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

Chapter 384 (Third Update, Please Vote) The Price of Saving Lives

Zhou Yi held the pen, but didn't know how to begin writing.

Wu Yongcheng asked him to make a list of people to investigate, but he still couldn't figure out how to proceed.

He remembered very clearly the core investigation the task force conducted regarding Lu Xiaoshuang's social relationships in his previous life.

Lu Xiaoshuang has 7 roommates.

There are 7 direct and collateral relatives in Hongcheng.

There are 6 teachers for required general education courses, 5 teachers for required professional courses, 2 teachers for elective general education courses, and 1 counselor.

There are 56 students in the same grade and major.

There are 53 classmates and teachers from my high school.

There were 19 colleagues I had direct contact with during my part-time job over the past six months.

A total of 149 people, that's all those with a clear social relationship with Lu Xiaoshuang.

It was also the target of the first batch of core investigations.

Aside from the people she met at a few part-time jobs, Lu Xiaoshuang's social relationships were actually very simple, mostly concentrated at school.

Zhou Yi originally wanted to list all the people from the school, but after thinking about it, he felt it was inappropriate.

Before cooperating with the school in this lifetime, how could I have known so much?

Therefore, you can only write a range, not a number.

Moreover, the case in this life has changed a lot from the previous life, especially in the previous life, where Xiao Bing was only the outermost target of the fourth batch of investigations.

After thinking for a moment, he quickly finished writing.

When Wu Yongcheng returned from the cafeteria, he asked him how things went, because someone had called him while he was eating.

The other party claimed to be Fang Gexin, the deputy director of the Student Affairs Office of Hong Kong University, and said that the university leaders had arranged for him to cooperate with the police.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the other party, Wu Yongcheng said that he hoped they could meet at Hongda in an hour, as he had some needs and hoped that Director Fang could assist in providing them as soon as possible.

So Wu Yongcheng quickly finished his meal and returned to his office.

Zhou Yi handed his notebook to Wu Yongcheng.

As Wu Yongcheng read, he read aloud: "List of relevant personnel and their personal information: students majoring in Financial Management in 1996, teachers of required and elective courses; Xiao Bing's main contacts within the school, interviews with her direct superiors... Interview with Gao Xiaofang from dormitory 309..."

“Okay, logically there’s no problem. Let’s find out the list and information of Lu Xiaoshuang’s social contacts on campus first, and then we’ll look at it. Before we confirm the identity of the deceased, let’s not have any large-scale interviews. Let’s be cautious from the start and not scare the school.”

Zhou Yi nodded, got up, and went out with Wu Yongcheng.

Wu Yongcheng tossed him the car keys and asked, "Can you still drive?"

Zhou Yi laughed and said, "Captain Wu, it's not that serious. I'm not that easy to give up."

"That's more like it. You drive, I need to have a cigarette. I feel uneasy if I don't have one after a meal."

As soon as the two stepped out of the office building, they saw Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan getting out of the police car.

"You're back so soon?" Wu Yongcheng asked in surprise.

"This Xiao Bing is a bit of an unexpected situation," Qiao Jiali said.

Wu Yongcheng waved: "Get in the car and let's talk. We can go to Hongda together."

"Master, is Hongda willing to cooperate?"

"Yes, I sent someone to handle the liaison. Perfect, we can go together and get to know each other."

The four got into the car, and Zhou Yi started the Santana and drove towards Hongda.

On the way, Qiao Jiali told them about what they had learned from the local police station in the jurisdiction of Shangguan Street.

Logically speaking, going to the local police station is just a routine way of conducting peripheral investigations. After all, how many police officers does a police station have, and how many citizens are in the jurisdiction? If a police officer knows even one percent of the residents in the jurisdiction, then they are considered to be doing their job very diligently.

So Qiao Jiali and her group actually wanted to go through the local police station and then to the neighborhood committee to find out more about the situation.

Unexpectedly, they made some progress right there at the police station.

There was an old policeman at the local police station who was about to retire. He didn't recognize the name Xiao Bing, but when they mentioned Xiao Bing's grandfather, Xiao Fugui, he immediately remembered him.

It's said to be the old barber Xiao Fugui. Many local elderly people know him. He's very skilled, and I used to get my hair cut by him often when I was a child.

Then the old policeman sighed and said that Xiao Fugui was also a man with a tragic fate.

He said that if Xiao Fugui were still alive, he would be over eighty years old. He was born a few years after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, a time of great upheaval.

Anyway, the old policeman had heard from his elders when he was a child that Xiao Fugui had suffered all kinds of hardships in his life.

It is said that Xiao Fugui never married in his life, and his son, Xiao Bing's father Xiao Youfu, was a child he found before the liberation.

That year must have been 1942. There were many refugees who fled here because of famine.

One night, Xiao Fugui carried his barber's kit home, only to hear a child's heart-wrenching cries amidst the ruins.

He ran over and saw a baby wrapped in rags crying loudly, and next to it lay a ragged woman who had starved to death.

Two skinny wild dogs were watching them intently from a distance, ready to pounce at any moment. Xiao Fugui picked up a stone from the ground, chased the two wild dogs away, and then picked up the swaddled baby.

It is said that after he picked up the baby, the baby stopped crying and kept sucking on his rough fingers.

From then on, whenever Xiao Fugui got a haircut, he would carry a child on his back.

He named the child Xiao Youfu, meaning that he would enjoy good fortune in the future.

In those days, people lived like drifting duckweed, with no formalities or rules; once someone was adopted, that was it.

As a result, Xiao Fugui had a son.

He raised his son, Xiao Youfu, by relying on his barbering skills.

After liberation, the state conducted a census to count the population, and registered households. Only then did everything gradually get back on track.

Xiao Youfu also grew up under the red flag, started working, and grew into a fine young man of the new era.

Later, through an introduction, Xiao Youfu married and had a child, Xiao Bing. Because the day Xiao Bing was born was incredibly cold, a rare occurrence, they named him that.

Just when Xiao Fugui thought that his suffering was finally over and he could enjoy the rest of his life, especially his grandson Xiao Bing, who was a child prodigy in the surrounding area since childhood and always ranked first in the whole school in every exam.

As a result, a sudden accident plunged his and Xiao Bing's lives into an abyss.

In the summer of 1976, Xiao Youfu and his wife were riding their bicycles home with their eleven-year-old son, Xiao Bing, when they passed a tributary of the Nansha River and discovered a little boy struggling desperately in the river.

Xiao Youfu, who can swim, stopped his bicycle without hesitation and jumped into the river to save the person.

However, due to the recent heavy rains, the river was flowing rapidly and the water level was high, so Xiao Youfu, who was rescuing people, quickly became exhausted.

Xiao Bing's mother, in an attempt to save her husband, picked up a tree trunk from the ground and tried to pull him back, but unfortunately, she also fell into the river.

And so, Xiao Bing's parents did not manage to climb out of the icy river that summer evening.

Even the child they tried to save didn't survive.

It wasn't until someone passed by and noticed the two bicycles and Xiao Bing standing blankly by the river that they realized what had happened.

Then a police report was filed, the police station dispatched officers to investigate, notified the family, and retrieved the body.

A day later, the bodies of two adults and one child were found downstream.

Xiao Fugui cried until his voice was hoarse while holding his grandson.

The two lives lost by Xiao Bing's parents ultimately only earned them banners and condolence money from the neighborhood committee and their workplace, as well as the tears of gratitude from the other child's parents.

The officer who responded to the call back then was that old policeman.

Even later, when Xiao Fugui was canceling his son and daughter-in-law's household registration, it was the old policeman who helped him.

That's why he was so impressed.

"So, Xiao Bing is all alone now, without a single relative?" Wu Yongcheng had unknowingly smoked two cigarettes.

"That's not quite right. His mother has some relatives, but his father doesn't have any. Since it's Labor Day today, no one is on duty at the local neighborhood committee, so we'll have to go back and find out more tomorrow."

This information surprised Zhou Yi, because in his previous life he had not delved into Xiao Bing's historical background and did not know that he had such a tragic past.

Zhou Yi would not say that Xiao Youfu and his wife were fools. Those who save lives are all worthy of respect, especially in that era, when the social atmosphere and people's awareness were more inclined to believe that dedication was glorious.

However, from the perspective of the police, and considering the subsequent changes in people's thinking, such acts of saving lives regardless of cost, consequences, or even beyond one's own capabilities are not worth advocating.

There are methods and approaches to saving lives. There are no superheroes or immortals in this world who can save just anyone.

Couples like Xiao Youfu and his wife risked their lives to save others, only to lose the child and their son Xiao Bing, becoming an orphan. They truly suffered a double loss.

What can be said? Only a long sigh.

"What do you think Xiao Bing, who was eleven years old at the time, would have thought standing on the shore?" Zhou Yi suddenly asked.

"They must have been... terrified, right?" Qiao Jiali said. "Otherwise, at eleven years old, they're already teenagers. Shouldn't they have at least shouted for help immediately?"

Chen Yan nodded in agreement, but Wu Yongcheng remained silent, just smoking quietly.

Zhou Yi then asked, "So, do you think that after witnessing his parents die to save a stranger, Xiao Bing would choose to become like his parents, or become the other extreme?"

Chen Yan said, "It's really hard to say. There are two possibilities, but I'm more inclined to believe that he will become a good person like his parents. After all, he did save people at the food street."

Zhou Yi thought to herself, Chen Yan is indeed a kind-hearted person; this kind of person tends to think the best of others.

He glanced at Wu Yongcheng, who flicked his cigarette ash, took a drag, and said leisurely, "Don't think of everyone as so noble. Human nature is a very complex thing. For an eleven-year-old child, the loss of both parents can be a psychological barrier that will affect him for the rest of his life."

“If this person doesn’t have extremely high awareness and moral sense,” he said, glancing at his apprentice Chen Yan in the rearview mirror. “Then most likely, he will go to the other extreme, because that’s human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm.”

Wu Yongcheng stubbed out his cigarette and said to Zhou Yi, "I agree with your opinion. This matter of Xiao Bing saving people is not normal."

Zhou Yi stared straight ahead without saying a word.

Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan, who were sitting in the back row, were not too surprised, even though Zhou Yi did not say anything.

But they've gotten used to it; there's a tacit understanding between Captain Wu and Zhou Yi that sometimes needs no words.

(End of this chapter)