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

Chapter 487 A Thousand Miles Apart
Zhao Liang said that during their investigation of Ge Fangfang's situation, they discovered that Ma Weichang and Miao Genhua were a remarried couple.

Ge Fangfang's father, Miao Genhua's first husband, passed away in an accident when their child was less than a year old.

Ma Weichang and Miao Genhua registered their marriage in 1994, when their child was three years old.

As for Zhou Yi's inquiry about Ma Weichang's past, Zhao Liang admitted that they had not done much research.

"Zhou Yi, why do you think there's something wrong with Ma Weichang?"

"There's nothing special about it, it's just reasonable to have some doubts based on his status as a stepfather. For example, Ma Weichang and Miao Genhua have been married for more than three years, but they haven't had any more children together, which is actually quite unreasonable considering their age."

Zhao Liang nodded thoughtfully: "Now that you mention it, it seems to make sense. Miao Genhua is twenty-eight years old and Ma Weichang is thirty-three. They are both still young, and they haven't had another child after three years of marriage. It does seem a bit unusual."

People in rural areas get married and have children early, and whether it's for the purpose of continuing the family line, increasing the number of descendants, or maintaining a second marriage, they will choose to have another child.

If you don't have children, you'll be gossiped about by those around you.

Unlike big cities, rural areas are not like big cities where everyone minds their own business. The more backward a place is, the more people care about what others say.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, for example, Ma Weichang really wants to have another child, but Miao Genhua doesn't want to have another one, perhaps because she's afraid that Ma Weichang won't treat their daughter well after the birth. So Ge Fangfang might become an obstacle for Ma Weichang to have another child."

Zhao Liang looked horrified and said, "No... that can't be. I've met Ma Weichang before. He seems like a reasonable person, not someone who would do something like this."

This is actually a difference in experience and knowledge. Zhao Liang himself has not been working for very long, and his daily work is relatively simple, so it is normal for him to have such a reaction.

What Zhou Yi said was only about the relatively clear and simple motives; he didn't intend to mention any other possibilities, just so as not to startle the other party and mislead their investigation.

"Well, how should I put it? After all, people's hearts are hard to fathom. Of course, what I'm saying is just one possibility. The essence of a case investigation is to find out the truth."

Zhao Liang nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“I’ll go back to the station and report to the director later. We’ll talk to Ma Weichang again and ask him about the situation to see if he has any unusual reactions.”

“Hmm, that works too. You can focus your investigation on where Ma Weichang was and what he was doing around the time Ge Fangfang disappeared, and confirm whether he has an alibi.”

"However, I suggest that you investigate Ma Weichang's personal situation more thoroughly first, not only the basic information, but also some more important personal issues, such as how Ma Weichang and Miao Genhua met and got married, Ma Weichang's previous marital status, the state of their relationship, and whether Ma Weichang treats Ge Fangfang well, etc."

"It would be best to conduct an external investigation of Ma Weichang first, and then question him after we have obtained some information and direction. This is a safer approach."

Zhou Yi could not participate further in the interrogation and investigation of this matter, so he could only remind Zhao Liang.

If Ma Weichang really did murder his stepdaughter for some ulterior motive, then theoretically the case shouldn't be difficult to solve.

But if that's really the case, then Ma Weichang is far too ruthless and insane.

But judging from the current situation, it seems that little girl Ge Fangfang is in grave danger.

Zhou Yi took out his phone and handed it to Zhao Liang, saying that he could call the institute first and report his idea to the leadership.

Zhao Liang nodded, thanked him, took the phone, and ran to the side.

At this moment, Lu Xiaoshuang walked over and asked, "Brother Yi, what's wrong? What happened?"

Zhou Yi was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Does it have something written on my face?"

“It’s not written on your face, but it’s written in your eyes.” Lu Xiaoshuang pointed to his eyes and said, “Look, the word ‘have’ is written in your left eye, and the word ‘trouble’ is written in your right eye. I can tell from your eyes that something has happened.”

Zhou Yi hadn't expected Lu Xiaoshuang to be so observant. Most of the time, he would try his best to control his emotions, especially his facial expressions.

But he was still somewhat unaware of the change in his eyes, and he didn't expect that she would notice it.

"It's nothing. Officer Zhao was just talking to me about a case, and maybe it's just his professional habit, but you noticed."

"Has...someone been murdered?" Lu Xiaoshuang asked worriedly.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "It cannot be confirmed at the moment, but we cannot rule out the possibility."

Hearing this, Lu Xiaoshuang couldn't help but sigh: "Ah, if only there were no bad people in this world."

Zhou Yi reached out and patted her head, saying, "Silly girl, wherever there are people, there is a world of its own. That's how the world is. Among a large group of ordinary people, there will be some good people, and then there will be a small group of bad people."

Lu Xiaoshuang shrugged helplessly and asked, "So, Officer Zhou is going to arrest bad guys in my hometown?"

Zhou Yi shook his head and said, "That won't do, it doesn't comply with the regulations. At most, I can only offer some advice to Officer Zhao, after all, he has helped me so much."

That's the truth. After all, it's not just across cities, it's across provinces.

If they're from the same province, and someone really encounters a difficult case and wants to get involved, they can ask their superiors for a favor. After all, Qin Beihai and Liang Wei are both influential figures in the provincial department, so even if he's just using their connections, he can still get involved.

But this is already thousands of miles away. Not to mention that we can't send a message here, even if we managed to get a message here, where would the local public security department put their face?
Therefore, he could only inquire about this matter through Zhao Liang, or through the Shacao Town Police Station, to get some advice or suggestions.

If Ge Fangfang's body is found later and it is confirmed that he was murdered, then the case will no longer be handled by the police station. People from the county bureau will come, and then I will no longer be able to find out the details.

Just like what Zhou Yi said to Lu Xiaoshuang, wherever there are people, there is a world of intrigue, and things are never as simple as one plus one equals two.

After a while, Zhao Liang returned after making the call and handed the phone back to Zhou Yi.

"The conditions are so much better where you are. In many places here, we don't even have telephones, let alone cell phones."

"Brother Zhao, what did your director say?"

“I’ve told the director about the points you mentioned, and he thinks this approach to handling the case is excellent. He’ll go and implement it right now.”

Zhou Yi nodded, indicating that their leader was very receptive to advice and did not act arrogantly just because he was in charge; that made him a good leader.

“If you’re busy, I can keep an eye on things here myself. You go ahead and do your work,” Zhou Yi said.

If he followed the usual procedures in Hongcheng, he would definitely be busy investigating the case at this point.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Liang waved his hand and said, "It's okay. You saw the police car in our station. It can only hold five people even when it's full. Even if I go back now, I can't go to Xipinggou with them."

He pointed to the workers and whispered, "Besides, I have to keep an eye on things, otherwise they'll try to raise the price because they see you're from out of town when it comes time to settle accounts."

Zhou Yi nodded, thinking to himself, "Alright, you have your own ways of doing things. I can't be the one worrying more than the emperor."

As the sun rose high in the sky and it approached noon, many of the women who had come to join the festivities took their children home to cook dinner.

Su Xiuying prepared a large table of dishes. Zhou Yi estimated that this meal would cost the Lu family half a month's worth of food money, because there were several meat dishes.

There were too many people, and there wasn't enough room inside, so they had to move all the tables and chairs outside.

Unexpectedly, when Lu Guohua called everyone to eat, the men from the village who had come to help ran straight home, and Lu Guohua couldn't stop them.

It is evident that Teacher Lu holds a very high position in the hearts of the villagers.

Lu Guohua had no choice but to let a few workers come and eat first.

Interestingly, apart from the Lu family of three and Zhou Yi and Zhao Liang, the other workers did not sit at the table. Instead, they held large porcelain bowls filled with cornmeal, picked up some vegetables, and squatted in the shade to eat.

This made Lu Guohua feel bad, so he asked them to sit down and eat, but they waved their hands and replied in their dialect. Lu Xiaoshuang translated for Zhou Yi that they were used to it and didn't feel comfortable eating while sitting down.

The workers ate with ease, but Lu Guohua suffered, constantly frowning and looking worried, glancing at the workers from time to time, as if he owed them something.

Zhou Yi also realized that Lu Xiaoshuang's kindness was truly inherited from her parents.

Kind and soft-hearted people are more likely to get caught up in internal conflicts and suffer from the pangs of their own conscience.

However, the roof renovation went quite smoothly, and with the help of the villagers, it was all done by 2 p.m.

The classroom with the new roof looks much more impressive, and considering the lighting issue, Zhao Liang had the workers install a skylight in the roof, making the classroom much brighter.

Looking at the newly renovated roof, Lu Guohua's eyes welled up with tears.

Su Xiuying and Lu Xiaoshuang were busy cleaning the classroom, while Zhao Liang began to settle wages with the workers in the local dialect.

The two sides went back and forth, bargaining, while Zhou Yi and Lu Guohua stood by and watched.

Zhou Yi couldn't understand, and Lu Guohua was clearly not good at bargaining.

After much haggling, Zhao Liang finally paid the bill, and the workers packed up their tools and left. Zhao Liang then pulled out his notebook and proudly calculated the bill, telling Zhou Yi how much money he had saved by negotiating the wages with the workers earlier, all because the villagers had come to help.

Zhou Yi didn't really care; he felt the workers were working very hard too.

But thinking about it, this is just the atmosphere of everyday life, and it's quite normal.

But Lu Guohua clearly couldn't let it go, feeling that he had taken advantage of the workers and villagers.

His daughter comforted him for a few words, and his expression softened somewhat.

After finishing his work, Zhao Liang prepared to leave, only to realize that he couldn't go back.

Because when he arrived, he hitched a ride with the construction team on their delivery truck.

However, because the bargaining had offended the workers, they simply walked away.

Zhao Liang planned to walk two kilometers because there was a bus stop two kilometers away.

But Lu Guohua told him that the bus stop's schedule was unpredictable, and he didn't know how long he would have to wait.

Finally, he borrowed a bicycle from the village and let Zhao Liang ride it back. He would return it to him when it was convenient in a couple of days.

Zhao Liang rode off leisurely on his old-fashioned bicycle.

That evening, Zhou Yi called Chen Yan and asked him for a favor.

I went to Lu Xiaoshuang's grandma's house and then called her by phone.

When Zhou Yi handed the phone to Lu Guohua, his hands trembled uncontrollably with nervousness and excitement.

When the old lady called out "Guohua" on the other end of the phone, Lu Guohua instantly broke down.

He cried out, "Mother, Mother, it's me, Guohua! Your son is unfilial; I can't be filial to you!"

On the other end of the phone, Grandma Lu Xiaoshuang was also crying excitedly, repeatedly saying, "Guohua, my son, I'm so sorry for making you suffer."

More than twenty years later, the mother and son heard each other's voices again.

The last time the mother and son spoke was when the spirited young man and his loving mother had endured many hardships.

The next time they spoke, they were an elderly man with a full head of white hair and a middle-aged man who had experienced many hardships.

Zhou Yi learned from the conversation between the mother and son that there were quotas for going to the countryside back then, and one of the three sons of the Lu family had to go.

In the end, Lu Guohua, as the eldest brother, took the initiative to step forward and shoulder this responsibility.

For over twenty years, Lu Xiaoshuang's grandmother has felt guilty and ashamed for her eldest son because of this matter.

The conversation between the mother and son, separated by thousands of miles and more than twenty years, was deeply moving.

After exchanging words of longing, Lu Guohua handed his phone to Su Xiuying. His eyes were already red and swollen from crying. He choked out, "Xiuying, you...you talk to Mom for a bit."

With tears in her eyes, Su Xiuying trembled as she took the phone and then called out in a shaky voice, "Mom, it's your daughter-in-law, Xiuying."

The old lady excitedly said "good" three times, each time with increasing emphasis.

Zhou Yi heard Chen Yan quietly advising the old lady not to get too excited and to take care of her health in the background of the phone call.

Lu Xiaoshuang, who was standing by, suddenly pulled Zhou Yi outside.

Once outside, she whispered, "Let them chat for a while. Grandma is getting old, and we don't know how many more chances she'll have to talk on the phone."

“Don’t worry, Grandma will definitely live to be a hundred years old,” Zhou Yi said. “And in the future, we’ll not only have the opportunity to talk on the phone, but also the opportunity to meet in person.”

There was no telephone service in Yangjiatun, so even if Zhou Yi installed a telephone there, it wouldn't be possible. Besides, even if there were a telephone line, it would cost a lot of money these days, and Zhou Yi's financial situation wasn't very good.

Needless to say, cell phones are also problematic. It's not just about the money; the signal is also bad here. Even when making a call inside the house, the sound quality isn't very good. It's just that the family's connection overcomes the signal issues.

"Brother Yi, are you planning to take my parents back to Hongcheng?" Lu Xiaoshuang asked in surprise.

Before Zhou Yi could answer, she continued, "My dad definitely won't agree to this. He even secretly asked me earlier if I paid for my ticket back this time, and told me to be more frugal and not spend your money, saying that you work hard to earn money..."

Lu Xiaoshuang was rambling on and on when Zhou Yi suddenly reached out and covered her mouth.

“Xiaoshuang, I know your dad is a good person who doesn’t want to trouble others or owe anyone anything. I could tell from lunch today and when we were settling the bill this afternoon. So I also know that if I arrange for them to go back to Hongcheng to visit relatives, they probably won’t accept it.”

Lu Xiaoshuang blinked her big eyes and looked at Zhou Yi.

"So it's not now, it's in the future." Zhou Yi said, letting go of her hand and smiling. "When our daughter gets married in the future, the parents can't possibly not come, can they?"

Lu Xiaoshuang was taken aback, and her face involuntarily turned red.

There were no streetlights outside, only moonlight and starlight overhead, so Zhou Yi couldn't see her blushing face.

Lu Xiaoshuang hugged Zhou Yi, buried her head in his chest, and whispered, "Brother Yi, thank you. Meeting you must be a blessing from my past life."

……

The following evening, Zhao Liang drove his police car with the trunk open. The old bicycle from the previous day was half-stuffed in the trunk, thankfully tied with a rope, otherwise it would have flown off the bumpy dirt road long ago.

Zhou Yi, who was helping Lu Guohua fix the classroom door latch, saw the police car coming this way, so he put down his tools and walked to the intersection.

The police car stopped, and Zhao Liang, dressed in a police uniform, got out of the driver's seat and greeted Zhou Yi warmly.

Then the passenger door opened, and a middle-aged man in a police uniform got out of the car.

This middle-aged man was around fifty years old, chubby, bald, and had a tanned forehead. If he weren't wearing a police uniform, he would look more like an old farmer.

"Zhou Yi, this is Chief Chen from our police station," Zhao Liang quickly introduced.

Zhou Yi immediately stepped forward and shook hands with Director Chen, because he knew that the presence of the police station chief meant that the case in Xipinggou was related to him.

"Comrade Zhou Yi, welcome to our Shacao Town!" Director Chen's Mandarin accent was very heavy, and it was even a little hard to understand if you didn't listen carefully.

Zhou Yi quickly exchanged a few polite words.

Zhao Liang was busy untying the ropes from the bicycle in the trunk.

"Zhou Yi, I heard from Xiao Zhao that you work in the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division?" Director Chen asked.

"Yes, I belong to the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Hongcheng City Public Security Bureau. My direct superior is Wu Yongcheng, the detachment leader."

Director Chen nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, so what is the main responsibility of your Third Brigade? What cases have you handled?"

This question puzzled Zhou Yi. Did he have doubts about me, or was he trying to test my investigative abilities?

But judging from Director Chen's honest appearance, he doesn't seem like a cunning person.

He replied earnestly, "Our Third Brigade is specifically responsible for investigating major and serious cases throughout the city. As for the specific cases we've handled, I may not be able to disclose that without permission from our superiors. However, in terms of the nature of the cases, they are mostly homicide-related criminal cases, including murder, dismemberment, and so on."

Everything was fine until he heard the words "dismemberment" at the end. Chief Chen was clearly shocked. Zhao Liang, who had just unloaded his bicycle, was also startled and looked at Zhou Yi, asking, "You were involved in the dismemberment case and all that?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, I have worked with the leaders on a few dismemberment cases."

The words "several cases" startled the two of them again. Goodness, they had quite a few cases over there.

"Chief Chen, Officer Zhao, I do have some experience in handling criminal cases. If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to ask," Zhou Yi said humbly.

Director Chen quickly waved his hand: "You're too kind. Xiao Zhao told me that you helped him with yesterday's analysis, and I knew you were a remarkable young man."

Zhou Yi smiled modestly, but didn't say anything.

Then Director Chen said, "The main reason I'm here today is to discuss the Xipinggou disappearance case with you."

Zhao Liang, who was standing to the side, nodded repeatedly: "This case is a bit strange now."

(End of this chapter)