu was organizing the report and thinking for a long time about the drug transportation offline.
Qiao Yue came over and took a look. "What do you think his last sentence meant?"
When Zhang Jinzhi was escorted back to his cell, he said, "Tell Zhou Zongqi that he didn't let the tiger go back to the mountain. Tang Ze is not a tiger, but an accomplice."
To be an accomplice to the tiger.
Lin Yu recalled what he had heard in the cafeteria not long ago: "The special target in Linbei is drug control and anti-corruption."
Fight corruption and beat the tigers.
The two men returned to their workstations to organize the interrogation results. Song Xianzhe slid his chair and drifted in front of Lin Yu.
After scanning the information for a few times, he sighed, "This Zhang Jinzhi is also quite miserable."
Qiao Yue, who was sitting next door, had already sorted out her complex emotions. Hearing what he said, she raised an eyebrow slightly, "Actually, in our line of work, every prisoner we come into contact with has their own secrets, but there's one thing you must always remember."
Song Xianzhe sat up straighter, pretending to listen attentively, "Please go ahead."
“Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.”
In life, one should not seek to benefit others, but only to protect oneself.
After saying this, Qiao Yue sighed.
Song Xianzhe also sighed after listening to this.
It is said that the law is merciless because the emotions in this world are too complicated to be judged one by one.
Qiao Yue recalled a book she had read, which contained views on criminal law.
"Criminal law is modest. It doesn't require others to be kind, but only to refrain from doing evil. It is the strictest law, but also the most lenient."
Lin Yu sorted out the information and sent it to the detachment leader, then said hello to Qiao Yue, "I'll go check on Chen Wan's situation."
Qiao Yue hurriedly urged him upon hearing this, "Hurry up, hurry up, I'll take care of the things later and find time to go see her."
Lin Yu nodded and left the department.
Qiao Yue looked at his back and actually felt a bit sad.
He also remembered that Zhang Jinzhi had led Chen Wan to say that it was the police who killed Chen Shan. For a moment he felt a little overwhelmed and even wanted to pull Zhang Jinzhi out and beat him up.
"Hey Xiaolin, that little girl named Chen Wan asked me to tell you that she's going home first."
Lin Yu was stopped halfway when he was called. After hearing what was said, his brows slightly furrowed. "Chen Wan is gone?"
The colleague nodded. "Yes, she left not long ago. But she was very brave. She answered the questions clearly and logically. Even when she saw the relics her father left her, she was very calm. You can't tell she's only seventeen. She's more mature and calm than many adults."
Because there is no one in front of me to protect me from the wind and rain.
So he had to become mature beyond his years and disguise himself as a calm adult.
After thanking his colleagues, Lin Yu took the car keys and went to ask for leave from Captain Qu.
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