Murder in a Secret Room B&B (15)

After the police left, Meng Siqi became more and more anxious. After 24 hours this afternoon, Xu Liang was released without charge.

But so far, no evidence has been found regarding Xu Liang.

In the morning, Feng Shaomin came to her again and asked, "Xiao Meng, do you think there is anything missing from the investigation of Xu Liang?"

Meng Siqi quickly flipped through the notebook. It seemed that the crime scene at the B&B, Xu Liang's dormitory in the B&B, the kitchen of the B&B, and Xu Liang's rental house had all been investigated. Almost everyone who stayed in the B&B that night had been questioned, including Xu Liang's roommate Hao Chunlai, who had provided him with an alibi.

If there were clues, they would have been exposed long ago. If there were no clues, Xu Liang would not leave any for you even if you dug deep into the ground.

As she pondered over this, her brows furrowed even deeper. Feng Shaomin consoled her by saying, "Think about it slowly."

She found something that might have been missed in this flood of information. She looked up and asked Zhao Leiting: "Zhao Leiting, did you say yesterday that Xu Liang still has a stepfather who is still alive?"

Xu Liang's stepfather Xu Mengkun was from Chishui Town, which is now in the county town under the jurisdiction of Yang City.

Zhao Lei Ting stood up and answered, "Yes."

Meng Siqi immediately said, "Master, I want to visit Xu Mengkun."

"Okay, let's go right away," Feng Shaomin called Zhao Leiting again, "Zhao Leiting, you drive."

He called Tang Xiaochuan again: "Xiaochuan, take your people to visit Hao Chunlai again this morning and ask him the same questions as before, as well as any details that may not have been considered."

"Okay, Brother Feng."

Zhao Leiting drove the car, Feng Shaomin and Meng Siqi sat in the back seat, and drove all the way to Chishui Town. Meng Siqi found that the direction of Chishui Town and the original site of the Dandelion Textile Factory were exactly the same, which means that after Xu Liang's biological father Kong Qushan had an accident, his mother left the textile factory and went to live in another distant place.

She naturally thought of Lin Shuying's words that after Xu Liang and his mother left the textile factory, no one knew where they went.

When Kong Qushan ran away with the money, many factory workers may have pointed the finger at Xu Liang's mother, so leaving and changing their names may have been the only option at the time. The police ignored the name Xu Liang from the beginning.

In fact, wherever people come from, they will leave traces. Although Chishui Town is far away from the textile factory, if you ask the old people in the town, you will naturally know that the bachelor Xu Mengkun once married a woman with a child.

Such information is curious, so someone must have inquired about Xu Liang's mother's background. It was no secret that the woman came from a textile factory. Changing her name and surname did not really help, it could only comfort her in her heart.

The car drove all the way to Chishui Town. Zhao Leiting had been there once and drove to Xu Mengkun's doorstep with ease.

Most of the houses in this area are earth houses. Although it is not far from the city of Imaiyo, the surrounding area has not been fully developed, so the folk customs and customs here have been conservative for a long time. Fortunately, it is close to the city, so the road is relatively smooth and it only takes one hour to get there.

The doorstep of Xu Mengkun's home soon attracted a lot of attention. Many villagers in simple clothes were watching outside the playground. Many children rushed to the police car to play, but were immediately pulled away by their parents. They remained in awe and curiosity about the police. Of course, they were more curious about whether Xu Mengkun had committed a crime. In this small town, as long as something happened, it would spread to every household in a minute.

When Meng Siqi walked into the mud house, he couldn't help feeling sad. The house was very simple and bare. In fact, if Xu Liang's biological father had not been in trouble, Xu Liang's life near the textile factory would never have been so poor.

But Xu Liang's mother made such a decisive choice. She chose to live in a remote town, naturally wanting to stay away from everything she had experienced.

The light in the room was dim, and there was a smell of alcohol, a strong smell of white wine. Xu Mengkun was sitting in a chair. When he saw the police enter the room, his face was serious and he did not move.

Meng Siqi found that he had a walking stick and a bottle of what looked like a second pot of white wine next to him.

Xu Mengkun is no more than 40 years old, with sparse hair, seemingly strong body and bronze cheeks. He should not be sick, but he obviously has a leg disease. His right knee is slightly raised, which is a bit unusual. It may be due to a fall, not rheumatism. Moreover, drinking alcohol will aggravate the discomfort of patients with rheumatism.

Feng Shaomin leaned forward slightly and showed his police ID. "You are Xu Liang's father, right? We are from the Municipal Bureau. We came to understand the situation with you."

Xu Mengkun's serious face showed a hint of surprise, "Xu Liang is in trouble?"

"Xu Liang is related to a murder case, but he is still a suspect. We will conduct a fair investigation. In order to clear him of suspicion, I hope you can cooperate with our investigation."

After hearing this, Meng Siqi felt that he would actively cooperate, but his serious expression seemed to relax a little, and there was even a barely perceptible smile at the corner of his mouth.

In her opinion, this expression was wrong, and Feng Shaomin seemed to have noticed it as well. He did not ask any further questions immediately, but instead turned his gaze to Xu Mengkun's disabled knee.

Meng Siqi felt that his master must have thought that Xu Mengkun's knee was related to Xu Liang.

Feng Shaomin asked: "How did you hurt your knee?"

"Rheumatism." Xu Mengkun replied.

Xu Mengkun was obviously lying. Although Meng Siqi was not sure of the detailed characteristics of rheumatism, her father suffered from severe rheumatism in the last period of his life. One of his legs was paralyzed by a bullet and he was bedridden in a wheelchair for a long time, developing many diseases, and his other leg was destroyed by rheumatism.

Meng Xinghai suffered particularly during that time. She suffered from joint pain, muscle weakness, morning stiffness, high blood pressure, lack of energy, and mild Alzheimer's disease. She once thought that her father would forget her, but when he still remembered her clearly, he passed away.

Thinking of her father again made Meng Siqi feel heavy-hearted. She missed him very much, but she didn't want to recall his painful past.

So when Feng Shaomin reminded her, she didn't hear it clearly. Her eyes were slightly moist. It was Zhao Leiting who patted her arm gently, "Brother Feng is calling you."

"Ah, Master?" She suddenly came to her senses and looked at Feng Shaomin.

"Xiao Meng," Feng Shaomin looked a little worried, but he was investigating a case and did not hesitate at all, "You go and ask."

"Okay, Master." Originally, it was Meng Siqi's idea to come here. She had her own ideas, so of course she was the one who asked the main questions.

She controlled her emotions and her expression became more serious: "Comrade Xu Mengkun, thank you for cooperating with us to do some investigation. Xu Liang came to the Xu family when he was ten years old. At that time, he should be called Kong Yang. Do you still remember the scene when this mother and son came to your home?"

"Xu Liang is just a little beast!"

Unexpectedly, Xu Mengkun started to insult and curse directly.

It seems that the relationship between this father and son who met each other halfway is not good.

Meng Siqi asked hurriedly: "I remember that you adopted the mother and son, but we heard from the villagers that Xu Liang's mother Wu Yueru was not well received by you at the time, and you didn't seem to like her."

This was Zhao Lei Ting's impromptu investigation yesterday. Some elderly people in the town told him that Wu Yueru was from another place, and if Xu Mengkun had not been single and poor at the time, he would not have adopted her. At the beginning, Xu Mengkun was nice to Wu Yueru, but gradually, his bad habits were exposed, and he beat and scolded Wu Yueru.

"Like her? We are not young people, what's the point of liking her? I just want to live with her!"

"But Wu Yueru probably also wants to live a good life." Meng Siqi felt that since Wu Yueru had fled to this place, she must have intended to stay. She was only in her early thirties at the time, the wife of a model worker in a textile factory, she was not bad looking, and was a member of a textile factory family. She had at least enjoyed a lot of factory treatment for a long time. Her life should have been of high quality, and her skin and temperament should have been pretty good.

But after her husband got into trouble, she chose to protect her son and married a single man who couldn't find a wife in the town. So even if she was wronged, she should have endured it in silence. How could she not be aiming to live a good life?

"I thought she was living a normal life, but not long after, I heard that her husband had run away with the money from the factory, and Wu Yueru came here to avoid debt." Xu Mengkun stared at Meng Siqi with round eyes, "After that, people often came to our house to collect debts. How do you think we can live like this?"

Meng Siqi finally understood that even though Wu Yueru escaped from the textile factory, someone still got wind of the news and came to Chishui Town to collect the debt. This might not be a common occurrence. Wu Yueru had spent six years here and died of illness the year before last. She was less than 40 years old.

"You like to drink, and every time you get drunk you often beat and scold Wu Yueru. You think she is not sincere in marrying you, and you think you have been deceived?"

"Beat and scold?" Xu Mengkun retorted vigorously, "If he hadn't said that I was not as good as her ex-husband, would I not have beaten and scolded him?"

Impossible, Wu Yueru would definitely swallow her anger. Meng Siqi thought he was lying, "You didn't tell the truth, how could she mention her ex-husband."

"She didn't mention it, but that little bastard didn't. He always said in front of me that his father was better than me. He never called me dad. Why did I marry such a woman?"

Because Xu Liang hated Xu Mengkun, he transferred his hatred to Wu Yueru. In addition, someone came to collect a debt and Wu Yueru had an ignoble past. Xu Mengkun had a big prejudice against Wu Yueru, so he often beat and scolded her. However, he was an unwelcome single man in the village, and he could not marry a wife, so he could only accept this fate.

Wu Yueru has no home to return to, so this place can only become her home, and she will definitely swallow her anger. This is the life of the three people for the past eight years.

Meng Siqi had roughly understood everything, so she turned the topic to Xu Liang, "You keep saying that Xu Liang is a little beast, what on earth did he do to you?"

"What happened? This little bastard was timid at first. I beat him and scolded him a few times, but he changed the year his mother got sick. He often stole my wine to drink and my money to pay for his mother's medical treatment. I wanted to beat him up, but he turned against me. He grew up and became stronger. That time he beat me up. The year his mother passed away, he started to abuse me even more severely. He is a beast!"

Meng Siqi grasped the key point and asked: "You said he often stole your wine and money. Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Would I say that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes? He didn't just steal my alcohol and my money, he was even more addicted to alcohol than I was."

Xu Mengkun's tone suddenly turned vicious: "I worked hard to raise this bastard for six years and put him through school, and this is how he treats me. I'd better kill him, or even shoot him!"

Meng Siqi swallowed slightly and looked at Zhao Leiting with the same shocked expression. However, Feng Shaomin remained calm. He asked, "Did he hit your leg?"

"Rheumatism." Xu Mengkun retorted loudly, "I said it was rheumatism, but he doesn't have that ability, what a little bastard."

It was clearly Xu Liang who beat him, but he claimed it was rheumatism. Meng Siqi understood that perhaps this was the last bit of dignity Xu Mengkun had. Even though he was abused by his stepson who he had raised with great effort, he still wanted to maintain his dignity in the town and told everyone it was rheumatism.

He had bullied Wu Yueru and Xu Liang, but he thought that was what he should do because Wu Yueru had let him down. But he also wanted to retain his dignity in the town and maintain his image as a husband and father. He was also very conflicted and sad. On the way back, Meng Siqi felt very heavy. She found that those who had been related to the textile factory seemed to have a sad life and a somewhat rough fate, whether it was Ding Qian, Xia Sulan, Sun Yuanyuan, Xu Liang, Wu Yueru, Xu Mengkun, or Long Shanwen.

Because of the textile factory, their lives seem to be trapped in a cage and they have never been able to get out.

Meng Siqi felt that the visit was valuable, at least it provided more evidence for the profiling of Xu Liang. However, he was still short of the most crucial evidence to convict Xu Liang.

She had a headache and rested in a chair for a while.

No one spoke in the carriage, and Feng Shaomin was also lying down to rest.

When passing a small street, Feng Shaomin stopped the car and said, "It's already past one in the afternoon. The canteen will be closed if we go back. Let's get off the car and have some noodles."

Meng Siqi hadn't fallen asleep yet. She had no appetite, but she still wanted to eat something with them.

The place where we got off happened to be a noodle shop. There was a small low table at the door, and the three of us sat down.

The boss came over and asked what we ordered. Feng Shaomin ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles, Meng Siqi also ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles, and Zhao Leiting was probably very hungry, so he ordered a bowl of meat noodles.

After a while, the boss put the noodles in front of Meng Siqi. It was a bowl of steaming noodles with vegetables rolled on it. This suddenly reminded Meng Siqi of the last time she ate noodles at Lu He's house. Her appetite seemed to come back.

Seeing that the master had not come up yet, she pushed the noodles to Feng Shaomin and said, "Master, eat first."

"You are young, eat first."

Feng Shaomin raised his hand to refuse. Just as Meng Siqi was about to ask Zhao Leiting, two bowls of noodles were served, one in front of Feng Shaomin and the other in front of Zhao Leiting.

Meng Siqi didn't delay any longer and picked up the chopsticks. Zhao Leiting suddenly said, "Hey, why isn't this meat noodles? Boss?"

Zhao Leiting stirred the food in the bowl with chopsticks.

Meng Siqi was just about to pick up his chopsticks when he suddenly discovered a few clumps of shredded meat under the vegetables. It turned out that the boss had delivered the wrong dish.

She was about to say something when the boss came over. He saw what was going on and immediately said with a smile, "I didn't notice it just now. You two should switch."

Zhao Leiting immediately understood and said with a smile, "It's okay, boss." He looked at Meng Siqi again, "I'll eat vegetarian noodles, you can have my bowl."

Meng Siqi didn't want to eat something too greasy, so he pushed the bowl over and said, "If you don't like it, switch it to me."

"Okay." Zhao Lei Ting seemed to be doing it reluctantly and personally exchanged two bowls of noodles.

Meng Siqi picked up the chopsticks and rolled up the noodles. Just as he brought it to his mouth, he suddenly stopped eating.

She discovered that Xu Liang might have left behind key evidence.

"Master, I would like to apply for permission to search Xu Liang's homestay for evidence."