Chapter 451 A Letter Across Thousands of Mountains and Rivers
Dear Mom and Dad,
Hello, it’s nice to see you.
I haven't written to you for a long time. I wonder if you are doing well recently?
I haven't seen you for six years since I left home at the age of thirteen, and I miss you very much.
I don’t know how many more wrinkles on my father’s forehead have deepened, nor do I know how many more white hairs my mother has.
But I have never forgotten every moment you accompanied me in my growth, and I also remember the concern and advice in every letter you wrote over the past six years.
Mom and Dad, some things happened to me recently that gave me a new understanding of life and the future.
But don't worry, fortunately there was no danger, everything is over, and now everything is calm.
You don't have to worry about me. Everything is fine with me now. My studies, life and future will all get better and better.
There is one more thing I can’t wait to tell you, that is, I met a man who is extremely important to me. His name is Zhou Yi, and he is a glorious people’s policeman. He is like a ray of light that shines into my world and dispels the haze in my life.
I think he is the person who is worthy of my entrusting my life to.
Please believe in your daughter's choice and bless his and my future.
This summer vacation, Zhou Yi said he would accompany me home to visit you.
I am very much looking forward to this day coming soon.
Because Mom and Dad, I really miss you.
I wish you good health, peace and success!
Sincerely,
salute!
Your daughter, Lu Xiaoshuang.
May 23, 1997.
…
Lu Xiaoshuang folded this piece of letter paper twice and then stuffed it into a kraft paper envelope.
Lu Xiaoshuang glued the seal shut, wrote the address of the recipient and sender on the front of the envelope, and finally affixed a stamp.
This letter was dropped into the school mailbox.
Then it is sorted by the post office, and then taken by postal vehicles and trains, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers to reach the Loess Plateau.
After going through layers of sorting, it was finally put into a delivery bag hanging in front of a postman's bicycle rack.
Finally, after the postman called out "Teacher Lu" in a rural accent, the letter was finally delivered to Lu Guohua's weathered hands.
When he opened the letter, in the simple adobe classroom behind him, a group of children were reading aloud with their textbooks.
This clear and loud voice seemed to penetrate the clouds and reach the distant future of these children.
…
After Chen Gengyun and Fan Tianyou were arrested, the Hongda case task force officially withdrew from Hongda, but the martial law in Hongda did not stop.
For a long time afterwards, Hongda implemented a series of management measures to strictly control students and school systems.
But the students of Hongda University have no complaints, because the dismemberment case has had such a huge impact on the school during this period that everyone is in danger.
In particular, all kinds of rumors were flying around. After all, in addition to the deceased Xu Liu, four teachers from different departments were also involved.
Lu Xiaoshuang returned to school the day after Zhou Yi went to pick her up.
Because it involved case information, Lu Xiaoshuang followed Zhou Yi's request and unified her story with counselor Wu Na, lying that she had returned to her hometown in the northwest during this period. Although not everyone believed it, at least the police left, Lu Xiaoshuang returned safely, and no one would speculate about her with tinted glasses.
After the incident, the school sealed off the dormitory where Lu Xiaoshuang and her friends lived, taking into consideration the impact and cooperating with the task force's investigation.
The six students originally in the dormitory were also transferred to other dormitories.
This situation is actually very common. Although Xu Liu did not die in this dormitory, people will eventually have psychological trauma.
After two years, this dormitory will be allocated to freshmen. By then, no one will know who lived here or what happened.
Wu Na took Lu Xiaoshuang back to the dormitory and packed her things.
Looking at the dormitory that was once full of laughter and joy, but is now empty and deserted, Lu Xiaoshuang feels very sad.
Regarding the details of the Hongda case, Zhou Yi told her that since she was one of the victims, she had the right to know the details of the case. However, the prerequisite was that she could learn about the case through the plaintiff after the case entered the prosecution stage.
The current public security investigation stage requires confidentiality, so Zhou Yi cannot tell her the situation.
However, she doesn't have to worry about the lawyer issue. Zhou Yi said that he would ask Qian Hongxing to resolve the matter.
Although Zhou Yi didn't say it, Lu Xiaoshuang had guessed some things, such as the phone call from Fan Tianyou that day, and some information she learned from the news and newspapers later.
But she didn't ask anything, she unconditionally believed in everything Zhou Yi arranged for her.
Because he said it, everything is calm.
When she was packing her things in the dormitory, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps and then a figure rushed in hurriedly.
"Xiao Shuang?" Mo Youyou rushed in and saw her and shouted excitedly.
"You're finally back. You almost scared me to death, did you know that?" Mo Youyou rushed over, hugged Lu Xiaoshuang and burst into tears.
"It's okay, I'm fine." Lu Xiaoshuang comforted her in return.
After crying, Mo Youyou said with red and swollen eyes that she had specifically told the counselor that she wanted to leave the lower bunk in the dormitory where she was currently living for Lu Xiaoshuang.
Then he started to help Lu Xiaoshuang pack her things.
During this time, Mo Youyou asked her if she had returned home to report her safety.
Lu Xiaoshuang nodded.
Zhou Yi came to pick her up the day before. She did not return to school that night, but went home to report her safety to her grandmother, and then stayed in her small attic for the night.
The next morning Zhou Yi came to pick her up before arriving at school.
As for her parents who were far away in the northwest, the police did not contact Lu Xiaoshuang's parents because of the inconvenience of contacting them due to the long distance and the special circumstances after Lu Xiaoshuang was found in the mine.
Later, Lu Xiaoshuang was taken to Qian Hongxing's home by Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi said that he could find a way to contact the local police station and asked her to report her safety to her parents.
But Lu Xiaoshuang meant that she didn't want to worry her parents, so she wouldn't contact them for the time being.
Zhou Yi respected her decision.
After moving into the dormitory and saying hello to her new roommates, Lu Xiaoshuang decided to write a letter to her parents.
For the past six years, she has been in contact with her parents through letters. Although she cannot meet them in person, seeing their letters is like seeing them in person.
She knew that letters were the best way, because if her parents answered a phone call, they would have to walk more than ten kilometers back and forth under the sun.
After dropping the letter into the mailbox, she turned around and found that the man who made her feel at ease was looking at her not far away.
She immediately ran towards him.
…
After the case entered the public prosecution stage, Xiao Bing's body was notified to his family and they were allowed to collect it in accordance with relevant regulations.
On the day of the funeral, Wu Yongcheng brought all the members of the Third Brigade and Lu Xiaoshuang to see Xiao Bing off for the last time.
Qiao Jiali went to the hospital to see Director Sun. She wanted to ask if she could bring Dong Lu to the funeral.
However, given Dong Lu's current special situation, the only remaining Xiaoshuang personality in her body is a closed type, and this environment may have an impact on her. Therefore, Director Sun does not recommend that they bring the person here.
Finally, after discussing it, the few of them decided to forget it.
Because Zhou Yi said that Dong Lu's original personality has left with Xiao Bing, I think they should hope that the still alive Xiaoshuang will forget them and start a new life.
Wu Yongcheng nodded and agreed with Zhou Yi.
For Dong Lu, who is still alive as Xiaoshuang, perhaps this is her new life.
Later, with the assistance of Director Sun, the police questioned "Dong Lu".
"Dong Lu" tells some of Xiaoshuang's past memories that she "saw" from her third perspective.
Most of these memories are consistent with the information the police have and Zhou Yi's speculation, such as what happened around the photo that Xiao Bing picked up, and Dong Lu seeing Lu Xiaoshuang through the window of dormitory 404.
But the most magical and bizarre thing was how Dong Lu got to the rooftop on the day Fan Tianyou took hostages.
Although the young policeman who was in charge of guarding Dong Lu at the time deserted his post, he was later punished for this.
At the same time, the hospital's daily management was not in place. The ventilation shaft was not locked as required, and there was an entrance on the floor of the psychiatric ward.
However, they still found it incredible that Dong Lu, who did not understand the hospital structure and had mental problems, climbed to the roof from the ventilation shaft.
But what was even more incredible was "Xiao Shuang's" answer. She said that it was her brother who guided her to climb to the top of the building.
This answer left everyone dumbfounded.
It's just that everyone knows it's impossible, but there is no way to confirm the authenticity of it with a patient.
Therefore, in the police's final case report, this issue remained an unsolved mystery.
Perhaps Zhou Yi was the only one who believed that this might really be the case.
Although he was a staunch materialist, he was reborn after all.
At the funeral, after relatives and friends bowed three times, Xiao Bing's body was pushed into the crematorium by the funeral home staff.
His mother's relatives burst into tears.
Zhou Yi was in an extremely heavy mood. The grand case was his obsession and his heart disease.
From the day he was reborn, he had been thinking about solving a grand case, so he tried every possible means to get close to the victim of the grand case, Lu Xiaoshuang.
But he never expected that Lu Xiaoshuang was just the tip of the iceberg of the grand case.
The real grand case is a huge iceberg hidden beneath the sea level, a human tragedy spanning more than 30 years.
If he had known about Xiao Bing and Dong Lu's miserable plight in his previous life, even though he couldn't change what happened eight years ago in this life, he would at least have kept them both safe.
Zhou Yi let out a long sigh and turned his head, only to find that Lu Xiaoshuang beside him was already in tears.
She bowed deeply again towards the door where Xiao Bing disappeared, tears dripping onto the ground.
"Teacher Xiao, thank you for saving my life. Goodbye."
Zhou Yi straightened up and handed over a tissue and said.
"Teacher Xiao passed away with his beloved, and the murderer who hurt them has been brought to justice. Although it's not perfect, at least they can be together."
Lu Xiaoshuang took the tissue, wiped the tears from her face, and said with a smile, "If there is an afterlife, I hope they can find each other in the vast sea of people and continue to be together."
Zhou Yi stretched out a hand and said, "I will."
Lu Xiaoshuang also reached out and held his warm and broad hand.
The two walked out of the funeral home's farewell hall hand in hand.
Wu Yongcheng and Jiang Biao were smoking under a tree opposite the farewell hall. Chen Yan was with them, but he was not smoking.
Qiao Jiali is not here. I don’t know where she went.
Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang walked over, and Lu Xiaoshuang called everyone politely, as if she was meeting their parents.
"Would you like one?" Wu Yongcheng asked, taking out his always wrinkled Daqianmen cigarette.
"No more. As soon as I follow you and smoke Daqianmen, I feel like I'm going to solve a case."
Zhou Yi's words frightened Wu Yongcheng so much that he shuddered and quickly put the cigarette box in his pocket. "Then don't smoke anymore. Director Xie and I are afraid of you. Especially Director Xie. He said that you've been at the Municipal Bureau for more than two months and we've handled more cases than we did in the previous two years. If there are more cases, he's afraid he'll have to watch over the reservoir."
Zhou Yi smiled awkwardly: "Captain Wu, you're exaggerating. You make it sound like I'm the murderer."
"Anyway, let's not bring any cases. Let's get some rest, brothers. Director Xie said that for the next two months, there will be no study sessions or meetings. As long as there are no cases, everyone should just rest and recuperate."
Zhou Yi nodded, because he had recalled it carefully over the past two nights. Apart from the savings bank robbery and murder case that might have been solved, Hongcheng would be peaceful for the next four months without any murders.
"Don't worry, Captain Wu. I have a feeling that things will be peaceful for a long time to come."
Wu Yongcheng said to Jiang Biao and Chen Yan, "See, I told you this guy can tell fortunes."
At this time, Qiao Jiali came over and asked, "Captain Wu, is it done?"
Zhou Yi was curious: "Sister Qiao, what's wrong?"
"It's okay. Captain Wu donated some money to the welfare home in the name of Xiao Bing and Dong Lu. He was worried that the welfare home might contact Xiao Bing's family later and cause misunderstandings, so he asked me to tell his relatives."
Zhou Yi looked at Wu Yongcheng in shock: "Captain Wu, why didn't you tell us about this?"
Wu Yongcheng threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out with his foot, and said, "Why should I tell you this? You are either single or you have families to support. I don't have much money to spend, and I'm old, so asking for money is useless."
Seeing Zhou Yi wanted to say something, Wu Yongcheng waved his hand and said, "If there's nothing else, just leave."
Then he said to Qiao Jiali, "Xiao Qiao, on your way back, please send Lu Xiaoshuang back to school. I want to chat with Zhou Yi."
Lu Xiaoshuang quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no, I can take the bus back by myself."
"Don't be polite, you are now a family member of our Third Brigade, one of us." Wu Yongcheng smiled at Zhou Yi, "Isn't it, Zhou Yi?"
Seeing Wu Yongcheng pointing at him, Zhou Yi said to Lu Xiaoshuang without any shame, "See, what I told you was right. Captain Wu is your uncle. He even admitted it himself."
Lu Xiaoshuang blushed, and Qiao Jiali pulled her and said, "Xiaoshuang, come, follow me, I'll take you home."
"Thank you, Sister Qiao." Lu Xiaoshuang followed Qiao Jiali, looked back at Zhou Yi, and mouthed: Bye.
…
On the way back to the bureau, Zhou Yi was driving and Wu Yongcheng was sitting in the passenger seat smoking.
The wind blowing in from the window was competing with Wu Yongcheng to smoke, and the sparks on the cigarette butt kept flickering.
"Has Dong Lu's matter been settled?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
He was referring to the time when they went to the provincial capital a few days ago and Zhou Yi took the time to visit Qin Beihai and his wife.
Qin Beihai said that he heard about Dong Lu's condition from his apprentice Wang Yao. He said that he had an old classmate who was a top national expert in burn skin grafting. After he told this old classmate about Dong Lu's condition, the other party was willing to treat Dong Lu free of charge.
Although severe burns cannot be cured, it would be great if her physical condition could be improved to a certain extent.
However, the prerequisite is to ensure that her mental state is stable first, because the skin grafting process is still very difficult and painful.
Perhaps in time, Dong Lu will be able to reintegrate into society with a new identity, which may not be a bad thing.
Zhou Yi nodded: "Well, Elder Qin said that when Dong Lu's condition is ready for treatment, let me tell him and he will make the arrangements."
Wu Yongcheng nodded, then said earnestly, "Zhou Yi, Qin Beihai, and Liang Wei are all influential figures in the provincial department. They all have a good impression of you, which will be very helpful for your future. Seize the opportunity."
"Well, Elder Qin and Captain Liang have both helped me a lot, and I've learned a lot from them. I've benefited greatly. But the most important person to me is the captain of the Third Brigade who promoted me from a grassroots police station."
"You little brat, you're such a smooth talker." Wu Yongcheng turned his face away, but the smile on the corner of his mouth was harder to suppress than AK.
"There's something I need to tell you today."
Wu Yongcheng's words made Zhou Yi panic.
"What's the matter?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly.
Wu Yongcheng replied: "I may not be able to serve as the captain of the Third Brigade soon."
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