Chapter 58: Missing Sister (3) Going to the Market
At twelve o'clock midnight, Sang Luo was awakened by the alarm clock on time. This time she was mentally prepared. After waking up, she immediately threw back the quilt, strode out of bed, came to the table, and stared at the dictionary.
The dictionary flipped automatically, and finally stopped at a certain page. On this page, a word glowed -
【set】
The word "ji" has many meanings, such as gather, gather and so on. When Sang Luo looked at this word, a word flashed through his mind like lightning - go to the market.
Most rural areas in the north have the tradition of going to the market. As long as the word "market" is mentioned, everyone knows that it means going to the market. In the past, their mother had taken them and their sisters to the big market in the village, so Sang Luo immediately understood what her sister meant.
The man who kidnapped my sister not only knows how to blow sugar figures, but also often participates in market activities.
There are many such craftsmen at the fair, including those who weave shoe soles, cut hair, and make sugar figurines. These people set up stalls during the market, stare at the people coming and going, and look for their targets among them.
Sang Luo pinched her palms with her fingernails. With this clue, the scope was narrowed a lot. Now she finally had a direction for investigation.
Before, Sang Luo had worried that this person would change his career, but since her sister gave such a hint, it meant that this person still frequently appeared in the market. What Sang Luo had to do was to find him in the market.
With this news, Sang Luo became excited. The next morning, she rushed to the unit early and found Guang Ge, an old policeman in the unit. Guang Ge was a local who had lived in Baiyun County for many years. He often went out on police duty and was very familiar with the local situation. According to Guang Ge, there is no big market in the county town now, only in the villages and towns below. If Sang Luo wants to participate, he can call his acquaintances in the village.
After several phone calls, Brother Guang found out the situation clearly. Now only Jiufeng Village, Tianye Village and Daliushu Village are still holding fairs. The big fair is not held every day, so whether you can catch it depends on luck.
After thanking Brother Guang, Sang Luo found his master and asked for annual leave. New criminal police officers have seven days of annual leave every year, and Sang Luo wants to use these seven days to catch the murderer.
Ma Shi Tu looked concerned: "Why do you want to take a vacation suddenly? Did something happen at home?"
Sang Luo didn't want to make her master worry, so she made up an excuse: "It's okay, my family just arranged a blind date for me."
"Oh, so that's how it is," Ma Shi Tu smiled when he heard this. "That's right, that's right. Young people should think about their lifelong events. Even if they are unsuccessful, it's good to make more friends."
After getting Ma Shi Tu's permission, Sang Luo asked Captain Liao for permission, who also agreed. Then she wrote a leave application and handed it to the unit's human resources department, and only then did she leave the unit with peace of mind.
From this moment on, Sang Luo's vacation officially began. She returned home, packed her luggage, and knocked on the door opposite. Ruan Yu opened the door wearing the familiar apron. When he saw Sang Luo's luggage, he looked nervous:
"What's wrong, you want to move away?"
"No," Sang Luo shook his head, "I'm going to the village to investigate my sister's matter. I may have to stay for a few nights, so I brought some change of clothes."
Before Sang Luo could speak, Ruan Yu immediately took the initiative and said, "I'll go with you!"
Sang Luo nodded and did not refuse. She had this idea in mind. This time, investigating her sister's case was a private matter and Xiaohu and the others could not be mobilized. She was alone, and calling Ruan Yu now would be like having more helpers. If anything happened, the two of them would be better able to deal with it.
Ruan Yu quickly packed her luggage and followed Sang Luo out the door. Sang Luo's first destination was Jiufeng Village. The two got on the bus, and the scenery outside the window slowly transitioned from the city to the countryside. An endless field appeared before their eyes. It was late autumn, and all the crops in the fields had been harvested, leaving only a desolate piece of land.
After an hour's bus ride, the bus arrived at the terminal. Sang Luo wrapped his coat tightly and pulled Ruan Yu off the bus.
There are a lot of people on this bus, and many of them come for the market. Sang Luo is very lucky today, as it happens to be a day with a big market. She just needs to follow the flow of people. In addition to the bus, there are also people coming in horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, and tricycles. The entrance to the market is very lively, and it seems that there are a lot of people coming.
Generally, the morning is the busiest time for the market. Sang Luo happened to arrive in the morning. She took Ruan Yu's arm, pretending to be a sweet couple, and they walked into the market together.
Sang Luo looked at both sides of the road. There were all kinds of stalls on both sides. Some people set up stalls for fortune-telling, some sold homemade buckwheat and dried apricots, and some made popcorn on the spot.
A black stove was steaming, and all the children gathered around it curiously. The vendor stuffed the corn into the stove from the entrance on the other side and then turned the handle on the stove hard. After turning it a few times, there was a bang from the stove. The vendor opened the stove, and a pile of golden popcorn rolled out. The vendor hurriedly put them in a bag. Occasionally, some flew far away and were immediately picked up by the children and stuffed into their mouths.
Sang Luo stopped and stared at him in a trance. Ruan Yu turned her head and asked her, "Do you want some popcorn?"
Sang Luo shook his head: "No, I just think this scene is very familiar..."
She thought for a long time and finally remembered that when her mother took her and her sister to the market before, she and her sister had also seen popcorn. Her mother also bought them a bag of popcorn, and they ate that bag of popcorn for a long time.
But the family was very poor at the time, and my mother was always very stingy, so why would she take the initiative to buy popcorn? Sang Luo remembered what happened before this, and she thought about it again, and suddenly her eyes lit up:
"I remember now! Ruoruo saw a candy man blowing candy figures on the street. She cried and wanted to buy one, but it was too expensive and could only be eaten once. My mother was reluctant to buy it, so she weighed the pros and cons and bought us popcorn. Only then did Ruoruo stop crying."
Ruan Yu was thoughtful: "Sang Ruo first saw the candy blower at the market and expressed her interest, and then was abducted by the candy blower. Is this a coincidence or did someone do it on purpose?"
Sang Luo slapped his thigh and said, "So that's how it is. This makes sense. It's not a coincidence that the candy man would come to our village and choose my sister. He had set his eyes on my sister when he went to the market, and then followed us home, taking advantage of my sister's greed and kidnapping her!"
Although she understood this, Sang Luo did not feel happy. She was very sad. If her mother had not taken them to the market that day, if her mother had bought a candy figure for her sister that day, maybe Ruoruo would not have been kidnapped... But there are no ifs in life.
She cleared her throat and tried to pull herself back to reality: "This is most likely a premeditated case. The murderer did not choose the target randomly, but had targeted the victim in advance. He has been setting up a stall to blow sugar figures fifteen years ago, and he is still engaged in this business now. He has been in this business for so long, I don't know how many people he has harmed!"
Ruan Yu made a suggestion: "Since he has been doing this business for such a long time, there must be a lot of people who know him, especially those who set up stalls with him. Why don't we ask these stall owners?"
Sang Luo stopped him immediately: "No, we can't alert the enemy! If the murderer gets wind of this, he'll know someone is tracking him and he'll probably go into hiding, which will make it even more difficult for us to find him."
Ruan Yu thought about it and admitted that what Sang Luo said made sense. In order to facilitate communication, they gave the human trafficker a code name "C", and this operation was called Plan C.
The two walked around the market but did not see the candy-blowing stall. Sang Luo decided to come again in the afternoon. Her time was limited, and if she could not find any useful clues here, she would go to the next village tomorrow.
The two were still carrying their luggage and had not found a place to stay. For convenience, Sang Luo found a farmer's house to stay overnight. After Sang Luo offered to pay, the family immediately agreed. They not only helped them carry their luggage, but also prepared a sumptuous lunch.
There was only one guest room in this house, so Sang Luo certainly couldn't sleep with Ruan Yu. After some discussion, it was finally decided that Sang Luo would sleep with the hostess, and Ruan Yu would sleep with the host.
After hurriedly finishing his lunch, Sang Luo returned to the market. There were far fewer people coming in the afternoon than in the morning, and some stalls began to withdraw. The market was much quieter than in the morning. Sang Luo was guarding the entrance of the market. He seemed to be taking a nap, but he was actually secretly observing everything around him with the corner of his eyes.
She waited like this for the whole afternoon, but the stall making sugar figures never appeared. At dusk, smoke rose from the village. Almost all the stalls at the market were gone, and the temperature around her was getting colder and colder. Sang Luo had no choice but to get up and return to the farm house where she was staying.
Ruan Yu was not idle this afternoon. He stood guard at the exit of the market, following Sang Luo's example and keeping an eye on people, but he also found nothing.
After the two returned, the farmer they stayed at had already prepared dinner. In order to entertain the guests, they even killed a chicken and made a dish of chicken stewed with mushrooms. Sang Luo had been waiting there for the whole afternoon and was already very hungry. He picked up the bowl and ate two large bowls of rice. Ruan Yu also kept praising the host's good cooking skills, which made the young couple smile from ear to ear.
After dinner, the young couple went to bed early because they had to do farm work the next day and needed to get up early. Sang Luo did not fall asleep. She sat in the yard with her clothes on, silently making plans for the next step. Jiufeng Village had been ruled out, so she planned to try Tianye Village tomorrow.
Although they gained nothing today, their time was not wasted. At least they eliminated a wrong option, and this way they were one step closer to the truth.
Seeing Sang Luo's figure, Ruan Yu also came out with clothes on, sat beside her silently, and asked softly:
"What are you thinking about?"
Sang Luo raised his head and said, "There is no direct bus from Jiufeng Village to Tianye Village. We need to find someone to take us there tomorrow. Any car will do."
Seeing Sang Luo's absent-minded expression, Ruan Yu said directly: "These are all trivial matters. This shouldn't be what you are really thinking about, right?"
Sang Luo nodded: "I'm still thinking about the past. Ruoruo and I went to the market together. I have seen C's face, but now I have no impression of him."
Ruan Yu hurriedly said, "Don't push yourself too hard. It's been so many years. It's not easy for you to remember these things."
"Yes." Sang Luo said with her head down. The most important thing was that this was not her memory at all.
"Oh, right," Ruan Yu suddenly remembered something, "How do you know that this C must be in the market? So many years have passed, he might have grown old."
"I..." Sang Luo opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. She couldn't tell anyone about the dictionary. "I said Ruoruo appeared in my dream. Do you believe it?"
"I believe it," Ruan Yu said without hesitation, "I believe that people go to another world after they die. Maybe Sang Ruo is in that world, and she is looking forward to you helping her solve the case."
Sang Luo slowly closed his eyes: "Yes, Ruoruo is watching me, so I must solve this case!"
It was late at night, Sang Luo leaned on Ruan Yu's shoulder, and neither of them spoke until a long time later, when Sang Luo finally felt a little sleepy, and they went back to their respective rooms to sleep.
Before going out this time, Sang Luo was afraid of missing the clue, so she stuffed the dictionary into her bag. After returning to the room, she put out the dictionary, ready to receive the third clue from her sister. But at twelve o'clock in the evening, there was no response from the dictionary. Sang Luo was a little disappointed, but then she changed her mind. The dictionary did not give any clues this time, perhaps it just showed that her current investigation direction was correct. As long as she continued to investigate in this direction, she would be able to find the murderer.
The next morning, Ruan Yu got up early and asked around in the village. He found out that there was an uncle who was willing to take them to Tianye Village, but the fee was quite high. Ruan Yu did not bargain and paid the money himself.
When Sang Luo got up, a tractor had already stopped at the gate of the courtyard. Ruan Yu sat on the tractor and stretched out his hand to Sang Luo:
"Let's go!"
Sang Luo was amused by this scene and her mood finally improved. She packed her luggage and climbed onto the tractor, and the two of them left Jiufeng Village.
The tractor was driving very fast. The uncle was singing a little tune while stepping on the accelerator. The two people sitting in the back were disheveled in the wind. It was already cold in late autumn, and the car was driving too fast. The cold wind hit their faces mercilessly. Ruan Yu's usually stylish hair was messed up, and Sang Luo's long hair was even tangled into a mess.
Seeing that the wind was getting colder and stronger, Ruan Yu unbuttoned her coat, hugged Sang Luo tightly in her arms, and used her whole body to block the wind for her. Sang Luo finally felt better. Ruan Yu persisted in the cold wind alone, and his face was almost frozen.
Before the two were frozen to death, the tractor finally stopped and they arrived at Tianye Village. Sang Luo found a family to stay with as usual. They put down their luggage and washed their faces quickly. Sang Luo did not dare to waste time and pulled Ruan Yu to the market.
The two of them still pretended to be a couple and walked around the market. This time Sang Luo had a great harvest. There were actually two stalls selling candy figures in the market. The two stall owners were one old and one young. The old one was on the east side and the young one was on the west side.
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