NOS Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Rhododendron Peak (10)

By the time Yu Chunming came out of the retirement center, it was getting dark. Guan Yao had already started the car and was waiting at the entrance. Soon, small snowflakes began to fall outside.

“What did you talk to her about again?” Guan Yao asked casually.

“Nothing much, just asked about your Aunt Jiang,” Yu Chunming said as he opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.

“Looks like this Teacher Duan was quite fond of Aunt Jiang back then,” Guan Yao said.

Yu Chunming raised the corner of his mouth, “《My Hometown Jin A Lin》 was put together by this Teacher Duan and some actors from the Forest Farm Art Troupe. I remember that the first version of the female lead, Li Hongge, was originally written for her.”

“Really?” Guan Yao hadn’t heard of these past events. “Did Teacher Duan also play Li Hongge?”

“Otherwise, why would Li Hongge’s nickname be ‘White Mountain Snow Plum’?” Yu Chunming said, “As far as I know, Teacher Duan was born in Rhododendron Peak. Her parents and brothers were guerrillas and died in the Jin A Lin Mountains early on. She was sick when she was little and was mute for a long time. Later, she was adopted by forest farm workers and slowly recovered.”

“So she was the real ‘Li Hongge’,” Guan Yao said thoughtfully.

“Teacher Duan values Jiang Min not only because Jiang Min sings well and dances beautifully, but also because Jiang Min is most like her when she was young,” Yu Chunming continued, “Most like her when she was young, with her unwillingness to admit defeat and her refusal to bow her head.”

Guan Yao smiled, “I can see that.”

The sky was completely dark, and there were fewer pedestrians on the street. Before long, the police car turned and drove out of the Changlian Resort and onto the main road back to the city.

Just then, Guan Yao’s phone rang, but strangely, it only rang twice before the caller hung up.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve received three or four of these calls this afternoon. I didn’t hear it inside just now, but I saw it as soon as I came out. And when I call back, the other end doesn’t say anything,” Guan Yao said, gesturing for Yu Chunming to check the call.

Yu Chunming took the phone, opened the call history, and frowned, “They’re all local Za Mu Er numbers.”

“Yeah, I thought someone at the station had changed their number, but I dialed for a long time and the other end didn’t answer, but they kept calling me,” Guan Yao replied while driving.

Yu Chunming looked at the call history and read them out one by one, “One came in at 12:53 at noon, then another half an hour later at 1:23, and then…”

“And then what?” Guan Yao wondered why Yu Chunming had suddenly stopped.

He turned his head and saw the man frowning, seemingly calculating something.

“Then one each at 3:00 and just now at 4:00,” Yu Chunming put down his phone and began to think.

“12:53, 1:23, 3:00, 4:00…” Guan Yao repeated.

Yu Chunming asked suspiciously, “After you called back, did anyone speak on the other end?”

“The first time I called back, no one spoke. The second time, they hung up on me directly, but after hanging up, another one came in at 4:00, just like before, only ringing a few times before cutting off,” Guan Yao said, then suddenly remembered something, and pointed to the side, “Go check the ring duration.”

“Ring duration?” Yu Chunming was puzzled.

“You can see it by clicking on the little circle next to it,” Guan Yao gestured.

Yu Chunming clicked it open and said, “The first call rang for 53 seconds, the second call rang for 23 seconds…”

“Wait,” Guan Yao’s eyebrows twitched, “The first call came in at 12:53 and rang for 53 seconds, the second call came in at 1:23 and rang for 23 seconds… What about the third and fourth?”

“The third and fourth were both two seconds,” Yu Chunming replied.

Screech—Guan Yao slammed on the brakes.

“It’s Meng Changqing,” he said.

When interrogating Ai Hua, Guan Yao had mentioned that last year, the Linchang Police Station, in coordination with the Branch Bureau and the Shunyang City Bureau, had followed a suspect who had fled from Shunyang to Za Mu Er and taken down three border smuggling gangs hidden in the Jin A Lin Mountain mining area.

“At the time, Xiao Meng, Xiao Tian, and I formed a group with colleagues from Shunyang, and Fang Wang formed a group with Old Min from the Branch Bureau to search the Jin A Lin Mountains. The signal in the mountains was intermittent, so we usually communicated with walkie-talkies. But who knew that our group was very unlucky that day, and ran head-on into the main force of the smugglers. The mining area isn’t deep, and we had nowhere to hide, so we could only hide on those monkey cars that were still hanging under the mine shafts. The walkie-talkies were loud, and once turned on, they could be heard from above, so in order not to reveal our position, we came up with a way.” After returning to the Branch Bureau’s task force office, Guan Yao stood in front of the crowd and said, “Xiao Meng looked at the time and, taking advantage of the gap when the phone had a signal, informed Old Min of our location through the call time and ring duration. Although Old Min didn’t understand what those calls were about, Meng Changqing and I were both very clear.”

After speaking, Guan Yao put a screenshot of his phone under the projector, “You see, this is the first call this afternoon, call time 12:53, ring duration 53 seconds, the second call, call time 1:23, ring duration 23 seconds, this is to remind the person answering the phone that there’s a problem with these two calls. According to the method we came up with at the time, it’s most convenient and quick to inform the specific latitude and longitude, so 12 o’clock can also be seen as 0 o’clock, and 53 minutes and 53 seconds is to emphasize that his position is roughly at 53° north latitude.”

“That’s right,” Li Xiaotian nodded, “1:23 is 123° east longitude.”

“And 3:00 and 4:00 mean that the other party judged that his location is probably between 3:00 and 4:00 relative to our location,” Guan Yao continued.

Someone below had already taken out a map and found the specific location: “53° north latitude and 123° east longitude is Huyang Village under Danfeng Pass, which is also very close to the Jin Gou Mountain No. 1 Patrol Station mentioned earlier.”

“What did the operator say? Did they find a specific location?” Wang Zhen asked.

A task force colleague stood up and replied, “The phone is currently turned off. The operator checked the base station records and said that the phone hasn’t left the Huangshaling area of Za Mu Er in the past three years. This location… is really not precise enough.”

“Then don’t just stand there, notify the special police and act immediately. Whether it’s precise or not, a life is at stake, go to Huyang Village and take a look!” Wang Zhen said loudly.

With this order, the task force, the criminal investigation team, and the special police were all dispatched, heading northeast overnight in the twilight.

Guan Yao hurriedly put on his equipment and prepared to go to Danfeng Pass with Min Chao.

Yu Chunming also chased after him, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

“Oh come on, old buddy, don’t mess around,” Min Chao spoke up before Guan Yao could say anything, “If you go, are we going to arrest criminal suspects or protect you?”

Guan Yao glared at Min Chao and turned to Yu Chunming, speaking kindly, “Wait for us at the bureau, nothing will happen, there are so many people.”

“But…”

“Chunming!” At this critical moment, Wang Zhen called out loudly, “Don’t join in the fun with us, come over here, I’ll arrange a job for you.”

Yu Chunming stood still, “What job?”

Wang Zhen smiled sheepishly and threw a set of car keys into his hand, “Chunming, you go with Xiao Han to the… Changlian Airport, and receive the leaders from the hall, their plane is at 10:30 tonight.”

“What do you want me to do?” Yu Chunming almost thought he had misheard the request.

Wang Zhen, enduring Guan Yao’s scanning gaze, forced himself to say, “I can’t help it, I originally arranged for Han Chen to go alone, but… Deputy Director Yu specifically asked you to go too. It’s mainly because… the director of the Za Mu Er City Branch Bureau has been vacant since May this year, there are too few leaders who can speak here, and the case has been dragging on for too long. The political commissar of our Criminal Investigation Corps is also coming down, along with two deputy directors from the local bureau. If it weren’t for the sudden situation tonight, Lao Liang, Xiao Han, and I were all going to pick them up, but now the two of us can’t go, Han Chen alone isn’t appropriate, you…”

“What’s wrong? Is Han Chen alone not enough, or is one of the leaders lame and needs me to carry them?” Yu Chunming blurted out.

Wang Zhen hissed, “What are you saying? Just go if you’re told. Hurry, Han Chen is waiting next to that Coaster in the back.”

Yu Chunming glanced at Guan Yao, didn’t say anything, and silently turned and left.

Wang Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him leave.

But unexpectedly, Guan Yao asked at this time, “Captain Wang, how much money did Han Chen bribe you?”

It was unclear how much Han Chen had “bribed”, but it was definitely too late for Guan Yao to add more now.

Min Chao, who didn’t understand what was going on, said blankly, “Just let Officer Yu pick up his old man, what’s the big deal? Lao Guan, you don’t really want to get a promotion by sucking up to Officer Yu, do you?”

Guan Yao slammed the car door, splashing Min Chao, who was still standing outside, with a face full of dust. He asked with a belly full of questions, “Captain Wang, is there… some hidden secret here?”

“What hidden secret? Just keep an eye on your car, don’t let the engine get ruined by Officer Guan’s slapping,” Wang Zhen said with a forced smile.

At this time, Han Chen had been waiting outside the parking lot for a long time. He saw Yu Chunming walking from afar and hurried forward to greet him, “Did they leave?”

Yu Chunming was too lazy to answer, raised his hand and threw the keys, and turned to walk back into the building.

“Chunming!” Han Chen quickly called out, “It wasn’t that I wanted Master to bring you along, but Deputy Director Yu really specifically asked you to pick them up.”

Yu Chunming paused.

Han Chen continued, “Master knows that your injury hasn’t healed and you can’t drive, and he also thought that Guan Yao and Meng Changqing are more familiar, so if there’s any more contact over there, Officer Guan will definitely be there, so he sent me to be your driver.”

Yu Chunming frowned and asked, “What does Deputy Director Yu want me to do?”

Han Chen smiled and opened the passenger door for him, “Chunming, Deputy Director Yu knew about tonight’s operation and was afraid that you would insist on going along, so he said that.”

Yu Chunming was silent for a moment.

“Get in the car, it’s more than an hour to Changlian, it’ll be too late if we don’t leave now,” Han Chen said.

This time, Yu Chunming didn’t refuse, leaned over, and got into the car.

At night, there was no one on the national highway leading to Changlian Airport, and the old villages that had been abandoned were all along the road.

Han Chen drove the car, his eyes drifting out the window, “I heard that this place was bustling with activity more than thirty years ago, is that true?”

Yu Chunming gave an absent-minded “hmm”.

“Chunming,” Han Chen asked again, “Master said before that you lived in the mountains near Baihua for a few years when you were little, how was it, is the scenery good there?”

Yu Chunming still had that unenthusiastic look, he said casually, “It’s alright.”

Han Chen smiled, “Actually, the environment in Za Mu Er is pretty good, it’s just that there are few people and the transportation isn’t convenient.”

Yu Chunming finally couldn’t bear it any longer, “What exactly do you want to say? Don’t just talk for the sake of talking.”

Han Chen chuckled, “Chunming, you and Guan Yao… are really together, right?”

Yu Chunming didn’t speak.

“I know, I can see it,” Han Chen said, “The way he looks at me is different from before.”

“That’s right,” Yu Chunming nodded, “I pestered him and begged him, and finally managed to win him over, so what, do you have a problem with that?”

Han Chen changed his past hysteria, he said calmly and humbly, “No problem, you can pursue him, and I can pursue you, it doesn’t conflict.”

“Are you done yet?” Yu Chunming said impatiently.

Han Chen smiled, “Chunming, have you forgotten? I’m very persistent and persevering, when I was in college, I pursued you for four years…”

“Yes, four years,” Yu Chunming said sarcastically, “Four years and you didn’t catch up.”

After speaking, he put down the car seat, closed his eyes, and directly cut off Han Chen from continuing to talk nonsense from the source.

At 10:00 p.m., Guan Yao, Wang Zhen, and others got off the Danan Highway and turned onto a mountain path. Ten minutes later, Yu Chunming and Han Chen arrived on the highway outside Changlian Airport.

“Strange,” Yu Chunming suddenly said, “There’s a pickup truck behind us that’s been following us since we left Za Mu Er.”

Han Chen didn’t take it to heart, he was focusing on making a U-turn, “It’s also coming out of the city to the airport, it definitely has to take the same road.”

But Yu Chunming inexplicably became nervous, he said, “One of the car’s headlights is broken, and the front of the car looks like it’s been hit.”

Han Chen was too lazy to answer, he parked the car, glanced at the time, and said, “The plane has already landed and is taxiing, it arrived early today.”

Yu Chunming glanced at the timetable and got out of the car to look at the parking lot in front of the airport.

Several taxis were squeezed at the entrance, preparing to pick up passengers, and shuttle buses were neatly arranged, waiting under the bus stop in the distance. The pickup truck that had been following the two of them also got off the highway and was about to drive towards the airport entrance.

“See, maybe they’re also here to pick someone up, Chunming, you’re too paranoid,” Han Chen laughed.

Yu Chunming randomly pulled over a staff member, pointed to the entrance and asked, “When the late-night flight arrived yesterday, was this pickup truck here?”

The staff member answered without raising his head, “Pickup truck? I haven’t seen it, there are only taxis and buses here at night.”

After hearing this, Yu Chunming looked at Han Chen.

“Don’t be nervous,” Han Chen was really helpless, “It’s just a pickup truck, how could it come to the airport every day? Or, you go ask the driver what he does?”

Yu Chunming didn’t speak, he walked out of the hall and frowned as he looked at the dark Yuanling in the distance.

“When the people come out, you let them wait in the arrival hall, I’ll go take a look at that pickup truck,” he said to Han Chen after a while.

As he was speaking, the passengers who got off the plane had already walked out of the bridge. Han Chen turned a deaf ear to it, and directly greeted Yu Zhenshan and others enthusiastically, “Hello leaders, the car is this way.”

But Yu Chunming suddenly turned around and pointed, “Stop there, don’t move.”

Yu Zhenshan’s footsteps stopped, and along with him, the remaining few also immediately stood still outside the airport gate. Besides them, a few dozen scattered passengers passed by, walking out of the hall in groups of three or five, looking around.

Soon, some of these people got on the bus, some got on the taxi, and a driver stuck his head out and asked, “Are you going?”

Yu Chunming was about to go to the pickup truck, he waved his hand and answered, “Not going.”

Before long, two “rumbling” sounds came, and the bus was about to depart. It seemed that nothing had happened, but it seemed that something was about to happen.

“Chunming, what are you…” Han Chen shouted loudly.

Just then, before Yu Chunming had reached the parking lot, the pickup truck that had been following the two of them since they left Za Mu Er suddenly turned on its headlights, blinding Yu Chunming so he couldn’t help but raise his hand to block his eyes.

The next second, the headlights dimmed, and the engine roared.

The few people waiting in front of the airport gate saw the pickup truck suddenly leap out of the dark ditch, first knocking two taxis over to the ground, and then rushing straight towards Yu Chunming.