Chapter 65
When he said the date June 1st, Li Qingyao's head buzzed. She tried to calm herself down and listened carefully.
"Are you sure it was June 1st? Why do you remember it so clearly?"
Tang Botao rubbed his head and said, "It's rare that someone is in trouble. I did a good thing and it left a deep impression on me. And I saw my aunt write down the date in her workbook, so it left a deep impression on me. The time to get off work every day is fixed, so it can't be wrong."
June 1st.
When Tang Botao saw Liu Tingmei on June 1, she was not dead yet and was even living alone outside.
For a moment, Li Qingyao's chest seemed to be blocked by something sour and astringent, and he couldn't even utter the words he wanted to ask next.
At this time, Tang Botao's mother also slapped her thigh and said, "I remember now. Your aunt mentioned this matter. This child met the person the police were looking for in the middle of the night and still asserted himself. Police comrade, this woman has not committed any crime, right? My son is very honest and he knows nothing."
Tang Botao looked at his mother unhappily: "How could she commit a crime? She looks like a holy war angel."
Seeing that Li Qingyao looked unhappy, Xia Yongze asked, "Why did you send him to your aunt?"
Both mother and son looked at him a little timidly.
"My aunt works at the neighborhood committee."
"His aunt is from the neighborhood committee."
Li Qingyao slowly exhaled and finally asked, "When you found her, was there anyone else around her? Or did you see anyone else nearby?"
"No. The road was empty. There was no one except her."
"What about the ground? Is there anything unusual? Is there someone lying there and you didn't notice it? Can you remember it?"
Tang Botao was startled, then thought about it and shook his head: "Probably not. After I found her, I looked around, worried that she might have dropped something or something, but there was nothing. If there was someone lying nearby, I would definitely find it. My eyesight is 2.0."
——
Li Qingyao asked Tang Botao to take them to the place where Liu Tingmei was found that night.
Unexpectedly, it took them almost 15 minutes to arrive. This location was quite far from both Yuan'an Clinic and Building 17. If you walk further out, you will reach Chaoyang Home. The convenience store where Tang Botao worked was just outside the community, so he passed by this road.
It was completely dark at this time, and there were sparse street lights around. Li Qingyao stood where Tang Botao pointed out, holding a flashlight and looking around.
To the east and west are residential buildings of Chaoyang Home, to the north is a primary school, and to the south is a factory that looks small.
If everything Tang Botao said was true, why would the mentally retarded Liu Tingmei walk such a long distance alone that night? Injured and fainted here again?
Li Qingyao's intuition told him that Tang Botao's words were credible.
——
Tang Botao's aunt lives in Building 23 of Chaoyang Home, and she is at home now.
My aunt looked to be about 47 or 48 years old, with a round face and a cheerful and enthusiastic look. After listening to their purpose, my aunt thought for a moment and said, "I remember this! That night, Bo Tao knocked on the door in the middle of the night and scared me. This kid is too fierce. He didn't even know to call the police. Later, when I saw that girl, she was so beautiful, and I wondered in my heart, could she be his girlfriend..."
Tang Botao blushed: "Aunt, don't go off topic. How can I find such a beautiful girlfriend? Don't even think about it."
"Okay, okay, let's get back to business. At that time, the girl had gauze wrapped around her head, and she seemed injured. Bo Tao, do you remember?"
"Remember."
"I asked Bo Tao to go back first. We have seen this a lot in our work with residents. We were afraid that this girl would have difficulties. With Bo Tao being a boy around, she would be embarrassed to speak up. But this girl only answered one question after three questions, and her answers were confusing. Then I realized..." Auntie pointed to her head, "She seems to have some problems here."
Li Qingyao nodded.
"That would be a huge responsibility, and I didn't dare to take her in, so I said I would call the police and find her family to send her back. But the girl seemed to have regained her consciousness." The aunt sighed, "She knelt down and begged me, stammering that she couldn't go back. It seemed that her family forced her to marry a 48-year-old man in exchange for a dowry. It was a different era now, and I was so angry that I didn't call the police for the time being. Then I looked at her ID card again, and her name, appearance, and address all matched what she said. I remember her last name was Liu... Liu, Liu..."
"Sister Liu Ting."
"Yes! That's the name! I felt sorry for her and she was very weak, so I let her stay here for one night. Although she's slow-witted, she looks like she can take care of herself and she's an adult now, so she doesn't want to go home. I know sending her home would be like going back to hell, so I shouldn't call the police, right? The police will definitely send her home. This girl must have escaped from her marriage in the countryside, and since she's come to our Chaoyang home, I'll definitely help her if I can."
"And what happened next?"
"She stayed at my place for two days. Seeing me cleaning and cooking, she seemed to understand things and came to help me. She was very skillful. But her brain was sometimes good and sometimes bad. She didn't talk much. She couldn't explain why she fainted on that road that night. She said her head hurt when she thought about it. It seemed that she really couldn't remember it. Sometimes she cried. When I asked her why she was crying, she said she didn't know. One time I saw her stabbing her arm with a syringe. I was shocked. I didn't want her to be a drug addict. She said she had diabetes and had to get injections every day. I looked at the bottle and it was indeed for diabetes.
I think this is not a solution, she needs a place to stay. Later, I had an idea and sent her to Dahai Welfare Home. I know Director Song Hui there. She is a kind-hearted person. Their welfare home specializes in taking in children with mental problems. Some of them are in their 20s and their families no longer care about them or give them money, but they still live in their welfare home and they support them. Liu Tingmei has hands and feet, and she is that old. Although she is a little stupid, she is much better than those with cerebral palsy. She can also work and can be used as a half-nurse. It should not be a problem for her to earn enough food and clothing and pay for medical expenses there. ”
"Is sister Liu Ting willing to go to the welfare home?"
"She was in a daze all day, and I didn't know what she was thinking. I sent her there and she left."
——
It was already 10 o'clock in the evening when Li Qingyao and Xia Yongze left Tang's aunt's house with the contact number and address of Dahai Welfare Home. Even on this day, they followed Liu Tingmei's footsteps that night and walked further and further away. But Li Qingyao had a feeling that they were getting closer and closer to finding her.
She had so many things she wanted to ask her.
However, even if they found Liu Tingmei who was still alive seven years later, could she really answer? Would she answer?
——
The next morning, Li Qingyao and Xia Yongze rushed to Dahai Welfare Home.
This is a non-public welfare home funded by caring people, which specializes in taking in children with autism and cerebral palsy whose families are unable to take care of them.
The current dean’s surname is Su, and she is a lady in her fifties. After listening to their purpose, Director Su shook his head and said, "I only took over the welfare home in 2018, so I don't know what you are talking about. But as long as Liu Tingmei has been to our welfare home, her name must have been entered into the system. I have no impression of the name Liu Tingmei, and I probably haven't seen it in the system." Li Qingyao's heart sank.
Dean Su opened the computer in front of them, and indeed there was no Liu Tingmei's name in the records, whether seven years ago or now. Li Qingyao checked the people who came to the hospital seven years ago and found only two children with cerebral palsy, one aged 5 and the other 7. They could not be Liu Tingmei.
"What about Director Song Hui?" Li Qingyao asked, "She should have been the one who took in Liu Tingmei back then."
Dean Su looked complicated and said, "She hasn't worked here for a long time."
"Do you have her current contact information or work address?"
Dean Su wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to them.
Chengnan Women's Prison.
"Seven years ago, Song Hui was sentenced to life imprisonment." Dean Su said, "You police officers should be able to see her. You can ask her for details."
I thought there was a ray of hope, but after a twist, I found myself plunged into the fog again.
Li Qingyao asked: "Can we walk around the welfare home?"
"Of course. But be careful not to disturb our teachers and children. They are very timid and some of them lose control of their emotions easily."
It is called an orphanage, but in fact it is composed of three residential houses connected together, and the yards are also connected. It is simply decorated, and more than 20 children live crowded together. Those children, the youngest of whom are seven or eight years old, and the oldest are in their twenties, have lived in the welfare home for more than ten years. Li Qingyao noticed that some children's shoes had holes in them, but they were washed very clean. Boys make up about 2/3 and girls 1/3.
In addition to the children’s usual dormitories and activity rooms, there is also a reading room and a game room. The reading room is filled with tear-resistant cloth books, most of which are very old. The playroom is mostly filled with plastic and plush toys. There aren't any small toys to be found, probably because they're afraid that the children might accidentally swallow them.
Li Qingyao was about to leave the game room when she suddenly caught a glimpse of something in the corner. She stopped and turned around.
She had seen the toy.
Among the materials on the Li Jincheng case collected by Chen Pu, there were some photos of the old man who owned the doll stall where his brother bought the doll that night. There were five or six dolls of the same model on his stall.
This doll is only half an arm long, with a cute round pink face, brown curly hair, a white silk skirt, and red leather shoes. The workmanship is not fine, even a bit rough.
The same doll in front of me looked very old and worn. Someone had ripped off its curly hair, leaving only a small part. Its face was painted black, and its white skirt had turned gray. Li Qingyao squatted down, took it out from the pile of toys, looked down at it for a while, and turned it over.
On the bald side of his head where the hair had fallen out, someone had written three crooked words in black pen:
Lee Chin-cheng.
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