Chapter 25: Fork in the Road
The cold wind of March blew, ruffling the loose hair on Xia Muchan's forehead.
She shook her head and pointed in the direction of the village entrance: "Let's go to Aunt Gui's house. She was the one who said that my mother ran away with Sun Guangsheng, a second-rate guy from the next village. I want to ask clearly."
Xia Changchun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."
The Aunt Gui that Xia Mufan mentioned is Xia Changchun's brother's wife, Sun Guixiang. She loves to gossip and talk about family matters. She has offended countless people with her words. Xia Changchun has criticized her many times for this, but she just won't change. Now that the police have come to our door, it really proves the old saying - trouble comes from the mouth.
Xia Mufan and his party, surrounded by villagers, came to a newly built two-story brick house.
It is now 1996. With the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, a group of people in the countryside have become rich first. Xia Changchun's younger brother Xia Changgui worked as a chef in the south and earned a good salary. After making money, he returned to the village and built a new house with large glass sliding windows, small white tiles, and blue-gray cement floors, which looked very grand.
After the sixth day of the first lunar month, Xia Changgui took his youngest son to work in the south, leaving only Sun Guixiang and his eldest son and daughter-in-law at home. Seeing so many people coming towards her home, Sun Guixiang thought there was going to be some excitement in the village again, so she grabbed a handful of melon seeds and stood at the gate, blinking her triangular eyes and smiling from ear to ear, completely unaware that she would become the source of gossip.
Arriving at the new house, the leader Xia Changchun looked at Sun Guixiang with an unhappy face: "Guixiang, where are Shunzi and the others?"
Sun Guixiang spat out a mouthful of melon seed shells on the ground and said, "I went to the town to do some work."
Xia Changchun said, "Hurry up and make some tea. These police officers want to know something from you."
Sun Guixiang then noticed the seven olive-green figures in the crowd and was startled: "What are you doing? What do you want me for, police comrade? I'm just a rural woman, doing housework and taking care of my grandchildren at home. I haven't broken any law. If you want to catch those gamblers, just go to Old Yang's house in Shangwuchang. They've opened a betting site for ten days during the Chinese New Year..."
Xia Changchun secretly hated this bitch for not shutting up, so he raised his voice and yelled, "Answer whatever the police officer asks, don't talk nonsense about others!"
Ever since Xia Changchun became the director of the village committee, his authority has gradually grown. His roar really scared Sun Guixiang a little. She muttered as she welcomed him into the main room and poured him some hot tea.
When the hot tea was brought to Xia Mufan, Sun Guixiang stared at her face blankly and asked hesitantly: "You, you are..."
Xia Mufan glanced at her.
This familiar look made Sun Guixiang open her mouth wide. She didn't even feel the heat from holding the hot tea. After a long while, she said, "Fanfan... has become a police officer."
Oh my god, Sun Guixiang felt that something was wrong. She had said a lot of bad things about Xu Shumei in the past. Xia Mufan had always had a bad temper and was vindictive since he was a child. Not only did he beat her youngest son, he also threw feces water at her house. Now that she is a police officer, she is not planning to take revenge on her and arrest her and put her in jail, right?
Thinking of this, Sun Guixiang tried hard to force a smile and began to flatter him dryly: "Fanfan, you have been smart and ambitious since you were a child. I knew you would have a great future. Children of your age are still working in other places, but you were admitted to university and have a government salary. You are amazing."
Xia Mufan curled the corners of his mouth and said nothing.
She and Sun Guixiang's family had been fighting since they were young. Although she had been beaten countless times by her grandmother, Sun Guixiang had been afraid of her since then. Especially her youngest son, Xia Weiliang, would hide when he saw her.
It's really rare to hear such flattery coming out of Sun Guixiang's mouth for the first time.
Seeing that the team leader didn't say anything, Gong Weiguo immediately came out to take the lead.
He showed his police ID and said with a stern face: "Comrade Sun Guixiang, right? Do you know what the crime of fabricating rumors is? Those who fabricate false information and spread it, and seriously disrupt social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or control."
Gong Weiguo has a respectable appearance. All matters related to police reports and media interviews in the serious crime unit are handed over to him for handling. Over time, he has developed his own set of rhetoric to deal with them. Now he put on airs and acted like a bluff, which frightened Sun Guixiang so much that her face turned pale.
Sun Guixiang had no idea how many rumors she had spread before. She was used to exaggerating, cutting out the beginning and the end, and exaggerating. She only cared about being bizarre, fresh, and eye-catching, and never tried to distinguish the truth from the false. In the past, at most, the person involved would come to her house and complain a few words. Now, for the first time, she heard that she might be sentenced for spreading rumors. Her heart suddenly floated in the air, and she looked at Xia Changchun in panic: "Brother, you have to save me. I, I don't want to go to jail."
Xia Changchun didn't know much about the law, and was frightened by Gong Weiguo's words. He stamped his feet and cursed with gritted teeth: "You, you, you kill people with your broken mouth!"
In the main room, seven policemen in dignified uniforms had serious faces;
A group of villagers outside the house dared not breathe.
This scene completely destroyed Sun Guixiang's gossiping and showing-off spirit. At this moment, there was only one thought in her mind: she must not go to jail.
She turned her gaze to Xia Mufan, who had been silent the whole time, and slapped herself hard, her face covered with tears and snot. "Yes, yes, it's all my fault! Fanfan, you grew up under my care. Now that you're a police officer, you can't just watch me get arrested, right? What did I say wrong? You have to tell me, I apologize, I make amends, I'll pay the fine, okay?"
Sun Guixiang slapped herself and blew a snot bubble, which burst with a "pop" sound. The originally serious scene suddenly became funny and the onlookers burst into laughter.
"It's her fault! This damn woman is always making trouble."
"My brother-in-law had originally proposed a wife, but Sun Guixiang made up a lie that my brother-in-law was caught and fined for having sex outside, so the other party came to cancel the engagement."
"Do you remember that girl Honghong? Sun Guixiang said she was selling her body to make money, which made her parents feel ashamed."
Hearing the villagers' discussions outside the house, Sun Guixiang began to sweat on her back.
Which sentence was wrong? Which incident caused the rumor? Why did the police come to your door? Why are they sentencing her?
Countless question marks lit up in my mind, but there was no answer.
The fear of the unknown made Sun Guixiang feel that she began to have difficulty breathing. She looked at Xia Mufan with dull eyes, and suddenly an idea came to her mind: "Fanfan, do you have anything to ask me? If you ask, I promise to tell you the truth and not tell a single lie."
The preliminary preparations were basically in place, so Xia Mufan asked, "When I was eight years old, you told the villagers that my mother ran away with Sun Guangsheng, a second-rate scion of Santang Village. Why?"
"ah?"
When Sun Guixiang heard about this, she was a little confused and subconsciously began to excuse herself, "No, I also heard it from others, really, I didn't make up a rumor."
Xia Mufan sneered.
Gong Weiguo raised his voice: "Comrade Sun Guixiang, please think about this carefully."
Sun Guixiang shuddered and raised her hands: "Okay, okay, let me think about it." She slowly sat down against the wall, trying to find the ins and outs of what she had said from her muddled memory.
No one spoke in the main room, only the sound of breathing could be heard.
The villagers outside the house began to whisper, and the buzzing sound penetrated into Sun Guixiang's ears, giving her tremendous psychological pressure.
After a while, Sun Guixiang finally figured out some clues.
"Comrade police officer, I am truly wronged!"
"After Xu Shumei disappeared, the rumor in the village was that she ran away with an educated youth who was admitted to university. This was said by her mother-in-law and has nothing to do with me."
"It was almost two or three years later. I went back to my parents' home for the New Year and heard about something. Sun Guangsheng, the thief from Santang Village, had been away for so long and came home for the New Year. He had become a millionaire and looked so impressive that many people were jealous."
"I asked at the time when Sun Guangsheng disappeared, and his family said March 1980. I thought, wow, it's about the same time as Xu Shumei's disappearance. Later, I found an opportunity to ask Sun Guangsheng if he knew where Xu Shumei had gone. He seemed quite nervous at the time and kept asking where she had gone."
"Oh, by the way, I remember someone in the village asked him how he made his money, and he proudly replied: I make money from women."
At this point, Sun Guixiang slapped her thigh and said, "Think about it, the two disappeared one after the other, and Sun Guangsheng came home two or three years later with a lot of money. It's possible that the two of them had an affair!"
At this point, Sun Guixiang met Xia Mufan's gaze and said pitifully, "I, I was just guessing, I just said it casually, I didn't expect that later it would be spread as your mother ran off with a second-rate guy..."
Sun Guangsheng and Xu Shumei.
One is a second-rate guy from Santang Village, and the other is a young wife from Wupi Village.
Sun Guixiang forced these two people who had absolutely nothing in common together with just her words.
After hearing what she said, Xia Changchun couldn't help but spit on the ground: "Bah! It's not certain whether Sun Guangsheng knows Xu Shumei or not, what basis do you have to say that they are having an affair?"
Sun Guixiang cried out, "Brother, although I like to gossip about other people, I never make up stories. How could Sun Guangsheng not recognize Xu Shumei? Our two villages are only two miles apart. Sun Guangsheng is lazy and wanders around everywhere, with his eyes fixed on those beautiful girls and young wives. When I went back to my parents' home, he even came to me to ask if Xu Shumei had any unmarried sisters."
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Sister-in-law Guixiang, I remember you told me that Sun Guangsheng had long been interested in Xu Shumei and chose to pick her up on the way to town to deliver food. The two of them had an affair and then ran away together. You said it so convincingly that I thought you saw it with your own eyes, but it turns out you made it up!"
This sentence drew the agreement from the other women.
"Yes, Guixiang can really make something dead come alive."
"You tell a story that has no shadow as if it were real."
"Don't blame Fanfan for throwing shit at your doorstep. You deserved it!"
Xia Mufan's eyes turned dark.
Originally, the rumors about Xu Shumei had gradually dissipated two or three years after her disappearance, but they became a hot topic again because Sun Guixiang made a big fuss about the affair between Sun Guangsheng and Xu Shumei. Although Xia Mufan was only eight years old, she was able to fight against Sun Guixiang on her own. Not only did she beat Sun Guixiang's youngest son, who was three years older than her, into a pig's head, she also picked up a bucket of manure and poured it in front of her main hall.
Although Xia Mufan's resistance was later suppressed by her grandmother, Sun Guixiang became afraid of her and dared not talk nonsense again.
Now that the old matter was brought up again, Xia Mufan became even calmer.
——Behind the rumors, there are some thought-provoking coincidences.
Sun Guangsheng and Xu Shumei disappeared at the same time;
Sun Guangsheng once had evil thoughts about Xu Shumei;
Sun Guangsheng returned home two or three years later, and looked nervous when he mentioned Xu Shumei;
Sun Guangsheng makes money from women.
Connecting these information together, is there a possibility that Xu Shumei was abducted by Sun Guangsheng?
It was not that Sun Guangsheng and Xu Shumei had an affair, but that Sun Guangsheng accidentally met Xu Shumei who was delivering food to the town, and on a whim he abducted her and made money from it, and thus embarked on the criminal path of trafficking women for money.
Thinking of this, Xia Mufan looked at Sun Guixiang: "Sun Guangsheng makes money from women, how does he do it?"
Sun Guixiang stammered for a long time but didn't say a word.
Xia Changchun was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. He slammed the table heavily and said, "It's already this late, and you still don't tell the truth! Do you want to go to jail?"
Sun Guixiang glanced at Xia Mufan secretly and said cautiously, "I, I dare not say anything, for fear that you will accuse me of spreading rumors again."
Before Xia Mufan could say anything, Gong Weiguo had already yelled, "Behave yourself!"
Gong Weiguo's roar was quite powerful like Yue Yuan's, and it frightened Sun Guixiang again. It's early spring and still chilly, but I'm sweating all over my back.
"I, I'll say. Well, Sun Guangsheng said to the public that he was selling women's clothing, but I don't think that's the case. I also heard about it from my mother's family. They said that Sun Guangsheng built a new three-story house in the town and kept several beautiful girls at home. Sun Guangsheng also patted his chest and said that if anyone in the village couldn't find a wife, they could look for him. What do you think...did he do something shameful?"
Xia Mufan exchanged glances with Gong Weiguo and others.
Sun Guixiang is a person who speaks without any control, and it is hard to tell which of her words are true and which are false.
Whether Sun Guangsheng really made his fortune by selling women's clothing, or trafficked women and organized them to sell sex, can only be known after investigation.
Xia Mufan asked: "Where is Sun Guangsheng now?"
When Sun Guixiang heard this question, she immediately became nervous: "Don't tell anyone else, I told you this. The cement road in Santang Village was built with money from Sun Guangsheng, and he has a close relationship with the village committee cadres. If my family knew that I told the police about him, they would definitely kill me."
Xia Mufan pointed at the crowd of villagers outside the main hall and said, "If I don't tell, everyone else will."
Sun Guixiang raised her eyes and looked outside the house, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, gossip, and eagerness to try. She used to be one of them, jumping to conclusions at the slightest sign of trouble and spreading it everywhere, never considering the feelings of the person involved.
But now, she has become the center of rumors and she realizes that being talked about, framed, and gossiped about is not a pleasant thing.
Someone outside the house shouted, "Sun Guixiang, your family won't kill you. At most, they will tear your mouth to pieces."
The rest of the group started laughing.
"Yes, if you kill someone, you must pay with your life. Why would I kill you?"
"At most, I'll just throw shit on your bed."
"If Sun Guangsheng has committed a crime, you can tell the police. That would be considered as reporting him, which is much better than you making up rumors and causing trouble."
Amid the villagers' laughter, Sun Guixiang's face turned red and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
However, the sharp eyes of the policemen in front of her gave her a sense of oppression that she could not escape. Seeing that she would die whether she told the truth or not, Sun Guixiang made up her mind and told the truth.
"Sun Guangsheng made a fortune and brought his parents and eldest sister's family to Rongyang Town a long time ago."
Rongyang Town belongs to Huishi and is adjacent to Xinzhang Town. In recent years, its economy has developed rapidly because of its proximity to Huishi Railway Station and the vigorous development of small commodity wholesale industry.
After getting the clue about Sun Guangsheng, Xia Mufan immediately led all the members of the Serious Crime Unit 7 to Rongyang Town.
Xiao Zhenwei went back to the police station to do some work, leaving Hao Gang to accompany him throughout the process.
Sixteen years later, Hao Gang, who handled the Xu Shumei case, has retired, but fortunately he still stays in Xinzhang Town, so he has been following the reopening of the old case.
To be honest, Hao Gang was not very optimistic about this matter.
The villagers helped to look for him and the police asked everywhere, but they couldn't find him. Now sixteen years have passed. How can they find him even if they look for him again?
No one knows whether he ran away, was kidnapped, or was murdered.
In the spring of 1980, the village had just started the household contract responsibility system, and land was distributed to each household according to the number of people. Everyone was busy with the few plots of land in their hands, and they were eager to apply fertilizer, plow the fields, and sow seeds. Not many people paid attention to Xu Shumei's disappearance.
Therefore, one month later the police station closed the case as a missing person. Two years later, when Xia Manyin applied to close his account, the police station approved it according to normal procedures.
Looking at the silent Xia Mufan, Hao Gang felt a surge of pity in his heart. He thought about how her mother disappeared when she was six, her father remarried when she was eight, and she was thrown into the countryside to live with her mean grandmother since she was a child. She must have suffered a lot.
Even so, Xia Mufan still did not change his original intention and vowed to find his missing mother. Hao Gang was moved by this dedication and persistence.
Hao Gang said in a gentle voice: "In the 1980s, the police station's file management was quite chaotic, and the records from that time can no longer be found. But I remember that several villagers who came out of the village saw your mother and greeted her. To get to the brick factory from the village, you have to cross a small bridge, and then turn a corner and there is a supply and marketing cooperative on the side of the road."
At this point, Hao Gang pointed to a dilapidated one-story house with a yard outside the car window and said, "Look, that's the supply and marketing cooperative."
Hearing this, Xia Mufan asked thoughtfully: "Have you asked the people who bought things at the supply and marketing cooperative at that time? Did you find anything unusual, such as strangers, strange vehicles, quarrels, etc.?"
Hao Gang shook his head: "This supply and marketing cooperative in the town was a relatively busy place at the time. People from nearby villages came here to buy daily necessities. But it was noon, everyone was having lunch or taking a nap, so not many people came here. After asking around, a salesperson said he saw your mother passing by."
Xia Mufan asked again: "What happens next?"
Hao Gang continued to shake his head: "No one has seen your mother since then. After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, there is a fork in the road, one leading to the brick factory, and the other leading to the town. Not many people walk on the road to the brick factory, but the road to the town is more lively, but no one has seen her."
The car suddenly fell silent.
According to the information provided by Hao Gang, the supply and marketing cooperative was a very important node. Before that, Xu Shumei's whereabouts could be traced; after that, no one saw her again.
Sun Xianbing frowned. "Xu Shumei was originally going to the brick factory to deliver food. It's normal that no one saw her on that busy road in the town. From what you just described, the section of the road where she disappeared can be narrowed down to the section from the supply and marketing cooperative to the brick factory. Have you found any unusual footprints, scattered items, or strange vehicles on that road or nearby?"
Hao Gang tried his best to recall, but still found nothing.
At that time, the comrades in the police station had limited criminal investigation skills and methods. They visited and investigated the village, brick factory, and town for a week, and did not conduct a focused search near the supply and marketing cooperative.
Sun Xianbing felt a little sorry: "Such an important clue was just let go like this?"
Hao Gang felt his face getting hot, but he still tried to explain: "We really tried our best."
Xia Muchan quietly looked at the one-story bungalow with a red sloping roof and gray-white walls that was gradually disappearing into the distance. The propaganda slogan on the cover had become mottled, but one could vaguely make out the eight large characters "Self-reliance and Hard Struggle", which gave off a sense of the weight of history.
The bustling supply and marketing cooperatives of the past have been replaced by increasingly modern shopping malls and supermarkets, but why does my mother seem to have remained in the spring of 1980?
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