Chapter 30 Old Chai
Xia Mufan and his teammates took Yao Yanfei back to Xinzhang Town, Hui City.
Yao Yanfei was so frightened that he secretly prayed in his heart that Xu Shumei was okay.
According to the provisions on the case tracing period, if the statutory maximum penalty is less than five years of imprisonment, the tracing period is five years; if the penalty is more than five years but less than ten years of imprisonment, the tracing period is ten years; if the penalty is more than five years of imprisonment, the tracing period is fifteen years; if the statutory maximum penalty is life imprisonment or death penalty, the tracing period is twenty years.
If Xu Shumei is fine, Yao Yanfei's crime would be punished with a maximum sentence of more than ten years. Now that sixteen years have passed, the statute of limitations has expired, so there won't be much of a problem.
But what if Xu Shumei died? Was he knocked down the steep slope and died by her? Since ancient times, killing someone means paying with one's life, and she may face the death penalty or life imprisonment. It is still within the statute of limitations, and I am afraid that Xu Shumei's family will never let her go and will sue her in court.
no! You must not go to court.
Although Yao Yanfei is arrogant, she is not completely stupid. Her father is now retired and no longer able to protect her. Her husband Jiang Wenjun hates her to the core and will not stand up for her.
All she can do now is to actively cooperate with the police, try to find out the whereabouts of Xu Shumei, and pray to God that Xu Shumei is not dead.
When they arrived at Xinzhang Town, she directed the police car to move forward and tried hard to recall the scene when she first met Xu Shumei.
"Yes, yes, it was right here. It was here that I met a second-rate guy wandering around. He was walking in the middle of the road and suddenly stopped and looked back. I almost bumped into him."
Yao Yanfei still feels indignant when he thinks of that scene: "It was this country bumpkin who extorted more than 100 yuan from me, which made me feel bad. Otherwise, I wouldn't have treated Xu Shumei so badly."
Sun Xianbing couldn't stand it any longer and shouted angrily, "Behave yourself! It was you who took the initiative to hurt others, but you insist on blaming others. If anything happens to Xu Shumei, you can just wait to go to jail!"
Yao Yanfei shrank his neck and his face turned red.
She had a very smooth life.
When I was a girl, my father was a high-ranking official; after I got married, my husband's official positions became higher and higher. With the support of these two big trees, Yao Yanfei was flattered wherever she went. No matter what mistakes she made, there was always someone to cover for her, which made her temper even more arrogant. If someone dares to make her unhappy, she will immediately turn hostile and not give them any face at all.
But today, sitting in the police car, which was full of uniformed policemen, all of them looked at him fiercely and spoke rudely. Yao Yanfei didn't dare to say a word and was scared.
The mistake made sixteen years ago was suddenly brought up again.
After hearing about this, my father suffered a cerebral infarction and was sent to the TCU ward of the hospital.
My mother has been a housewife all her life. My father's illness frightened her so much that she had no time to take care of her.
The husband filed for divorce with the court and moved into the company dormitory.
All the relatives and friends who were close to me on weekdays avoided me as much as possible overnight.
No one is backing her up anymore.
Yao Yanfei closed his mouth and prayed again in his heart: Xu Shumei, you must stay alive, you must stay alive.
After Yao Yanfei shut up, the car became quiet.
Yu Jing drove west from Xinzhang Town, turned onto the three-way fork in the road, and then headed towards the old brick factory.
The road has now been widened into a straight pomelo oil road, and the tung trees on both sides that used to bloom with white flowers in the spring have disappeared.
In the past sixteen years, the world has changed a lot.
Yao Yanfei was nervous, and after a long time he couldn't remember the directions, so he gave the wrong directions several times.
“Here, here.”
“It doesn’t seem right…”
"Go back, this isn't the place."
"This should be it. I got lost here."
Driving again and again, exploring road after road.
After a day of struggling, I'm still confused.
If going forward doesn't work, then go backwards.
Xia Mufan remembered that Yao Yanfei once mentioned that she had passed a train station after she and Xu Shumei separated, but she forgot the name of the station.
Then draw a circle with a radius of 200 kilometers with Xinzhang Town as the center, find all the train stations on the map, and then search one by one.
Finally, at the end, Zheng'an Station came into everyone's sight.
The Zheng'an Railway Station in Zheng'an Town is now abandoned.
In the 1960s, there was a military factory here, which was very popular. A railway station was built here to facilitate transportation. In the 1980s, the military factory moved away, Zheng'an Town quickly fell into decline, and the railway station was abandoned.
The waiting hall has long been in disrepair, and the wall next to the track has several large holes. Nearby residents often climb over the wall and enter the platform. When the train occasionally stops, they sell tea eggs, melon seeds, mineral water and drinks to passengers.
The news of finding the last place where Xu Shumei disappeared was passed back to the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Hui City Public Security Bureau.
The story of Xia Mufan's 16-year search for his mother had already spread throughout the Criminal Investigation Brigade. Even Director Peng Ke of the Public Security Bureau called Yue Yuan and asked: Has Xiao Xia, the new member of your team, found her mother? Do you need any help from us?
People are all made of flesh and blood. Police officers are also human beings, with parents and sisters.
When Xia Mufan was six years old, her mother disappeared and everyone thought she was dead. Only Xia Mufan still believed that she was still alive. In order to find her mother, she applied for the Hua Xia Police University and took the initiative to return to Hui City's public security system to work. Such tenacity would move anyone.
Although there is a relative recusation system, that is, taking into account that the police, as one of the parties in handling public security cases, are easily influenced by factors such as emotions and self-interest, and lose impartiality, they should recuse themselves from cases involving themselves or their close relatives.
But this case is too special. It is an old case from sixteen years ago and the clues have long disappeared in the long river of time. In order to facilitate the investigation, Hui City Public Security Bureau specially approved Xia Mufan to participate in the case investigation as an evidence provider.
In this case, Xia Mufan was not an investigator, but a reporter and a witness.
After solving the problem of procedural rationality, Yue Yuan personally took charge and fully supported Xia Muchan.
Serious Crime Unit 6 and Serious Crime Unit 7, a total of ten people, began a dragnet investigation along the train station. Old residents along the line, factory security guards, train station staff who worked there at the time, local police... as long as there is a clue, they will never let it go.
Just imagine that Yao Yanfei abandoned Xu Shumei on a dirt road in the suburbs ten minutes' drive from the train station. There are only three possibilities.
First, she fell from the road to the bottom of the slope, suffered severe head injuries, and died on the spot.
If it was death, the police would have been called after the body was discovered, and the Zheng'an Town Police Station would have kept a record. However, after careful investigation, the serious crime squad found no reports of bodies being found in the wild in March or April 1980.
Second, she was only injured and unconscious and was found by nearby residents, who called the police.
But in this way, as long as Xu Shumei is clear-headed, she will be able to return home soon. So the first possibility is denied, the person who found her definitely did not call the police.
Third, she was discovered by nearby residents and secretly taken home, but for some reason no one called the police.
When Xu Shumei disappeared, she was at the peak of her charm as a young woman. After she was discovered, it is possible that the other party had evil intentions and secretly took her home. However, it is impossible for the other party to imprison her for more than ten years. Why didn't Xu Shumei find a way to contact her family? Unless...she has lost her memory or been murdered.
Fourth, she was abducted and her whereabouts are unknown.
Because the place where she was abandoned was not far from the train platform, it was easy for the kidnapper to escape from Zheng'an Station after he found Xu Shumei. After being sold to a remote mountain village, Xu Shumei could never get help from heaven or earth and could never return home.
In any case, after eliminating the option of death, hope rose in Xia Mufan's heart again.
On the one hand, they mobilized manpower to visit every household with Xu Shumei's photo.
On the other hand, stray cats and dogs were mobilized to walk the streets to inquire about the news.
[Has a young woman been spotted near the train station sixteen years ago? 】
[Has anyone ever brought a woman home suddenly? 】
Are there any human traffickers nearby? 】
The lifespan of cats and dogs is approximately ten to fifteen years. Stray cats and dogs live in a harsh environment and their lifespan is even shorter. Sixteen years have passed, and the cats and dogs nearby have given birth to several generations. The cats and dogs that were active near the train station back then are probably no longer around.
Coal ash was brought to Zhengan Station by Xia Mufan.
During the business trip, Meihui had been kept in the Anning Road Police Station. When he saw Xia Mufan again, he almost went crazy with joy. He pounced on her and hugged her ankles, whining and squatting on the instep of her feet, refusing to get down.
[Xia Xia, you don’t want me anymore?] 】
[I haven't seen you for many, many days! 】
If you don’t come back, I will cry in front of you. 】
Xia Mufan gently stroked its head: "Why would I not want you? It's just that I'm on a business trip and can't take you with me."
Although Coal Ash eats well and sleeps well in the police station, it is a pet cat with an owner! Without an owner, it felt like it was abandoned, so not seeing Xia Mufan for a while made it feel a sense of crisis.
[Xia Xia, take me with you on your business trip. I am very obedient. 】
[When you are not around, I miss you so much~]
With soft and cute meowing sounds, big round eyes and light grey little paws, Coal Gray is becoming more and more skilled in acting cute.
Xia Mufan grabbed it from under Coal Gray's belly with one hand and put it in the army green canvas bag he was carrying across his body. "Okay, then come with me on a business trip to investigate the case."
Soot quietly opened the top of the bag, stuck his head out, squinted his eyes happily, raised his beard, and let out a loud "Meow--"
[Okay!] 】
[We have an agreement that you have to take me with you wherever you go from now on.] 】
In this way, Meihui followed Xia Mufan and came to Zheng'an Station.
As soon as it was released, Coal Ash immediately showed its true colors as a stray cat, starting to call its friends and run around everywhere.
As the saying goes, snakes have their own ways and rats have their own ways. Coal Ash actually found out about an eighteen-year-old old dog. Converted to human lifespan, it is roughly equivalent to over a hundred years old.
Definitely a long life.
Under the guidance of Meihui, Xia Mufan met this old Chinese pastoral dog.
Because of its age, the stray dogs here respect it and call it "Lao Chai".
On the west side of the train station, near the path where Yao Yanfei abandoned Xu Shumei, there was a dense forest. Lao Chai was lying in a shabby wooden house made of a few branches, his eyes cloudy and as if he was thinking about something.
According to Coal Ash, Lao Chai once had an owner, a seven-year-old child. Unfortunately, the child later followed his parents to the city, and he became a stray dog. Even so, Lao Chai still squatted in the wooden house built for him by his owner and waited anxiously.
The woods were full of fallen leaves, which made rustling sounds when stepped on.
Xia Mufan approached slowly.
Lao Chai is old and can no longer see, but his sense of smell is still there. When he smelled the human breath, he moved and a gurgling sound came from his throat.
[Are you human?] 】
【what are you up to? 】
Xia Mufan placed a bowl of rice with meat scraps mixed with cod liver oil that he had prepared in advance in front of it.
Smelling the fragrance of the food, Lao Chai slowly lowered his head and began to eat with a panting voice.
Tears slowly dripped from the corners of my eyes.
[It smells so good, just like the bibimbap my little master made for me.] 】
[Although the meal made by the little master does not contain meat, it is just mixed with soy sauce, but it is very, very delicious. 】
More than a decade has passed, and the little owner who once built the wooden house and cooked bibimbap for it has grown up, but Lao Chai still stays in the old wooden house, nostalgic for the taste of that bowl of bibimbap with soy sauce.
"Lao Chai, do you need me to help you find your little master?" If Lao Chai is willing, Xia Mufan can use police force to find its owner.
Lao Chai shook his head slowly.
In the past years, it has been guarding the platform of the train station, watching one train after another come in, stop, and leave. There are so many people coming and going, but none of them is the one it is waiting for. It is old and knows that it doesn't have much time left, so it doesn't want its owner to see it sad.
Xia Mufan understood Lao Chai's thoughts.
Before a dog is about to die, it will avoid its owner, leave quietly, and choose a quiet place to wait for death to come.
Old Chai is already eighteen years old. When he was young, he longed to see his young master again, but now, leaving quietly is what he really wants.
Xia Mushige nodded: "Okay."
Since this is what you want, I respect your choice.
After a pause, Xia Mufan said softly: "Tell me your master's name. If I meet him in the future, I will tell him that you have been waiting in the grove for him to come back."
After swallowing the soaked rice, Lao Chai felt warm in his stomach and regained some energy. He squinted his eyes and could barely see a blurry green figure in front of him.
[His name is Xiao Ke, and he is a very, very good person. 】
[He has no mother, only a father who loves to drink. His father has a bad temper and often beats him. 】
[There is a cross scar on his forehead, which was left by his father who pushed him down and hit his head on the table. 】
He called me Shiba Inu, held me in his arms while I slept, and made bibimbap for me. 】
[He also wanted to take me with him, but the train conductor wouldn't let me get on, so he had to leave me behind. 】
When it was abandoned, the old Shiba Inu was still called Xiao Shiba Inu and was only one year old. It was lively, cute and carefree, but its intelligence was not yet fully developed and it could not remember its owner's full name, the names of his parents or his work unit.
Seventeen years have passed, and the little Shiba Inu has grown into an old Shiba Inu. In its mind, its owner is still the little boy who held it to sleep and told it his secrets.
When people get older, they like to nag, and Lao Chai is no exception.
It's rare that a human is willing to listen to it express its longing for its owner, so it talks endlessly about the happy times it had with Xiao Ke.
On a rainy day, a newly born Shiba Inu was abandoned on the roadside. Xiao Ke picked it up and took it home. Because it was very skinny at that time, Xiao Ke named it Xiao Chai. Xiao Ke's father was busy with work and was always drunk when he came home. He didn't say much about the new dog in the house.
From then on, the man and the dog depended on each other.
Old Chai still remembers that one night, Xiao Ke held him in his arms and cried silently. He said that he was also a motherless child, just like Xiao Chai.
Hearing this, Xia Mufan felt sad.
Like Xiao Ke and Lao Chai, she is also a motherless child.
At least, she has been without a mother since she was seven years old.
Coal Ash waited for a long time, listening to Old Chai repeating his memories of his master Xiao Ke, and he found the right moment to interrupt his chatter.
[Xia Xia’s mother is missing too.] 】
[Lao Chai, please help her find her mother.] 】
There was a glimmer of light in Lao Chai's cloudy eyes. He stopped reminiscing and tried to focus his gaze on the human in front of him who made him feel warm.
[Your mother is missing?] 】
How can I help you? 】
Xia Mufan just listened carefully to what Lao Chai said, and gradually sorted out the timeline between it and Xiao Ke.
Lao Chai is 18 years old this year. He met seven-year-old Xiao Ke in the spring of 1978.
In the summer of 1979, Xiao Ke moved out of Zheng'an Town with his father. From then on, Lao Chai waited at the train station every day, waiting for his arrival.
So, Lao Chai should still remember what happened at the train station in March 1980!
After hearing what Lao Chai said, Xia Mufan slowed down his speech, trying to make it understand his question.
"Your little master, after Xiao Ke left, you stayed at the train station every day?"
【yes. 】
[From morning to night, I crawled in from the wall and stayed at the train station. 】
[Until last year, I couldn’t walk anymore…]
They stayed together for one year and waited for sixteen years. Xia Mufan admired her for her persistence.
"Did you find an unconscious and injured young woman at the bottom of the dirt road in the spring of the second year after Xiao Ke left?"
Lao Chai tilted his head, his eyes seemed a little empty, and he mumbled the key words in Xia Muchan's words, trying hard to search for fragments of memory in his mind.
[The following spring…]
[Bottom of the slope…]
[Unconscious young woman?] 】
Suddenly, Lao Chai moved.
It was originally lying on the ground, and now it was struggling to support its body with its front paws, making gurgling sounds in its throat.
[I remember!] 】
[A woman was lying at the bottom of the slope, with a basket in her arms. Two bowls had fallen out, and the smell of food was everywhere. 】
[Rice with soy sauce, stewed potatoes, and fried fish.] 】
【tasty. 】
Lao Chai has a very deep memory of the meal, which is completely consistent with Xia Mufan's childhood memories.
On the day Xu Shumei disappeared, the family had these three things for lunch - rice with soy sauce, braised potatoes, and fried cured fish.
Xia Mufan's heart was beating like a drum, and he asked anxiously, "Yes, what happened next?"
Lao Chai thought carefully.
[It was getting dark, her head was bleeding, and she was motionless. 】
[I ate her food, so I couldn't just leave. 】
[I ran to the train station and dragged Lao Zou to rescue her. 】
"Lao Zou? Who is Lao Zou?"
[Workers at the train station hammer and bang on the rails with a wrench every day. 】
【He is a good man and often leaves some food for me. 】
[I dragged Lao Zou here and took her home.] 】
Xia Mufan asked anxiously: "How did Lao Zou bring her home? Is she awake?"
【woke up. 】
[But he seems a little silly and knows nothing about anything. 】
[She even forgot to take the basket. 】
Finally, there is definite news about my mother!
The good news is that my mother is still alive.
The bad news is that my mother might have hit her head and was taken away by Lao Zou. Lao Zou did not call the police, and it is very likely that he deceived or imprisoned her.
We must find Lao Zou!
The track maintenance worker at Zheng'an Railway Station, the good man that Lao Chai mentioned, where is he?
How can we make the clue about Lao Zou clear?
Xia Mufan stood up and gently touched Lao Chai's head: "Thank you."
If Lao Chai had not remembered the bowl of soy sauce rice his mother made, what happened sixteen years ago would probably have been forgotten by people and disappeared in the scroll of time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
