NOS Chapter 79

Chapter 79 White Birch Bridge (10)

Seeing this expression, Guan Yao smiled disdainfully, “That’s more like it, Xiaotian, I watched you grow up, I know exactly how many weeds are in your stomach, even better than your own mother. With that brain of yours, ruining your brother and going to Songlan to stalk him, could you really do that? Tell me the truth, did you meet some shady characters outside?”

“No,” Qin Tian stubbornly insisted.

“No?” Guan Yao turned around, reopened the recording device, and called Liu Sheng back in. He sat opposite Qin Tian, adopting an official demeanor again. “Qin Tian, a few months ago, you introduced a drug dealer who called himself ‘Brother Song’ to my niece, Guan Ning, and tried to entice her to follow this ‘Brother Song’ to work down south. I’m asking you now, what were your intentions back then?”

Qin Tian’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he didn’t speak.

Guan Yao raised an eyebrow, “If you can’t explain it, then I will. Qin Tian, you don’t even realize that you’re actually…”

“Actually what?” Qin Tian suddenly struggled in the interrogation chair, rattling his handcuffs loudly. “Do I need a reason to hate my brother? He left me to suffer in Za Mu Er, and hasn’t come back to see me once in all these years. Wu Laosan beat me bloody, did he ever care about me? Guan Yao, be fair, why shouldn’t I hate him?”

“I’m a police officer, I don’t talk about fairness, I only look at evidence.” Guan Yao was stern and unyielding. “The evidence is in front of me, let’s not discuss anything else.”

“But…”

“You don’t need to explain. Currently, according to our existing investigation and evidence, your friend ‘Brother Song’ and Li Ying are highly likely to be involved in two major criminal cases. Qin Tian, the law won’t wrong an innocent person, but it won’t let a bad person go either. If you were used or coerced by someone to get to this point, the court will make appropriate rulings when sentencing. But if you intentionally participated in the crime, then it’s hard to say what the final judgment will be.” Guan Yao spoke in an official tone. “Now, the choice is yours. Why did you go to stalk Yu Chunming, and why did you think you could ruin him? It’s not too late to confess.”

Unexpectedly, after hearing this long speech, Qin Tian looked shocked. He blankly asked, “What major criminal cases are you talking about?”

Qin Tian didn’t know; he didn’t know anything.

Looking into those foolish and bewildered eyes, Guan Yao instantly realized this. He hated Qin Tian for not living up to his potential, and at the same time, he was heartbroken that Qin Tian had fallen to this point. But what could he do? This crooked tree had grown in such a way that it was difficult for anyone to straighten it out.

“Brother Yao,” Qin Tian was still asking, “What major criminal cases? What happened to Song Chen? What about that old geezer Li Ying?”

Guan Yao glanced at this ignorant person, “In September, the suspect in the Mopan Mountain dismemberment case was just identified as Li Guanglai, Song Chen’s superior. Have you heard of ‘Li Guanglai’?”

Qin Tian shook his head.

“What about Yu Zeng?” Guan Yao asked again.

Qin Tian still shook his head.

“What about Li Ying’s son, Li Qie?” Guan Yao continued to ask.

This time, Qin Tian’s spirits lifted, “I know Li Qie. We even drank together in August.”

Guan Yao’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“It was at the noodle shop outside our compound. He came to ask me to pay back the nine hundred yuan I owed his dad. My mom gave him five hundred, and after barely paying it back, I treated him to a meal,” Qin Tian said, “You can ask the noodle shop owner, Er Pang, he definitely remembers. His dad was there too, and he said Li Qie looked different than before.”

Guan Yao immediately asked, “What was different?”

“Just, just his face, his build…” Qin Tian answered incoherently, “Er Pang’s dad said that Li Qie was weak from birth, a skinny monkey when he was little, with a long, thin face and long, thin eyes.”

“And now?”

“Now? Now he’s tall and strong,” Qin Tian said.

Guan Yao didn’t speak.

In his memory, when he was seven or eight years old, Li Qie had returned to Za Mu Er once. At the time, he happened to be following Guan Na to Qianjinping to collect mountain goods. Right at the intersection of the Danaan Highway, the siblings saw that man.

According to Guan Yao’s grandmother, ever since Li Ying was imprisoned for accidental arson, his son, Li Qie, had left Za Mu Er to work down south, and didn’t come back even once a year. Guan Yao was young and only had a vague impression of Li Ying. He didn’t remember what his son looked like at all.

In Guan Yao’s memory, Li Qie was driving a borrowed small pickup truck, which was loaded with boxes and boxes of discarded hardware parts. The people at the market hid to the side and whispered, saying that he was selling things that Li Ying had stolen from the No. 2 Timber Factory warehouse.

Guan Yao had sharp ears and immediately heard the others’ comments. He pulled on Guan Na’s sleeve and asked, “Sister, who is the man in that truck?”

Guan Na stood on tiptoe to look, then casually replied, “Selling things Li Ying stole, he’s probably Li Ying’s son.”

Thus, the man sitting in the truck, tall and strong with a gloomy expression, became Li Qie in Guan Yao’s mind. This was why, when he, Han Chen, and Na Fei were asking Li Ying about his family information, he had many doubts about the weak-looking Li Qie in the photo.

Now, Guan Yao belatedly realized that the man he had seen at the market twenty or thirty years ago was probably Li Guanglai.

“Are you very familiar with Li Qie?” Looking at Qin Tian’s wide eyes, Guan Yao asked sternly.

Qin Tian replied in confusion, “It doesn’t seem like we’re that familiar. I’m more familiar with that old man Li Ying. He’s easy to talk to, unlike Li Qie, who always has a gloomy face.”

“Do you usually see Li Ying often?” Guan Yao asked again.

“I used to see him a lot, when that old man was working with me at the Far East Department Store. He always liked to tell me how great his son was, how much money he sent him every month, and he also liked to ask me how much I earned, how much I gave my mom, and who supported my mom who stayed at home all day without working, things like that.”

“Wait,” Guan Yao suddenly realized the problem, “Li Ying had his son’s monthly living expenses, so why did he have to go to the city to work at the Far East Department Store specifically? Logically speaking, an old man living in the countryside would just farm and collect goods every day. Qin Tian, tell me, did you go to the Far East Department Store first, or did Li Ying go to the Far East Department Store first?”

“I did,” Qin Tian was still clueless.

“When Li Ying asked about your mom’s source of income, how did you answer?” Guan Yao asked.

Qin Tian wanted to scratch his head, but was restrained by the handcuffs. He “hissed” and stammered, “How could I explain it clearly? I just knew that my brother would secretly transfer money to her account in recent years. I didn’t know it was him before, because Jiang Min didn’t spend the money, she just saved it, saved it… and it all benefited me. Oh yeah, before my brother gave her money, Jiang Min could receive a sum of cash on the 15th of every month. Wu Laosan used to go to the post office to get it, and I never asked who sent it. Later, Wu Laosan died, so I went to get it. Jiang Min didn’t seem to know about this.”

The 15th of every month, the post office, cash…

Guan Yao’s mind buzzed, and he suddenly remembered some details of the Songlan 6.13 dismemberment case that Yu Chunming had described to him.

He Wang, also known as Qian Guowei, would withdraw money regularly on the 15th of every month, ranging from 4,000 to 6,000, and the money would be mailed to the Za Mu Er Post Office. Before the case occurred last June, it had never been interrupted.

So, where did the money Qian Guowei sent to Za Mu Er go?

Guan Yao’s heart was pounding wildly, and he asked sharply, “Did you tell Li Ying all of this?”

“Yes, what can’t be said about that?” Qin Tian didn’t understand. “He was curious about who sent the money, and he went to the post office with me to check. He said that if I knew who sent it, I could go straight to the source and cheat more money… that old man wasn’t a decent person either.”

“Did you find out?” Guan Yao interrupted Qin Tian’s nonsense and asked urgently.

“Of course we found out. I remember the sending address was Songlan Southern Zhou District… oh, that’s ancient history from over a decade ago, why are you asking about this?” Qin Tian was a little impatient.

Guan Yao’s forehead was tight. He remembered that Qin Tian was working at the Far East Department Store twelve years ago, just after he dropped out of high school.

In other words, twelve years ago, Li Ying was very likely to have used Qin Tian to follow the remittance information from Qian Guowei to Jiang Min, and found the address “Southern Zhou District South House Neighborhood, Songlan”. Then, Li Guanglai, whose relationship with him was unclear but definitely extraordinary, probably recognized Qian Guowei’s ex-girlfriend, Yang Xiaowei, through this address, and then approached Wang Xinsheng.

This secret web from many years ago was finally slowly unfolding. The sealed past and the fallen truth gradually surged like a tide. Guan Yao saw the patterns on the secret web, saw the past events struggling within it, and he suddenly realized something, so he couldn’t help but blurt out, “The person who instructed you to ruin Chunming, is it Li Qie?”

Qin Tian’s expression froze, and his mouth opened wide.

He didn’t speak, but this expression had already proven that it was Li Qie, or more accurately, it should be Li Guanglai disguised as Li Qie.

Guan Yao’s hand, hanging by his side, trembled slightly. He finally understood why Yu Chunming would say that the murderer sent the message because of a personal vendetta.

A personal vendetta…

It was a personal vendetta between Li Ying, Li Guanglai, and Qian Guowei. How was Yu Chunming drawn into it?

Guan Yao didn’t dare to think deeply, because reason told him that Qin Tian’s previous words were actually correct. Yu Chunming was not the biological son of Deputy Director Yu.

Someone hated Qian Guowei, and someone else hated that clean and innocent, even still a police officer… the next generation.

The night was already deep, and the Linchang Police Station was silent. Guan Yao, who had finished the interrogation, leaned on the sofa and saw the message sent by Yu Chunming before going to bed.

First, he questioned why he still hadn’t fixed the water pipe, and then he said that Yu Chang was really too good at eating, sweeping away the boxed lunch he had packed back and the dumplings frozen in the refrigerator, as if a hungry wolf had entered the room. He told Guan Yao not to mind.

Finally, Yu Chunming said that he had installed a sensor light in the corner of the bathroom and living room, so that he didn’t have to keep the lights on all night, and some people who were afraid of the dark could go out with peace of mind.

Guan Yao’s eyes were a little hot. He wasn’t sure if Yu Chunming knew his true identity–perhaps he did, but why had he never told himself?

The second hand was ticking, and time passed silently. A fight broke out downstairs. Liu Sheng was desperately maintaining order and went upstairs to ask for the “riot control fork.”

Guan Yao wiped his face and looked at the tear stains in his palm. He suddenly felt that all his previous considerations and hesitation were like a joke.

Jiang Xin overcame all difficulties and returned to Za Mu Er, to that small home that had once carried countless memories of the two of them. How could he push him away wishfully, even under the guise of protection?

He deserved to die, Guan Yao covered his face.

A layer of frost had formed on the window. When Yu Chunming turned to look, he could just see the moon in the corner of the sky through the frost.

He propped himself up and leaned closer to the window along with the light, smelling the cold air from outside.

Click! Someone came in.

Yu Chunming’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly got out of bed.

“I thought you wouldn’t be back tonight,” he said with a smile to Guan Yao, who had just entered.

Guan Yao stood far away, not saying a word.

The smile on Yu Chunming’s face gradually disappeared, and he asked suspiciously, “What happened? Is Qin Tian causing trouble at the station again?”

“No,” Guan Yao replied softly, “Qin Tian confessed everything.”

“Confessed everything?” Yu Chunming asked, “What did he confess? Did that kid explain clearly why he went to Songlan to stalk me?”

Guan Yao cleared his throat, his eyes a little dim, “That’s just how he is, what else could it be? He’s just bored and meddling.”

“Really?” Yu Chunming was a little disbelieving.

Guan Yao twitched the corner of his mouth and slowly walked closer to him, “Did I wake you up?”

“No,” Yu Chunming hesitated for a moment and told the truth, “I wasn’t sleeping anyway. Tonight… when I went to the White Birch Bridge, I strained the wound. I looked in the mirror and it seemed a little cracked, and it’s been hurting badly.”

“Cracked?” Guan Yao’s face changed and he hurriedly pulled at Yu Chunming’s clothes, “Where did it crack? I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“Hey, don’t be nervous…” Yu Chunming laughed, “I had Yu Chang look at it, and he said that only a small part of the scabbed scar had burst, it’s not a big deal. I wanted to take a painkiller, but I was afraid you’d scold me.”

“When have I ever scolded you?” Guan Yao said softly.

“Have you scolded me few times?” Yu Chunming retorted.

Guan Yao earnestly said, “That’s because you were wrong first. Why are you unhappy when the leader says a few words to you?”

“What did I do wrong?” Yu Chunming said confidently and forcefully.

The two were standing too close while talking, and the warm scent of the person who had just gotten out of bed rushed over, making Guan Yao’s heart itch. He couldn’t help but swallow, and tentatively reached out his hand, wanting to put his arm around Yu Chunming’s waist.

But before his hand could touch his clothes, Yu Chunming suddenly took a step back. He craned his neck to look into the room, and lowered his voice, “I had Yu Chang sleep on that bed in the adjoining room. That kid didn’t know how many days he’d been staying up. He sat down to eat, and then fell asleep. After I came back, I called Yu Huan and asked her. That heartless girl didn’t even know her second brother was missing…”

“What about you?” Guan Yao interrupted Yu Chunming, “Did you eat?”

“I ate, I ate the few dumplings Yu Chang left over.” Yu Chunming tugged at his coat, which had slipped off his shoulder, and continued, “I bought Yu Chang a plane ticket back to Songlan for tomorrow noon. He insisted on leaving, and I couldn’t stop him, so I had him replay the video and copy it onto a USB drive. I also asked Wang Zhen to contact the traffic police to check the surveillance near the Songlan Medical University Hospital to see if Qin Tian had met any suspicious people in the past few days.”

Guan Yao pursed his lips, hesitant to speak.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Chunming looked at him with a confused expression. “Did Qin Tian confess any important information?”

“No, I just wanted to…” Guan Yao cleared his throat, his eyes a little erratic.

Yu Chunming slowly frowned, but just as he was about to speak, Guan Yao suddenly raised his hand and pulled him into his arms.

“I’m sorry.” Guan Yao said in a muffled voice.

[Author’s Note]

The previous content mentioned in this chapter can be viewed in Chapters 4, 25, and 34.

Taking a two-day break to revise the saved manuscript.

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