Chapter 123
The news that Yang Xinyao brought about Jing Ling was actually related to Yun Shu to be more precise.
"Yunshu is in danger," Yang Xinyao said, "or it would be more appropriate to say that opportunities and risks coexist. If one compares a person's life to a road that keeps moving forward, every choice will result in one or more forks in the road. Some roads are only temporarily separated, taking a longer detour or shortening, and will eventually intersect with the original road, but some roads are completely separated once you take them. Maybe you will have the opportunity to see each other from a distance in the future, but you will never intersect again. Yunshu is now facing three roads, all of which are shrouded in thick fog. Behind the heavy fog, one is a broad road with beautiful scenery. After being rugged and bumpy at the beginning, it eventually extends to unimaginable heights. The other is an ordinary road, following the original direction, with no merits or demerits, and it is mediocre. As for the last one... one step over is a cliff thousands of feet high, and there is only one ending, that is, being smashed to pieces."
"She is about to reach this fork in the road, but she has no idea. Although it is possible for her to take any path in the end, she is closest to the most dangerous one right now."
"Jing Ling, I can't see your future. I don't know if you would interfere with Yun Shu's choice. Because of this variable, I can't even see Yun Shu's future. Just like the three paths she faces are shrouded in fog, what I see is also the same."
"Although we haven't known each other for long, I recognize her as a friend, and so do you."
"Jing Ling, you don't have much time."
Yang Xinyao's expression was more serious than ever before.
"Thank you, Xinyao!" Jing Ling said solemnly, "Don't worry about my help. I agreed. I'll tell you the details when I come back." Yang Xinyao came this time, saying that she wanted to ask him for help, but she only mentioned the matter in one sentence and kept talking about Yunshu's news instead. Regardless, he accepted the favor.
"Be careful on the road. If anything unexpected happens, go to where there is water." Yang Xinyao advised, and then said goodbye.
Jing Ling called Yun Shu first to ask about the specific situation. Although he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help but feel a little worried when he heard the tone of the call being unreachable in the receiver. After dialing twice more and getting the same result, Jing Ling no longer insisted and called Chen Ze instead, asking him to help book a flight to Jiuan.
Chen Ze had a bad feeling when he received the call, and he immediately got angry when he heard the request, "My little master, can you please stop thinking about it? Didn't we agree to celebrate the New Year together tomorrow? Miss Tan will be here tomorrow, and it's only half a day. Can't you wait?!"
"Or am I just too old to understand the way you young people think, playing with romance and surprises?!"
Jing Ling sighed softly, "Ah Ze, this time there is really something wrong. Yun Shu might be in danger. I can't get through to her on the phone, so we have to rush over as soon as possible."
Things have their priorities, and Shen Ze knows this clearly. "I'll book a plane ticket for you right now. Be careful when you get there!"
"Thank you, Aze!"
Shuangshan Town, Safety Supervision Station Office.
In the small room, the curtains at the front and back were tightly drawn, the lights were not on, and the light inside was a little dim. In the middle of a set of combined desks, at the innermost position against the wall, Fang Wei was leaning back in a chair with his legs crossed, his eyes looking straight ahead. There was an office computer there, which was currently playing a recently released police and gangster movie. The picture was not very clear, and one could vaguely see the border of the cinema's big screen. It was obviously a pirated recording.
The movie is getting exciting. The undercover police officer hid in the shadows, with the armed drug dealer just a stone's throw away, searching for him. The atmosphere was very tense.
At this moment, a chord ringing sound suddenly rang out in the quiet environment.
Oh no! The undercover felt bad. At the same time, the drug dealer turned around and fired continuously towards the place where the sound came from.
As if influenced by the movie, Fang Wei's mobile phone on the desk made a buzzing sound, then the screen lit up and a ringtone rang out.
There was a phone call from a relative at home.
Fang Wei hit the space bar to pause the movie, which was just about to begin when the undercover policeman escaped. He picked up his phone, swiped the screen to answer the call, put the receiver to his ear, and asked, "Uncle, what's the matter?"
The old man's voice came from the other end of the receiver, and it seemed a little nervous. "David, let me tell you, when I was cutting grass this morning, I passed by the pine forest and heard someone talking, so I went to take a look. Guess who I saw? Ding Xiaofeng, who lives in that unlucky place behind our village, and your new female mayor who is very beautiful. I heard them talking about the death of someone in the mine, the dead accountant, and some abandoned mine. I thought something was wrong, so I called you to tell you."
The unlucky place mentioned on the phone refers to the village where Ding Xiaofeng and people who have the same experience as her live. Those people were not originally from the same village, but they were relocated together after the incident. It was said to be a resettlement area. There were indeed people who moved here due to demolition or disasters, but they were still separated from the people who were being comforted, such as Ding Xiaofeng. Because almost everyone in these people's families had something bad happen to them, outsiders would not say anything about it in public, but behind their backs they would call that village a den of misfortune. The town leaders once said privately that it would be easier to supervise and manage these unstable factors by bringing them together.
The situation in Shuangshan Town is rather special. Maintaining stability is not just the responsibility of the political and legal system; almost all departments are involved. Especially in the past two years, the situation has been tense. I have emphasized in private more than once that we must pay more attention to all key focus targets. However, since everything had been peaceful for so many years, no one took it seriously, and then something happened. It happened together last year and this year, one was an accountant and the other was a widow. Fortunately it was handled in a timely manner, otherwise I don’t know what kind of trouble would have arisen.
Fang Wei didn't think about it at first, but after listening to what his uncle said on the phone, he knew something was wrong. He is the head of the Safety Supervision Station and has been working here for nearly twenty years. He knows a lot of inside information and is even involved in it. Before Deputy Mayor Tan Yunshu came, everyone was wondering whether he was sent by higher-ups. But when I met him in person, my original speculation was basically eliminated.
Because she is so beautiful, your words and actions will obviously not be that of an ordinary person, and she is very particular about her food, clothing, housing and transportation. Such a person could not possibly be an undercover agent, but rather a royal relative who came to gild his reputation. There have been similar examples in the past where senior leaders assigned people to positions and immediately transferred and promoted them once their term of office was up.
Empiricism coupled with gender discrimination makes everyone treat Yunshu as a second type of person.
I didn't expect this to happen now.
After he hung up the phone, he quickly called Deputy Mayor Liu, who was in charge of politics and law, to explain the situation and see how the higher-ups would decide.
Deputy Mayor Liu's name is Liu Chaogang. When Fang Wei called, he happened to be in the office, so he asked Fang Wei to come up and talk to him in person.
Fang Wei came to his office, closed the door, and whispered the details.
After listening to what Liu Chaogang said, he thought for a moment, opened the door and called the person on duty, "Zhang Jun, come to my office!"
"Liu Zhen is here!" Someone from the office responded, and soon someone came over. He was a boy in his twenties, tall and thin. "Liu Zhen, what's the matter?"
"How long has Tan Zhen been out?" Liu Chaogang asked.
Zhang Jun thought for a moment and replied, "About two hours."
"Did you bring a driver?"
"I don't know. Let me ask."
Zhang Jun found Tan Yunshu's driver's phone number and dialed it. After two beeps, the call was connected and he asked about the situation.
"Liu Zhen, Deng Hongxing said Tan Zhen didn't call him."
Liu Zhaogang nodded, "I understand. Go ahead. Close the door by the way."
After Zhang Jun left, Liu Chaogang said to Fang Wei, "Old Fang, something is wrong here. Although Xiaosonglin is not too far away, it still takes some time to walk there. Let's not talk about how Tan Yunshu got in touch with Ding Xiaofeng. It's a bit problematic that she went out without a driver. Especially the matter at the mine, and the accountant. We haven't found what he hid yet. Although we don't know what it is, it is still a big hidden danger."
"It's hard to say what the origins of Tan Yunshu are, but it's always better to be on guard."
"I'll report the situation to Mayor Zhou first and see what he says." After Liu Chaogang finished speaking, he called Mayor Zhou and explained the whole story first, and then mentioned his own views.
Mayor Zhou on the other end of the phone thought for a moment and gave instructions, "This matter must be taken seriously. We can't be careless at all! Call the police station and have someone go to the resettlement area to find Ding Xiaofeng to ask about the situation. Then have Fang Wei go back and check the records of the Safety Supervision Station to find out how many abandoned mines there are in the town, determine a range, and then take people to look for them one by one! Chao Gang, you keep an eye on it, I'll be here soon!"
"Okay, I got it, don't worry Zhou Zhen!"
After Yunshu separated from Ding Xiaofeng, he did not return to the government, but went directly to the abandoned mine. The distance was a bit far, so Yunshu followed Ding Xiaofeng's instructions and walked along the old road they had taken before. When he saw a dense bamboo forest on the side of the road, he continued walking along the road in the bamboo forest and went down to the river. A small path that is only wide enough for one person goes up along the river, winding its way upward, and finally over a hillside, where the abandoned mine can be seen in the distance.
When Yunshu was halfway through her walk, she slipped without noticing. She was fine, but the cell phone in her pocket accidentally fell into the water with a splash. She had no time to react and could only watch the phone sink to the bottom of the water. Unfortunately, the water there was unexpectedly deep, and there were mines along the coast, so the drinking water was polluted and turbid, and you couldn't see the bottom at a glance.
Yunshu stood there for a while, but had no choice but to leave.
There were weeds on both sides of the path. Although it was past noon, the sky was cloudy and the sun was not visible, and the thick dew had not yet dried up. When Yunshu climbed to the top of the hill with great difficulty, his trouser legs were so wet that water could be wrung out of them. She leaned against a dead tree and gasped for breath. She looked ahead and searched carefully. Then she saw a man-made cave entrance hidden among the dead trees and grass leaves halfway up the mountain. It was sealed up with wooden boards in a random manner. Abandoned machinery and traces of tracks could be vaguely seen around it. A road branched off from the main road at the foot of the mountain and led to there.
The mine that Ding Xiaofeng was referring to should be that one.
Yunshu rested for a while, caught his breath, and then continued on his way, following the path down the mountain towards the mine.
When Liu Chaogang called, Tan Yong had just hung up the phone at home. "Liu Zhen, what's the matter?" he asked after answering the phone. On the phone, Liu Chaogang briefly explained the situation to him and then conveyed the instructions of Mayor Zhou.
After hearing this, Tan Yong's eyebrows almost frowned together, "I see, I'll go over and take a look." After he said that, he hung up the phone, got up and left the office. When he passed the lobby, he asked the police officer on duty for the police car keys, went around to the parking lot at the back, got in the car and drove to the resettlement area.
The resettlement area is not too far from the police station, but the road is not very good and narrow. In addition, he was unlucky and was blocked by a car in the middle of the road. He honked the horn so many times that he lost count before the owner of the car came and drove away.
The police car drove all the way to the resettlement area and stopped at Building 4 where Ding Xiaofeng's home was located.
Turn off the engine, take out the key, get out of the car and close the door, all in one go. Then go straight up the corridor to the seventh floor. When he climbed to the corner of the fifth floor, he heard the sound of a door closing upstairs. He didn't pay attention, just held on to the stairs, took a few breaths, and continued to climb up.
The door of Ding Xiaofeng's house was closed. He stood at the door and knocked a few times, calling out as he knocked, "Ding Xiaofeng! Is Ding Xiaofeng here?"
I knocked for about two minutes, but no one answered. He knocked on the door of the resident opposite, and soon the door opened. A woman in her thirties stood in the door frame, looked at him, and asked impatiently, "Director Tan, what's the matter?"
Tan Yong pointed at Ding Xiaofeng's door and said, "I knocked on the door for a long time but no one opened it. I wanted to ask if Ding Xiaofeng was home."
Hearing this, the woman looked at him carefully, then shook her head. "I was sleeping just now and didn't notice whether she was at home or not. If you have anything, just call her." After that, she slammed the door.
Tan Yong cursed out loud, then took out his cell phone and called the village. After asking for Ding Xiaofeng's number, he dialed it.
Beep...beep...Sorry, the number you dialed is busy, please call again later!
Tan Yong called again, but the call was still ongoing. He walked around the seventh floor with his cell phone for a few times and called Ding Xiaofeng again. But this time the phone was turned off! He was so angry that he kicked the stainless steel stair handrail.
The cell phone vibrated. It was Liu Chaogang calling.
"Hello, Liu Zhen."
"Tan Yong, how's the questioning going?" Liu Chaogang asked about the progress on the phone.
"I don't know where Ding Xiaofeng went. I knocked on the door for a long time but no one opened it. I asked the village for her phone number, but it was turned off and I couldn't get in touch with her." Tan Yong briefly explained the situation.
"Forget it if you can't find it. Tell the villagers to keep an eye out and call you if they see Ding Xiaofeng. Fang Wei checked the records and found that there are many abandoned mines in the town. They are distributed over a wide area and are difficult to find. Go to Dashu Village and Fang Wei's uncle's house and ask again to see if you can get something useful."
"Okay, I'll go right away!"
Tan Yong hung up the phone, held the handrail of the stairs with one hand, and quickly went downstairs.
The footsteps gradually disappeared in the empty corridor, and then the sound of a car engine was heard. The police car drove away from the four buildings and left along the main road towards Dashu Village.
The door on the fifth floor suddenly opened, and a woman in plain clothes and with a hunched back, holding a little boy of a few years old in the hand, walked up the stairs to the seventh floor, took out the key from her pocket, and opened the door that Tan Yong had been knocking on for a long time.
It was Ding Xiaofeng and her grandson.
Just as the door opened, before it could be closed, the door opposite also opened. The woman who had not treated Tan Yong well before poked her head out of the door and said to Ding Xiaofeng, "Sister Ding, Tan Yong from the police station knocked on your door just now. He didn't look very happy. I heard him call Liu Chaogang in the town and said he asked the village for your phone number but couldn't get through. What are they trying to do now?"
When Ding Xiaofeng heard this, she immediately thought of what happened this morning, and Tan Yunshu's beautiful face flashed through her mind. Her first reaction was to wonder if she had seen the wrong person, but when she thought about the girl's expression and eyes at the time, she didn't look like a bad person.
"Yufen, lend me your cell phone." She borrowed the phone from her neighbor, took out a piece of paper from her bag, folded it several times, and it looked a little wrinkled. She unfolded the paper, which had a number written on it, and dialed the number accordingly.
Time seems long at this moment, giving people the illusion that each second feels like a year. It felt like a long time had passed, but in fact it was only a few seconds, and a voice came from the receiver -
"Sorry, the number you dialed is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later!" The Chinese version was followed by the English version. After repeating it twice, a busy tone came from the receiver and the call ended automatically.
Ding Xiaofeng held the cell phone in one hand and the crumpled note in the other, and suddenly felt a surge of fear and regret in her heart. The fear comes from not knowing what will happen next, and the regret comes from easily trusting people and taking this gamble.
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