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

Chapter 473 Take him home
When Wu Yongcheng and his group of four arrived in Yunshan County, it was already past 1 a.m.

The car stopped in Xiaguang Village first. Qiao Jiali got out of the car and took a flashlight to look for Lu Xiaoshuang.

The other three went directly to the address at the foot of the nearby mountain that Ni Jianrong had given them.

At Zhou Yi's maternal grandmother's house, a dim, solitary lamp shone under the eaves at the entrance.

Under the solitary lamp, behind the wooden threshold, Lu Xiaoshuang sat on a small stool, resting her chin on her hand, staring at the pitch black outside.

She didn't tell her grandparents about Zhou Yi's accident; she only said that Zhou Yi had something urgent to attend to and went to help out, and that she would wait for him to come back.

But from the worried looks in the two elderly people's eyes, she felt that her grandparents seemed to have some premonition, but they just didn't say it.

When she saw a flashlight beam swaying and approaching from a distance, she was overjoyed.

He called out "Brother Yi" and immediately ran towards the flashlight.

Qiao Jiali recognized her figure and called out, "Xiao Shuang?"

Lu Xiaoshuang was stunned for a moment, and a huge sense of loss welled up in her heart.

But then, her nose tingled, and she cried out, "Sister Qiao."

Qiao Jiali immediately hugged her and comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. Zhou Yi is a lucky person, don't worry, nothing will happen."

"Sister Qiao, can I go over there? I heard from the police officers in the village who went into the mountains with Brother Yi to rescue people that the rescuers are at the foot of the mountain. I want to go and see."

Qiao Jiali nodded: "That's what Captain Wu meant. Since you're a family member, you can go over."

Zhou Yi's current fate is unknown, and his family certainly has the right to go to the scene, because this is not a criminal case.

“But we have to walk a stretch of road at night first. Once Captain Wu and the others arrive, Chen Yan will come back to pick us up.” Qiao Jiali asked, “Are you afraid of the dark?”

Lu Xiaoshuang shook her head firmly: "I'm not afraid."

……

On the other side, after arriving at the scene, Wu Yongcheng immediately dialed Ni Jianrong's number.

Chen Yan went back to pick up the person, while Wu Yongcheng and Jiang Biao walked towards Ni Jianrong with grim faces.

"Old Wu, I'm so sorry, I really didn't expect it to turn out like this," Ni Jianrong said with a twisted expression.

Wu Yongcheng took a deep breath and said, "This isn't entirely your fault. Given Zhou Yi's personality, he'll definitely still choose to go up the mountain even if he finds out about this."

Although Wu Yongcheng was extremely angry when he called Ni Jianrong earlier, it was pointless for him to come over and verbally abuse him in person. It would not help in rescuing Zhou Yi.

So he restrained his anger and spoke as calmly as possible.

"Tell me what's going on now."

Seeing that Wu Yongcheng didn't scold him, Ni Jianrong felt as if he had been granted a pardon.

Over the years, Wu Yongcheng, who has been his deputy, has always maintained a very mild attitude. Although he is neither obsequious nor hostile towards him, he has never flattered him.

So Wu Yongcheng's outburst of anger in the previous phone call threw him into a panic.

Moreover, if Zhou Yi really dies because of this, then he bears a great deal of responsibility.

Now that Wu Yongcheng hasn't scolded him, he's naturally speaking his mind.

He explained the whole story about the group of students and why a team was organized to go into the mountains for rescue.

Then they talked about what happened after they went into the mountains.

The first girl to be discovered with a broken leg was named Shen Chunlin.

The two students who were later discovered were a boy and a girl; the boy's name was Du Xiang, and the girl's name was Li Jiajia.

The two sustained minor injuries, and a doctor's examination confirmed that they were not seriously hurt.

According to the two men, after the group of eight entered the mountains, the surrounding environment was too harsh, completely different from the beautiful primeval forest they had originally imagined. As a result, the three of them had already considered turning back.

Because all three of them were just armchair strategists with no real-world experience.

In addition, Du Xiang got into an argument with team leader Liang Bin because he got lost. Liang Bin is the handsome young man with a bad temper.

So Du Xiang pulled Li Jiajia and Shen Chunlin away and the two sides went their separate ways.

However, since the three of them had very little experience in the wild, Shen Chunlin got lost and fell down the mountain before being found.

Otherwise, these eight people would never have made it out; they would have all died in the mountains and no one would have known.

As for why they went up the mountain, all three gave the same account: it was an activity organized by their club, a "survival in the wilderness" experience during the summer vacation, and after climbing the mountain, they would each go back to their own homes.

Unfortunately, some people can't go home.

After these three parted ways with the other five, the other five also ran into trouble.

Two of the other five people are couples. The handsome young man who had previously ignored Zhou Yi's advice was their team leader, Liang Bin.

The girl who caught up with Zhou Yi and apologized was his girlfriend, Li Yanan.

They were both sophomores.

The other couple, the boy named Ding Fei and the girl named Tang Mengjie, were both freshmen.

Yao Li is also a sophomore, and she is in the same major as Li Yanan.

The five people walked for a while, but halfway there Yao Li tripped and fell, cutting his thigh on a rock, and bleeding profusely.

It was Li Yanan who used scissors to cut off the sleeve of her own coat to bandage Yao Li.

Then Liang Bin and Ding Fei helped Yao Li walk forward.

This group was already slow-moving, and after Yao Li was injured, they moved even slower.

Liang Bin kept cursing and swearing, calling Yao Li a useless burden to the team and scolding him for insisting on coming along to join in the fun.

Yao Li could only keep apologizing, saying he was afraid they would abandon him.

But in the end, it still happened.

The reason was that sudden downpour.

Yes, just as Zhou Yi predicted, this group didn't even bring raincoats. Only the two girls brought two umbrellas, making it seem like they were on vacation.

But how could two small umbrellas possibly shelter five people in the pouring rain?

So Liang Bin made up an excuse and left Yao Li there, ostensibly to find someone to help him, but in reality, he left him to fend for himself.

So when Yao Li, who felt he was about to die, heard Zhou Yi's voice, he mustered all his strength to shout for help.

Later, Lü Tiezhu said that they heard a woman screaming in the distance, and after much deliberation, Zhou Yi decided to go and see.

He and Yao Li waited in the same spot for about half an hour, but Zhou Yi did not return.

Lu Tiezhu's heart sank to an unbearable weight, while Yao Li kept groaning that he couldn't take it anymore and was about to die.

Having no other choice, Lü Tiezhu could only carefully help Yao Li back.

After walking for only ten minutes, Yao Li, whom he was supporting, suddenly trembled and then ran away.

This startled Lü Tiezhu, who didn't know what had happened, and he quickly chased after them.

As a result, the ground was too slippery, and Yao Li fell down. Lü Tiezhu managed to grab a tree and avoid falling, but twisted his ankle and felt a sharp pain.

He endured the pain in his foot, walked over, and angrily berated Yao Li for being crazy and running away.

Then I smelled a foul stench.

Yes, Yao Li defecated, he soiled his pants.

Yellowish, murky filth flowed down the wet trouser legs, causing Lü Tiezhu to instinctively cover his nose.

There was no other way but to continue on the road.

As Lü Tiezhu walked, his feet hurt more and more. The temperature in the mountains was so low that he was sweating profusely from the pain.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, he saw flashlight beams moving in the woods ahead. Knowing that the rescue team had arrived, Lü Tiezhu quickly shouted.

Yao Li was then rescued, but as soon as the rescuers approached, they frowned and covered their noses.

The rescuers who found them immediately called Ni Jianrong via radio. Lü Tiezhu eagerly grabbed the radio and told Ni Jianrong to send more people over as soon as possible. Zhou Yi had gone deep into the forest to find the other students, without a raincoat or radio.

After Lü Tiezhu and Yao Li successfully escaped, Lü Tiezhu collapsed to the ground, took off one shoe, and saw that his ankle was swollen to the size of a fist.

Although there were no precise coordinates, Lü Tiezhu and Zhou Yi discovered that Yao Li's approximate location was clear, and that there were markings along the way.

Therefore, Ni Jianrong immediately dispatched more people in that direction.

Soon, a discovery was made.

Rescuers reported via radio that they had found three other students: Li Yanan, Ding Fei, and Tang Mengjie. The three were helping each other search for a way out when they were discovered; all three were unharmed.

"So how did Zhou Yi fall off the cliff? And what about that Liang Bin?" Wu Yongcheng asked with a gloomy expression.

Ni Jianrong replied, "According to the girl named Li Yanan, the scream that Zhou Yi and the others heard came from her. Because Liang Bin was looking for a way out, it was too dark, he lost his footing and fell off the cliff."

“She said she was terrified, which is why she screamed. Then Zhou Yi heard the noise and rushed over to find them. When Zhou Yi learned that Liang Bin had fallen, she probably went to check on him, because Li Yanan said that Zhou Yi had walked to the edge of the cliff and shone a flashlight down, and then… Zhou Yi also fell down…” Ni Jianrong said helplessly, “Old Wu, you can’t really blame me for this, can you? I didn’t want anything to happen to Zhou Yi either. No, no, no, I didn’t want anything to happen to anyone!”

This result was so unexpected; Wu Yongcheng and the others never imagined that Zhou Yi would fall off the cliff for this reason.

Wu Yongcheng took a deep breath; he neither wanted to hear nor cared about Ni Jianrong's explanation.

How is the search and rescue operation going?

Ni Jianrong pointed to a topographic map spread out on the folding table and said, "The approximate area where the person fell off the cliff has been identified. It's in this area, and we've now concentrated our manpower on searching the cliffs in this area."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yongcheng's brows furrowed instantly, and he asked, "What do you mean by defining the approximate area of ​​the fall? Didn't Li Yanan witness Zhou Yi falling from where he fell? Send people down to search for him wherever he fell!"

In the end, Wu Yongcheng slammed his hand on the map, almost causing the folding table to fall apart.

Jiang Biao behind him remained silent. Fortunately, it was only Wu Yongcheng who was angry. If it had been Jiang Biao, he probably would have smashed the table to pieces with one slap.

"Old Wu, don't get agitated. It's not that we didn't want to look for them, but when the rescuers found Li Yanan and the other two, they had already left the spot where they fell off the cliff. Moreover, the three of them were clearly too shocked to even distinguish directions, let alone identify the exact location where they fell off the cliff. So I could only estimate an area to search for them based on where they were found."

"Director Ni, I know this isn't your fault, and I'm not angry at you. I'm just furious with those bastards. What kind of college students are they? They can't do anything right, they can't even provide a location for the fall! What a bunch of idiots!"

Upon hearing Wu Yongcheng's curses, Ni Jianrong quickly chimed in, "That's right! If it weren't for these unlucky bastards, such a big thing wouldn't have happened."

Where are these college students now?

"He is receiving treatment at the county hospital."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Biao finally couldn't help but swear.

At this moment, Chen Yan received Qiao Jiali and Lu Xiaoshuang. Wu Yongcheng comforted Lu Xiaoshuang for a few words, saying that Zhou Yi might be in danger at the moment, and it was too early to draw conclusions before finding him.

Lu Xiaoshuang gritted her teeth and nodded, but tears still streamed down her face.

"Director Ni, prepare our supplies, we're going into the mountains!" Wu Yongcheng said, turning around.

Jiang Biao and the others immediately tried to dissuade him, saying that he was over forty years old and couldn't handle the strain, so they should go instead.

Jiang Biao said, "Captain Wu, don't worry, we will definitely bring Zhou Yi back safely! Not a single one of our three squads will be missing!"

Chen Yan and Qiao Jiali echoed this sentiment.

Wu Yongcheng hesitated for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something, nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Take him home!"

At this moment, Lu Xiaoshuang suddenly shouted, "Captain Wu, I want to go into the mountains too."

Wu Yongcheng refused without hesitation, saying, "No, it's too dangerous!"

Lu Xiaoshuang said with a determined look in her eyes, "If you won't let me go up the mountain, then I'll go up by myself."

Ni Jianrong interjected, "Young lady, don't cause us any trouble at this time."

At this moment, Qiao Jiali spoke up: "Captain Wu, let Xiaoshuang come with the three of us. With us here, she won't be in danger."

After calming down and thinking for a moment, Wu Yongcheng nodded. Just by looking into Lu Xiaoshuang's eyes, he knew she wasn't joking. If he didn't let her go, the girl might actually run up the mountain alone, which would be even more troublesome.

"Alright, Lu Xiaoshuang, don't run around. Just stay here and watch, understand?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoshuang nodded vigorously.

Ni Jianrong quickly asked Wang Tao to arrange the equipment and supplies needed for the group to go up the mountain. After reporting to the county and city authorities, the problem of the relief supplies had been resolved.

Ni Jianrong also arranged for an experienced police officer from the first batch who knew the current search and rescue area to guide them.

After watching the group enter the mountains, Wu Yongcheng said to Ni Jianrong, "Arrange for someone to guide me."

Ni Jianrong was taken aback: "Old Wu, where are you going?"

"I need to go to the county hospital and ask those college students, especially the one named Li Yanan."

Ni Jianrong was a little confused. What was there to ask about those unlucky college students? But he still immediately looked for someone and shouted, "Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang."

Wang Tao, covered in dust and dirt, came running over from who-knows-where. Although he hadn't gone into the mountains, he was far from relaxed, having worked non-stop since morning.

"This is... Leader Wu from Hongcheng. He's going to the county hospital to find those college students. Could you show him the way?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Tao immediately nodded respectfully, "Sir, please come with me, I'll drive you to the county hospital."

Wu Yongcheng nodded and said kindly, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

Upon arriving at the county hospital, Wu Yongcheng found the students in the emergency room.

On the way here, he asked Wang Tao about the situation of these seven college students.

Wang Tao said that apart from Shen Chunlin, who was discovered first, and Yao Li, who was rescued later, whose conditions were more serious, the other five college students were not seriously injured, at most suffering from some minor injuries.

When Wu Yongcheng entered the emergency room, he saw that the five college students were fast asleep, and two of the boys were snoring loudly.

Obviously, nothing happened, because these five people didn't even hang up the water.

Theoretically, once things are fine, they shouldn't continue to occupy the emergency room's resources, but since they are students rescued during a rescue operation, the hospital doesn't dare to directly kick them out.

Seeing the five men fast asleep, Wu Yongcheng was furious. He clapped his hands a few times and shouted, "Wake up, all of you!"

The group of people, who had been woken up, rubbed their eyes and got out of bed, looking at Wu Yongcheng with confusion.

"Who are Li Yanan, Ding Fei, and Tang Mengjie?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

One man and two women raised their hands.

Wu Yongcheng sized up the three of them, then walked up to the prettiest girl and asked, "Are you Li Yanan?"

The girl nodded.

At this moment, Ding Fei asked, "Who...who are you? Why are you keeping people awake in the middle of the night?"

Wang Tao quickly said, "This is our leader."

Upon hearing the word "leader," Ding Fei immediately fell silent.

"Did you personally witness the policeman who came to rescue you fall off the cliff?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

Li Yanan nodded.

How far away were you from him at the time?

"Okay...it seems to be about two meters."

Did you have any lighting equipment with you at the time? Like a flashlight or something.

Li Yanan shook her head and said, "Liang Bin and I shared a flashlight. The flashlight was with him, and it fell down with him."

Wu Yongcheng nodded, then turned to Ding Fei and Tang Mengjie and asked, "Where were you two at the time? Did you see Liang Bin and that policeman fall off the cliff?"

Ding Fei quickly shook his head and replied, "No... I didn't see it. Mengmeng was a little emotional at the time, so I stayed with her nearby."

Tang Mengjie nodded repeatedly, trembling.

This incident has clearly caused her indelible psychological trauma, because Wu Yongcheng could tell at a glance whether the fear in her eyes was genuine or not.

"Did you hear any noise when those two people fell off the cliff?"

Ding Fei thought for a moment and said, "When Liang Bin fell, I heard him shout what sounded like he cried out. As for the policeman behind him, I didn't hear anything. Mengmeng, did you hear that?"

Tang Mengjie shook her head, her statement almost identical to Ding Fei's.

Wu Yongcheng nodded, then looked at the five people separately and said, "You all remember this from now on: don't do anything so pointless and dangerous again, and don't cause trouble for the country and society! To save you, a young and excellent police officer is now missing, his life hanging in the balance. You all need to reflect on this!"

After saying that, Wu Yongcheng turned and left.

The people in the ward looked at each other, then lay down and continued to sleep.

Wang Tao followed behind Wu Yongcheng, feeling completely bewildered, wondering why Wu Yongcheng had come all this way to ask him a few questions.

As he walked out of the emergency room, Wu Yongcheng suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked, "Your name is Wang Tao?"

Wang Tao quickly nodded: "What are your instructions, sir?"

"Go back and go through the procedures later, and get your Director Ni to approve it."

Wang Tao didn't understand and asked, "Approve...what?"

"Take this Li Yanan back to your county bureau. I need to interrogate her," Wu Yongcheng said, glancing back at the emergency room. "This woman is lying."

(End of this chapter)