Chapter 62: Missing Sister (7) Xiujuan
As soon as midnight arrived, the lights in the bedroom went out instantly, and the dictionary on the table began to turn pages automatically. This time the dictionary turned pages very slowly, as if with some emotion, and did not reveal the information immediately.
Swish, swish... After a minute, the dictionary stopped turning pages and stopped at a certain page. A word on this page glowed -
【week】
It was Zhou Kailong! Sang Luo's heart suddenly stagnated. The man who killed his sister Sang Ruo fifteen years ago was Zhou Kailong, the smiling uncle in the market!
After so many years, my sister's unjust death, my own suffering for so many years, the disintegration of my family...all were caused by this person!
When she thought about the fact that she had met this man before, Sang Luo couldn't help but clench her fists. If it weren't for her identity as a police officer, she really wanted to rush over to avenge her sister and tear this man into pieces!
Although Sang Luo is not the original owner, she is now using the original owner's body and is also affected by the original owner's brain. The original owner's emotions have completely permeated her, and she can also feel the pain in the original owner's heart.
It took a long time for Sang Luo to control her emotions. She adjusted her breathing and tried to calm herself down. Fighting violence with violence was not advisable. As a criminal police officer, she should use legal means to punish criminals.
My sister has given a straightforward hint, just like the answer to a math problem. What Sang Luo has to do now is to deduce the process and then send the murderer to prison personally.
After figuring this out, Sang Luo went out and knocked on the door opposite. Ruan Yu quickly opened the door. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and had obviously just gone to bed. His eight abdominal muscles were clearly defined, but Sang Luo was not in the mood to look at them. She anxiously instructed:
"Ruan Yu, please go to Daliushu Village tomorrow morning and stay at Xingxing's house. You must follow Xingxing closely to ensure her safety!"
Ruan Yu's eyes flashed with surprise: "Did you find anything?"
Sang Luo nodded: "The murderer who kidnapped my sister is Zhou Kailong who appeared at the market in Daliushu Village, but I have no evidence. Next, I will try to find evidence. You will be responsible for protecting Xingxing's safety."
"Xingxing?" Ruan Yu hesitated for a moment, then immediately figured out the relationship. "She has chatted with Zhou Kailong before. Are you worried that she will become Zhou Kailong's next target?"
Sang Luo nodded again: "Xingxing is about six or seven years old, the same age as my sister when she disappeared. Plus, she is a left-behind child and her parents are not around. I am very worried, so I'm asking you to take care of her."
Ruan Yu gestured: "No problem, I will go to find the stars tomorrow morning, but what about you?"
Sang Luo thought for a moment and said, "I will stay in the city today to research some information. Don't worry, I am not in danger. Once I find any useful information, I will meet you at Daliushu Village. We will keep in touch by phone during this time."
After the two of them agreed, Sang Luo returned to the bedroom. She had to get enough rest for tomorrow's battle. Although she was filled with grief and anger, she forced herself to fall asleep.
Sang Luo didn't sleep too long. She woke up naturally at six in the morning. Sang Luo went out to take a look. Ruan Yu was not at home. She must have already left.
Sang Luo casually cooked a bowl of noodles for breakfast. After taking a bite, she found that the noodles she made were so bland. It seemed that Ruan Yu had spoiled her appetite during this period of time.
After dinner, Sang Luo went to the office alone. It was too early and most of his colleagues had not arrived yet. Sang Luo walked into the archive room and started looking for the information he wanted.
She wanted to investigate Zhou Kailong's identity information. Since Zhou Kailong now lived in Huaishu Village, Sang Luo first looked through the population registration book of Huaishu Village, but did not find Zhou Kailong's name after looking through it several times. This meant that Zhou Kailong was not a villager of Huaishu Village, but moved there later.
So where is Zhou Kailong's registered permanent residence? Sang Luo recalled their conversation. Zhou Kailong spoke with a distinct accent, like a rural person, not a town resident. It seems that if they want to find his registered permanent residence, they can only look through the population information of every village.
Looking at the full cabinet of population registration books in front of her, Sang Luo couldn't help but sweat. She complained in her heart that it would be great if there was a modern electronic system where she could enter a name and immediately search for all the information about that person.
Despite her complaints, Sang Luo still looked through the books obediently. She was lucky and found Zhou Kailong's information when she read the third book.
Zhou Kailong is from Tianye Village. He is 48 years old this year, has primary school education, and lives in No. 2, Row 17, Tianye Village. His parents have passed away. He originally had a wife and a daughter, but his wife and daughter passed away one after another, and finally he moved out of Tianye Village.
Looking at these few short lines, Sang Luo fell into deep thought. The household registration book was not detailed enough and did not state why his wife and daughter died. Sang Luo had a bold guess in his mind -
Did Zhou Kailong abduct little girls in order to sell them, kill them, or just because he was lustful?
If it is the last possibility, then Zhou Kailong is a pedophile just like Lan Jianguo in the previous case. Generally, people with pedophilic tendencies will start with the people around them. Zhou Kailong has a daughter, and he will definitely not let his daughter go.
If this is the case, could the deaths of his wife and daughter also be related to him?
After reading Zhou Kailong's information, Sang Luo checked the files of old cases again. She paid special attention to the cases of missing children that occurred in rural areas and found that several cases were highly similar to her sister's case. The missing persons were all girls, about seven years old, born in rural families, and their families were relatively poor. The most important point is that they all disappeared in April.
Since these cases occurred a long time apart and did not occur in the same year, the police did not treat them as a single case. There were few clues left in these cases, and they all eventually became unsolved cases.
Sang Luo looked through the information of several missing girls:
Chen Xiujuan, from Tianye Village, disappeared in April 1975
Sang Ruo, from Houtu Village, disappeared in April 1978
Wang Huahua, from Daliushu Village, disappeared in April 1984
Li Mei, from Chendong Village, disappeared in April 1990
If these cases were committed by the same person, this would be a serial murder case, then Chen Xiujuan was the first victim, and Sang Ruo was the second. The years between them seemed to have some kind of pattern. Sang Luo calculated it: three years, six years, and six years.
Why did the murderer commit crimes according to this pattern?
Why do all the cases happen in April?
She quickly memorized the information, then put the information back to its original place and left the Public Security Bureau quietly.
After returning home, Sang Luo sorted out several doubts on paper:
1. How did Zhou Kailong’s wife and daughter die?
2. Why did Zhou Kailong move from Tianye Village to Huaishu Village?
3. Are the other missing cases related to my sister’s case?
It is useless to daydream, we still have to conduct field investigations. Sang Luo simply packed a few clothes and got on the bus to the village again. She first went to Tianye Village. The two of them had been here once before, so she was already familiar with the place.
According to the address written in the registration book, Sang Luo found Zhou Kailong's home in Tianye Village. The door was locked and there was thick dust on the lock. It seemed that no one had lived there for a long time.
Sang Luo knocked on the door of the neighbor next door, and a warm-looking middle-aged woman came out:
"What's the matter, little girl?"
"I want to find someone who lives in this house..." Sang Luo spoke slowly on purpose.
The aunt rushed to say: "Are you looking for Zhou Kailong? He doesn't live here anymore, go to Daliushu Village to find him!"
"No," Sang Luo said hurriedly, "I'm here to look for his wife. My mother and his wife were good friends many years ago. I was passing by this time, and my mother asked me to come and see her."
"See his wife?" The aunt showed a surprised expression on her face, looking Sang Luo up and down, as if she suspected that she was a liar. "Since your mother is good friends with her, let me test you, what is his wife's name, and where is she from?"
Sang Luo immediately said, "She's Yuan Xiaoyu. She married to Daliushu Village from Yuanjia Village. Before she married here, she and my mother were good friends from the same village. They grew up together. Later, she married here and my mother married in the city. They were both busy and never met again. But my mother always missed her. Last year, my mother became paralyzed and could no longer walk. She always wanted to meet Aunt Yuan, so she asked me to come and look for her."
Sang Luo looked up the name and household registration from the household registration book, and the rest was made up by her. However, she spoke so sincerely that she even deceived the old lady in front of her.
The aunt no longer doubted and looked at Sang Luo with a bit of pity: "So that's how it is. It's so pitiful. Child, it's useless for you to come. Yuan Xiaoyu has already died!"
Sang Luo pretended to be surprised: "Dead, how could it be? How did she die?"
The aunt looked sad: "Alas, it was more than ten years ago. Their child died at that time. Xiaoyu was a little depressed. She cried every day, didn't eat, didn't go out, and just lay in bed every day. Not long after that, she passed away."
Sang Luo hurriedly asked: "Then how did their child die?"
The old lady sighed, "The child was innocent, and died tragically. Everyone in our village knows about this. There was a primary school in the village back then, and the school building was of poor quality. I said at the time that the building would collapse sooner or later, but no one listened!"
She clapped her hands, "What happened? Look, didn't something happen? I remember it very clearly, it was a rainy day, the house was already run down, the walls were all covered in mud, it got damp when it came in contact with water, and yet school had to go on as usual, I always felt unsafe, so I simply told our Xiujuan not to go and asked her to take a day off."
At this point, she emphasized her tone: "As a result, the accident happened that day. The rain was getting heavier that day. I didn't go out to farm, but sat at home knitting sweaters. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. I ran out and saw everyone running towards the school. When I got closer, I saw that the school had collapsed! More than a dozen students were trapped underneath!"
"That scene, oh my, my heart shivers when I think about it now, it's so horrible, I've never seen such a tragic scene in my life, just imagine, they were all children of a few years old, being crushed by such a heavy house, they were all flattened, I couldn't bear to watch it after just one look, those parents were like crazy, desperately trying to dig their children out... Well, to be honest, after so many years, I still dream about that scene sometimes!"
The aunt patted her chest and said, "Thank goodness, thank goodness I asked our Xiujuan to take a day off. Otherwise, I'm afraid our Xiujuan would also..."
Xiujuan? Sang Luo felt that the name sounded familiar. She immediately remembered the disappearance of Chen Xiujuan in 1975. Chen Xiujuan was from Tianye Village. Could she be the Xiujuan that the aunt was talking about?
Sang Luo did not show it, and continued to speak along with the aunt's words:
"Yes, thanks to your foresight, the child was able to escape the disaster. As the old saying goes, if you survive a disaster, you will have good fortune in the future. Your Xiujuan will definitely be a promising person in the future!"
After Sang Luo finished saying this, the expression on the aunt's face froze, her lips began to tremble, and tears immediately appeared in her eyes:
"You are wrong. My Xiujuan disappeared a few years later. Maybe it was fate. What is coming cannot be avoided. Xiujuan was destined to have such a disaster. Even though she escaped from school this time, she still..."
"How did she disappear?" Sang Luo asked.
Wiping away tears, the aunt said, "That happened in 1975. I remember it very clearly. Xiujuan was ten years old that year. Her father and I were both farmers and had little education. But Xiujuan was different. She was very promising. She could recognize many words at a young age and was very sensible. She could help us cook and clean the house. Everyone praised our Xiujuan for being sensible at an early age."
"Because of this, I was particularly relieved about her. Her father and I went out to farm and always left her alone at home. Before going out, I would lock the door. Xiujuan would read alone in the house. When she was hungry, she would find something to eat by herself. She never let us worry."
"It has always been like this before, and there has never been a problem. But that time, that time... When the two of us went out, I locked the door as usual. His father and I worked in the fields all morning. When we went home at noon, we saw no smoke from the roof from a distance. I felt a little bad because Xiujuan usually prepared lunch for us and we could eat directly when we got home."
"At that time, I thought Xiujuan was not feeling well, so I didn't think much about it. I just wanted to go back to see her. I walked to the door, but it was still locked. I opened the door with the key and shouted Xiujuan, but Xiujuan didn't respond to me. I hurried into the house to look for her, but I couldn't find her. Xiujuan just disappeared like that, and I..."
As the old lady spoke, she covered her face and burst into tears. Sang Luo asked sympathetically, "Didn't you call the police when something like this happened?"
The old lady slapped her legs and said, "Why didn't you call the police? I called the police right away. There were no police in the village, so I took a donkey cart to the county town to call the police. My husband was also busy. He mobilized the whole village to help look for her, but they couldn't find my Xiujuan!"
"Later, the police came and investigated our house for a while. They found footprints on the wall. They were Xiujuan's footprints. The police concluded that Xiujuan had climbed over the wall and left, but for some reason she didn't come back. But I still didn't believe it. How could it be? Our Xiujuan is not that kind of person. Some children are naughty and like to climb over the wall to play, but our Xiujuan wouldn't do that!"
"I know my daughter best. Xiujuan is such a good girl, she would never do something like climbing over the wall. Later, rumors started spreading in the village, getting worse and worse. It was said that Xiujuan had climbed over the wall to date someone, and some even said that Xiujuan got pregnant and ran off with a strange man! When I heard this rumor, I rushed over and beat up the person who spread it. I won't allow anyone to slander Xiujuan!"
"In short, the police investigated and investigated but could not find any clues. In the end, the case was shelved. It has been 18 years now."
The aunt wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. "Eighteen years, I have waited for a full eighteen years. I think no matter where Xiujuan went, as long as she is still alive, as long as she has a breath, she will definitely come back to find me, so I have been waiting here. Over the years, many people have advised me to have another child, at least there will be someone to take care of me in my old age, but I have never thought about having another child. To me, Xiujuan is my only child. No matter how many children I have, they will not be my Xiujuan anymore."
Sang Luo looked at the grieving mother in front of her and was speechless for a moment. The aunt said to herself:
"I don't know if Xiujuan will blame me, blame me and her father for going out to farm that day, leaving no one at home to look after her, and causing her to get lost. But we are farmers, we were born to farm, and if we don't farm we won't have food to eat, I really have no other choice..."
Sang Luo walked forward and hugged her gently: "No, Xiujuan won't blame you. She knows you have been waiting for her, and she will definitely come back."
After hearing what Sang Luo said, the aunt gained some confidence: "You think so too? The reason why I have been able to persevere all these years is because I believe Xiujuan is still alive. I believe that I can wait for the day of reunion! People, sometimes it's just a matter of a thought. If you can think it through, you can go on with your life. If you can't, you can't go on with your life."
As she spoke, she pointed to Zhou Kailong's house next door. "Xiaoyu was too depressed. She died at a young age. Kailong was also depressed for a while after the accident. Just imagine, he lost his daughter first and then his wife. How did that feel? He stayed indoors for a while and his hair turned white when he went out again. But he finally managed to get through it. He even learned a craft from someone and started to set up a stall at the market to blow sugar figurines. People are like this. They have to live their lives."
After finding out everything, Sang Luo had solved the first doubt. She thanked the aunt and asked casually, "Auntie, is your daughter greedy? Does she like to eat candy?"
The aunt shook her head and said, "Although our family is poor, Xiujuan is not the kind of greedy child. She is very strong-willed and never envies others. She also never asks us to buy her snacks. She knows that our family conditions are not good."
"As for eating candy, she doesn't really like it. You know, Zhou Kailong next door is a candy figurine maker. When he first started learning the craft, he often made failed candy figurines. He gave those to Xiujuan to eat, and Xiujuan is almost sick of them."
When talking about the past, tears welled up in the old lady's eyes again. Sang Luo thanked her again and left her door.
Sang Luo went to the family where he stayed last time and asked to stay overnight again. The other party agreed immediately. After all, Sang Luo was generous last time and left a good impression on them.
After putting down her luggage, Sang Luo began to think in her mind. The vacation lasted for seven days in total, and today was already the fifth day. Today she would stay in Tianye Village. In addition to solving several doubts, she also had to dig out as many clues as possible.
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