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

Chapter 483 Gift
After dinner, the two took a walk to digest their food, and then went back to the hotel to rest.

Fortunately, the small piece of paper that I had stuck in the crack before leaving when I opened the door was still there, and it floated down gently.

Lu Xiaoshuang was unfamiliar with this place, much more so than with Hongcheng.

Although this is her hometown, she has only visited this city once in the past nineteen years.

Since the first bus tomorrow morning is at 6:30, the two decided to go to bed early.

In addition, the hotel facilities were rudimentary. Zhou Yi turned on the TV and watched it, but it was filled with static and static.

The viewing experience was terrible; I turned it off after only three minutes.

Looking at the extra-spacious 1.5-meter bed that the landlady had described, Zhou Yi pointed to the inside of the bed and said, "You sleep on this side, and I'll sleep on the outside."

As he spoke, he moved one of the pillows to the other end.

Lu Xiaoshuang nodded and said okay.

This is probably why Zhou Yi fell in love with Lu Xiaoshuang; because being with her, no matter the situation, felt very natural.

Even though it was their first time alone together, they felt the comfort of an old married couple.

Although Zhou Yi is very young now, he was reborn in his middle age in his previous life.

Having lived most of his life and experienced many things, he understands even more clearly how important it is to be with someone who shares his values ​​and with whom he can get along like family.

"By the way, Brother Yi, I suggest you take a shower," Lu Xiaoshuang suddenly said.

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment.

Then Lu Xiaoshuang said, "My family doesn't have facilities for taking a bath, we can only wipe ourselves down."

Zhou Yi suddenly realized, "Oh, I see."

Lu Xiaoshuang asked, "Otherwise, what did you think it meant?"

Zhou Yi quickly grabbed her clothes to cover up her slight embarrassment and said, "Then I'll go take a shower first."

In the middle of the night, Zhou Yi had just fallen asleep when he heard someone knocking on the door.

This jolted him awake instantly, as if by conditioned reflex, and he asked, "Who?"

A woman's seductive voice asked from outside the door, "Boss, would you like someone to keep you company?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out she was just a prostitute. He was afraid he might accidentally run into some other case.

I didn't have any superpowers after I was reborn, not even a system. But strangely, cases seem to have grown legs and come to me as if they smell me.

“Not interested, go find someone else!” Zhou Yi replied, too lazy to reveal his identity or call the police.

It's normal to see these kinds of people around the station; it's not an isolated case.

Moreover, these kinds of people are tough as nails and aren't afraid of being detained or anything like that.

If things go wrong, it might delay Lu Xiaoshuang's return home tomorrow, which would be a loss.

Unexpectedly, the woman outside persisted, saying, "Boss, why don't you open the door and chat? You'll be interested, and I'll give you a discount."

At this moment, Lu Xiaoshuang was woken up and asked while rubbing her eyes, "Brother Yi, who is it?"

“Prostitute,” Zhou Yi replied casually, then raised his voice and shouted, “Get out of here, or I’ll call the police!”

Upon hearing that it was hopeless, the woman outside cursed, "Tch, what a pretentious person!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi thought, "Hey, the world is going to the dogs."

If it weren't for Lu Xiaoshuang, I would have made that woman outside stay in jail for half a month today.

The woman walked away grumbling, and a little while later, they heard knocking on the neighbor's door again.

Disturbed like this, Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang's drowsiness vanished by more than half.

The two of them stared at the ceiling with their eyes open.

After a while, Lu Xiaoshuang asked, "Brother Yi, are you asleep?"

"without……"

"I think... I can't sleep. How about we chat?"

"Oh, okay, what... should we talk about?"

"……I don't know either……"

"Xiao Shuang".

"Ok?"

"Go to sleep, you have to get up early to catch the train tomorrow."

"Oh... okay then... good night."

"Good night."

Five minutes later, extremely exaggerated moaning sounds came from the next room.

The next morning, just as dawn broke.

Lu Xiaoshuang was still fast asleep when Zhou Yi tiptoed out the door to buy breakfast.

As I passed by downstairs, I greeted the proprietress.

The landlady looked at his dark circles and muttered, "Goodness, I hope he doesn't break my bed again."

……

The two were on the early bus to the county town. The driver had even darker dark circles under his eyes than Zhou Yi, and he kept yawning as he drove.

Zhou Yi couldn't understand the driver's and ticket seller's dialects, so Lu Xiaoshuang explained that the driver had been playing cards until almost 2 a.m. last night and had lost money, so he was complaining.

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Goodness, it's a good thing that cell phones and the internet aren't as developed yet. If this driver had taken a video and posted it online, he would probably have been cyberbullied."

The bus swayed and bumped along for an hour and a half before finally arriving in the county town.

Then the two of them took a minibus to the town.

Once we got to the town, there were no more buses to Yangjiatun, so we had to find another one.

Along the way, although the road was bumpy and the car was moving slowly, as they got closer to home, Lu Xiaoshuang became increasingly excited and talked a lot more.

The town is called Shacao Town. Although it's called a town, it's actually more like a rural market. After getting off the bus, you can see the whole street at a glance. There are some shops on the street, mainly selling daily necessities, and there are also some vendors.

Beyond this street lies a relatively dense cluster of low-rise buildings; the so-called town is really just a place with a large population.

Lu Xiaoshuang stood on the street, excited: "This place is exactly the same as I remember from my childhood, nothing has changed. Of course... it might not be convenient to find a car."

Zhou Yi stood on the street, gazing into the distance, and then said, "Come with me."

Lu Xiaoshuang was pulled along by him, puzzled, not knowing where Zhou Yi was taking her.

Then, Zhou Yi took her to the police station.

The police station in Shacao Town is right next to the town government. After all, the street is so short that you can see the end of it at a glance.

This was the first time Zhou Yi had ever seen a police station with such harsh conditions; the entire station consisted of only three single-story houses.

The only two-story building on the street is the town government building next to the police station, but it has also been weathered by time.

It makes sense, considering that the places where educated youth went to work in the countryside were naturally underdeveloped areas.

"Brother Yi, why are we at the police station?" Lu Xiaoshuang asked in a low voice.

As soon as the two arrived at the entrance of the police station, the police officer behind the outermost desk noticed them and asked in dialect, "What can I do for you?"

Zhou Yi asked in Mandarin, "Excuse me, could you please tell me if Officer Zhao Liang is here?"

Behind a desk further inside, a young policeman looked up and said in Mandarin, "I am Zhao Liang. What can I do for you?"

"Hello Officer Zhao, this is Zhou Yi, who called you before. I'm from Hongcheng."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liang quickly stood up and walked over, asking, "Are you Zhou Yi?"

Zhou Yi nodded and handed over his identification documents.

Zhao Liang took it, glanced at it, and handed it back to Zhou Yi. Then he shook hands with him warmly and said, "Welcome, welcome! You didn't say which day you're coming, otherwise I would have picked you up from the county."

"No need, no need, we came by bus, it's very convenient."

Lu Xiaoshuang was a little confused, not understanding what was going on. Zhou Yi hadn't mentioned that he had contacted the police here beforehand.

At this moment, Zhou Yi introduced, "This is my girlfriend, Lu Xiaoshuang, she's from here."

Lu Xiaoshuang quickly took the initiative to shake hands with Zhao Liang, who was probably under thirty, much older than her and Zhou Yi.

Zhao Liang looked at her and asked, "The daughter of Teacher Lu from Yangjiatun?" Lu Xiaoshuang was startled: "Officer Zhao, you know my father?"

“My aunt married into your Yangjiatun family, and my cousin was taught by your father. When I was a child, I often went to Yangjiatun to play during summer vacation, and I have met you there.”

"Really? I... I don't think I remember you very well," Lu Xiaoshuang said shyly.

Zhao Liang gestured: "You were so small back then, you don't even remember anything."

That's how it is in small towns; almost everyone is related by blood or marriage. If two strangers talk to each other three times, they're bound to find some connection.

However, Lu Xiaoshuang had been away from home for many years.

"My uncle's name is Yang Jinbiao, and my cousin's name is Yang Lele."

Lu Xiaoshuang's eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded repeatedly: "I know you, I know you. So you're Sister Lele's cousin. Now that you mention it, I think I remember you a little."

Zhao Liang warmly shook hands with Lu Xiaoshuang again and said, "Welcome home."

At this moment, Zhou Yi asked, "Officer Zhao, have all the items arrived?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liang quickly nodded and said, "I received it the day before yesterday. It's in the interrogation room next door. Wait here, I'll move it out for you."

Zhou Yi quickly put down her bag and said, "Thank you for your help, I'll help you carry it."

Lu Xiaoshuang was even more confused and grabbed him, asking, "Brother Yi, what exactly is it?"

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "I prepared some gifts for your parents."

"A gift?" Lu Xiaoshuang pointed to the suitcase and said, "Didn't we already have one?"

“Those were prepared by my parents, not mine.”

At this moment, Zhao Liang brought out a tightly sealed box with a postal label attached to it.

Before long, four boxes appeared at Lu Xiaoshuang's feet.

Zhou Yi said he would find a car to load the things away, but Zhao Liang quickly stopped him and said warmly that since they had already arrived in Shacao Town, how could they let them call a car themselves? He would go and drive the police car over.

Then, Zhao Liang drove the town police station's only police car to take them to Yangjiatun.

Lu Xiaoshuang then realized what the four large boxes in the car were.

The box was full of stationery: chalk, pencils, erasers, notebooks, rulers, and so on.

One box was full of books, and the other two boxes were full of brand-new school uniforms.

This surprised her greatly, and she couldn't help but tear up. She hadn't expected Zhou Yi to send these learning materials so early.

It turned out that he had arranged everything long ago.

She hugged Zhou Yi and said thank you.

But Zhou Yi gently stroked her long hair and said, "I didn't prepare all of them. I paid for the stationery myself, using the reward money from the Wu Guang Cao detachment; the books were prepared by Brother Biao and Brother Yan, with Brother Yan picking them out specially; the school uniforms didn't cost any money, Sister Qiao had her husband get some stock from their inventory."

"Here's what I'm thinking: if we offer money, your parents definitely won't take it. Besides, it's probably not convenient for you to buy things here, and the prices aren't cheap either, so it's better to just prepare the gifts directly."

Although there were already quite a few Hope Primary Schools in the 1990s, and there were frequent instances of donating supplies and helping each other.

But after all, our country is too big and has too large a population, and such donations often need to be implemented through official channels, which takes time to get things moving.

So Zhou Yi decided to prepare it himself.

However, he was still resting in bed at the time. When Chen Yan came to visit him at home, he asked Chen Yan to help prepare some things. When Chen Yan returned to the bureau and told everyone about it, they all felt that it was very meaningful to do so.

So we made arrangements in advance.

They contacted the Shacao Town Police Station, and Zhao Liang answered the phone.

On the way to Yangjiatun, Zhou Yi sat in the passenger seat and chatted with Zhao Liang, who was driving.

Lu Xiaoshuang sat in the back seat, next to two cardboard boxes, and two more in the trunk.

Looking at these things, and then at Zhou Yi's back, she felt an immense sense of luck.

Actually, Zhou Yi was only four years older than her. She had heard a lot of gossip and rumors about school from Mo Youyou, about who was dating whom, and who broke up with whom.

Even though the senior students were only a year or two younger than Zhou Yi, the things they did made her feel incredibly immature.

Previously, a junior in the dorm next to theirs threatened to jump off a building because his girlfriend went to the cafeteria with other male classmates, and he said he felt insecure.

Many people went to watch. The boy was standing on the rooftop crying his eyes out, but Lu Xiaoshuang just thought it was so childish, like a child playing house and throwing a tantrum.

Zhou Yi arranged things in an orderly manner, not only relieving her of any worries but also bringing her great surprises. This mature male charm fascinated her.

Lu Xiaoshuang felt that this was probably true security.

The road leading to Yangjiatun is a dirt road, and it is quite narrow.

But it didn't matter, because there were no other cars in front or behind us except for this police car.

Occasionally, a few bicycles and oxcarts would appear, but more often, elderly farmers wearing straw hats and pushing wheelbarrows would walk under the sun.

What I saw most along the way were rows of utility poles stretching into the distance.

The drive was bumpy and uneventful. Zhao Liang said, "Officer Zhou, the conditions here are harsh, unlike in your big cities."

"No, the view here is expansive and refreshing, it's a different experience altogether."

Zhao Liang laughed and said, "We can see the stars tonight; the sky there is so clear."

"Officer Zhao, about the last thing..." Zhou Yi asked.

"Oh, that? Don't worry, I'll arrange it tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoshuang immediately leaned closer and asked, "Brother Yi, what other plans are there? Why are you being so secretive?"

Zhou Yi smiled, then turned to the side, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered a few words in Lu Xiaoshuang's ear.

Lu Xiaoshuang looked on in surprise.

Then he waved, indicating that he also had something to say in private.

Zhou Yi leaned closer.

Lu Xiaoshuang leaned close to his ear, but didn't speak. Instead, she kissed him on the cheek.

Zhou Yi was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "This money was paid by Captain Wu, not me."

Lu Xiaoshuang blushed and sat back down, saying, "I don't care, I've already expressed my gratitude. If you don't like it, you can convey your gratitude to Captain Wu when you get back."

Upon hearing her words, Zhou Yi instantly conjured up the image of himself kissing Wu Yongcheng's old face.

Startled, she trembled and quickly said, "Never mind, I'll take the blame for Captain Wu."

Zhao Liang watched the interaction between the two with a big smile on his face.

……

On the earthen slope south of Yangjiatun, there are two simple mud-brick houses. At the door of one of them hangs a wooden board with a few powerful characters written in ink: Yangjiatun Primary School.

To the east of the house, there is an open space, and in front of the open space stands a tall flagpole.

The five-star red flag at the top of the flagpole fluttered in the wind.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses was grinding dried corn with a stone mill. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes looked as if they had been carved with a knife, and his hands were covered with calluses and small cracks.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a car engine in the distance.

So he looked up and gazed in the direction from which the sound came.

Then I saw a police car driving towards us.

Lu Guohua put down the stone mill in his hand and struggled to stand up, supporting himself on his knees.

He craned his neck, staring intently at the police car that was slowly coming to a stop.

When the back door of the police car opened and a figure got out, Lu Guohua excitedly shouted into the house in a trembling voice, "Xiuying... Xiuying... Xiaoshuang is back, our daughter is back."

Upon hearing this, Su Xiuying, who was wearing an apron, rushed out and burst into tears.

As soon as Lu Xiaoshuang got out of the car, she saw her father.

Six years have passed. My father has aged and his posture is no longer upright, but he still looks just like I remember him.

Tears streamed down her face as she rushed over, crying out, "Dad, Mom, I'm back!"

Zhou Yi watched as Lu Xiaoshuang rushed into her parents' arms, the family of three finally reunited.

He knew that until this moment.

Only now has this major case truly come to a perfect end!

(End of this chapter)