The End of the Night (20)
Liang Ran's execution means the Hong Zhuang serial murder case has come to an end. As for Liang Ran's identity as the white-faced man behind the Seattle Club, the Municipal Bureau will conduct a thorough investigation together with the Provincial Department. Shen Xiangming, who was originally investigating the follow-up work of the Seattle Club, will not continue the investigation to avoid suspicion.
Meng Siqi thinks that it might be better for Shen Xiangming to investigate other cases. He might be able to lead a better life with Shen Lele in this world.
In the afternoon, Meng Siqi and Lu He came to the hospital to visit Zhao Yuting. Lu He went to the ward with her and brought a basket of fruit. This time, Meng Siqi also met Zhao Leiting's parents. They were very enthusiastic and insisted that Meng Siqi go to their house for dinner, saying that they wanted to thank her.
Meng Siqi smiled and responded modestly, but in fact she was most afraid of these interactions with the elders.
Zhao Leiting was sitting beside the bed, peeling apples for Zhao Yuting who was sitting on the bed. Zhao Leiting's mother said that her daughter was fine, but she needed to stay in the hospital for observation for another day before being discharged.
Zhao Leiting stuffed the apple into his sister's smiling mouth, walked up to her, hugged Meng Siqi, and said with a choked voice: "Siqi, you are my greatest benefactor in this life. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do it for you."
At this time, except for Lu He who maintained a calm smile, Zhao Leiting's parents were all smiling happily, and Zhao Yuting's face was filled with a smile as gorgeous as a flower.
Meng Siqi patted Zhao Leiting on the back and thought to himself, are you stupid? I told you that I would protect Yuting and make her live a happy life.
"Okay, okay, why are you acting like a child?" Meng Siqi was held tighter and tighter.
Zhao Leiting suddenly said, "Brother Lu, you don't mind me doing this, do you?"
"..." Lu He replied, "No problem, you guys continue."
"Okay, Zhao Leiting, I'm going to be suffocated by you." Meng Siqi patted his back again.
"Oh oh." Zhao Lei Ting smiled and let go of his arm, "Sorry, I was too excited at the moment."
"Sister Siqi, I want to hug you too." Zhao Leiting had just let go and Zhao Yuting wanted a hug.
Meng Siqi smiled and walked forward, gave Zhao Yuting a big hug, and said happily: "My sister Yuting, your sister Siqi missed you so much."
"I almost thought I was going to die." Zhao Yuting choked slightly.
"Yuting, don't say those things anymore." Yuting's mother stood aside and wiped her eyes.
Meng Siqi hugged Zhao Yuting tightly and comforted her: "Yuting, Sister Siqi will definitely protect you in the future, for the rest of your life, okay."
"Okay, Sister Siqi, I want you to protect me for the rest of my life."
After coming out of the hospital, Meng Siqi's eyes were still a little sad. In fact, she shouldn't think about what happened thirty years later, but she couldn't help it.
Lu He seemed to sense her sadness and said, "Siqi, now that you're hugging them both, are you planning to ignore me?"
Meng Siqi gave him a cold look, but when she saw Lu He really stretched out his arm, she trotted forward a few steps, turned around and said, "Lu He, aren't you embarrassed?"
Seeing that Lu He did not take any further action, she relaxed her guard.
The two walked towards the parking lot together. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms hugged her by the waist. Lu He's smug voice was in her ears: "What else do I have to do with my dignity?"
"Put me down, put me down!" Meng Siqi said embarrassedly, "Lu He, there are so many people here."
Lu He said: "Officer Meng, you need evidence to support your statement."
It was the hospital lobby just now, and there were indeed quite a few people along the way, but now it is an empty avenue, at the entrance of the parking lot, and there is indeed no one here.
Meng Siqi felt her whole body was hot. She struggled for a while and was hugged tightly by Lu He again. She deliberately said, "Lu He, look, is there someone stealing things from the car over there?"
Lu He looked into the distance, slowly put her down, and rushed forward. The man who was reaching into the car window suddenly ran away.
"Stop! Police!" Lu He quickly followed.
Meng Siqi: “…” She actually hit the mark by accident?
In her vision, Lu He was like a flash of lightning, pinning the thief to the ground in the blink of an eye.
Meng Siqi trotted over and saw the thief had already been handcuffed. Lu He explained: "Siqi, you have a very good eye. This is a fugitive! He stole things because he had no other choice."
Meng Siqi licked his lips and said proudly: "Lu He, this is my credit, remember to give me credit."
"Of course, this is your credit." He pressed the fugitive on the ground again, "Be honest, you met the sharp-eyed Officer Meng today, it's your bad luck."
Meng Siqi smiled. She found that Lu He's words were becoming more and more interesting.
After bringing the fugitive back to the police station, Lu He walked up to her and looked a little uninterested. "What should I do if I don't have enough fun today?"
"Lu He," Meng Siqi said disdainfully, "Lu He, this is a police station, don't mess around, there are rules."
"I know. Let's go back together after get off work."
"Sorry, Captain Lu, I have to work overtime today. Goodbye." Meng Siqi smiled and walked towards the office of the second team.
Two days later, Meng Siqi took a day off. Meng Hui asked Meng Siqi to go home for dinner. They hadn't been together for a long time. Meng Tingzhe had been executed. Meng Hui went to the police station to find out the situation, but did not communicate anything with her.
She thought that this time when they went back, they might ask the bureau about the handling of Meng Tingzhe. In fact, there was sufficient evidence of Meng Tingzhe's crime, and he might be transferred to the procuratorate in the next two days. Public prosecution would be brought soon, and it would just be waiting for the final judgment of the court.
When she got home, the atmosphere was not as heavy as she had imagined. On the contrary, no one mentioned anything about Meng Tingzhe, and Aunt Chang cooked her favorite dishes.
Meng Siqi said, "Aunt Chang, I like your cooking the most." She recalled the pain she felt when she couldn't eat the food Aunt Chang cooked.
Aunt Chang smiled and said, "Siqi, eat more. You are busy with work, and it is not easy to go home for a meal."
"Well, I will definitely eat until I am full today."
"Daughter, I hope you can eat until you become a giant panda." Meng Hui said jokingly, "You have worked hard during this period. After dinner, go to the mall with dad. I have an appointment with a lawyer to prepare a will."
"Dad, how come you think of this at such a young age?" She wondered if Meng Tingzhe had done something to cause her parents' poor health.
"Daughter," Ye Xiuhui said, "our intention is to give all the shares of the mall to you, and your parents can live in this old house when they get old."
Unexpectedly, Ye Xiuhui personally proposed this idea. She hurriedly said, "Thank you, Mom, thank you, Dad. Actually, I don't care about these. I only care about your health."
Meng Hui smiled and used chopsticks to pick up some braised pork ribs for her. "These are braised pork ribs made by your aunt Chang. Eat more, daughter."
Ye Xiuhui said: "Husband, you are offering a gift to Buddha. Daughter, mother made this braised fish by herself, especially for you. Come, mother will give you a piece, and you will have surplus every year!"
Meng Siqi took a bite of the fish. It turned out that this was the taste of his mother. Ye Xiuhui picked up the cup and said, "Come on, let's have a drink together."
The four of them raised their glasses, clinked them together, and said with a smile, "May you have more than enough every year!"
The next day at noon, in the second team's office, Zhao Leiting walked to her desk with a mysterious smile and whispered, "Siqi, let me tell you something."
"What's going on? It's so mysterious?"
"Liang Yunfeng, you know, he was actually sent by the provincial government to train at the grassroots level."
Meng Siqi pretended to be slightly surprised. She remembered that Liang Yunfeng was a famous university student who graduated from the Provincial Police University. He was from the province and had just graduated last year and came to the Municipal Bureau with her.
But her memory contains a memory of thirty years later. At that time, Liang Yunfeng had become the director of the provincial department, but the training during this period in the municipal bureau became a precious treasure in his life.
"Besides," Zhao Lei Ting said mysteriously, "it is said that his father is the leader of the provincial political and legal organs. You can't tell, but this kid will have a great future. He has a good school and good abilities, and he is training at the grassroots level with Lu He. If he returns to the province in the future, he will be very successful. I have to build a relationship with him."
Meng Siqi smiled and said, "Zhao Leiting, you are not bad either." She knew that thirty years later, Zhao Leiting would be the director of the Municipal Bureau.
"Hehe, I feel a little embarrassed when you compliment me like that." Zhao Lei Ting raised his voice a little, "Anyway, Liang Yunfeng has completed his one-year grassroots training, and he may be transferred back to the provincial department."
“I look forward to his great achievements.”
Zhao Lei Ting was still not finished and said, "Director Liu is also conscientious and hardworking. Because Liang Yunfeng is going back, he immediately added new people to the team. And today he arrived at the post. I just heard Luo Xiaoguo say that their new colleague came from which police station. This person is quite interesting. You know, he actually squatted next to a toilet in the countryside for seven days and seven nights. He squatted next to the stench for seven days and seven nights alone and caught the suspect. It's amazing."
Meng Siqi felt something was wrong as she listened, and her face gradually darkened. She remembered that Meng Xinghai should have come to the Municipal Bureau at this time. Zhao Leiting asked: "Siqi, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Meng Siqi smiled and asked, "Is it Meng Xinghai?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
Perhaps because she had met Meng Xinghai not long ago, Meng Siqi's emotions were not so intense. Instead, she was very calm. At least for her, this time she would definitely be able to become a colleague of Meng Xinghai for life.
But when she walked out of the office, Meng Siqi's eyes were still a little sad. She adjusted her mood, straightened her clothes, and walked to the door of an office. She heard the conversation between Meng Xinghai and Luo Xiaoguo. They were laughing about the heroic feat of seven days and seven nights.
Meng Siqi stood there for a while, then walked in. The person inside was wearing a neat short-sleeved police uniform. He looked several times younger than the elderly Meng Xinghai, with thick black hair and sharp eyes.
He and Luo Xiaoguo were the only two people in the office. "Xiao Meng," Luo Xiaoguo saw her, "Come here quickly, you two are from the same family. Let me introduce you to Meng Xinghai, an outstanding police officer who was promoted to our second team from Xincheng County Police Station."
Meng Xinghai turned around and looked at her with a friendly smile. Luo Xiaoguo introduced her: "Comrade Meng Xinghai, this is Meng Siqi, the best police officer in our city bureau."
Meng Xinghai's eyes lit up. He walked quickly to her, saluted, and said with a smile, "Officer Meng, I have heard of your name in the police station. You have solved many strange cases with great grace. I am lucky to meet you today."
As if time had gone back, Meng Siqi suppressed her bitterness, slowly raised her hand, and patted his arm. This was her habitual action of patting Lao Meng time and time again. She smiled and said, "Lao Meng, you're here."
After exchanging some familiar greetings, Meng Xinghai still told her: "Officer Meng, I'm going to tell you the truth, maybe you don't believe it..."
"Hmm?" Meng Siqi suddenly guessed what he would say.
Meng Xinghai said: "Although I haven't married yet, I have been thinking that I will sacrifice myself for my job these years, so I gave my future daughter a name in advance. I originally thought of missing her, but I didn't expect that the name is similar to yours, so I decided to call my daughter Sigui in the future."
Actually, your daughter is called Meng Siqi, Meng Siqi thought, how much she wanted to tell him, let's name her daughter Meng Siqi, nicknamed Qiqi. But this time Meng Siqi hesitated, five cycles, too hard, now is the best ending, she didn't want little Meng Siqi to enter a new cycle again, let it end here.
Meng Siqi smiled and said, "Old Meng, make your own decision then."
"Okay, I'll definitely consider it seriously."
Luo Xiaoguo smiled and said, "Meng, the name is not important. There are many people with the same name now."
Meng Xinghai smiled naively and said, "Yes, Deputy Luo is right."
Meng Siqi: “…”
After a while, Lu He walked in, and Luo Xiaoguo reminded him, "Lao Meng, it's Team Lu."
Meng Xinghai ran to Lu He, saluted, and said generously and forcefully: "Meng Xinghai, a police officer from the Xincheng County Police Station in Jinyang City, reports to Team Lu!"
"Hello, Comrade Meng Xinghai. Welcome to join our team. Let's work together and accomplish our glorious mission!"
"Yes, Meng Xinghai, take the order!"
At that moment, Meng Siqi smiled. She didn't know how many times Meng Xinghai would tell his daughter that.
"On the day I went to the city police station to report, I met Lu He, the captain of the Criminal Police Team 1. He is a very remarkable person, and I am honored to be his subordinate... That day, I also met your Aunt Meng...
In fact, he added another sentence after saying this, "Your Aunt Meng is very beautiful. At that time, I was thinking, if my daughter could be half as beautiful as her in the future..."
"Let's have a meal together as a team tonight, Siqi, you can come too." Lu He suggested.
"It's been a long time since we had a dinner together." Luo Xiaoguo said with a smile.
"Okay. I want to have a drink tonight." Meng Siqi smiled happily.
"No problem, your brother Luo will drink with you to your heart's content."
*
A few days later at noon, Meng Siqi took some money to the post office to send to her adoptive parents. This time she wrote a letter, telling her adoptive parents that she would come back to see them soon.
When she walked out of the post office, she suddenly saw Lu He. There were dozens of steps at the entrance of the post office. Lu He was standing at the bottom of the steps, looking up at her slightly.
She didn't know how Lu He got here. Just as she was about to go down the stairs, Lu He walked up, step by step, with steady and firm steps. Every step seemed to crush the closure and despair of time and space, and every step seemed to crush the emptiness and loneliness of thirty years.
She wanted to tell Lu He that they had walked together for thirty years, thirty years of darkness and loneliness, and now they had finally witnessed the birth of dawn.
Because at the end of the night, there is only one answer, which is dawn!
Lu He took thirty steps and came to her side.
Just like the first time I met him, his features were sharp and angular, his lines were graceful and firm, but his eyes were full of tenderness. "Siqi, I'm still a little worried when I know you're out. I still remember that you got lost here once."
Meng Siqi was somewhat moved, his eyes gradually turned sour, "Thank you, Lu He. Thank you."
"Siqi, I should thank you, thank you for coming into my life. I remember, I remember this is not the first time you came into my world," Lu He's eyes were red, "Will you be my wife? I will take care of you for the rest of my life."
Meng Siqi also remembered a lot. Lu He had never changed. Crystal clear tears welled up in her eyes. "Is it too easy for me to agree to this?"
"Don't worry. We've come this far. Why worry about a day or a night?" Lu He slowly stretched out his arms and held her in his broad and tight embrace. "It's just that I can't wait any longer."
Meng Siqi smiled, and saw Lu He slowly lower his head. His breath was thick and hot, lingering on her cheek, searching for her lips.
Wait a minute, she wanted to say wait a minute, but Lu He's kiss had already landed on her lips. He only tasted it lightly, as if he couldn't bear to kiss her harder.
Wait a minute, she wanted to say, there are too many people here, can't we go to another place?
Lu He touched it lightly again. He didn't seem to stop there. When he looked up, his eyes were wet and he seemed to recall many past events.
*
A few months later, in the spring of 1995, Jinyang City was covered with a layer of white snow, like a snow city.
A police car was driving in the snow.
Meng Siqi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said to Zhao Leiting who was driving, "Zhao Leiting, Sister Rong and the others are leaving, right?"
"Yes, when we went to the scene, the forensic doctor and the trace investigator had already gone. Do you think they could find anything in this icy and snowy place?"
"As long as criminals pass by, they will leave traces." Meng Siqi affirmed.
She turned to the two new police trainees in the back row and said, "It is our second team's tradition to pass on knowledge and skills. Sun Jun, you will follow Officer Zhao from now on. Min Lu, you will follow me from now on."
"Okay, Captain Meng." The two responded in unison.
Zhao Leiting smiled and reminded: "Min Lu, why are you still calling me Captain Meng?"
The little girl Min Lu smiled shyly and said, "Master."
"Okay." Meng Siqi nodded with a smile.
Zhao Lei Ting said to Meng Siqi in an excited tone: "Siqi, Brother Feng and Xiaochuan have gone to the provincial government. Today is your first time leading a team. We must be quick, accurate and ruthless. We must show Bureau Han the glorious tradition of our second team. No, no, the disciple is better than the master!"
"Follow Director Zhao's instructions."
"..." Zhao Leiting glanced at her, smiled and looked into the distance.
Meng Si looked out the car window and smiled. The snow scene was so beautiful, life was so beautiful, and the police career was so beautiful!
The wheels of the police car extended forward, leaving a solid tire mark in the snow. The police car became smaller and smaller, and the sunlight slowly shone between the white sky and earth!