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

Chapter 468 Who gave whom the orders?

"Wu Yuemei!" Zhou Yi called out.

Wu Yuemei was immediately jolted awake.

"Are you afraid of Yao Huanhuan?" Zhou Yi asked.

Wu Yuemei's eyes widened instantly and her pupils dilated, a typical reaction to panic.

She was indeed afraid.

"No...no..." she said guiltily.

"Who does Yao Huanhuan remind you of?" Zhou Yi immediately pressed.

Wang Tao, standing next to him, was still completely bewildered and hadn't reacted yet.

As her secret was about to be exposed, Wu Yuemei kept shaking her head.

"Tell me! Who does this child remind you of?" Zhou Yi asked slowly but firmly.

"Mr. Huang... Mr. Huang..."

This is now completely confirmed; this was exactly the scenario Zhou Yi had anticipated.

If it were simply a matter of suspecting that Yao Huanhuan was Hu Dali's son, there would be no reason to transfer hatred to the child.

Moreover, whether Wu Yuemei truly hates Hu Dali to the core is still unknown.

After all, she had been fooled by Hu Dali time and time again. While she was certainly stupid, there were other things that everyone understood. After all, she was in her thirties, while Hu Dali was much younger and in his prime.

Otherwise, she would be repeatedly deceived, and even after getting married, she would still have an affair with her husband.

Based on this, if she really believed that Yao Huanhuan was Hu Dali's son, she wouldn't be so harsh on the child, as if she wished the child were dead.

In addition, Wu Yuemei dropped out of junior high school and had little education. Both her maternal and paternal families were from rural areas, so her level of knowledge was actually very low.

Therefore, she was likely a very superstitious person, just like her mother-in-law, Ding Lanying.

That leaves only one possibility.

Her hostility toward Yao Huanhuan stemmed from the fear brought about by superstition.

Based on her account, at least one person could have created such an effect.

That Mr. Huang who died without a proper burial.

Wu Yuemei said, trembling, that not long after giving birth, one night in the middle of the night, she dreamed that Boss Huang was taking her life.

She was so frightened that she woke up from her dream with a start.

Then, turning her head, she saw Yao Huanhuan, who was only a few months old, lying next to her. In the middle of the night, she didn't cry or make a fuss, but just stared straight at her with her eyes open.

For some reason, the more she looked at the child, the more she felt that his eyes and gaze resembled those of Mr. Huang, so she slapped him on the spot.

The child burst into tears, which also woke Yao Xi on the other side.

From that day on, she became particularly afraid of Yao Huanhuan, because the more she looked at the child, the less she felt that the child looked like Yao Xi or Hu Dali, but rather like the long-dead Boss Huang.

She felt that this was Boss Huang reincarnated and had come to seek revenge.

"So you think Yao Huanhuan is Mr. Huang's lingering ghost coming back to haunt you, is that it?!" Zhou Yi questioned loudly.

Wu Yuemei completely lost control of her emotions and shouted, "How many times have I told him that the wronged should be held accountable? It was Hu Dali who killed you, it has nothing to do with me. I only took five hundred yuan."

“I used all five hundred yuan to buy ghost money and gold ingots, and then burned them all for him.”

“I told him to take the money and leave, let me go, and go find someone else.”

"But he just wouldn't leave, so I could only hit him and yell at him, trying to get rid of him."

Zhou Yi asked, "How do you plan to get rid of him?"

Wu Yuemei's lips trembled: "He...refused to leave...so I had no choice but to...send him away. I heard that...if a wronged soul dies again...it will never be reincarnated..."

"So what did you do that night?" Zhou Yi asked, holding his breath.

“That night…I…I…Waaah…” Wu Yuemei covered her face and wept bitterly.

She then admitted that after beating Yao Huanhuan, she found that the child lying on the woodpile had started to have a high fever, chills, and was unconscious. She then boiled water and decided to go all out and send the child away directly.

During the process, Yao Huanhuan cried, begged for mercy, and struggled, but she gritted her teeth and pressed the child down into the hot water.

The child stopped moving, which actually indicates shock.

She thought that when the child's father and grandparents found out the next day, they would just assume that the child had suddenly died from an illness.

No one would suspect her.

At this point, the truth of the case has come to light.

This is no longer an ordinary case of abuse, but a case of intentional homicide with subjective intent and premeditation.

With the case of Boss Huang mentioned earlier, Aunt Ding's wish might actually come true.

But Zhou Yi felt no sense of satisfaction at having solved the case.

He felt a tightness in his chest, as if a large rock was pressing down on it.

This poor child was abused by his mother from shortly after birth for such absurd reasons, and was eventually killed!
Hey……

On the way back to the county bureau after leaving the detention center, Wang Tao kept praising Zhou Yi for his abilities, saying that he was indeed the one who helped Director Ni solve major cases, and that he was very talented at such a young age.

Zhou Yi knew the other person genuinely admired him, but he couldn't bring himself to smile.

"Officer Zhou, how do you know Yao Huanhuan didn't eat dinner? There wasn't even an autopsy." Wang Tao asked, because the breakthrough was precisely in the fact that she hadn't eaten dinner.

"Wu Yuemei's previous statement said that when she was changing the child's clothes at night, she found that the child's wound was severely red and swollen, so she took a hot bath."

Wang Tao nodded.

"First of all, she is not a responsible mother. Why would she take the initiative to change her child's clothes? That is questionable."

"Secondly, the child's legs and buttocks are severely swollen and red, so he will have to sit on a bench to eat. I saw the Yao family's situation yesterday, and their table and chairs are not suitable for the child to eat standing up. If the child sits on the bench, he will definitely cry because he cannot bear the pain. Therefore, Wu Yuemei does not need to wait until evening to change clothes to check the child's wounds."

"Finally, given Wu Yuemei's temperament and attitude towards children, what would Wu Yuemei's reaction be if the child was in too much pain to sit down while eating and therefore didn't eat properly?"

Wang Tao thought for a moment and replied, "Wouldn't he fly into a rage and then beat and scold the child?"

"That's right. Given her personality, it's highly unlikely that she would use what she considers the correct method to reduce the swelling, regardless of whether the child has eaten or not. So, from the very beginning, there were some logical flaws in her testimony."

Back at the county bureau, in the director's office, Wang Tao eagerly reported the case to Ni Jianrong.

It wasn't that he wanted to take credit, but rather that he noticed Zhou Yi wasn't going to speak.

At first, Ni Jianrong didn't take it seriously, thinking that the two of them had just gone to the detention center to find out about the situation.

But the more I listened, the more something seemed off. A murder case? And how come there was another case within another case?

Ni Jianrong was thrilled after hearing this and said "good" three times.

This is a fantastic start! A civil case of unclear nature has turned into a criminal case of intentional homicide, and it may even uncover a cold case involving other provinces and cities.

This is definitely a meritorious deed!

"Director Ni," Zhou Yi said.

“Hey, you tell me.” Ni Jianrong knew, of course, that this was Zhou Yi’s doing. If Xiao Wang had that ability, he would have been working at the Municipal Bureau long ago.

"Let's report to the Municipal Bureau first, change the nature of the case, and then have the forensic doctor perform an autopsy as soon as possible. The child's body is still frozen at the county funeral home."

Ni Jianrong nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I'll contact the Municipal Bureau right away."

"Also, we need to verify the information about Boss Huang's case with other provinces and cities as soon as possible. After confirmation, we need to issue an arrest warrant to arrest Hu Dali as soon as possible."

"Yes, this is very important. Xiao Wang, please write it down quickly."

"One last thing."

"Given the current situation, we may need to apply to the provincial department to conduct a DNA test on Yao Huanhuan."

"DNA?" Ni Jianrong was taken aback. "Is this necessary?"

"I think we still need to do something to confirm whether Yao Xi and Yao Huanhuan are related by blood, as this is related to the aftermath of the victim's case."

Zhou Yi's idea was actually very simple: he hoped that Yao Huanhuan was indeed Yao Xi's son, otherwise, if the child was unloved by his father and mother, he would truly become a wandering ghost.

Ni Jianrong frowned and remained silent.

Zhou Yi knew what he was worried about and said, "Forget it, I'll handle this. I'll call Old Qin later and ask him for help."

Wang Tao couldn't help but ask, "Old Qin? Which Old Qin?"

“Qin Beihai,” Zhou Yi said.

Wang Tao was instantly bewildered.

Qin Beihai? The leading figure in the provincial capital's forensic field? A few months ago, the municipal bureau had a case that they asked him to handle.

Who exactly is this Zhou Yi? Judging from his tone, he seems to be very familiar with Old Qin.

Moreover, he had a feeling that something was wrong earlier. Who exactly was the director?
Why is it always Zhou Yi giving instructions to Director Ni?

Ni Jianrong told Xiao Wang to hurry up and make the arrangements, then looked at his watch and said with a beaming smile, "Zhou Yi, it's lunchtime. Let me take you out for a meal so we can have a good chat."

He now truly regrets it. If he had known, he should have used such a talent for himself back in Hongcheng and had properly won him over. Why did he let Wu Yongcheng benefit from him?

Zhou Yi forced a smile and declined, saying, "Maybe next time. Yao Huanhuan's ordeal is making me lose my appetite right now."

Upon hearing this, Ni Jianrong immediately feigned distress and said, "Oh, who can argue with that? Actually, I've been having trouble sleeping and eating too. Well then, it's settled. Next time, when you're officially transferred to Wuguang, I'll treat you to a welcome dinner."

After leaving the Yunshan County Public Security Bureau, Zhou Yi headed towards the train station.

Then he called Wu Yongcheng and told him everything about Yao Huanhuan's case, but only briefly mentioned Ni Jianrong's matter.

After listening, Wu Yongcheng remained silent for a long time, and then Zhou Yi heard the sound of a lighter.

Clearly, Captain Wu has drawn another card.

"Zhou Yi, my opinion is that we shouldn't do the DNA test."

Zhou Yi was taken aback. "Why?"

Can Wu Yuemei herself confirm who the child's father is?

"No." "Since you can't, then go tell Yao Xi that Wu Yuemei said that on purpose to provoke him. Hu Dali is Wu Yuemei's ex-boyfriend, but he has nothing to do with the child."

"Captain Wu, are you saying I'm going to lie to the Yao family?"

“This is not called deception. Wu Yuemei herself did not know the truth. The law also emphasizes the principle of presumption of innocence. This kind of thing, based entirely on a suspect’s baseless statement, cannot be called deception; it is only part of the objective facts.”

Wu Yongcheng puffed out a cloud of smoke and said, "Think about it yourself. The child is already gone. What if the DNA test results show that the child isn't from the Yao family?"

Zhou Yi suddenly realized.

If the child isn't from the Yao family, then there will be no one to handle the child's funeral arrangements, and there won't even be anyone to burn paper money for him in the future.

The three members of the Yao family will not feel fortunate because of this; instead, they will become even more depressed.

Wu Yuemei's mistake has to be paid for by four people.

Wu Yongcheng said, "Think about another question: given the cognitive and educational level of these three members of the Yao family, do they even know what DNA is?"

"Captain Wu, that makes sense!"

Now that things have come to this point, perhaps it's a good thing to just let things continue as they are, at least there's still hope, and it won't be a case of killing someone out of their spirit.

Sure enough, this is the difference between Ni Jianrong and Wu Yongcheng!

"Captain Wu, thank you for your guidance. I understand now."

For these superstitious rural people, you have to use their logic to solve the problem.

Zhou Yi decided to first talk to Yao Xi about the child; whether Yao Xi believed him or not was up to him.

Then, after returning home, I asked my grandmother to find a fortune teller or something similar, give her some money, and bring Aunt Ding over to act out a play for her.

That's all he can do to help. Everyone has their own life to live and must take responsibility for it.

Zhou Yi went to the station to check the bus schedule and found that it was still early, so she went to a nearby street-side shop to eat something.

Around 1 p.m., I finally made it back to Yunlai Town and went to find Yao Xi.

After hearing his words, Yao Xi was stunned for a long time before finally managing to stammer out, "You...you're not lying to me, are you?"

Zhou Yi had no intention of arguing with him about the truth of the matter. Anyway, the message had been delivered, and whether he believed it or not was not important. He could just put some effort into the matter of superstition later.

In fact, Zhou Yi knew very well that when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Once a person dies, they no longer exist on a physical level. All the things that follow are just a way for the living to create a lasting impression.

But that's how people are; sometimes they do things even when they know they're fake.

It's simply to make the deceased's family feel a little better.

Zhou Yi left the bewildered Yao Xi behind, intending to find a car to take him back to Xiaguang Village.

Because there are no buses in the town that go to the villages.

Forget about taxis, they don't exist. You can hardly find any in the county.

Generally, these are motorcycles and vans.

Zhou Yi wandered around the busiest market area in town and found a group of motorcycle drivers playing cards under the shade of a towering tree. They were all idly waiting for business.

Zhou Yi went over to take a look and found that the group of people were just having fun playing around and were not gambling.

Just as he was about to ask how much it would cost to go to Xiaguang Village, the conversation of the group caught his attention.

"Hey, did you guys hear? This morning, Lao Ba took a group of students to Xishan. One against seven."

"Were they the students who stayed at Boss Xue's hotel last night? These kids who haven't even grown their hair yet dare to go to Xishan? A bunch of idiots."

"Hey, you didn't expect that, did you? Young people these days are really daring, daring to climb wild mountains. They probably won't even know how they died. One against two."

"Old Ba is really shameless. All he cares about is making money. He doesn't even know how to stop it. What if something happens? No way."

"Why didn't you try to persuade them? Old Ba said these little brats are stubborn and won't listen to reason. One of them even insulted him, which made Old Ba furious. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, a straight!"

"Hey, how ungrateful! We've been waiting for you, bomb!"

"That's right. This West Mountain is undeveloped. There are always some fools who sneak up there and fall to their deaths. I don't know what's so great about climbing this wild mountain."

"You don't know, but I've heard that some people love to climb wild mountains and do that kind of thing. It's exciting."

Everyone let out knowing, chuckles.

At this moment, someone looked up, noticed Zhou Yi, the stranger, and asked, "Boss, want a delivery?"

Everyone then turned to look at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi knew that the group of young people they were talking about were the same group he and Lu Xiaoshuang had met yesterday.

It seems my advice yesterday was useless.

I hope nothing bad happens to them.

Although they were indeed unlikable, Zhou Yi, as a police officer, could not possibly want anything to happen to them.

It's okay to encounter some problems or suffer minor injuries; after all, young people are impetuous and only by experiencing hardship can they learn their lesson.

As long as no one dies, that's fine.

The key issue is that Zhou Yi doesn't know whether this group of people had met with misfortune in his previous life.

Even if someone dies in an accident in the mountains, it's not a criminal case.

As for news, information is limited, and it's difficult for even news from neighboring cities to spread.

After all, it's common for people to die in undeveloped, wild mountains.

Sigh, can't you just live a normal life? Why do you have to act up?

"Master, how much does it cost to go to Xiaguang Village?" Zhou Yi asked.

……

The motorcycle stopped at the village entrance. Zhou Yi got off, paid the fare, and then slowly walked towards her grandmother's house.

I casually broke off a reed along the way and held it in my hand like a whip to play with.

Childhood happiness is so simple.

Before I even got to my grandma's house, I saw a familiar figure by the river. He was wearing a straw hat and sitting by the river, fishing intently.

Zhou Yi tiptoed over, then leaned in and whispered, "Is it fun?"

Lu Xiaoshuang was startled and was about to speak when she suddenly felt the fishing rod in her hand sink.

She didn't have time to say anything and quickly pulled on the fishing rod.

But she didn't expect the creature in the water to be so incredibly strong. She lost her grip, the fishing line taut, and the fishing rod almost slipped from her hand.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi reacted quickly and grabbed the fishing rod, pulling hard.

With a strong pull of his hands, Zhou Yi sent a large black fish leaping out of the water along the fishing line, dancing in the afternoon sunlight.

Lu Xiaoshuang flashed a bright smile and excitedly exclaimed how amazing it was, her white teeth seemingly reflecting the sunlight.

Zhou Yi was infected by her smile, and the gloom in his heart was swept away.

Zhou Yi was carrying a bucket, which contained not only the large black fish but also some smaller fish, all of which Lu Xiaoshuang had caught.

Lu Xiaoshuang carried a fishing rod in one hand and a small stool in the other.

"Is the countryside fun?" Zhou Yi asked.

Lu Xiaoshuang immediately nodded with a smile, "It's much more fun than the city. There are so many streams and ditches. Grandpa said you can even catch crayfish there. We are very short of water where we live. There is only one river near the village, and the banks are bare. It's nothing like here with so many reeds."

“During the dry season, the water sometimes dries up, and my dad has to fetch water from a well more than a kilometer away. It’s very difficult to dig wells there; many wells don’t yield a single drop of water even after digging for a long time.”

"And the water doesn't taste good either; it's very bitter and has to be boiled before you can drink it."

Watching her chatter on and on, Zhou Yi reached out and patted her head, saying, "Silly girl, water has to be boiled before you can drink it."

"No, Grandma said the well water here is drinkable. I drank some at noon, it was ice-cold."

When I got home, my grandmother immediately came to ask how things went.

Zhou Yi did not reveal the specific details of the case, only saying that Yao Xi was particularly stubborn and now even suspected that Yao Huanhuan was not his son.

Grandma was furious when she heard this.

Zhou Yi quickly made an excuse, saying that Yao Xi shouldn't be allowed to think such nonsense. What if Aunt Ding took it seriously? In the future, the child wouldn't even be able to get any paper money for Qingming and Winter Solstice in the underworld. That would be too pitiful.

The grandmother immediately agreed with her eldest grandson, feeling that the child should not be left to wander as a ghost.

Zhou Yi seized the opportunity and brought up her idea. Her grandmother nodded repeatedly and said that she didn't need to worry about it and that she would handle it.

There's a little fairy in the next town who's incredibly powerful. She'll take Aunt Ding there in a couple of days.

When we had dinner that evening, my uncle came back with his wife and son, and the whole family sat around the table together again.

My uncle Zhang Yunbao runs a seafood business; he doesn't have much else, but he has a lot of seafood, both river and seafood.

Grandma complained that he brought so much again, and that he might as well sell it to make some money.

"This is for my eldest nephew," the uncle said, then asked, "Zhou Yi, when are you going back? I'll get you two boxes of fish so you can take them back to your mother and share them with the relatives."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi was startled and quickly waved his hand, saying, "No, Uncle, please don't send any more fish to my mom. She can't eat them all, and she'll just pickle them into salted fish. My dad and I are practically turning into salted fish from eating them."

Lu Xiaoshuang smiled to herself, remembering the salted fish that Zhou Yi had secretly thrown away when they moved. However, when she went to Zhou Yi's parents' house last time, Lu Xiaoshuang found that Zhou Yi's mother seemed to have pickled a lot of salted fish again, which must have been given by this uncle.

"Uncle, you should listen to Grandma and sell it for some money."

Zhang Yunbao said nonchalantly, "It's alright. As long as I'm still in the seafood business, our family will never lack fish to eat."

Grandpa tapped the edge of the bowl of fish in the middle of the table with his chopsticks and said, "We don't need you even if you don't come. Look at the big black fish that Zhou Yi and Xiao Shuang caught."

"Uncle, how's business lately?" Zhou Yi asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yunbao put down his chopsticks, sighed, and asked in return, "Zhou Yi, do you know any police officers around Wu Guang?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi knew something was wrong, so he quickly asked, "Uncle, what's wrong?"

"You have no idea how rampant Wu Guang's underworld is!"

(End of this chapter)