NOS Chapter 78

Chapter 78 Birch Bridge (9)

After saying that, Qin Tian remained shameless, wearing a smug look. He chuckled, “Officer Guan, haven’t you heard? Your colleague seems impressive, but actually, he has a lot of dirty secrets hidden.”

Liu Sheng, who was in charge of recording the statement, glanced at Guan Yao and leaned closer to ask, “Captain Guan, this… should I write this down?”

“Write it down,” Guan Yao replied with a cold face. “The video recorder is on; it all has to be written down.”

“Yes,” Liu Sheng shrunk his shoulders, trying to hide behind the computer.

As for Qin Tian, seeing that the two officers opposite him had fallen silent, he assumed he had gained the upper hand. He became even more aggressive, yelling, “Let me tell you, Guan Yao, Yu Chunming’s real name is Jiang Xin. He’s a bastard conceived after my mom was raped by some wild man in the woods next to the No. 2 Timber Factory’s warehouse. I don’t need to ask who his real father is because you won’t be able to find out. After all, you know what Jiang Min is like. Who knows how many men she’s slept with…”

“Qin Tian!” Guan Yao suddenly roared, interrupting the vulgar and filthy words. He slammed the table, pointed at the man’s nose, and cursed, “Are you even human? Jiang Min is still your mother. If you dare spew any more shit from your mouth, I don’t care if there’s a video recorder here or not!”

Qin Tian rattled the handcuffs on his hands and sullenly shut his mouth. Before closing his mouth, he couldn’t help but say, “Everything I’m saying is the truth; not a word is false. If you don’t believe me, you can go ask Jiang Min yourself.”

Guan Yao’s face was stern, and he sat upright. “Qin Tian, listen carefully. According to Article 246 of the Criminal Law, intentionally fabricating and spreading false information to damage the reputation of others, if the circumstances are serious, can be prosecuted as defamation.”

“Defamation?” Qin Tian scoffed. “Guan Yao, go get your beloved Officer Yu and ask him in front of him who his real father is. After you’ve asked, then tell me if I’m defaming him or not!”

These words were like a string of bullets, hitting Guan Yao’s heart. He suddenly realized that not everything Qin Tian was saying was fabricated. Some of it was even old news that their police force had only just pried out of the suspect Ai Hua’s mouth last month.

For example, the woods behind the No. 2 Timber Factory’s warehouse…

This location was too precise. Even Ai Hua’s description wasn’t this detailed. Qin Tian wasn’t even born at the time of the incident, so how did he know about this? Jiang Min couldn’t have told him, could she?

Guan Yao was shocked, and a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.

“Since you say it’s not defamation, then tell me clearly, where did you hear these things?” Guan Yao composed himself and asked in a deep voice.

Qin Tian smiled and leaned back in the interrogation chair, appearing carefree. He said, “I know someone who witnessed the entire process of that bitch Jiang Min being raped thirty-three years ago.”

“Who is that person?” Guan Yao asked.

Qin Tian clicked his tongue and spat out two words: “Li Ying.”

Li Ying, the employee who managed the warehouse at the No. 2 Timber Factory back then.

Guan Yao knew that this man had said that he had to work for a long time every day at the lumber yards by the Ning Nie Li Qi River, and sometimes, when the workers on the mountain finished work late, he had to wait until one or two in the morning to close the warehouse door.

In this way, the time and place matched. Could everything Qin Tian was saying be true?

Guan Yao’s heart was in his throat. He continued to ask, “What did Li Ying tell you?”

Qin Tian answered casually, “Just those things, right? Saying that Jiang Min didn’t respect herself, running out of the city late at night, it was her fault for running into wild men.”

“Tell me exactly what Li Ying said; repeat it to me,” Guan Yao said coldly.

“Repeat it?” Qin Tian shook his head. “It’s been so long; I can’t repeat it. I met Li Ying ten years ago when I was working at the Far East Department Store. I even borrowed a lot of money from him. These words were all said when we were chatting idly. What exactly was said… I don’t remember.”

“Did Li Ying ever say who the men were who raped Jiang Min?” Guan Yao asked carefully.

Qin Tian pondered for a moment and replied, “He should know, but he wouldn’t tell me, saying… even if he told me, I wouldn’t know them.”

Guan Yao nodded. “In that case, why are you so sure that your brother is the son of those rapists?”

Qin Tian laughed. “Guan Yao, are you stupid? You can figure it out by counting the days, right? Li Ying said that those wild men raped Jiang Min the night before the fire. When was the fire? September 24th. When is my brother’s birthday? July 17th. Right? There’s no mistake in the dates.”

Liu Sheng was still typing away on the keyboard. Guan Yao glanced at the video recorder, which was still flashing a red light, and suddenly stood up.

“Xiao Liu, go out. Turn off the camera before you leave,” he said softly.

Liu Sheng was surprised. “Captain Guan, aren’t we interrogating him anymore?”

“No, we’re not,” Guan Yao replied.

Despite his doubts, Liu Sheng did as he was told. He printed out the statement record, asked Qin Tian to sign it, and then turned off the video recorder.

However, just as this series of actions was completed, Guan Yao suddenly stepped forward and punched Qin Tian.

“Captain Guan!” Liu Sheng was startled.

“This is none of your business; get out,” Guan Yao said.

Liu Sheng glanced at the two of them with trepidation and slipped away. Before running, he didn’t forget to close the interrogation room door tightly for them.

Qin Tian was unprepared and took the punch. He was stunned for a long while before he came to his senses. “Damn… you hit hard.”

Guan Yao stood in front of him, looking down at the man. “That punch was for your mom and your brother. They actually raised a heartless and ungrateful wretch like you.”

Qin Tian winced in pain. “If my brother slept in the same bed as you, the two of you really… hit the same spot, it hasn’t healed yet, and you’ve disfigured me again.”

Guan Yao narrowed his eyes. “Now it’s just you and me, so please tell me clearly why you went to Songlan to follow your brother.”

Qin Tian paused, then slowly raised his head. “You… you know everything?”

At Guan Yao’s house, Yu Chunming was running bathwater for Yu Chang. He reached out to test the temperature and said, “This water pipe hasn’t been fixed properly. It still takes a while to get hot.”

Yu Chang, who was skinny and pale, was wrapped in a bath towel, standing to the side with a flushed face, waiting for his brother to fix the pipe.

“What did Guan Yao do? It was working fine the day before,” Yu Chunming muttered.

Yu Chang blinked at him and asked hesitantly, “Brother, that auntie you went to see next door… are you very close to her?”

Yu Chunming “Mmm”ed and used his left hand to bring over a bucket from the side. “Come here, don’t stand in that corner. Their drain is bad; we have to use a bucket to catch the water, otherwise, the water will flow too fast and overflow.”

Yu Chang hid to the side like a startled chick.

After Yu Chunming had sorted everything out, the water finally got hot. He let out a long breath and waved, “Alright, go wash up. I’ll go find you some clothes. You’ve been wearing that plaid shirt for a few days; it smells a little stale.”

Yu Chang said incoherently, “Brother, I just saw the photo.”

Yu Chunming didn’t react for a moment. “What photo?”

Yu Chang stared at him. “The photo on the table, Guan Yao and Jiang Xin.”

Yu Chunming’s expression froze.

“Brother,” Yu Chang called out, “I know you’re Jiang Xin. I’ve seen Jiang Xin’s Resident Registration information; it was canceled twenty-three years ago.”

Yu Chunming avoided the main point. “How did you check that? Is our internal system that insecure?”

Yu Chang was a little helpless. “I saw the documents on our dad’s desk. I went to steal allowance money for Yu Huan…”

“Oh,” Yu Chunming smiled wryly, “To steal allowance money for Yu Huan.”

“Brother, that’s not the point,” Yu Chang steered the topic back on track. “Brother, Huanhuan might not know, but I know, I know… you’re probably not my real brother.”

Yu Chunming’s eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t speak.

Yu Chang was smart, at least in terms of studying. He didn’t talk much or cause trouble, and after Yu Chunming came to that family, he diligently became the filling in the sandwich between him and Yu Huan.

To be honest, Yu Chunming didn’t have much affection for Yu Chang. He didn’t even expect Yu Chang to do so much for him, even risking danger by chasing after Qin Tian to Za Mu Er.

Yu Chunming’s heart was filled with mixed feelings, especially when he saw Yu Chang’s expression when he asked about Qin Tian.

“Is he your real brother?” Yu Chang asked pitifully.

Yu Chunming didn’t hide it anymore. “Yes, Qin Tian is my real brother.”

“He treats you like that, and you still think of him as your brother?” Yu Chang pressed.

Yu Chunming was amused by these words. He said, “Changchang, have you forgotten that I and you are named Yu, and he is named Qin?”

Yu Chang was stunned and opened his eyes wide.

“Alright, hurry up and take a shower. Don’t show off your meager chest here.” Yu Chunming slammed the door and shouted from outside, “Remember to mop the floor after you’re done. My arm can’t take care of you.”

Click, the door closed, and Yu Chang lightly breathed a sigh of relief.

What he didn’t know was that Yu Chunming, who was standing in the living room at this moment, also sighed in relief.

This person, who had been tossing and turning all night, pressed his forehead wearily. He casually pulled a chair and sat down, and then his gaze involuntarily drifted to the photo on the table.

The photo only had him and Guan Yao. These two young boys looked serious, neither of them smiling, looking like they had a world of troubles on their shoulders.

Even today, Yu Chunming still remembered why he and Guan Yao had such expressions on their faces at the time.

It was probably sometime in mid-March, Yu Chunming couldn’t recall clearly. He only vaguely remembered that the snow hadn’t melted yet, and it was still very cold. Guan Yao’s grandmother took the two of them to the market outside.

The group walked past a pile of frozen, rock-hard black water river fish. Guan Na, who was at the front, spotted a newly opened photo studio at the market and insisted that Guan Yao’s grandmother take her into the studio to take a picture.

Jiang Xin also wanted to try. He gripped Guan Yao’s hand tightly and said weakly, “Brother, I want to take a picture too.”

Guan Na heard this and shouted, “Let’s all take pictures! Let the photographer take a picture of all of us.”

This was a happy event. Jiang Xin and Guan Yao had smiles on their faces. When they entered the photo studio, after the stage workers had set up the backdrop, the two of them stood in front of the camera holding hands.

“Come on, smile!” the photographer shouted.

But unexpectedly, at this moment, a firecracker-like kid rushed into the photo studio. This kid shouted, “Brother! Our mom is going crazy again at home!”

The kid who rushed in was Qin Tian. He had a disheveled head of hair, two hard, crystal-like snot icicles under his nose, and his hands were covered in frostbite. But when he shouted these words, he had a smile on his face.

When Guan Yao and Jiang Xin saw him, and when they heard these words, their original joyful expressions instantly froze. At the same time, the photographer pressed the shutter.

Click! An unpleasant moment was captured.

Later, this negative was washed twice and stored in Guan Yao and Jiang Xin’s inner pockets of their coats. Qin Tian had tried countless times to snatch it to look at, but Jiang Xin had dodged him.

Perhaps he was doing it on purpose, Yu Chunming thought in his heart many years later. Qin Tian always did such things on purpose.

He would deliberately barge in when Guan Yao’s family was having dinner, using various reasons to take Jiang Xin away. He would deliberately rush into Jiang Xin’s classroom when school started and shout, “Jiang Min is going crazy again!” He would also deliberately follow Jiang Xin and Guan Yao when they sneaked out of the house to play by the river at midnight, imitating the shaman chants of the village’s spirit mediums.

Therefore, the young Yu Chunming had always firmly believed that Qin Tian hated him. It wasn’t until he grew up that he gradually understood that Qin Tian might not hate him. Qin Tian just hated that he, as a brother, had never fulfilled his responsibilities.

In Qin Tian’s view, being a brother meant having to tolerate his reckless behavior, having to put him first in everything, and having to unconditionally agree to all his demands.

Like now—

Qin Tian sat in the interrogation room and took a deep breath. “Officer Guan, since you’ve already said that Yu Chunming is my brother, then how I follow him shouldn’t have much to do with you, right.”

The incandescent lights overhead were dazzling and cold, making Guan Yao’s sharply defined face particularly unapproachable. He looked at Qin Tian indifferently and said, “No matter what Yu Chunming is to you, following is an illegal act. Moreover, you tried to replace the ceftriaxone he was using in the dispensing room. Qin Tian, you should be glad you didn’t succeed, otherwise…”

“Otherwise, I would already be in jail,” Qin Tian smiled shamelessly. “So what? I just can’t stand that the son of a rapist can be a police officer in broad daylight, can enjoy a comfortable life in the home of a high-ranking official. I want to destroy him. Am I wrong?”

“You want to destroy him…” Guan Yao leaned down, staring at Qin Tian with a deep gaze. “Then you might as well tell me clearly what kind of way you plan to use to destroy him.”

Qin Tian lightly ground his back molars. “The rats in the gutter should stay in the gutter. Jiang Xin is my brother and can only be my brother, can only live in the gutter like me. Why can he be a police officer? Why can he judge others from above? Why should I, as his own brother, only be able to get drunk every day?”

Guan Yao was amused by Qin Tian’s logic. “Why should you, as his own brother, only be able to get drunk every day? Brother, have you ever thought that this is your own choice, and it has nothing to do with Yu Chunming, with Jiang Xin, or even with your mom, Jiang Min.”

“It does!” Qin Tian shouted. “It has everything to do with it! It was Jiang Xin who abandoned me alone in Za Mu Er! He must pay the price for his actions.”

Guan Yao’s eyebrows twitched, and he straightened up. He uttered a sentence that was neither light nor heavy: “Qin Tian, you better honestly explain who instilled these ideas in you.”

Who? This question made Qin Tian’s heart jolt. He blurted out that this was entirely his own plan, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Why couldn’t he say it?

Qin Tian’s forehead began to sweat because there really was such a person.

[Author’s note]

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