Li Xiangdong and Zhou Hongsong were almost right.
This pig butcher, Zhou Rujin, was not a local of eastern Zhejiang. More than ten years ago, he committed a horrific crime that wiped out an entire family in his hometown.
The family consisted of four people. Except for the daughter-in-law who was out working and escaped, Zhou Rujin killed the entire family of three: the parents, who were over fifty years old, and a man in his thirties. They were all decapitated and lay in pools of blood.
Zhou Rujin's methods of killing were extremely ruthless; he would always cut off the head with a single stroke, leaving no flesh untouched.
The police at the time asserted that the perpetrator was definitely a young and strong man, and most likely someone who worked in slaughtering or similar professions.
Because this technique is too skillful.
Moreover, this person must have a very strong mental fortitude.
There were no surveillance cameras or eyewitnesses at the time, and the neighbors didn't hear a sound in the middle of the day.
There were no eyewitnesses, and Zhou Rujin acted so secretly that he didn't leave any footprints or handprints. Despite the large amount of police resources invested in the case, the establishment of a special task force, and the invitation of many provincial experts, the case remained unsolved.
Moreover, the victim's wife later left home heartbroken, and no one pursued the matter any further.
As time passed, this family annihilation case became an unsolved mystery, remaining buried to this day.
But how did the old director recognize Zhou Rujin today?
It turns out that he was also a member of the task force at the time, and over the years, he has never given up on pursuing the case.
The reason he acted so quickly today and arrested Zhou Rujin was because, a few years later, when he was conducting a door-to-door investigation, an old woman said that when she went out to get water, she saw a man walk past her door.
That man was quite strange; in the middle of summer, he wrapped himself up completely, even covering his head with a black cloth.
The old police chief immediately sensed something was wrong; his intuition told him that this was the murderer.
As he was leaving, the old woman said something else: she said the man reached out and scratched his head, and she seemed to see that the man had seven fingers.
Six fingers are not uncommon in the population, but seven fingers are quite rare.
Just as he was about to ask for more details, the old woman suddenly fell ill. The family's son said that the old woman had Alzheimer's disease and often talked nonsense.
The former police chief later reported this lead. The task force believed that the witness had intellectual disabilities and that since the case had been going on for a long time, the witness was very likely to have memory lapses.
The old police chief was unwilling to give up and insisted on conducting a city-wide search for people with seven fingers, but after a lot of searching, he still couldn't find the suspect.
It was because of his persistence that the old police chief came to eastern Zhejiang and became an unknown police station chief.
Today, when Zhou Rujin appeared in front of him, he glanced at Zhou Rujin's right hand and his heart skipped a beat!
Although Zhou Rujin's right hand has five normal fingers, there are two obvious round scars next to his thumb, with lumps of flesh growing on the scars.
The old director suspected that the two scars were likely caused by the two extra fingers being cut off.
After being arrested and interrogated, Zhou Rujin confessed very quickly.
He did indeed kill that family of three.
When the old police chief asked him about his motive for the murder, Zhou Rujin laughed arrogantly and said that he had no motive. He was just feeling unwell that day and had drunk some alcohol. The victim bumped into him on the street and even cursed at him. He got angry, followed them home, and then stabbed them with a knife.
The old director didn't quite believe his motives, but no matter how much he asked, Zhou Rujin remained silent.
Finally, the case was reported, and the long-standing cold case was solved. The old police chief was commended, and Zhou Rujin was sentenced to death.
Zhou Hongsong and Li Xiangdong were also commended for their acts of bravery, each receiving a certificate and a prize with a large red silk flower on their backs.
The villagers of Sishibawan Village jokingly wanted to celebrate Li Xiangdong and Zhou Hongsong's success, but Li Xiangdong refused.
"We've been here for quite a while now, so there's no need for a celebration. Let's all have a meal together!"
The meal was eaten in the village, but Li Xiangdong paid for all the ingredients, and the village aunties and grandmas got together to cook it.
Chicken, fish, pork knuckle, rice cakes, and everything else are available. The dishes are cooked in a large pot over a high flame, giving them a wonderful wok hei (wok aroma) and making them delicious. Adults and children alike are all completely satisfied with their meal.
Li Xiangdong, along with Zhou Hongsong, Chen Zaohua, Feng Yucai, and Fang Shilan, sat at the main table, accompanied by the old village chief and Fu Youcai, among others.
During the meal, the old village chief said to Li Xiangdong with reluctance, "I wish you were one of our villagers."
Li Xiangdong laughed, "We run the bonsai garden together, so I'm practically half a member of Forty-Eight Bays Village now!"
The old village chief held Li Xiangdong's left hand and Zhou Hongsong's right hand, saying, "We've all discussed it. We'll build you a house in the village, so you'll have a home when you come. You don't need to pay for the construction; we'll cover it! You must come often!"
People at other tables chimed in, "Yes! Let's build Boss Li the tallest, biggest, and best house in the whole village!"
Li Xiangdong stood up gratefully and bowed to everyone. He felt a little ashamed, saying, "How could I possibly deserve such kindness from my fellow villagers!"
Ultimately, he came to Forty-Eight Bays Village to make money, and he profited the most from this Five-Needle Pine incident.
Even if the bonsai garden starts exporting in the future, Li Xiangdong will still make the lion's share of the profits.
However, it is clear that the people of Sishibawan Village do not think that way.
“Mr. Li, if you hadn’t come to the village to set up the bonsai garden, we would still be working outside right now!”
"Exactly! People who work hard outside, enduring wind and rain, don't earn as much in a year as they do in a month now! And they can't even see their parents, wives, and children!"
"Besides, if it weren't for you, how could we have made so much money all at once!"
"Yeah, yeah! If someone were truly unscrupulous, they would have bought all the Japanese white pine bonsai themselves. How could they possibly make a fortune for us?"
After all, five-needle pine bonsai were rare and cheap back then, and no one in the family regarded them as treasures.
Although Li Xiangdong acquired a lot of Japanese white pine bonsai from them at the time, after the establishment of the bonsai garden, any Japanese white pine bonsai he acquired were considered assets of the bonsai garden.
You should know that the money to buy these five-needle pine bonsai was all paid out of Li Xiangdong's own pocket. Even if he said it was his own, the people of Sishibawan Village couldn't say anything about it!
But they're so kind; they just gave up such a huge profit without hesitation.
Many of the villagers present asked themselves honestly, and they realized they couldn't do it!
Looking into those sincere, grateful eyes, Li Xiangdong felt a surge of warmth in his heart.
This is our people. As long as you eat meat and share some meat broth with them, they will be incredibly grateful to you, love you, and support you.
After the meal, Li Xiangdong still had something on his mind, so he whispered a few words to Fu Youcai.
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