Chapter 59, "The Deliveryman": He was reading "Male Virtue." ...
For someone from a small town to have the ability to hide a corpse for so many years, the murderer must have a powerful background. The presence of the Ma brothers' theater cards at the crime scene confirms this.
But Sun Dali said they paid to report Zhong Yinghuai. Jian Dieda couldn't understand why a thug who dared to commit murder would be afraid of the restaurant.
Suddenly, Sun Dali's pocket vibrated. Jian Dieda looked at the pocket and gestured for him to answer the phone. Sun Dali, who was in pain all over, hissed and opened the phone: "Hello, oh, I... Jian Xiaoshi and I will be back soon..."
Jian Dieda sat on the flour sack, nudging the fat man with his knee: "Who is it? Ninth Brother?"
Ninth Brother, Ninth Brother, always Ninth Brother! Does the whole world not know that Ninth Brother and you, Jian Xiaoshi, are inseparable?
Not daring to make a fuss, Sun Dali said furtively, "It's... Old Ji is here. He said Ninth Brother bought some supplies and specifically asked him to deliver them. Jian, Jian Xiaoshi, I swear, I'm not here to tip you off. Could you let me be a witness... I might be able to help Ninth Brother deal with the Ma brothers!"
Jane lowered her eyelids.
"Narrator, regardless of whether he's the ultimate wolf or not, Sun Dali is still a wolf. Can't he just kill Sun Dali and be done with it?"
Narrator: "No, only the deliveryman and the murderer could stab each other."
Jane Dieda pondered the character's motives and actions once more.
A few seconds later, Jian Dieda said, "Sun Dali, as far as I know, Ninth Brother went to the police station today. We can't let what happened last time go by like this."
Sun Dali was so frightened that his tongue trembled. What? The police are coming downstairs right away. He didn't want to go to jail. He was just a worker. What if Brother Jiu didn't care about their past relationship and sent him in too?
Thinking of Xiangxiang's reaction after being frightened last time, Sun Dali couldn't stop crying. What's the point of living if a boy loses his first love?
Jian Dieda understood his reaction. He went over and helped the fat man limp out of the building. When they passed by Sun Dali in room 107 again, he cried and asked, "Waaah...waaah...Jian Xiaoshi, can I borrow some money from you? I heard that everything costs money in the detention center. Jian Xiaoshi, we were colleagues after all..."
Jane did not speak.
Sun Dali was still unwilling to give up: "Jian Xiaoshi... help me, I'll give you the money, all that money, and this gold chain too."
Jian Dieda said, "Do you really think everyone is like you? They gave you that little bit of money to tell everyone about the noodle shop. Who did Sister Xiangxiang offend this time? Let me ask you something else. Don't you feel that there's something in 107 that you can't let go of?"
Jian Dieda sensed that Sun Dali was quite frightened again. Unable to stand steadily, he took out a cigarette from his pocket, perhaps trying to calm himself down, and put one in his mouth.
Sun Dali asked, "You mean... a ghost? A ghost is looking for someone to seek justice."
Jane Dieda: "Ever since that time I delivered takeout in your place, I've been dreaming of a woman climbing the steps next to me, leaving bloody handprints as she goes. I don't dare tell anyone, because no one would believe me."
Sun Dali froze. He was so frightened by the bloody handprint that he dropped his cigarette and his lips trembled.
"I believe..."
Jane Dieda: "You've had this dream too, haven't you? That ghost came looking for you, which is why you used the torn-up coins to ward off disaster."
Speechless, Sun Dali stared at the empty space at the top of the stairs, imagining a victim endlessly thrashing about like a dead fish, twisting and turning violently.
What exacerbated the conflict was that he thought of Xiangxiang again.
Logically, Jian Xiaoshi should have been the unlucky one that day, but Zhong Yinghuai gave Jian Xiaoshi the day off and went out drinking himself.
Xiangxiang was being spied on.
Sun Dali knew that he bore the greatest responsibility.
He could disregard other things, but he couldn't tolerate this. Before this, he had already called the two brothers, but they didn't answer. He was puzzled, so he came here in person.
“Jian Xiaoshi… I really didn’t lie. The Ma brothers never told me why people kept ordering takeout here… but I really didn’t help them… I just heard someone calling for help, but when I came out… there was no one in the hallway…”
As he spoke, he felt his lips go dry, swallowed several times, and his eyes unconsciously stared at the light above him, as if he had a feeling that something was about to happen.
What you fear most is what happens.
The lamp shook again.
"Fairy, spare me!" Sun Dali cried, grabbing Jian Dieda and wailing, "Jian Xiaoshi, have Ninth Brother arrest me and put me in jail! I don't want to die at the hands of a ghost!"
Jane Diedda said, "You wish."
Sun Dali was momentarily stunned: "..."
“Today’s surveillance was my own idea. I noticed you were acting strangely a long time ago,” Jian Dieda said. “The Ma brothers are quite famous in the area, right? Ninth Brother runs a small business. How could he directly call the police and anger them? If the person is released because there is no evidence, won’t he retaliate against him?”
Sun Dali was filled with remorse: "But besides the police, who can save Ninth Brother?"
Jane Dieda, the woman designated by Boss Zhong, said, "You don't need to ask any more questions, just come with me. The savior has already appeared."
Sun Dali looked around: "I don't see him. Where is he? I can't let Ninth Brother be dragged down by two useless little chicks like us."
Jane Diedda: "..."
Three seconds later, the obnoxious Sun Dali fell to the ground and screamed a second time, "Why did you kick my butt and poke my nose, Jian Xiaoshi—"
"Don't alert them."
Jian Dieda grabbed Sun Dali with both hands again. Sun Dali, who had been beaten, submitted and obediently followed. When they returned to the noodle shop, Lao Ji was carrying a bag of pig hearts and a packet of Chinese herbal medicine. Jian Dieda and Sun Dali exchanged glances and decided to send Lao Ji away first.
Sun Dali didn't say a word and started unloading the large cargo from the truck.
Old Ji didn't seem to notice anything wrong. He just asked, "Why does Sun Dali always walk with his hind legs splayed out, like he has shit in his pants?"
After finishing their work, the three chatted for a bit.
Since Zhong Yinghuai wasn't at the shop, Lao Ji suggested treating them to clay pot soup and wontons nearby today.
The chef was treating, and Jian Dieda and Sun Dali readily agreed. The three of them came over and ordered one dish with an egg, one with a meat pie, and three bowls of black garlic oil wontons.
Old Ji said, "When you were little, the pig's heart and Chinese medicine I brought were bought for you by Ninth Brother. Do you know what he's going to use them for?"
Jian Dieda thought for a moment, "Is it some local folk remedy for skin conditions? Where did Ninth Brother get it?"
Old Ji shook his head, his face bearing scars that gave him a simple and honest look. "I don't understand this."
Upon hearing this, Jian Dieda picked up his third bowl of wontons, intending to take a bite, when he inadvertently saw the hairdresser from that morning.
The blonde hairdresser and her girlfriends also came to eat the clay pot soup.
Amidst laughter, two hairdressers were commenting on three men at the next table, their dialect undoubtedly something that Jian Dieda, the time traveler, couldn't understand that morning.
Sun Dali overheard this and turned around to curse, "Damn, he's saying I'm not as good as Lao Ji."
Old Ji said, "Are they talking about us?"
Jane Dieda, holding the spoon, paused in his hand movements. He suddenly realized something, as if two loose threads and a needle had appeared in his mind.
All along, under the narrator's test, the chaotic clue diagram presented strange discrepancies. He held the needle and threaded the line through the void, and a guess that was about to emerge was also jumping on his lips.
Twelve o'clock passed in the blink of an eye.
Jian Dieda closed the door. He had just watched Lao Ji leave the Third Shop when he turned around and saw Sun Dali sneak into the bed where he and Zhong Yinghuai had slept for several nights.
Sitting on the bed, wanting to flip through a magazine featuring beautiful women, Sun Dali said, "Ninth Brother is indeed Ninth Brother. Doesn't he watch porn before going to bed at night?"
Jane quietly took the unopened rubber cover from under the pillow and said, "I'm not looking."
Sun Dali: "Then what does he read? He doesn't have a woman, he doesn't go to hair salons, and he doesn't even read magazines."
Jian Dieda: "He read 'Male Virtue'."
Sun Dali clicked his tongue: "There are books like this? A man with something in his belly really does smell good."
That's not necessarily true. Jian Dieda, relying on their mutual understanding, attacked the fat man, saying, "There's something in the large intestine too. Some people, no matter how much they eat, are still pretty much like the large intestine."
Sun Dali: "………………"
Given that it was unlikely that the two would win even if they fought, Sun Dali retracted his earlier praise of Jian Xiaoshi for being quite sensible: "Then why do you keep saying that stinky thing? You're still so annoying, who can stand you?"
During the conversation, a car stopped in front of the shop, and a very tolerant person went back to the noodle shop.
Zhong Yinghuai glanced inside the door and initially smiled at his darling's expression as he pushed the door open. However, upon seeing the third wheel, Sun Dali, the corners of his mouth dropped noticeably.
They were just waiting for Zhong Yinghuai's clues. Jian Dieda said to his boss, "Dali, why aren't you leaving yet? Do you really want Brother Jiu's overtime pay that badly?"
What's even more infuriating is that Zhong Yinghuai also smiled at Jian Dieda, and added insult to injury, "Yes, Dali, shouldn't you have left work long ago? I can't afford to pay overtime."
Sun Dali: "..." I shouldn't be here, I should be under the car.
That's right, why does he always feel like there's something off about these two people?
After chasing the people away, Jian Dieda closed the door and asked, "Ninth Brother, are you tired?"
Shaking his head, Zhong Yinghuai said, "Your mom called yesterday, right? That's why you stayed up all night playing on QQ, and didn't even tell me this morning."
Jane Dieda had a bad feeling: "She contacted you?"
That's exactly what happened. Zhong Yinghuai had just arrived at the police station when Zhang Mei suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started harassing him at the intersection without saying a word.
"Mr. Zhong! I've finally run into you. Please, have mercy and lend me some money. My husband and I are looking for our daughter, Jian Xiaoshi, but she refuses to help her mother! You're in business, please help a woman like me."
Out of consideration for the pregnant woman, Zhong Yinghuai didn't make a scene or open the window. He drove straight into the police station. He wasn't stupid; he didn't need to think too hard about who was telling the truth between Jian Dieda and Zhang Mei.
Jian Dieda suddenly realized that what Zhang Mei really cared about that day was money: "Why did you have to borrow money from my sister?"
Zhong Yinghuai didn't understand either. Zhang Mei obviously wouldn't tell the truth about what was going on behind the scenes. Only after she left did Zhong Yinghuai go to the police station and hear a lot of news.
His cousin also explained to him in the reception room the background and consequences of the investigation into the identity of the female victim.
"The girl whose body was found a couple of days ago is named Ruan Lili. She really does look a bit like Li Qian," Zhong Yinghuai recalled what the girl who was in the same grade as Jian Xiaoshi looked like. The first thing that came to mind was the injured little face in the two-inch photo.
My police cousin told them, "When I went to investigate, I found out that Ruan Lili's parents were not human. They would beat and scold her at the drop of a hat. After entering high school, Ruan Lili couldn't stand it, so she skipped school, left home, and got a boyfriend."
"The strange thing is that the guy was a scumbag too. He took her clubbing, to hotels, and after losing at mahjong, he gave her to the Ma brothers' backers, the 'Two Ma Army'."
"The Ma brothers were a bunch of thugs. They considered themselves the eldest and second eldest among them. At first, they collected protection money from hair salons and restaurants. Later, they gathered a large number of young women and opened a chain of Royal Bathhouses."
"Poor Ruan Lili was dragged in and forced to work as an hourly worker. Despite several local rectifications this year, the bathhouse has continued to operate. The employees all said that their boss had run away to another place. Now it seems that the two murders, which occurred so long apart, are related to the same bathhouse. Could it really have been the work of the Ma brothers?"
Zhong Yinghuai turned to Jian Dieda and said, "You may not know these Ma brothers. They are the owners of the Ma Daha Bathhouse. They have some grudges against me, Lao Ji, and me."
Zhong Yinghuai then recounted the events in detail, saying that two months ago, some of the Ma brothers' men came over for noodles and had a conflict with Lao Ji.
At that time, one of the underlings insisted that Lao Ji looked familiar. Lao Ji didn't say anything, but a bunch of hooligans started swearing and even forced Lao Ji to give them a free meal.
Zhong Yinghuai couldn't help but take action.
The Ma brothers were immediately displeased when they heard about it.
Nanping is their territory. Zhong Yinghuai is refined and courteous, but he is unruly and will eventually cause the people around him to disobey them.
So they found a man with body odor to sneak into the noodle shop and disrupt Zhong Yinghuai's plan to open three stores.
Unexpectedly, Zhong Yinghuai vigilantly installed an expensive surveillance camera.
Jian Dieda understood at this point. It seemed that they had already tried to take them down one by one. Wasn't Zhong Yinghuai determined to go against the Ma brothers? Then they would destroy this small noodle shop.
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Author's Note: Here it is!
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-12-20 20:30:59 and 2023-12-23 00:02:04!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Lu Qiling (10 bottles); and the person who just happened to be passing by (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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