The End of the Night (1)

Wow! Meng Siqi finally broke out from the darkness. She vomited with a "wow" sound, a mouthful of bitter water came out.

She tried hard to open her eyelids, and finally light appeared in front of her eyes. She felt the warmth of the light, and a smile slowly spread across the corners of her mouth.

She moved and felt like she was lying on the table, but her body was very weak, as if she had just suffered a serious illness. She slowly raised her head with the strength of her arms and found a spacious and bright house in front of her.

There were two young men standing in the house, looking at her in a daze. They were wearing blue uniforms. Meng Siqi recognized them at a glance. They were the same police uniform shirt that her father wore thirty years later.

This was clearly 1994, and their uniforms were clearly olive green, so why were we seeing blue police uniforms that only appeared after the millennium?

Did she go back to thirty years later? She suddenly got up from the table and found herself sitting in a place with a book on the table, which looked like a register. Because she had vomited just now, the register was stained with bitter water, blurring a few lines of words.

She looked carefully and found that these words were records of borrowing files, with signatures and dates. Her eyes suddenly widened. Why were all these dates August 12, 2024? She turned the pages one by one, and all the dates were 2024, but the months and days were different.

She really came back, and at that moment, tears flowed out. They were not tears of excitement, but tears of sorrow.

The two young men in front of her seemed to not understand her unusual behavior. They stepped back with an awkward smile and waved, saying, "Sister Meng, we'll come back another day to get the files."

They left, and she was about to ask what year it was. She stood up and found that her body was a little weak. Suddenly she looked at the back of her hand, which was covered with fine wrinkles and looked much older.

Meng Siqi couldn't believe it. Has she gotten older with time?

She slowly left her seat and walked towards the door. When she turned around, she found that there was a sign in the room she was in, "Archives Room". Why was she in the archives room?

She continued walking forward. This was a very unfamiliar corridor, much more spacious and brighter than the corridor in the Municipal Bureau. Even the windows were several times larger. She could even see blue clouds and tall buildings through the windows. Those were buildings that did not exist in 1994.

She continued to walk forward, her steps a little unsteady. She still felt that this was a dream. She didn't believe that she would go back to thirty years later when everything she experienced was so real.

Suddenly, her eyes fixed on a door with a striking sign on it: "Criminal Police Team 1." That must be Lu He's office.

Meng Siqi walked in unsteadily. The place inside had completely changed. It was very large, with spacious tables and chairs, bright and clean windows, and even modern projection equipment. The printer was buzzing, the phone was ringing constantly, and there were many young unfamiliar faces.

She walked up and grabbed the wrist of a little girl who was printing documents. "Where's the team?"

"Sister Meng, who are you looking for? There is no Team Lu here. There is only Team Qin here."

"No, his name is Lu He, why is there no Lu Team?"

"Sister Meng, Sister Meng, you must be imagining things again."

At this time, a man's voice was heard: "Why is she here again? Someone send her back."

Meng Siqi seemed to know what had happened. Her voice, which was not so young, became hoarse in an instant. She retreated towards the door, getting farther and farther away. People in the room whispered, "Is Sister Meng sick again?"

She wandered around in the corridor and finally saw a familiar name, "Criminal Police Team 2". She walked in quickly. Everything inside had changed, but she did not give up. She shouted, "Captain Han, where are you? Where is the master? Old Tang! Zhao Leiting, Zhao Leiting, Zhao Leiting..."

Everyone in the office was stunned and stood there in a daze, as if they were watching a play.

At this time, in the director's office, a young man knocked on the door. A man in his fifties was sitting at his desk. He looked up and said, "Come in."

The young man bowed after entering and said, "Director Zhao, I have a few words to say to you about Comrade Meng Siqi who manages the archives room."

Director Zhao frowned slightly, "Go ahead."

"I feel that she is not in a good mental state these days. My subordinates have encountered her in a bad mental state several times when they went to borrow files. It affected our work and everyone complained a lot. The old lady is over 50 years old. You didn't know that she was shouting your name in the second team just now. It's really... Can the bureau consider persuading her to retire..."

Director Zhao put down his pen and said in a low voice: "Song Yu, when did you come to the Municipal Bureau?"

"last year."

"You were recommended by Director Liang of the Provincial Department to come to the Municipal Bureau for training, right?"

Song Yu said proudly: "Director Liang taught me for a year and he is my mentor."

"Song Yu, you can ask your Director Liang what position Meng Siqi holds in his heart!" Director Zhao's face suddenly turned cold. "What qualifications do you have to persuade people to retire? Go back to work!"

Song Yu swallowed hard and apologized repeatedly: "Sorry, Director Zhao, I'll go back now."

Song Yu walked out of the door, feeling aggrieved and extremely worried. He was originally thinking about the bureau, but he couldn't understand why a file room manager had a relationship with Director Zhao and Director Liang.

When he got back, he asked an old colleague in the bureau, Sun Jun, about the situation. Sun Jun said, "Deputy Director Song, you may not know that Sister Meng and Director Zhao were old partners in the past, and they had a very good relationship."

"What about Director Liang from the province? Do they know him too?"

"Which Director Liang?"

"Liang Yunfeng." Song Yu's voice was deliberately lowered.

"I don't know about that. Shouldn't you, Vice President Song, know more about the affairs of the Provincial Department than I do?"

"It's okay, grandson. Thanks."

*

Seeing that the entire Team 2 office had no reaction, Meng Siqi burst into tears. She already knew what had happened. She walked towards the door, just wanting to find if there was anyone she knew in this world.

Suddenly, a man in white police uniform came forward. He was very tall, with hair only half a centimeter long, but still looked imposing.

He had aged, but his appearance had not changed much, except that he had more wrinkles and his skin was sagging slightly.

He walked up to Meng Siqi, his tone gentle yet heavy: "Siqi, why aren't you in the archives?"

"Zhao Leiting? How come you... have become so old?" Meng Siqi didn't believe that Zhao Leiting would appear in front of her as such an old man one day, but it seemed to be true.

"You are already over 50 years old, aren't you old? Aren't you old too?"

"I'm old too?" Meng Siqi had noticed that the back of her hand was old before. She slowly touched her cheeks with her hand and found that her skin was not smooth at all. It turned out that she was old too. She was in her fifties, and she must be very ugly.

Her eyes were moist: "This is 2024? Is it true?"

"It's true. Siqi, I have an appointment with a psychologist and I want to take you to see him."

"I'm not sick, Zhao Leiting, I just can't believe this. Don't you remember what happened in 1994? Have you forgotten it?"

Zhao Lei Ting lowered his eyes slightly, "I haven't forgotten, how could I forget, Siqi, but I hope you forget. It's been 30 years, you have paid too much, you should forget, it's not worth it, not worth it for a lifetime..."

"What happened thirty years ago?" Meng Siqi asked unwillingly, "Is Lu He dead?"

"How many times have you asked me this? Is it worth betting thirty years on this?"

"What do you mean by worth it? Has the murderer of the Hongzhuang serial murder case been found?"

Zhao Lei Ting gently stroked her arm and said, "Come on, let's not talk about this for now."

"Zhao Leiting, why don't you answer me? You are wearing this white police uniform, so your position should be high. Let me ask you, what is the truth?"

Meng Siqi's tone was getting out of control, she almost screamed. At this time, people began to appear in the corridor.

Zhao Leiting looked around and shouted, "No one is working anymore!"

The corridor suddenly became quiet. Song Yu turned around swiftly with the teacup in his hand and swallowed violently again. He felt a little uneasy. What kind of woman was this? She actually scolded Director Zhao so harshly.

"Let's talk in my office, Siqi, let's go." Zhao Leiting softened his subordinate's cold face instantly and stroked her arm gently again, "Don't be angry, let's talk in my office slowly."

Meng Siqi calmed down. Facing this series of experiences, she felt so uncomfortable. She shouldn't have spoken to Zhao Leiting like that. She was very sorry and said quickly, "I'm sorry, Zhao Leiting, I shouldn't have done that just now."

"What are you saying sorry for? We both say sorry for what we said." Zhao Leiting smiled and said, "Let's go."

Led by Zhao Lei Ting, the two came to the director's office. Meng Siqi learned that he had become the director of the Municipal Bureau. She was very pleased because Team Han and Master always called him Director Zhao. She never thought that he really became Director Zhao.

After she sat on the sofa, Zhao Lei Ting took something out of the tea cabinet, poured hot water into a cup, and soon placed a porcelain cup in front of her, "This is your favorite fruit tea."

Zhao Lei Ting has not changed, he really has not changed, and it is unknown whether he has lived well in the past thirty years. Meng Siqi's mood has gradually stabilized. She knows that Meng Siqi, who lives here, knows everything, but she doesn't know it yet. She asked tentatively: "I remember in 1994, you wanted to pursue a girl?"

Zhao Leiting sat in front of her and smiled slowly: "Why are you still bringing this up?"

“I just thought about it and thought it was interesting.”

"In 1994, the situation was shrouded in a haze. To be honest, I only started pursuing Minjia in 1995, and Minjia also liked me. Haha, it's been 30 years, and I have grandchildren. Why are you still talking about this?"

It seems that Zhao Leiting and Lin Mingjia are destined to be together, and Meng Siqi feels very happy.

"How are the Korean team? How is my master?"

Zhao Lei Ting glanced at her, and it was obvious that he just thought she shouldn't ask these questions, but he still smiled knowingly, as if he thought it was normal for her to ask these questions. Perhaps her mental state was indeed a little bad, and her memory might not be very good.

"Captain Han is almost 70 years old and has retired a long time ago. He is at home taking care of his family. Old Tang, you still remember that he called me a few days ago and said he wanted to come and see you. You also know Brother Feng's health. He is old and probably rarely goes out."

"Where's Sister Rong?"

"Chen Jierong has always lived alone. I handled her retirement, but we rarely contacted each other after retirement."

Meng Siqi was not surprised at all, but at least they were still healthy, so she had to go see them. During this period, Meng Xinghai should still be alive, but he was already ill.

But she must understand the truth. Now perhaps only Zhao Lei Ting can tell her, "Director Zhao..."

"Siqi, don't call me Zhao Ju, call me Zhao Lei Ting."

"I wonder if you could tell me exactly what happened on August 13, 1994, the day when the Sujiang Lighthouse exploded?"

Meng Siqi looked at him closely, watching his expression, but Zhao Leiting lowered his eyebrows, as if hesitant.

"Siqi," he sat in front of her, his body slightly bent, his hands on his knees, with the demeanor of a leader, "I hope you won't ask any more questions about this. I haven't forgotten this case, and I will do my best to find the truth while I'm still alive, but I hope you will forget him, and you should live your own life now."

"Zhao Leiting, I'm not saying anything about my life, I just want to know what happened that day."

"I told you that when you woke up in the hospital after the accident, you kept asking me what happened, but you just kept asking me. What else do you want to know?"

"What happened that day? Where is Lu He? And where are my parents, Aunt Chang, and Meng Tingzhe?"

Zhao Lei Ting remained silent, as if his emotions were brewing for a while, perhaps because of her overly persistent gaze. After a while, he sighed and said, "Okay, I can tell you again. On the night of August 13, your family was kidnapped on the Sujiang Lighthouse. The kidnappers called you at the time, and you later provided a confession to the bureau. You said that it was the murderer of the Hongzhuang serial murder case, but your car did not arrive at the place where the ransom was traded on time, and the lighthouse exploded. The rescue team was there at the time. In that explosion, your father Meng Hui and your nanny Chang Xiaolan were blown to pieces. Your brother Meng Tingzhe jumped into the river holding your mother Ye Xiuhui before the explosion. Your mother died after the rescue failed, and your brother rescued her back."

Meng Tingzhe is still alive? Is he the only one alive? Meng Siqi asked in confusion: "What happened to Meng Tingzhe later? What did he say? How did he confess what happened that day?"

"Meng Tingzhe said that he and Meng Hui went home to reunite that afternoon. Logically, you should have been reunited that day, but Meng Hui gave up because he thought you were too busy. That night when you were having dinner, several masked gangsters rushed into the house. The case is clearly written in the files. You can go back and take a look. Anyway, they kidnapped your family and took them to the lighthouse. Although the lighthouse is high, there is a spiral staircase. They were pushed to the top floor under the threat of a pistol and tied with explosives. After the gangsters called you, they left the lighthouse."

"The explosives were set to explode on a countdown. After the criminals left, Meng Tingzhe saved himself. He had a pair of nail clippers on him and cut the rope. He also cut the rope for your mother. Your father was injured at the time. It seemed that he was slashed by the criminals because he resisted. The countdown for the explosives was too late. There were only a dozen seconds left. Your father and Chang Xiaolan were abandoned just like that."

"Unfortunately, even though your brother managed to escape with your mother, the river was too fast and your mother couldn't swim, so she drowned in the river. Meng Tingzhe was able to rescue her in time and saved her life."

Meng Siqi felt that this was not normal. Why was Meng Tingzhe the only one who could escape death? She had to find out more.

"What happened later? What about Lu He?" Meng Siqi's tone became increasingly heavy.

"Lu He rushed to the scene that day, but the top of the tower had already exploded, and he didn't find you, so he ordered a team of people to be in charge of the scene, and he went to find you. I don't know where Lu He went. Anyway, we later saw the car you were driving on Zangjiang Road. The car was hit and the airbags were deployed, which means you were in a car accident, but you were not in the car. The road was very quiet and there were no witnesses at the time. When we found you again, you were in a fountain pool outside a shopping mall more than ten kilometers away from the Sujiang Lighthouse. It was a lotus fountain statue, and you were lying on the statue. Soon we took you to rescue, and you woke up."

Meng Siqi shook her head. She couldn't imagine that this would happen. She asked hurriedly, "Where's Lu He?"

"We have not found Lu He and have no idea where he went. His police car was parked near the Sujiang Pier. We sent a large number of police officers to search the area, even digging deep underground and conducting a sweep in the Qianjiang area, but we did not find him. Maybe he is gone, or maybe he is still alive, but we did not find him."

He was in an abandoned oil drum filled with cement. Meng Siqi remembered that it was August 13, 2024. During demolition, someone found the oil drum and Lu He's bones. She was startled. Today was August 12, which meant that the news about the bones would appear tomorrow morning.

Meng Siqi's eyes were particularly red. She remained silent. Zhao Leiting opened the lid of the porcelain cup and said, "Drink some water. Fruit tea is not good if it's cold, Siqi."

Meng Siqi closed her eyes. She wanted to stay quiet for a while. The air became very quiet. After a while, someone came to the office to look for her. Zhao Leiting said he would be back soon.

Meng Siqi lay on the sofa for a long, long time, which seemed to be as long as thirty years, with tears slowly rolling down the corners of her eyes. She deliberately took a sip of fruit tea, wanting to feel the sweetness, but found that there was no taste at all.

Zhao Lei Ting finally came back and after looking at her, he said, "Siqi, I'll take you out for dinner tonight. Do you remember where the Korean team had dinner with us? That restaurant is now very big."

"Is there really no news about Lu He? Why can't we find out anything? The murderer of the Hong Zhuang case has never shown up again?" Meng Siqi sat up from the sofa.

"Yes, we haven't found out yet."

"At that time, we suspected Meng Tingzhe was a suspect? Did you investigate it later?"

"Meng Tingzhe was rescuing people that night. He couldn't possibly have killed Lu He. He couldn't be the murderer in the Hongzhuang case. Besides, you also received a phone call. The people who kidnapped your family and framed Lu He might be the same group of people. They are the real murderer."

Yes, Meng Siqi understood that Meng Tingzhe could not be the murderer. Her investigation direction was wrong. The murderer of the Hongzhuang case was someone else.

"What about Zhong Yanbin?" Meng Siqi remembered clearly that Zhong Yanbin was also an important suspect.

"A few years after the Sujiang lighthouse explosion, another Hongzhuang case occurred. Zhong Yanbin was abroad at the time, so his suspicion was also ruled out."

Meng Siqi felt speechless and uncomfortable. All the suspects who might have been the murderer had been ruled out, and the Hong Zhuang case was not over yet. She had to go back and look at the files to find out what happened afterwards.

Zhao Leiting was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "We have done a lot of research on Lu He. Do you remember the Red Lacquer Serial Murder Case? Lu He was also involved in that case. There is a document that Director Liu left behind. It is in my hands now. I will show it to you."

Zhao Leiting rummaged through the drawer for a while and found a folder. He opened it and handed her a yellow page. "It should be said that 54 years ago, in 1970, Lu He's mother was one of the victims of the Red Lacquer Serial Murder Case!"

"What did you say?" Meng Siqi was stunned for a moment.

She remembered that around 1970, there were three victims in the Red Paint Serial Murder Case: Xin Yameng, a female worker at a paint factory, Bao Xue, a doctor at a health center, and Xie Wenjuan, a Chinese teacher at an elementary school. Lu He had shown her the Red Paint Case files of that year, and there were indeed only these three people.

Why is Lu He's mother among them?

She held tightly a few yellowed papers, which must have been taken out from the case file. Below them was Liu Maoping's signature, indicating that Liu Maoping was the original investigator of the case.

She read it carefully from top to bottom, and the file had made it very clear that one day in November 1970, the police received a report of a female murder case, and Liu Maoping led people to the victim's home at that time.

The file described the forensic examination, the deceased was named Qiao Jingyun, she died of mechanical asphyxiation due to strangulation, the time of death was the rainy night before. At that time, the deceased was found lying on her bed, her clothes were cut, but her body was not naked, which was different from the other victims of the Red Lacquer Case.

There is another piece of paper at the back of the file, which is Liu Maoping's opinion on the case, and it is obvious that he added this note later. The reason why Liu Maoping classified it as a red paint case is that the face and body of the deceased were covered with red paint, but it was not carefully applied red paint, but a blurred trace of red paint wiped with a cloth.

The body was discovered by a neighbor who knocked on the door the next morning and called the police.

At that time, Qiao Jingyun had an only son, Lu He, who was five years old.

Liu Maoping found Xiao Luhe hiding in the open cabinet. He guessed what happened last night. It must be that Qiao Jingyun hid Xiao Luhe in the cabinet before the murderer committed the crime.

After the murderer left, Xiaolu Hezeng walked out of the closet and wiped the red paint off his mother's body with his sleeves, because his palms and cuffs were all stained red by the red paint.