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

Chapter 527 The Return Journey - Martial Glory Scroll Unlocked

Early in the morning of August 2nd, Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang boarded a train bound for Hongcheng.

Just like when I came, it's a soft sleeper.

However, Zhou Yi didn't buy the ticket at the train station; Li Linglong arranged it for him through a friend's connections, so naturally, no money was paid.

Zhou Yi didn't insist too much on giving money. He felt that being too calculating with his loyal and like-minded comrades would hurt their feelings.

The day before, Zhou Yi took Lu Xiaoshuang and her family of three to a restaurant in the county town for their appointment.

Lu Guohua was initially adamant about not going, feeling that he shouldn't accept a reward for something he hadn't done.

Zhou Yi's idea was simple: to introduce Lu Guohua and Li Linglong so that they could look out for each other in the future.

After all, in a county, the head of the county public security bureau is considered a big shot.

Even without Li Linglong actually doing anything, as long as the local officials in Shacao Town know about this connection, they will pay more attention to the primary school in Yangjiatun.

From this case in Xipinggou, Zhou Yi saw the limitations of people like Miao Dongfang.

If we only consider his ideals, they are undoubtedly commendable.

But his abilities were simply insufficient to support him in realizing his ideals.

When desires exceed capabilities, in order to satisfy those desires, one can only resort to crooked and unethical means.

The existence of people like Miao Dongfang only serves to highlight Lu Guohua's greatness.

Therefore, Zhou Yi felt that Lu Guohua should not only teach and educate students in that small classroom.

His enthusiasm and brilliance should illuminate more children.

He shouldn't just be Teacher Lu; he should become Principal Lu.

However, Zhou Yi does not have the financial resources, and even if she does in the future, Lu Guohua would not accept it given his personality.

Therefore, this problem can only be solved if local governments pay attention to it and provide policy support.

Then we'll have to use some social skills and interpersonal relationships.

Li Linglong is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He is upright, progressive in his thinking, and has a strong ability to execute. He should be willing to help without Zhou Yi having to ask.

So I definitely have to take Lu Guohua out to dinner.

But Lu Guohua's intellectual's austere and frugal lifestyle was somewhat unexpected.

Helpless, Zhou Yi could only selectively mention Ge Fangfang's situation, saying that she wanted them to go, mainly to ask them to help see if there was any family in Yangjiatun who didn't have children but wanted one, and that they could adopt the child so that she could study here, since Ge Fangfang would be seven years old next year and should be starting school.

When the Lu family heard that the child's father had passed away, her grandparents disowned her, and that her mother, maternal grandmother, and maternal uncle were all going to jail, the three members of the Lu family were stunned.

Su Xiuying couldn't help but wipe away her tears and said, "Why is this child's life so miserable?"

Zhou Yi sighed softly, "Ah, this child is very well-behaved and intelligent. It's a pity he was born into the wrong family."

Su Xiuying asked, "Zhou Yi, what conditions must be met to legally adopt this child?"

Zhou Yi thought Su Xiuying wanted to know more so he could look for her in the village, so he briefly explained the basic requirements.

Unexpectedly, after listening, Su Xiuying turned to Lu Guohua and said, "Old Lu, how about... we adopt this child?"

Zhou Yi was startled, because Lu Guohua and Su Xiuying were both over forty years old, so he hadn't considered that possibility.

Lu Guohua nodded almost without hesitation, but then said with some worry, "I just don't know if the child will agree, after all, he's six years old..."

Zhou Yi couldn't answer this concern either, since Ge Fangfang's heart was always with her mother.

But Zhou Yi knew that the child had no other choice.

If they can't be adopted, then they can only be sent to an orphanage.

But if she could be adopted by Lu Guohua and his wife, perhaps her life would still have a chance to turn around.

Zhou Yi said that adopting Ge Fangfang would be quite stressful because there's a high probability that Ge Fangfang wouldn't inherit much of the estate.

According to the investigation results, Miao Genhua was suspected of planning and participating in the murder of Ma Weichang, so her inheritance rights were completely revoked.

Ge Fangfang and Ma Weichang are not related by blood. When Miao Genhua lost her inheritance rights, Ge Fangfang had nothing to do with Ma Weichang's property.

In other words, Ma Weichang's estate will ultimately be inherited by his son, Ma Xiaoyang.

As for her lover, Wan Yuemei, and her unborn child, they won't get a single penny.

After all, in 1997, the general public did not have the means to conduct paternity tests, and children born out of wedlock did not have equal inheritance rights at that time.

Zhang Guifen would probably be very happy, since the money was saved.

Wasn't this the purpose of her bringing a group of people to cause trouble before?

She didn't know that Miao Genhua was the murderer; she just hoped so. She never expected that her "dream would come true."

Lu Guohua didn't care about this, saying it was just another mouth to feed, and he had no shortage of children anyway.

As for clothes, Xiaoshuang still has all the clothes she wore when she was little, so it's not a problem.

Lu Xiaoshuang knew her parents' personalities very well, and immediately gave her full support for the matter.

So when Zhou Yi brought this up at the dinner, Li Linglong was shocked and immediately grabbed Lu Guohua's hand, thanking him repeatedly.

He said he would do his best to help the child obtain some poverty relief funds.

Zhou Xiangdong also arrived. Yang Chuan specially went to the hospital to pick him up, and he arrived after Zhou Yi and the others.

Before the person even entered the private room, a loud voice had already entered.

From afar, Zhou Yi heard Zhou Xiangdong say, "No need to help me, it's just a broken leg, no big deal. Didn't you see I caught the suspect even with a broken leg?"

Yang Chuan said with a laugh: Yes, yes, our Captain Zhou is still as sharp as ever.

After Li Linglong expressed his opinion, Zhou Xiangdong immediately followed suit, saying that their criminal investigation team could donate money to the child, which would at least cover part of the child's food expenses and not add to the burden on Lu Guohua and the others.

Li Linglong said with a smile, "Since our seniors in the county bureau have spoken, it can't just be the criminal investigation team that donates. The entire county bureau should donate. I will take the lead in donating, but it's not mandatory. Any amount is fine."

Director Chen immediately followed suit and said he would donate, since the case originally occurred in their Shacao Town.

Li Linglong was in a great mood. Afterwards, he secretly told Zhou Yi that he was indeed having trouble figuring out how to properly settle Ge Fangfang's situation. Because the county was under great financial pressure and the welfare home was short of funds, the admission threshold was very high. He had inquired and found that someone like Ge Fangfang probably didn't qualify. In the end, he would either return her to the Ge family or see which relative of the Miao family was willing to take care of her.

But given the local customs of Xipinggou, he really didn't want his child to stay there, because he knew the child wouldn't have a good life there.

Not only him, but everyone at the county bureau was quite worried about the child, after all, Yuanbei County hadn't had such a heinous case in many years.

Therefore, he was sincerely grateful for the decision made by Mr. and Mrs. Lu Guohua.

Zhou Yi didn't say much. He knew Li Linglong's personality and Zhou Xiangdong's personality. Although the two had completely different personalities, they were both good police officers who cared about the people.

This meal also helped Director Chen and Zhou Xiangdong reconcile.

Li Linglong had already told the two of them the whole story about Zhang Gensheng's arrest, since solving the long-standing case in Huangniu Township was a big deal.

A ten-year-old cold case and a newly occurred major murder case were solved one after another. Based on these two cases alone, Li Linglong will have to accept an organizational commendation on behalf of the county bureau at the city's public security, procuratorate and judicial summary conference at the end of this year. He can brag about it for several years.

But for Director Chen and Zhou Xiangdong, this incident resolved a knot in their hearts that had troubled them for ten years.

Today happens to be Saturday, so Li Linglong ordered two bottles of wine.

Director Chen picked up his full wine glass, stood up, and looked at Zhou Xiangdong as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. He was clearly a little flustered and didn't know what to say.

In the end, all the words I wanted to say can be summed up in one sentence: Old Zhou, it's all in the wine.

After saying that, he downed the glass of liquor in one gulp. Zhao Liang, who was standing next to him, worriedly called out to the director, "Slow down, Director."

After finishing his drink, Director Chen turned the cup upside down and shook it to show that he hadn't left a drop. Then, his dark skin, with a reddish tinge, looked at Zhou Xiangdong.

All eyes turned to Zhou Xiangdong; it was his turn to speak.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiangdong showed no intention of picking up his wine glass at all.

Just as the atmosphere became awkward, Zhou Xiangdong said with some resentment, "My daughter won't let me drink. She said if she smells alcohol on me when I get home, she'll break my other leg too."

Everyone looked at each other.

Yang Chuan asked in confusion, "Captain Zhou, why didn't you stop me when I poured you some wine earlier?"

Zhou Xiangdong glared at him and said, "What? I can't drink it, but can't I at least smell it and satisfy my craving?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Zhou Yi smiled and said to Director Chen, "Director Chen, Captain Zhou's daughter is even more formidable than him."

Director Chen waved his hand and said, "Hey, I know. If it weren't for my niece being so rebellious, I would have almost become in-laws with this old guy. She and my son were high school classmates."

Wow, so there was this connection before.

Zhou Xiangdong joked, "Your son was lucky to escape this ordeal. My son-in-law now kneels on a washboard with my grandson every few days."

Everyone burst into laughter again, and the atmosphere immediately became much more relaxed.

Zhou Xiangdong beckoned Yang Chuan to pour him a cup of tea. Then, he picked up the teacup, but not towards Director Chen, but towards Zhou Yi.

"Old Chen, we should thank Zhou Yi. I'll have tea instead of wine."

Zhou Yi quickly stood up and humbly told the two that he had only gotten away with it by sheer luck.

At this moment, Li Linglong said something that made Zhou Yi break out in a cold sweat.

Li Linglong asked Lu Guohua, "Teacher Lu, how much money did Zhang Gensheng cheat you out of with counterfeit money back then? We can make him compensate us for that loss."

Lu Guohua was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Wh...what Zhang Gensheng?"

"That's the guy who sold chickens for over six months and tried to get you to pay with counterfeit money instead of real money."

Lu Guohua frowned, wondering when this had happened. How come he didn't know about it?

Zhou Yi was terrified, thinking to himself that he had forgotten about this. This massive reconciliation scene was going to be disastrous.

Just as she was about to speak, Lu Xiaoshuang, who was sitting between herself and Lu Guohua, said, "Dad, how come you forgot yourself? Didn't you tell Zhou Yi at home last time?"

Zhou Yi saw Lu Xiaoshuang reach under the table and pinch her father's thigh.

Although Lu Guohua didn't understand, he wasn't so dense as to immediately nod in understanding and say, "Oh, I remember now."

Then he waved his hand at Li Linglong and said vaguely, "Forget it, it's been so long, I can't remember it either, don't bother me."

Li Linglong nodded and didn't say anything more.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he hadn't even thought of this. He should have set an example on the way.

Fortunately, Lu Xiaoshuang was quick-witted enough to help smooth things over.

After he sat down, he tugged at Lu Xiaoshuang's hand with lingering fear, and Lu Xiaoshuang turned around and playfully stuck out her tongue at him.

Since the Lu family of three were not affiliated with the public security authorities, they did not discuss the proposal during the meal.

After dinner, Lu Guohua suggested that they go see the child and get to know him better, since the case was still ongoing and adoption would require paperwork, so the child would have to stay at the police station for the time being.

The restaurant is right across from the county bureau, just a few steps away.

In the lounge on the third floor, Ge Fangfang saw several strangers arrive and huddled in a corner in fear.

But when she saw Zhou Yi, a sense of security returned to her eyes.

Zhou Yi hugged her and then introduced her to her uncle, aunt, and sister.

Lu Xiaoshuang pulled out a rag doll from somewhere. The doll looked very old, probably from when she was a child.

She handed the doll to Ge Fangfang and then took it and picked her up.

While the three members of the Lu family were surrounding the child, Zhou Yi and Li Linglong went out into the corridor.

Li Linglong told him that Yang Chuan would drive them to the city in a little while, and they could take a long-distance bus to the neighboring big city.

He would stay another night and leave the next morning, as he had already arranged tickets through someone.

He then gave him a number and told him to go to the train station to find this person.

After saying this, Li Linglong took out a photocopy, saying it contained some financial information about the Xipinggou Quarry.

Zhou Yi took it and looked at it, then looked up in surprise and asked, "This quarry is so profitable?"

Li Linglong nodded: "We checked all the financial information from Ma Weichang's accountant over the past few years. The first two years were indeed average, but starting from the end of last year, the quarry's output and transactions increased significantly. The accountant said that Ma Weichang found new buyers with great demand."

"At the end of last year..." Zhou Yi pondered, "I remember he met his lover, Wan Yuemei, at the beginning of this year, right?"

"Ah."

"This Ma Weichang looks honest and simple, but as soon as his financial situation improved, he immediately found a new love. There's really nothing to say about him."

Li Linglong sighed and said, "Ah, money really does amplify a person's worst traits."

Later, seeing that it was almost time, Li Linglong asked Yang Chuan to drive Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang to the city, and instructed him to make sure they got on the long-distance bus. If they missed the bus, he should drive them directly to the next city.

Yang Chuan immediately patted his chest and said he guaranteed to complete the mission.

Before parting, Su Xiuying held her daughter's hand and said to Zhou Yi, "I'm entrusting Xiaoshuang to you. If she has any quirks, please be patient with her."

Zhou Yi quickly reassured them, "Uncle Lu, Aunt Su, don't worry, Xiao Shuang will be fine in Hongcheng. I will definitely take good care of her. We'll come back to see you again next time."

Lu Guohua waved his hand and said, "No need to come back so often, the travel expenses are too expensive, and you earn your money through hard work. Zhou Yi, please give my and Xiaoshuang's mother our regards to your family."

After a tearful farewell, Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang got into Yang Chuan's car.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the car gradually drove away and eventually disappeared from sight.

Seeing the sadness in Lu Xiaoshuang's eyes, Zhou Yi comforted her, "It's okay, transportation will become more and more convenient in the future, so you can come back to see them every year."

Lu Xiaoshuang smiled, but hadn't said anything yet.

Yang Chuan, who was driving, said, "Sister-in-law, when you come back in the future, be sure to let me know in advance, and I will pick you up from the city."

Lu Xiaoshuang immediately smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Brother Chuan. Then we won't be polite then."

"Hey, don't be so polite. Zhou Yi is like family. Our Captain Zhou said he's one of the Zhou family members," Yang Chuan said with a laugh.

The next morning, Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang boarded a train bound for Hongcheng.

Holding his ticket, Zhou Yi sat in the waiting hall of the train station, cautiously observing his surroundings.

After all, he discovered that since his rebirth, his physique seemed to have become somewhat strange, and the probability of encountering cases was much higher than in his previous life.

In his previous life, he operated on a task allocation system; once a case occurred and reached the criminal investigation team, he would then be dispatched.

But in this life, it feels like many cases are like dogs, coming just by smelling the scent.

Some people say they have a lucky charm constitution, but does that mean they have a lucky charm constitution that attracts cases?

So he became alert and vigilant.

Fortunately, the journey was peaceful and uneventful, and nothing happened.

After more than thirty hours, the announcement indicated that we were about to arrive in Hongcheng.

He had called Wu Yongcheng in advance to tell him the estimated arrival time.

So when they heard the announcement that the train was about to arrive at the station, they immediately packed their things together.

As soon as the train doors opened, he dragged his suitcase with one hand and pulled Lu Xiaoshuang with the other, heading towards the exit.

As I was walking, my phone rang in my pocket.

Zhou Yi thought it was Wu Yongcheng calling and thought to himself that Captain Wu's timing was quite accurate, so he stopped, put down his suitcase, and took out his phone from his pocket.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't Wu Yongcheng calling, but an unfamiliar landline number he had never seen before.

Zhou Yi answered the phone and asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"Is this Officer Zhou?" a familiar voice asked from the other end of the phone.

Zhou Yi's heart skipped a beat: "Ding Chunmei?"

On the other end of the phone, Ding Chunmei sounded somewhat flustered.

"Officer Zhou, have you come to Wuguang?"

Zhou Yi immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly asked, "No, what happened to you?"

"I think... I'm being watched."

(End of this chapter)