Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 156: The Man-Eating Abyss (asking for monthly tickets)
"After I discovered that women were being trafficked as wives in the village, I did some research to find out which families had stupid wives and which families had problems. Jiang Aqing's family was one of them."

Jiang Zhichao's eyes reddened as he said, "But I never imagined that something like this would happen to me. No wonder I've never met my mother's relatives since I was a child."

"I don't have much memory of my mother. I just remember that she died when I was a child. My grandparents said she died of illness."

"My dad said that if I called the police, he would also go to jail. He asked me if I really wanted to send my own father to jail. After I found out about this, I had a mental breakdown and had to flee overnight. I felt that place was not my hometown, but a cannibalistic abyss."

Jiang Zhichao said guiltily: "I was very conflicted, so I didn't call the police in the end."

Zhou Yi thought of the contrast between Jiang Zhigao, who had polio, and the handsome Jiang Zhichao. Perhaps one resembled his father and the other his mother. Thinking of Jiang Baogen's dignity, Jiang Zhichao must have resembled his mother.

From the police's perspective, Zhou Yi could condemn Jiang Zhichao for knowing the truth but not reporting it.

But from the perspective of an ordinary person, a man, he has no position to condemn the other party, because in this situation and circumstances, anyone with weak psychological endurance will collapse, so escape may be his only option.

"There's another reason I didn't report it to the police. The villagers are very united in dealing with this kind of thing. When I was a child, I saw that if a daughter-in-law ran away, the whole village would search the hills for her. The village elders said the woman ran away because she couldn't bear the hardship, but later I realized that might not be the case at all. If no one in the village reported this for 20 or 30 years, it only means that the whole village was accomplices."

Zhou Yi nodded and said coldly, "I've seen the unity of the people in Sanpo Village."

Jiang Zhichao said: "With so many people involved, I don't know what the final outcome will be even if I call the police."

Jiang Zhichao's worries were right. Even if he called the police, Director Wang would definitely investigate, but what about the township and the county?
By then, for various reasons, the matter will eventually be reduced to a small one, and a few main culprits will be arrested. Will the others be "not held accountable by the law"?

"Jiang Zhichao, why are you willing to tell all these things now? Are you no longer worried about sending your father Jiang Baogen to jail?" Zhou Yi knew that the other party was not willing to tell him just because of his arrival.

Jiang Zhichao looked up at the family photo on the wall and smiled helplessly.

"My wife is from Taicheng and was my college classmate. She was always there for me and encouraged me during my most difficult and hopeless times. We didn't even inform my father or the villagers about our wedding; the wedding banquet was held in Taicheng. And I never took her back to Sanpo Village because I was afraid that if I did, she would be arrested by the villagers and locked up in a barn, or sold somewhere unknown."

"My dad probably calls me an ungrateful person every day now, so I only go back home during Chinese New Year and leave the same day I return. I never stay overnight."

"Officer Zhou, you asked me why I'm willing to speak out now. I know I'll be held legally responsible for saying these things. But I'm not afraid anymore because I have a daughter of my own. The thought of my daughter being abducted and sold to a remote and desolate place, where she'd be abused and used as a reproductive tool, never able to escape that mountain until her death, and driven to a state of mental illness, makes me want to tear those people apart!"

Jiang Zhichao asked expectantly, "Officer Zhou, you're from the Hongcheng City Police Department. You won't tolerate this, right?"

Zhou Yi said, "Of course. Our city bureau will investigate this case thoroughly and will not let any criminal go."

Zhou Yi paused and said, "Including your father Jiang Baogen."

Zhou Yi then asked Jiang Zhichao for the specific list of every problematic household he remembered, because he would ask Director Wang and others to cooperate in a thorough investigation after returning.

"Have you seen Yang Xiujuan?" Zhou Yi asked.

"I've seen it."

"When was she put in the pigsty?"

"Locked in a pigsty?" Jiang Zhichao was stunned. "When I was still the village party secretary, Yang Xiujuan wasn't locked up in a pigsty. She was just chained up because Jiang Aqing said she was mentally ill and would run around everywhere. I heard she was locked up when she occasionally had an attack, but it was okay back then. They said Yang Xiujuan was from Liyang County, but when I heard her speak, she didn't have a local accent, so I guessed she was probably sold here."

"Did you discover anything when you were in contact with Yang Xiujuan? For example, did she say or mention anything?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly, because according to what Jiang Zhichao said, Yang Xiujuan's mental condition at that time must have been better than it is now. She must have been locked up in the pigsty because her mental illness became more serious later.

If we can get some valuable clues, it will be of great help in confirming Yang Xiujuan's true identity.

"Let me think about it..." Jiang Zhichao thought for a long time, frowning and saying, "I'm not sure if what I heard is correct, because I really don't understand her accent. But I met her two or three times, and each time she mentioned a word that sounded like... Yajiang or Yajiang."

Zhou Yi circled the two words "Yajiang" in his notebook.

"Great, thank you very much for your cooperation. I need you to sign the interrogation record to ensure the legality of our conversation. Also, I'd like to ask, you'll be needed as a key witness in the subsequent litigation. Do you have any questions?"

Jiang Zhichao answered firmly, "No problem, I will fully cooperate. I hope you can solve this case as soon as possible so that my mother can rest in peace."

"Don't worry. This case will be solved."

Just as Zhou Yi stood up and prepared to say goodbye, the door opened and a woman walked in holding a child in her left hand and a bag of vegetables in her right hand.

"Zhichao, why are you back so early today?" The woman smiled, put the dishes on the ground, and closed the door. "I brought some food from my mom and will make you something delicious tonight."

The woman turned around and saw Zhou Yi. "Oh, there are guests?"

"Officer Zhou, this is my wife," Jiang Zhichao quickly introduced.

When the woman heard the word "police officer", she was stunned for a moment, but when she saw that her husband looked normal, she felt relieved.

"Daddy has something to do. Come on, baby, come with mommy into the room first." The woman had just finished speaking when the child in her arms stretched out his chubby little hands and tried to come towards Jiang Zhichao. Jiang Zhichao quickly reached out and embraced the child lovingly, while teasing the child in his arms with a smile, and said, "Officer Zhou, please stay for dinner before you leave."

"You're welcome. I have to rush back to report the situation to my superiors. I won't bother you any more."

Zhou Yi was about to walk out as he spoke, but the child in Jiang Zhichao's arms stretched out his hand towards Zhou Yi, babbling.

"Officer Zhou, she seems to want you to hug her." Jiang Zhichao said with a smile.

"Ah?" Zhou Yi couldn't remember the last time he held a child. "This isn't good."

Jiang Zhichao's wife also smiled and said, "My baby is usually very shy. This is the first time he has asked to be held. Officer Zhou, please hold him. It's okay."

Jiang Zhichao handed the child to Zhou Yi and said, "Come here, dear baby, let the police uncle hold you for a minute."

Zhou Yi carefully took the child, holding him like a porcelain doll.

The child in his arms looked at him, a stranger, curiously with his big eyes, and his little hands touched his face back and forth.

The child's mother said softly, "Be good, Lele. The police are here to protect us."

……

On the way back to Yong'an Township, it was already dark.

Zhou Yi was thinking that Jiang Zhichao's qualities and character were probably not formed simply by going to college.

He said that he has been good at studying since he was young, so logically speaking, he should have been able to get into university because of his good qualities and character, as well as strong learning ability.

He must have taken after his mother, perhaps his mother was a very good intellectual young woman.

However, it is probably difficult to find missing persons from such a long time ago. Not to mention Jiang Zhichao's mother, it is still unknown whether Yang Xiujuan's true identity can be found.

Jiang Zhichao's mother was sold to the mountains, and many years later, her genes enabled her son to leave the mountains through studying.

It's really fate.

When Zhou Yi returned to the Yong'an Township Police Station, it was completely dark, but the old red brick courtyard was brightly lit.

In that temporary office, various documents were piled up like mountains, and Wu Yongcheng was squinting his eyes and rubbing his temples.

"What's wrong with Captain Wu?" Zhou Yi asked Chen Yan in a low voice.

"The mayor of Liyang County came this afternoon. My master negotiated with him behind closed doors for the entire afternoon. After he left, my master was like this."

Zhou Yi's heart skipped a beat. The county magistrate came in person, and his rank was higher than Wu Yongcheng's. This matter would probably not be easy to handle.

"Captain Wu..." Zhou Yi shouted.

Wu Yongcheng opened his eyes: "Oh, Zhou Yi is back? How is he?"

"I went to Taicheng and found Jiang Zhichao. I made some important discoveries."

Wu Yongcheng was cheered up and asked Chen Yan to call the people from the Third Brigade, Director Wang and other key personnel of the police station over.

Zhou Yi described to everyone the information he had obtained from Jiang Zhichao. Everyone was stunned, especially the police officers of the police station headed by Chief Wang. This was their jurisdiction, and such shocking criminal behavior had lasted for so many years.

Director Wang's forehead was covered in sweat. "We didn't do our job well enough. We failed in our duty."

Wu Yongcheng consoled him, "Director Wang, this isn't your fault. The situation in Sanpo Village is very unique. Didn't Jiang Zhichao say that the villagers have very strong clan values, they protect each other, and their awareness of the rule of law is almost zero. If no one called the police, how did you find out what was going on?"

Wu Yongcheng's words were half sincere, and the other half was to appease the police officers in the police station.

There are more than a hundred adults over the age of 35 in Sanpo Village. By dark, we had only questioned half of them and had not obtained any useful clues. We would have to rely on them to contribute in the future, so we naturally had to stabilize the morale of the troops.

As for whether they would be held accountable afterward, especially Director Wang, that was hard to say. Even if he wanted to speak on their behalf, he was afraid he would be powerless, after all, he had already offended the Liyang County magistrate.

Wu Yongcheng said, "Everyone's been exhausted all day. Let's have another meeting to discuss the progress of the case and tomorrow's work arrangements. Then, let's go back and rest. We have to continue working hard tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)