Silent Reading

TL: cici, Editor: Isalee

Synopsis: Pity he's such a bastard. Spending one day with him can make one mad to die eight times. It'll be better to forget it.

First Published on Ainushi.

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Luo Wenzhou was lying on his stomach on the hospital bed, feeling utterly bored. Because of his jailbreak record, he was included in the key watchlist. He heard Tao Ran and the doctor talking in the distance. After a while, the doctor left and the door of the ward creaked open. He heard the footsteps of soft-bottom shoes.

Luo Wenzhou began reading his prepared lines without turning his head: "I am not going to make it, you must... find a good person and get married quickly. But even if you marry someone else, don't treat Yiguo shabbily. Yiguo lives a really miserable life; he's a kid without a mother..."

Tao Ran kept coughing as though he had eaten chicken feathers.

Luo Wenzhou found his voice somehow strange and turned around to take a look at once. He saw Director Lu standing there with his hands behind his back.

Director Lu replied amiably: "I hope so, but I am already a very old cabbage. It is really impossible to get married!"

Luo Wenzhou: "..."

He sat up against the headboard at once: "Director Lu."

Lu Youliang put his briefcase aside, sat on the side, and fiddled with his buzz cut. He pointed to the top of his head and said, "Monkeys, have you seen this? One night, and I got more white hairs."

Neither the sitting Luo Wenzhou nor the standing Tao Ran dared to speak.

"This morning, I was first called to answer questions, and then rushed off to meet Wang Hongliang," sighed Lu Youliang, "Wang Hongliang, that codger, tearfully talked while dragging my sleeve, saying that his management was not strict enough, and there was a serious leadership mistake. He also said to not let the organization deal with him leniently, he's simply..."

In front of the juniors, Lu Youliang, as a qualified leader, swallowed the following curse words.

He shook his head heavily: "Did Huang Jinglian's gang confess anything?"

"Two groups are taking turns to interrogate," said Tao Ran, "Let's see how long they can last. In addition, we have applied to check Wang Hongliang's personal property. However, we now think his properties may have been relocated. There seems to be no apparent problem."

"Find his secrets even if you have to check everything. The evidence must be solid and must be obtained in a solid manner. Otherwise, we cannot explain it to anyone."

On this sentence, Luo Wenzhou suddenly realized something: "Uncle Lu, how's Director Zhang?"

The sub bureau had suffered such a scandal, and Director Zhang was the one who would be punished due to lack of supervision. At the same time, Zhang Donglai was tangled up in another murder case.

The answer was obvious. Lu Youliang sighed and held Luo Wenzhou's shoulder tightly.

He then turned to Tao Ran: "What happened to He Zhongyi's case then? What is the connection between these two cases?"

Unlike Luo Wenzhou who dared to behave in a noisy and boisterous manner in front of anyone, Tao Ran was a little nervous when facing Director Lu. He subconsciously stood up straight while leaning against the wall: "Suspect Zhao Haochang was caught in the early morning and a pair of gloves was found in his pocket. The gloves were dipped with iron filings and paint. The suspect should have worn the gloves when breaking the security guardrail on the top floor of the Twin Towers. He was very sly though. He admitted that he did loosen the guardrails for the 'prank', but denied anything else. In addition, he also claimed that he had an alibi on the night of May 20.

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Lu Youliang asked: "You have conclusive evidence that the deceased was on Wenchang Road on the evening of the 20th, don't you?"

"The cameras only showed that the deceased got off at Wenchang Road, and then we lost his trace," Tao Ran said. "Zhao Haochang's colleague said that he had been working overtime at the company. We can't conclude that he was the murderer only because the deceased had passed by his company. Now, the fact that we have this video has not been disclosed to Zhao Hongchang. He is a lawyer. Although he does not specialize in criminal law, he is very sharp. It is very likely that he can figure out our cards on the spot. Then we will have a hard time."

Luo Wenzhou forced out a smile. He felt that Fei Du and Zhao Haochang were two dressed-up beasts and with minds that thought alike. The idea of getting an alibi was exactly the same thing: "Is Wang Xiujuan able to identify him?"

"Victim Wang Xiujuan said that the person who picked her up in the evening wore sunglasses and a mask, had a wig on his head, and had changed clothes. The appearance was difficult to confirm." Tao Ran paused, "We showed her a photo of Zhao Haochang, and she had no impression of him. The response at the car rental company was almost the same. The wigs and coats used by the suspects were found in the abandoned rental car, and we were not able to extract any fingerprints. What strategy should we use for the next step? Should we consider using a 'lie detector'?"

"You can prepare one," Luo Wenzhou thought for a moment. "But it is not urgent. There is still doubt. We still don't know what the connection is between the case of He Zhongyi and the sub bureau."

Before Tao Ran could speak, his phone suddenly vibrated twice.

Lu Youliang and Luo Wenzhou looked at him together, and Tao Ran looked up: "Bad news and a clue that might be useful. The bad news is that the blood stains on Zhang Donglai's tie have been DNA tested, and it really belongs to the deceased He Zhongyi."

Lu Youliang stood up in a dignified manner.

Luo Wenzhou: "What about the clue?"

"The clue is that Wang Xiujuan just recalled the person in the photo, saying that he looks like a boy called 'Zhao Fengnian' in their village, but he had changed a lot, so she didn't recognize him at first."

Zhao Fengnian – "Feng Nian" Ge.

Luo Wenzhou was about to stand up at those words, but he nearly snapped his waist halfway: "Ah... some... someone told me that the murderer probably has committed crimes before. Check the history from 'Zhao Fengnian' to 'Zhao Haochang' immediately. Pay attention to any cases involving unnatural deaths and were closed without a clear conclusion around him!"

Lu Youliang repeated the word "someone" once and frowned: "By the way, I heard that the car owner who 'acted bravely for a just case' yesterday bought the broadcast of the "sky screen" in the Huashi Eastern District for five minutes at the full price of the rehearsal, and performed a temporary suicidal intervention on Wang Xiujuan? How much is the right to the broadcast?"

"He said that the rehearsal broadcast was not very expensive," Tao Ran answered very honestly. "It's not even as expensive as his car."

Director Lu suddenly felt that the only remaining black hair on his head had the tendency to whiten themselves again.

"Your criminal investigation team..." The old man weighed the amount he had heard and felt like his blood pressure starting to rise. So he asked with a heavy voice, "Do you realize the situation? Do any of our female colleagues have any personal emotional life issues?"

Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran looked at each other — both of them felt speechless.

Lu Youliang then seriously recalled the young women on the criminal police team and asked with uncertainty: "Is it not Lang?"

After he finished, he himself also felt that the stupid Lang Qiao would not be able to provoke a rich businessman. And then, looking at Luo Wenzhou, Lu Youliang remembered some "secrets" that he still felt were unacceptable to this day. He suddenly stared at and pointed to Luo Wenzhou, "Is it you?"

Luo Wenzhou said immediately, "Injustice! It's unjust through the age!"

Before Director Lu felt relieved, he saw Luo Wenzhou blink and ponder for a moment before nodding in all apparent seriousness: "But it sounds fair enough to me – Pity he's such a bastard. Spending one day with him can make one mad enough to die eight times. It'll be better to forget it."

Luo Youliang didn't expect him to be so shameless and open-minded, and so his blood pressure rushed directly to one hundred and eighty. He pointed at Luo Wenzhou: "Time is tight, and there are a lot of tasks to do. Be careful and don't cause any trouble at this crucial time!"

After Tao Ran accompanied the angry leader out and returned to the ward, he found that Luo Wenzhou was smoking at the opened window furtively.

"How'd you get the cigarette?"

"Sneaked it from Old Lu's pocket," said Luo Wenzhou. "Are you my brother? I have to run away after a while, cover me."

Tao Ran's temple trembled: "What are you going to do?"

"You remember Chen Yuan – the elder sister of the illegitimate taxi driving kid? Half a month before her mysterious death, she had a phone call with a girl who had not been in contact with her for a long time. I have a feeling that there is something unusual with that phone call, so I want to find her and investigate the situation."

Tao Ran replied reluctantly: "Do you have to go today?"

Luo Wenzhou dropped the cigarette ashes: "The sooner the better. There is a lot of pressure in the bureau."

Tao Ran frowned and examined the captain's condition. He was about to persuade him to stay but thought the better of it. Feeling that his words would be wasted, he had to compromise: "Well, who is the girl, and what does she do?"

"Cui Ying is a second-year master's student at the Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law."

Tao Ran: "The Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law? Surely it doesn't mean that the deceased Chen Yuan was also a student of the institute?"

Luo Wenzhou asked, "What happened?"

"Zhao Haochang is a Yanxi Institute of Political Science and Law graduate!" said Tao Ran swiftly. "It seems that he was invited by their advisor last year and went back to be a social practice mentor for a while!"

Luo Wenzhou directly put the cigarette butt on the window sill: "F**k, go!"

At the same time, in another ward, Lang Qiao was listening to Mother He Wang Xiujuan's speaking without blinking her eyes.

Fei Du was peeling an apple at the side wearing a pair of disposable gloves. Strictly speaking, he should not be here. However, after an unsuccessful suicide attempt and a frightening experience, Wang Xiujuan's mood was unstable after waking up. She became an "old kid" who needed a "guardian" to be present to speak.

Fei Du became her temporary "guardian".

Lang Qiao whispered, "Did He Zhongyi mention he met Zhao Fengnian in Yancheng?"

Mother He shook her head slightly.

"What do you remember about this Zhao Fengnian? You didn't recognize him at the beginning. Has he not returned to the village for many years?"

Mother He fixed her eyes on Fei Du.

Fei Du didn't speak, but grinned at her encouragingly. He cut the apple into small pieces, placed them in a disposable paper tray, inserted two toothpicks in them, and placed the plate in between the two women: "It's dry, get some vitamins."

"He had no home to go back to, and no one was left." Mother He said slowly and hoarsely.

"He had a lame dad and a dumb mum. Besides him, she also gave birth to three more babies — two girls and one boy. They were really poor. It was so hard for them to get a college student in their home. Everyone said their lucky time was coming. However, in the middle of one winter night, an idiot in the village was shut out by his family and had nowhere to stay. While he wandered around, he warmed himself by making fire. He accidentally burnt the tree at the entrance of the Zhaos' home. There was very strong wind at the time. The wind was purring, and all the people were sleeping, so no one noticed that. The idiot didn't know it was dangerous, so he didn't realize he should've asked for help... The burning tree snapped in the middle and crashed down onto the house. The whole family... Only their oldest son Fengnian was not at home and escaped the catastrophe. The others all died. It was such a pity."