Chapter 27 Female Driver
Sun Guangsheng, Xia Manyin and Xu Shumei were classmates in junior high school.
Although the three were from different villages, they all attended junior high school in Xinzhang Town. Xia Manyin and Sun Guangsheng were in the same grade but different classes. They were one grade higher than Xu Shumei. Although the three did not interact much when they were in school, they knew each other.
After graduating from junior high school, Xia Manyin went to high school. Xu Shumei and Sun Guangsheng did not continue their studies and returned to the village to farm.
Later, Xia Manyin dropped out of high school and went to work as a worker in a brick factory in the town. He married Xu Shumei through an introduction. However, Sun Guangsheng was unwilling to be a farmer and kept wandering around.
Around 1979, Sun Guangsheng accidentally met Xu Shumei who was delivering meals to the brick factory. For some reason, he felt reluctant to leave.
When he was young, he didn't think Xu Shumei was that pretty, but now he feels that this is the type of woman he should look for in a wife. She speaks softly, is gentle and considerate, cares for her husband, and is good at housework and farm work. The key is that there always seems to be a smile in her eyes when she looks at people, as if everyone is a good person in her eyes.
Because he had greed in his heart, Sun Guangsheng would wait at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative at noon when he had nothing to do, waiting for Xu Shumei to pass by with a basket. Even if he didn't say anything and just took a quick glance at her, he felt happy in his heart.
Sun Guangsheng was too embarrassed to tell anyone about his feelings. He once asked someone to find out whether Xu Shumei had a younger sister, thinking that it would be a good idea to marry her so that they could be closer, but he didn't expect that Xu Shumei only had two older brothers, so he had to give up the idea.
To say that Sun Guangsheng has any bad intentions, I really don't.
He was slow in coming to terms with things, and when he fell in love for the first time, he didn't expect that the other person was already a wife and a mother. He envied Xia Manyin and was a little jealous, but they were from the same village and he wouldn't steal someone else's girl.
Since he had nothing to do anyway, as long as the weather was good, Sun Guangsheng would squat in the corner of the courtyard wall in front of the supply and marketing cooperative with a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth, watching people coming and going, and by the way... taking a look at Xu Shumei who was on her way to deliver food.
On March 11, 1980, the sun was shining brightly.
Just after the Chinese New Year, Sun Guangsheng, who was once again scolded and kicked out of the house by his parents, walked slowly towards the supply and marketing cooperative with his hands in his sleeves. Squat in an empty corner and wait.
At noon, in the distance, through a bamboo forest, you can vaguely see a small bridge, and a graceful figure is walking across the bridge. This figure has a slim waist, long legs and a full chest, exuding the charm of a mature woman.
Turn right from the bridge and you will reach the loess road leading to the supply and marketing cooperative, and the figure will become clearer.
When Xu Shumei came to him, Sun Guangsheng waved at her and lazily called out, "Hey——"
Xu Shumei smiled at him gently, pursed her lips and nodded, with a gentle attitude. Others called Sun Guangsheng a second-rate person, a lazy person who did not work hard, but Xu Shumei never said a word about him.
Xu Shumei walked past Sun Guangsheng, leaving only a plain back figure, and soon turned onto the fork in the road leading to the brick factory and disappeared from sight.
After meeting Xu Shumei, Sun Guangsheng quickened his pace and headed towards the town.
The road to the town and the road to the brick factory were on the left and right. Sun Guangsheng walked fast and soon distanced himself from Xu Shumei.
After walking for seven or eight minutes, Sun Guangsheng arrived in the town and heard people talking about him on the roadside.
"Isn't this the second-rate guy from Santang Village?"
"What can't a young man in his twenties do? It's not good to be so lazy."
"The neighboring county has started to implement the contract responsibility system, and fertilizers are being snapped up like crazy. No one in the village is as leisurely as him."
The opinions of others mean nothing to Sun Guangsheng. Having lived alone at home for so many years, he has become extremely thick-skinned.
However, this "contract responsibility system" touched his nerves. After all, he was a junior high school graduate, and his wandering around and eavesdropping made him somewhat politically astute.
Sun Guangsheng turned around and wanted to inquire about the situation in the neighboring county.
Gah——
A sharp brake sound rang in my ears.
A brand new black car stopped next to Sun Guangsheng.
At that time, cars were rare, and most of the vehicles running on the road were bicycles. Sun Guangsheng was so scared that he immediately cursed: "Are you blind? You almost hit me to death!"
The car window rolled down, revealing a woman's arrogant face.
She was very young, with big wavy hair, a round face, a big nose, and a pair of small eyes that were wide open. She almost bumped into someone, but instead of apologizing, she was extremely arrogant.
"You are the one who is blind! You walked to the middle of the road and suddenly turned back without even checking if there were any cars."
When it comes to quarrels, Sun Guangsheng has never lost, not to mention that he was the victim. He immediately went all out, put his hands on his hips and started swearing.
"You're so great about driving? I wouldn't even want this junky car of yours. If you can drive a car at such a young age, you either rely on your parents or sell your body. I see you're so ugly, no one would want you even if you were to sell yourself. I guess you were just born with a good fate, bah!"
The woman heard Sun Guangsheng's ugly curses, especially the sentence "no one wants you because you are ugly", which hit her sore spot. She was so angry that she opened the car door, rushed out, and slapped him in the face.
Bang!
She was so agile that Sun Guangsheng had no time to dodge. He simply sat down on the ground, held onto the wheel and started to act like a scoundrel: "You bitch, you're hitting me~~"
More and more people gathered around and started pointing and talking.
"Where in the town can you find such a luxurious car?"
"Is he a high-ranking official from the province?"
"It's her bad luck that she messed with this second-rate guy."
Sun Guangsheng pretended to be weak and began to cry, but his eyes glanced left and right.
He could tell that this car was a new type of business sedan that Shanghai had only started producing in recent years. It had a beautiful shape and chrome-plated lines decorated on the rear of the car. It was obviously worth a lot of money.
This ugly woman almost hit him to death and slapped him. If he didn't do it now, when would he extort money from her?
The woman had never seen such a rogue behavior before. She was so angry that her face turned red and her neck became thick. She wanted to kick him a few times, but now there were a bunch of people watching them. No matter how stupid she was, she didn't dare to continue beating him.
She gritted her teeth, took out a wallet from her pocket, bent down and stuffed a few ten-yuan bills into Sun Guangsheng's hand, and said unhappily, "Isn't it just money? Look!"
Sun Guangsheng took advantage of the situation and held the banknotes in one hand, but his eyes were looking into her wallet: "You are giving this little money to a beggar? You beat me up. The medical expenses, lost wages, and mental damages, all together, I can't get out of bed without a hundred yuan!"
The woman scoffed: "One hundred dollars?"
She took out the remaining bills from her wallet and threw them hard at Sun Guangsheng. Giving the money was not enough to get rid of the hatred in his heart. After opening the car door and getting in, he did not forget to kick him.
Sun Guangsheng's eyes lit up when he got the money. He was not angry even when he was kicked aside. He jumped up from the ground, watched the other party walk away, and spat on the ground: "Is it a big deal to be rich? Bullying people is shameless!"
After cursing, Sun Guangsheng walked to the side of the road. The exhaust from the cars mixed with the dust choked him and made him cough and gasp. Amid the cough, Xu Shumei's gentle smiling face appeared before his eyes, and Sun Guangsheng suddenly felt a sour feeling in his heart.
——Xu Shumei walked seven or eight miles to bring lunch to her husband every day at noon. She wore a pair of Liberation shoes that were washed so white, and her floral cotton jacket had a blue cloth patch on the elbow. Her hands were rough and broad. You could tell at a glance that she was a hardworking and simple good woman.
——The female driver drove a luxury car, wore a leather jacket, had permed hair, and gold earrings. She had long and beautiful fingers and her nails were painted bright red. She casually took out hundreds of dollars. At first glance, she was a spoiled young lady.
One is beautiful, the other is ugly, but the ugly one lives more recklessly and arrogantly.
Why?
It's just that one is rich and the other is poor.
The more he thought about it, the more unbalanced Sun Guangsheng felt. He reached out and took out the large stack of money that the female driver threw to him and began to count it carefully.
One, two, three, four, five…
The brand new Great Unity had sixteen ten-yuan bills.
One hundred and sixty dollars!
A college graduate only earns about 40 yuan a month after working, but now Sun Guangsheng has 160 yuan in his hand.
With this money, what kind of business can't we start?
right! Didn’t they just say that there is a shortage of fertilizer now? Then he would go to the county town and see if he could make some money by trafficking some fertilizers. As long as you have money, no one dares to say that he is a second-rate person or a useless person.
In this way, Sun Guangsheng went to the county town with 160 yuan and started his small business.
Hearing this, Xia Mufan's heart moved and he looked at Hao Gang who had been silent.
A luxury car came to town, hit someone, threw money and left. Such a big thing happened in the town on the day my mother disappeared, why didn't the police mention it at all during their investigation? On the way back in the car, I repeatedly emphasized whether anything unusual had occurred near the supply and marketing cooperative. Why did Hao Gang insist that nothing had happened?
The place where Sun Guangsheng crashed his car was only seven or eight minutes away from the supply and marketing cooperative. Someone must have seen the incident, but Hao Gang never mentioned it.
Hao Gang noticed Xia Mufan's gaze and shrugged in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Xia Mushige asked him, "Did anyone mention this when you were investigating in the town?"
Hao Gang didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "You mentioned this, haha, everyone just thought it was a joke at the time."
Xia Mushi asked him seriously: "Why didn't you tell us?"
Hao Gang asked curiously: "What does this have to do with the missing person case? It was just a car passing by."
Gong Weiguo and Sun Xianbing exclaimed at the same time, "Ah!" "As long as it is abnormal, we should take it seriously. Why did you..." Both of them were trained in professional fields and were speechless about the weak investigative awareness of the police officers in the police station at that time.
There is a "puzzle" principle in the basics of investigation, which compares investigative activities to a jigsaw puzzle game. Various scattered and disorganized information and evidence are individual jigsaw puzzles. The task of investigators is to piece together the "jigsaw puzzles" collected from all parties, eliminate the false and retain the true, and finally complete the entire pattern.
What if Xu Shumei’s disappearance is related to that car?
Imagine that scene -
It was noon, there was no one around and the sun was shining brightly.
Xu Shumei was walking on the dirt road to the brick factory carrying a basket.
Suddenly, a car drove up from behind her and approached her silently. The driver seized the opportunity and covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief soaked in anesthetic, knocked her unconscious and took her into the car.
The car drove away, leaving a trail of dust behind it.
There was no trace left on the loess road except two lines of tire tracks.
Doesn't this explain why a living person suddenly disappeared in broad daylight?
Doesn’t this reasonably explain why no one saw Xu Shumei again after she left the supply and marketing cooperative?
Gong Weiguo felt more and more uncomfortable and could not help complaining: "A luxury car suddenly appeared in a town where even motorcycles are rare. Isn't this abnormal? Why don't you continue to check the owner of the car and her purpose? Maybe she took Xu Shumei away!"
Hearing the criticism from the serious crime team, Hao Gang felt his face flushed, and he quickly explained: "At that time, our director called to check. This car was used by the leaders of the provincial party committee compound. It was said that the child drove out for a ride privately and had never taken anyone else. Because it is a violation of discipline to use a public car for private purposes, the provincial party committee asked us not to keep harping on it, let alone write it into the record, so..."
Gong Weiguo snorted with a cold face: "So, you just keep such an important clue secret?"
The other members of the serious crime team were all staring at Hao Gang, which made Hao Gang feel pressured. He shrank his neck and forced a smile, "That willful daughter and Xu Shumei are not the same kind of people at all. How could she be related to Xu Shumei's disappearance?"
Yu Jing was usually calm and tolerant, but at this moment he was clearly agitated: "Why do you think it has nothing to do with the missing person case? What if that wayward daughter ran over Xu Shumei with her car and then dumped her body?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Xianbing poked Yu Jing's arm. Yu Jing glanced at Xia Mufan and described stiffly: "Maybe he wasn't killed, but just injured, and then she took him away?"
Countless thoughts flashed through Xia Mufan's mind.
——Robbery;
——Traffic accidents;
——Throwing the body in the suburbs;
…
Every incident was related to that domineering daughter of an official.
Sun Guangsheng looked at this, then looked at that, his face full of nervousness. Hearing Yu Jing's words, he suddenly jumped up and slapped himself hard in the face.
Bang!
The crisp sound of applause immediately attracted everyone's attention to Sun Guangsheng.
"The daughter of a provincial party committee leader? Damn it!"
"She drove in the direction of the supply and marketing cooperative, and maybe she actually turned onto the fork road to the brick factory and ran into Xu Shumei!"
"Why didn't I just hold her over? Why did I have to take the 160 bucks?"
--
After receiving important clues from Sun Guangsheng, all members of the Serious Crime Unit 7 quickly formulated an investigation plan and made every effort to track down the female driver who suddenly appeared in the town.
Like a wild goose, it leaves traces behind. The arrogant female driver appeared in Xinzhang Town sixteen years ago. Although the license plate number was not recorded, the source of the vehicle was quickly found based on the vehicle model characteristics described by Sun Guangsheng, some vaguely remembered numbers, and the information provided by Hao Gang.
That luxury business car was indeed used by the provincial party committee leaders. It was manufactured in 1975 and has now been scrapped.
But it took some time to find out who the female driver was.
The police station chief who knew the inside story at the time has passed away due to illness, so the serious crime squad had to investigate again.
Xia Mufan and his party arrived in the provincial capital, Xing City.
Compared with Hui City, a county-level city, Xing City, the provincial capital, has a much stronger modern atmosphere.
The wide streets are busy with traffic, tall buildings are lined up, and passers-by are hurrying to their respective jobs. In 1996, when reform and opening up continued to advance, everyone was busy.
Yu Jing drove the car into the Xing City Public Security Bureau.
The grand office building, the open parking lot, the solemn decoration style...the Public Security Bureau in the provincial capital is obviously a level higher than that in Hui City.
Sun Xianbing craned his neck to look left and right like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and exclaimed in amazement: "I thought our Criminal Investigation Brigade's independent courtyard was very impressive, but I didn't expect the Xing City Public Security Bureau to be more advanced."
Yu Jing chuckled and said nothing.
Gong Weiguo had been here several times with Yue Yuan and was used to it. Seeing Sun Xianbing's inexplicable look, he felt a sense of superiority and patted Sun Xianbing on the shoulder with a smile: "Our Hui City is a county-level city, and Xing City is a prefecture-level city. They are definitely not comparable. But it doesn't matter. You will know when you come here a few more times. In fact, the internal structures are similar."
Xia Mufan handed the letter of introduction to Gong Weiguo and pursed his lips: "Since you come here more often, I'll give it to you."
Gong Weiguo was originally in charge of foreign affairs reception under Yue Yuan. He did not refuse. He took the letter of introduction and took everyone to Yang Yi, the instructor of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, with whom he had more contact than usual.
After seeing the letter of introduction and Yue Yuan's prior greeting, Yang Yi received them warmly.
However, facing Gong Weiguo's request, Yang Yi frowned: "It happened sixteen years ago... The car has been scrapped, and the provincial leaders at that time have been transferred or retired. It may be difficult to find out who drove this car on March 11, 1980."
Xia Mufan also knew that it was not easy.
There are procedural requirements for the provincial party committee’s official vehicles. An application must be filled out and approved before use, and the vehicle must be inspected after return. If it was in recent years, you can quickly find this person by just looking up the vehicle usage list.
But sixteen years is a really long time span. Not to mention that the car usage list is unlikely to have been preserved to this day, the management was chaotic at that time. If the children of senior leaders wanted to use the car, even if it was a violation of regulations to use the bus for private purposes, what could the people in the car team do?
They had to find another way and start the investigation from the family relationships of the provincial party committee leadership team at that time.
Xia Mufan asked: "Then, can you provide us with a list of the members of the provincial party committee leadership team in 1980? We want to check the situation of their children."
"Well, I'll have someone take you to the household registration police at the Jinlianhu Police Station. The provincial party committee compound is located in the jurisdiction of the Jinlianhu Police Station, and the information they provide is more detailed."
Yang Yi was also a decisive person. He made two phone calls and sent the people from the Serious Crime Unit 7 to the Jinlian Lake Police Station.
Jinlian Lake Police Station is located on the bank of Jinlian Lake, beside the water and has a beautiful environment.
Xia Mufan and several others were placed in the reception room by comrades from the police station.
The reception room is located on the east side of the first floor. Looking through the glass window, you can see the lake breeze, willows swaying on the shore, and the wide lake surface shimmering in the sunlight.
A few little sparrows were squatting on the branches and chirping.
[Are there any guests coming today?] 】
[Yes, the cafeteria has extra meals today, including braised fish and steamed pork with rice flour. 】
[Finally there is something to do, Lao Liang and the others are very happy. 】
Hearing this, Xia Mufan's mouth corners slightly raised.
It seems that the Jinlian Lake Police Station and the Anning Road Police Station are somewhat similar. The policemen are so idle that their bones are rusted. Instead of feeling bothered by the disturbance to their group today, they are all excited and happy.
The unfamiliar environment made Gong Weiguo a little restless. He looked towards the door of the reception room and asked, "Why did you take so long? Does it take so long to check the list of leaders?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a household registration police officer walked in with a smile on his face, followed by two policemen, each holding a pile of documents in their hands.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting. We have sorted out the basic information of the 13 leaders of the 1980 provincial party committee standing committee. Excluding those without daughters, there are still eight families left, all of which are here. If the person you are looking for is not in the standing committee, then we will expand the membership team."
Yu Jing and Sun Xianbing immediately stood up and helped them place the materials on the conference table in the reception room.
The leading household registration policeman, Liang Kuan, was about 40 years old and looked simple and honest. He handed a form in his hand to Gong Weiguo and said, "Officer Gong, please take a look. Our household registration department has discussed it and decided to only check if there are daughters among the provincial party committee leaders who are between 36 and 45 years old. We sorted out this form after the screening, so it took some time. Sorry to have kept you waiting."
Gong Weiguo picked up the handwritten form and looked at the neatly listed names, ages, and current conditions of the leaders and family members. He praised: "The comrades at the police station are really efficient."
Liang Kuan hurriedly said modestly: "We must pay attention to what Instructor Yang has told us. Our brother unit is investigating the case, and if they need us to do anything, just tell them."
Xia Mufan walked over, looked at the form in Gong Weiguo's hand, and stared at the names on it, wishing he had a special ability to tell the other person's appearance, character, and the bad things he had done just from the name.
It’s a pity that a name is just a name and nothing can be revealed.
"Officer Liang..."
As soon as Xia Mufan opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Liang Kuan: "Officer Xia, you can just call me Old Liang."
Xia Mufan readily agreed: "Lao Liang, then I won't be polite with you, you can call me Xiao Xia too."
Liang Kuan saw that although she was young, she had a cheerful and lovely personality, so he did not continue to be polite with her: "Okay, Xiao Xia, see if you need us to cooperate with you?"
A young man standing behind Liang Kuan rubbed his hands, unable to contain his excitement: "Just tell me, the director has assigned two people from our household registration team and one from our case team to help. If we are short of manpower, there are four case teams and five community police officers on standby."
Sun Xianbing and Yu Jing looked at each other and suddenly understood: "Are you guys usually... quite leisurely?"
Back then, nine policemen from Anning Road Police Station were dispatched to help Wang Lixia find her dog. Wasn’t it because nothing happened in the area and everyone had nothing to do in the station every day?
The young man's name is Qian Wei. He sighed and said, "Yes, Jinlianhu Police Station is the seat of the provincial party committee. The public security management is first-class. Usually, there are few petty thefts and fights, let alone major cases. I have worked in the case team for two years and have only handled three cases."
Sun Xianbing was like a soulmate: "Oh, I was like this when I was at the Anning Road Police Station! I only wrote a few pages in a transcript in two years."
When Qian Wei heard this, he hurriedly asked him, "So, how did you get transferred to the Criminal Investigation Team?"
Sun Xianbing pointed at Xia Mufan and said, "Strangely enough, when Xiao Xia came to our police station, he immediately encountered several major cases, such as dismemberment, child trafficking, poisoning and murder of wife, and fugitive pursuit... He assisted the serious crime team in solving the case, so he was transferred for meritorious service."
The young man's eyes sparkled with envy, and he looked Xia Mufan up and down: "Officer Xia, you must have some special physique, which makes it easy for you to get involved in major cases. Just like Sherlock Holmes, when he appears, there will be a murder."
Yu Jing felt a little strange when hearing this, and quickly added: "It's mainly because Xiao Xia is good at noticing details, otherwise many cases would be buried in the sea of injustice."
Sun Xianbing also nodded in agreement: "Yes! Xiaoxia has a very sensitive nose. She can smell the body parts in the trash can across the street."
Qian Wei became interested when he heard this: "Officer Xia, can you smell what we are having for lunch in the cafeteria today?"
Xia Mufan glanced at him and said, "Braised fish, steamed pork with rice flour."
Qian Wei opened his mouth wide and gave Xia Mufan a thumbs up: "Your nose is amazing!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
There were bursts of laughter in the reception room.
Laughter is the best way to bring people closer together.
The police officers from Jinlianhu Police Station and the Serious Crime Unit 7 suddenly became so close that it seemed as if they had known each other for a long time.
Xia Mushige said: "The missing case we are investigating today is also a major case."
Sure enough, when they heard the word "major case", the three policemen from Jinlianhu Police Station all grinned happily: "Good, good, good."
Xia Mufan asked: "Are there any photos of these eight leaders? Are there any file materials on their daughters?"
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