NOS Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Azalea Peak (4)

Chapter 83: Azalea Peak (4)

The snow fell heavier and heavier, accumulating a white expanse on the treetops.

Jiang Min leaned against the window, looking at the vast white snow, and uttered a sentence: “She was called ‘Little Pear Blossom.’ The child who was harmed by Zhang Nan played the role of ‘Little Pear Blossom’ in ‘My Hometown, Jin A Lin.'”

“‘Little Pear Blossom’?” Shu Wen, being older, had seen the revised version of the play. She thought for a moment and said, “Isn’t that the nickname of the female lead, Li Hongge?”

“That’s right.” Jiang Min nodded.

“My Hometown, Jin A Lin” tells the story of female lumberjacks in the forest farm in the last century who were strong, self-reliant, and striving for progress. The heroine, Li Hongge, suffered psychological trauma in her childhood after witnessing her parents die in the snow sea for the revolution, leaving her unable to speak. She was a helpless “little mute.” But she was born with a spirit of not admitting defeat and vowed to dedicate her blood to the wave of building the motherland.

In this play, Li Hongge, born under Azalea Peak, experienced the baptism of gunfire in the war years, bathed in the brilliant glory of the rising sun, and pursued her dreams in the vast Jin A Lin Mountains. She lost her parents, her lover who fought side by side, and her only child. But in the end, she used her own spirit of not admitting defeat to break through her past trauma, and sang the Jin A Lin of her hometown with her singing voice in a literary and artistic performance at the Capital Theater.

And “Little Pear Blossom” was Li Hongge in her childhood, unable to speak.

“Pear blossoms are delicate and fragile. A gust of wind or a rain will cause them all to fall. I want to be the snow plum in the biting cold wind, the flower branch on the hundred-zhang ice of a cliff!” Jiang Min looked at the snow outside the window and suddenly smiled. “This is ‘Little Pear Blossom’s’ inner monologue when she became Li Hongge. At that time, she stood in front of the stage to perform, and I stood behind the stage to recite the lines. ‘Little Pear Blossom’ would bend down to pick up a snow plum and insert it in her ponytail, and then the curtain would turn, and I would go on stage.”

The spotlight shone down, and the most dazzling “pearl” of the Jin A Lin Mountains could always win a full house of applause.

Yu Chunming seemed to hear that song again:

Distant Jin A Lin, vast Jin A Lin, my hometown Jin A Lin…

Reeds and cattails swayed in the wind, azaleas clustered around birch trees, and the river rushed to the distance. More than thirty years ago, the bright and flamboyant Li Hongge raised her head and chest, looking at her distant hometown.

How many people loved Li Hongge on this vast black land?

Countless.

Unfortunately, Li Hongge would eventually be able to speak, but “Little Pear Blossom” was mute until her death.

“She knew very few characters and couldn’t write a complete sentence.” Jiang Min said, “The teachers of the literary troupe and I taught her together, taught her to read, read newspapers, and practice calligraphy.”

Speaking of this, Jiang Min’s expression gradually darkened: “Then, one day, she was finally able to write her story.”

What story? A tragic story.

“At that time, I had just returned to Za Mu Er from Songlan, and the leaders of the literary troupe were still discussing whether to readmit me. Then ‘Little Pear Blossom’ had an accident.” Jiang Min opened the TV cabinet and pulled out a piece of manuscript paper that was still well-preserved from the depths of the cabinet.

The characters on the manuscript paper were crooked and twisted, with a lot of doodles and deletions. Yu Chunming and Shu Wen looked at it for a long time before they could figure out what it was about.

“‘Little Pear Blossom’ told me that when she was five years old, Zhang Nan, who was then the deputy director of the employee hospital, took her to the provincial capital to see a doctor. On the train to the provincial capital, he took her into the toilet and touched her.” In order to prevent ‘Little Pear Blossom’ from revealing the truth, Zhang Nan embezzled the money raised by the factory and took her back to Za Mu Er after only performing a facial repair surgery.” Jiang Min lit another cigarette, and she looked at the manuscript paper through the smoke and smiled. “Zhang Nan, that old beast, even threatened ‘Little Pear Blossom’ with her own father, saying that her father was in charge of the warehouse in the logistics department, and he was stealing chickens and dogs every now and then. If she didn’t obey, he would report her father’s stealing chickens and dogs to the factory, and ‘Little Pear Blossom’s’ family would have no way out.”

Yu Chunming’s eyes narrowed, and he uttered a name: “Li Ying.”

“That’s right, it’s Li Ying.” Jiang Min chuckled and said, “Zhang Nan, that old thing, pretended to give Li Ying a demerit on the surface, but in fact, he made a fortune in secret by relying on Li Ying to smuggle things out of the warehouse. His cousin was doing business with foreigners in the south, and Zhang Nan resold the things to foreigners through his cousin. It would be impossible to find out if you really investigated. ‘Little Pear Blossom’ endured in silence for nearly ten years, and finally couldn’t bear it anymore and sued this beast to the No. 2 Factory Security Section.”

Jiang Min had personally said that Miao Xiaoyun, the chief of the No. 2 Factory Security Section, was Qian Guowei’s biggest mistress.

Therefore, the following things can be imagined.

Qian Guowei was a well-known “second generation” in the factory. Zhang Nan and his biological father and godfather were closely related, so Miao Xiaoyun naturally had to listen to the big leader. After “Little Pear Blossom” filed a complaint, she counterattacked and reversed the facts. First, she forced “Little Pear Blossom” to leave the literary troupe, and then, she forced her to hang herself.

“If I hadn’t discovered it, that little girl would have probably hanged herself in our literary troupe’s rehearsal room.” Jiang Min said while smoking, “That day, my file was just readmitted by the literary troupe, and I took my performance clothes back to the dressing room. As a result, I saw ‘Little Pear Blossom’s’ empty closet. My colleagues told me that people in the factory were spreading rumors that ‘Little Pear Blossom’ became restless when she grew up and fought with Miao Xiaoyun for Qian Guowei, fighting to the point of bloodshed. As soon as I heard this, I knew something was wrong. I turned around and ran to Li Ying’s house to look for her, but I couldn’t find her. I was worried, so I went back to the literary troupe, and that girl was actually preparing to hang herself in the rehearsal room.”

Yu Chunming slowly picked up the manuscript paper: “This is what she wrote to you after you saved her?”

“No, this is her suicide note.” Jiang Min’s eyebrows moved slightly, and she said, “That night, I dragged ‘Little Pear Blossom’ into Zhang Nan’s office and smashed bowls, demanding an explanation from him. I remember that on the way, I also met Xu Wen’s younger sister. That girl was also a person of temperament, and she and I blocked Zhang Nan at the door. Zhang Nan was so frightened that he peed his pants, begging me not to leak this out. ‘Little Pear Blossom’ was also timid and didn’t dare to let others know that she had been tortured by that old thing for more than ten years. I had no choice but to threaten Zhang Nan, telling him not to spread rumors in the factory about ‘Little Pear Blossom’ and Qian Guowei, and also to withdraw Li Ying’s demerit. Otherwise, I would take ‘Little Pear Blossom’ to Songlan to find…”

Speaking of this, Jiang Min paused and flicked the ashes of her cigarette.

“So, this matter… is Li Ying aware of it?” Yu Chunming asked.

“Yes, I told him.” Jiang Min replied, “‘Little Pear Blossom’ was less than eighteen at the time. These things must be told to her parents.”

Therefore, on the night before the fire broke out, Li Ying went to Zhang Nan with a hammer, presumably for his daughter Li Shengnan.

What happened later?

Jiang Min couldn’t say for sure either.

“After I climbed out of the river, I wandered around the factory for a day with a fire stick, but I couldn’t find those three beasts, and I didn’t see Zhang Nan. By the time it was evening, and I hadn’t finished calling the police, the factory was burned down again. Therefore, I can’t say for sure what happened on September 24. Maybe that fire was really set intentionally by Li Ying because of Zhang Nan, just like everyone said.” Jiang Min finally finished smoking a cigarette.

Yu Chunming looked at the “suicide note” in his hand and asked softly, “Why didn’t you say these things the last time Guan Yao and I came?”

Jiang Min leaned on the armrest of the sofa, smiled, and replied, “Because seventeen years ago, a person who claimed to be Qian Guowei came back to find me. I ran to the police station to report the case like a madman, but no one believed me. They all said I was crazy. Who would dare to believe what a crazy person says?”

Hearing this, Shu Wen trembled all over.

She was an old-timer at the Linchang Police Station. This incident happened in the year she had just joined the force.

“I remember, I remember that my master was the one who answered the call…”

“Zhang Hui, the current director of the Linchang Police Station.” Jiang Min’s memory was correct. “You were originally sitting next to the radiator, and after listening to what I said, you poured me a glass of water. Your master, Zhang Hui, told you to hurry up and sort out the documents and stop dawdling in front of me.”

“Yes… yes, that’s how it was.” Shu Wen looked at Yu Chunming, then at Jiang Min, with a look of horror on her face. “I remember, you said at the time, saying who came back, who didn’t die, and the whole office was in chaos. That night, my master even invited the doctor from the Municipal Hospital to give you a shot of sedative and let Wu Laosan take you away.”

“Yes, Wu Laosan…” Jiang Min sighed faintly, and she said, “Officer Yu, didn’t you want to know if Qian Guowei had contacted me in the past few decades? That was the only time. Since then, on the 15th of every month, Wu Laosan would receive a sum of money. They thought they could hide it from me, but in fact, I knew very well where the money came from. The person who sent the money must have been coerced by Wu Laosan.”

Yu Chunming and Shu Wen were silent for a while.

Soon, the colleagues of the task force sent a high-definition ID photo of “He Wang.” Yu Chunming took the phone, pointed at the person on it, and asked again: “Are you sure he is not Qian Guowei?”

Jiang Min crossed her arms and squinted her eyes to look: “I’m sure, the person who came to me didn’t look like this.”

Sure enough, Guan Yao was right. Even if Qian Guowei showed up, he didn’t show his true face.

“Then what did the person who came to you look like?” Yu Chunming had to ask.

Jiang Min thought for a while and described it in detail: “Tall, with a long and narrow face. At first glance, his figure and everything were no different from Qian Guowei, but his eyelids were different. The person who came to me… had puffy eyes and single eyelids, and his nose bridge was a bit collapsed.”

“Single eyelids, collapsed nose bridge?” Yu Chunming frowned.

Jiang Min added from the side: “This person told me that he was back to see his old mother off. I later asked around and found out that Qian Guowei’s old mother did die in that year. So, although he didn’t look much like Qian Guowei, I believed him. Maybe this person had plastic surgery to cover up his whereabouts.”

Yu Chunming suddenly became enlightened, and he said a name: “Lin Zhimin.”

Liu Bin said that Lin Zhimin, as Qian Guowei’s childhood friend, was the one who saw Qian Guowei’s old mother off when she passed away.

Moreover, Lin Zhimin’s appearance did have some resemblance to Qian Guowei. Otherwise, how could Qian Guowei have been able to rent a house in the Three Mines Family Compound using Lin Zhimin’s ID card and fool Grandpa Zhang’s dim eyes?

But why did Lin Zhimin impersonate Qian Guowei to see Jiang Min seventeen years ago? What was his purpose?

“The suicide note, he came to get the suicide note.” Jiang Min replied.

“Li Shengnan’s suicide note?” Yu Chunming didn’t understand, “How did Qian Guowei know that Li Shengnan’s suicide note was in your hands?”

“I don’t know, anyway, that person came to get the suicide note.” Jiang Min was also a little strange, “Logically speaking, Qian Guowei probably forgot about ‘Little Pear Blossom’ a long time ago after she died for so many years. He suddenly ran back to get the suicide note at that time, probably because he met someone or something.”

Once a person has too many enemies, they can be easily seized by the handle. For example, Wu Laosan used Jiang Min so easily to coerce Qian Guowei into remitting money to him for more than ten years. So, besides Jiang Min, who else could hold Qian Guowei?

“Seventeen years ago, Li Ying was still in jail and had no chance to meet him. Besides Li Ying, there was only…”

Li Ying’s son, Li Qie.

Guan Yao sat in the car, watching the old man with a hunched figure walking towards Qianjinping one foot deep and one foot shallow. It was already very late, and every household had lit their lights. Li Ying’s back was reflected under the front window of the car, and it instantly overlapped with the blurry figure in the driving recorder that day.

Guan Yao’s eyelids twitched.

Just now at the Linchang Police Station, Li Ying ran to the door crying and making a fuss, forcing the police to send him home. Han Chen had no choice but to agree to this person’s request and throw this hard job to Guan Yao.

Now, he was finally home, and Li Ying finally calmed down.

Guan Yao narrowed his eyes and murmured: “‘Little Pear Blossom’, that girl was actually Li Ying’s daughter.”

Li Xiaotian sat aside, slightly puzzled: “What’s wrong, did you know Li Shengnan when you were a kid?”

“Not really,” Guan Yao touched the tip of his nose and recalled, “I just saw her a few times. When I was four years old, Aunt Jiang often took a girl in her teens to my house for dinner. I can’t remember what she looked like, but I just know that every time she left, my grandma would pack her a box of dumplings and let her send it to school for her brother to eat.”

“Her brother? Li Qie?” Li Xiaotian asked.

“It should be.” Guan Yao frowned. “Li Ying’s son seemed to be very good at studying. I remember my grandma always said, ‘Send this box of dumplings to school for your brother who is going to college.’ Xiaotian, Li Qie was a student who could go to college more than thirty years ago. How did he end up being a worker who worked everywhere and eventually died in a smelting furnace? Moreover, the foreman of the metallurgical factory said that Li Qie’s skills were average and he spoke very little. Besides some basic physical labor, he couldn’t do anything else. Doesn’t this sound like the same person as Li Shengnan’s brother?”

“Not like the same person?” Li Xiaotian said heartlessly, “Isn’t this normal? A college student entered my wife’s factory twenty years ago. He graduated from a university of technology and the factory went bankrupt after working for less than two years. People with high education and skills either went south to do business and make a fortune, or transferred to government departments to become leaders. As a result, the college student in my wife’s factory didn’t know how to do anything after being laid off, and he just lived off of others. He even got into trouble with the police for theft a few years ago.”

“That’s an exception.” Guan Yao waved his hand and started the car. “Let’s go back to the station. Deputy Team Leader Han requested that two people stay tonight and keep an eye on him across from Li Ying’s house.”

After speaking, the two drove back to Za Mu Er in the night.

The night was uneventful, so much so that no one thought that just before dawn the next day, before Task Force Leader Wang Zhen had even stepped into the Municipal Bureau, a shocking message came from Qianjinping.

Li Ying committed suicide.

[The author has something to say]

See chapters 8, 17, and 18 for previous details.

This site has no pop-up ads, permanent domain name (volarereads.com)