NOS Chapter 17
by VolareLate at night, Guan Yao was dozing off. He rubbed his eyes and turned to look at Yu Chunming, who was still staring intently at the monitor.
Yu Chunming had faint dark circles under his eyes. Guan Yao couldn’t tell how long this man hadn’t rested. He was like a machine that didn’t need to sleep or eat, and he wouldn’t willingly stop until the parts were completely broken.
Thinking of this, Guan Yao nudged Meng Changqing, who was sleeping soundly next to him.
“Go ask Officer Yu if he’s hungry,” he said, feigning indifference.
Meng Changqing blinked his red eyes and asked dazedly, “Master, why do you want me to ask?”
“I’m busy, can’t you see?” Guan Yao pretended to be focused on checking the surveillance footage.
Meng Changqing, disturbed from his sweet dream, had to get up and sidle up to Yu Chunming. “Officer Yu, are you hungry? Want some midnight snack?”
Yu Chunming looked up, opened his drawer, grabbed two cookies, and handed them to Meng Changqing. “I’m not hungry.”
Meng Changqing failed his mission but got some food instead. He excitedly returned to Guan Yao’s side. “Master, I’ll give you one. Officer Yu gave it to me.”
Guan Yao immediately turned to look at Yu Chunming, but the man still had no reaction, as if he couldn’t feel his gaze.
“You, you eat it yourself,” Guan Yao said, feeling stifled.
Meng Changqing immediately crunched the cookies loudly. He tugged at Guan Yao’s sleeve and whispered, “Master, what did you and Officer Yu argue about yesterday at noon?”
Guan Yao was a little impatient. “Argue about what? We didn’t argue about anything.”
“I don’t believe it.” Meng Changqing was sure that his master wouldn’t have trouble with such a small matter. He deliberately said, “Every time you argue with Officer Yu, you have this expression.”
“What expression?” Guan Yao sincerely asked. He really didn’t know what he looked like every time he argued with Yu Chunming.
Meng Changqing thought for a moment and summarized with his limited vocabulary: “It’s an expression that you want to make up, but you don’t know how to start, so you can only secretly glance at Officer Yu.”
Guan Yao’s face darkened instantly. He raised his hand and slapped the back of Meng Changqing’s head, scolding, “Who allowed you to eat on the keyboard? Go stand outside!”
Meng Changqing choked from Guan Yao’s hit and immediately coughed. Just then, Yu Chunming walked behind them. He looked with some surprise at Guan Yao’s stiff face and Meng Changqing’s expression of wanting to say something but not saying it. He turned and pointed to his computer. “I found a tricycle outside the Songlin Street Farmers’ Market that is very similar to the one in the surveillance footage from the train station yesterday morning. Go take a look and see if it’s the same one.”
Guan Yao rubbed his face and cleared his throat. As he got up, he didn’t forget to glare at Meng Changqing. “Okay, I’ll take a look.”
Meng Changqing looked at Yu Chunming with some grievance. Yu Chunming said to him kindly, “Eat slowly.”
But unfortunately, Meng Changqing really couldn’t eat slowly this time. After Guan Yao repeatedly watched the surveillance footage found by Yu Chunming three times, he confirmed that the electric tricycle parked outside the Songlin Street Farmers’ Market was the same one that appeared at the train station yesterday morning.
“One of the headlights is missing a corner,” Guan Yao said. “That’s a very obvious feature.”
Yu Chunming replied, “I just looked at the latest surveillance footage sent by the traffic police. The car is still parked outside the Farmers’ Market, but it’s been moved to a more hidden location. The map shows that directly across from the Farmers’ Market, behind the car, is the Three Mine Staff Family Compound. There are no cameras at the back door of the family compound, so the person probably entered from the back. As for the car, the surveillance footage shows that an old man parked it outside this afternoon.”
“The Three Mine Staff Family Compound,” Guan Yao raised his head and said, “It’s a block of apartments. There aren’t many families left. Some construction workers live there.”
“Going to take a look now?” Yu Chunming asked.
“Let’s go,” Guan Yao got up and grabbed the car keys. “You notify Deputy Group Leader Han.”
Yu Chunming stood still. “You go.”
Guan Yao looked at him. “What? Have you and Han Chen reached the point of no return?”
“It’s not because of that,” Yu Chunming replied casually. “After all, you’re my leader. It’s not appropriate for me to go over your head.”
Okay, Guan Yao squeezed out a smile and thought to himself, really good, the top student is putting what he learned into practice.
But the top student who was putting what he learned into practice didn’t think there was anything wrong. He sat in the driver’s seat with a calm expression and said under Guan Yao’s puzzled gaze, “I’ll drive from now on.”
“Why?” Guan Yao slowly sat in the passenger seat.
Yu Chunming started the car. “When I used to go out on cases with my captain, I always drove. After all, there’s no reason to make the leader wait on me, right?”
Guan Yao suddenly felt that the passenger seat was exceptionally hot.
He coughed lightly and looked out the window somewhat flusteredly. “Um, yesterday afternoon, I interrogated Ge Xiaopei again and got the name of the person who hired him to deliver the letter. But today, the message returned from Songlan said that they can’t find that person at all.”
Yu Chunming hummed and replied, “To avoid suspicion, Han Chen asked me not to participate in the related investigation of that matter anymore. You don’t need to tell me about any results you have.”
Guan Yao opened his mouth, feeling like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
Fortunately, fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Songlin Farmers’ Market. He immediately got out of the car in a flurry, lest Yu Chunming say anything more that would make him feel awkward.
It was midnight, and there wasn’t a soul on the wide road outside the Farmers’ Market. As they walked in the middle, they could only see their shadows reflected on the road.
“The car is parked at the corner outside the Three Mine Family Compound,” Yu Chunming turned on his flashlight and shone it on the tricycle huddled in the corner. “Are you sure it’s this one?”
“Sure,” Guan Yao replied.
Yu Chunming flipped through the images stored in his phone and repeated, “About 1.8 meters tall, thin, slightly hunched, wearing a gray baseball cap, a light blue down jacket with a slightly damaged collar, black jeans, and sneakers. Facial features are unknown, likes to look around when walking.”
“Okay,” Guan Yao replied. He turned back and asked Meng Changqing, Li Xiaotian, and the others, “Got it all?”
The others nodded like chickens pecking at rice.
“At this hour, since the car is here, the person won’t have run away. Let’s go in and take a look first, and don’t scare the snake.” Guan Yao ordered.
Soon, the others scattered.
This block of apartments wasn’t big. From a distance, it was just a few low buildings with peeling paint. As they got closer, they could see bicycles lying haphazardly below and a chaotic network of wires strung between the buildings.
Yu Chunming stopped slightly as he passed the row of old bicycles piled together. Guan Yao turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you know who still rides the old-fashioned bicycles in Za Mu Er?” Yu Chunming asked.
“Old-fashioned bicycles?” Guan Yao shook his head. “They’ve been obsolete for who knows how many years. But there’s still one parked in the shed downstairs at my house. My grandma used to use it to take my sister and me to and from school when we were young. Why?”
“Your house has one?” Yu Chunming had a bad feeling. He couldn’t help but ask, “Is that car still there?”
“It should be, right?” Guan Yao wasn’t sure. “I don’t open the shed at my house for half a month at a time. If it’s gone, it’s probably been stolen by someone who collects scrap.”
Yu Chunming frowned and didn’t speak.
“What’s wrong?” Guan Yao didn’t understand why he suddenly asked about the bicycle. “You like old-fashioned bicycles? Then I’ll give you the one at my house.”
Yu Chunming surprisingly didn’t refuse. He nodded. “Okay, you give it to me later.”
Guan Yao chuckled. “No need to wait until later. This place is very close to my house. After this is over, you can go directly and ride it away.”
Yu Chunming replied very solemnly, “Thank you.”
“Thank… What’s there to thank, you…”
“Master?” Before Guan Yao could finish speaking, Meng Changqing stuck half his head out of one of the doorways. “Master, come quickly!”
Guan Yao and Yu Chunming exchanged a look and immediately hurried forward.
“What did you find?” Guan Yao asked.
Meng Changqing held up a hat. “Master, look at this. Does it look like the one the suspect was wearing?”
The hat was gray, with the letter “A” printed on it. The brim was frayed, and it looked like it had been worn for a long time.
Meng Changqing said, “I found it in the crack in the corner of the stairs. It’s filthy, but it looks a lot like the one the suspect was wearing in the surveillance footage.”
Guan Yao and Yu Chunming leaned closer to look. The two nodded in unison. “That’s the one.”
“And here,” Meng Changqing said again. “Master, Officer Yu, look here. Is this blood?”
“Blood?” Guan Yao took the flashlight and shone it in the direction Meng Changqing was pointing. Sure enough, on the handrail of the seventh step of this staircase, there was a small, inconspicuous patch of dark red.
Yu Chunming replied with a solemn expression, “The color is very similar. If it’s blood, then it’s been dried for a while. Maybe it was left behind by the suspect after returning from the train station yesterday morning.”
“Go notify Deputy Group Leader Han,” Guan Yao said to Meng Changqing.
Yu Chunming continued to shine the flashlight. “The bloodstains are in a spatter pattern, and it’s this position again…”
“What about this position?” Guan Yao asked in confusion.
Yu Chunming looked up. “If you were about to go upstairs, and someone lurking in the corner of the stairs suddenly ambushed you from above, what would you do?”
“I…” Guan Yao pondered. “I would definitely raise my arm to block.”
“When you raise your arm to block, the weapon touches your arm, leaving behind a traumatic wound. When the arm is swung open, blood is thrown out with it and lands on the handrail.” After Yu Chunming finished speaking, he turned to look at the side of the stairs. “If that’s the case, then there’s likely to be residue in the crevices of the stairs…”
*Snap!* As the flashlight scanned, there was indeed a streak of blood hanging down on the side of the stairs.
“Strange,” Guan Yao suddenly said.
Yu Chunming tilted his head and looked at him.
“You just said that there was a fight here, but since there was a fight, it’s impossible for there to be no clues on the ground. But now, apart from this hat that fell into the crevice and this bloodstain, other traces are difficult to see with the naked eye. This shows that after the fight occurred, someone cleaned up the scene, but they didn’t clean it thoroughly.” Guan Yao thought. “Since someone cleaned up the scene, why would this conspicuous hat be left here?”
*Click!* Just as he finished speaking, the door of the west apartment on the first floor opened, and an old man with white hair asked with a light, “You… Are you the police investigating what happened yesterday morning?”
The one who spoke was the old Three Mine worker who still lived here. He looked at Yu Chunming and Guan Yao’s faces with the light and said, “The person who was beaten was my tenant. I don’t know who he offended or what, but the person who came up just stabbed him once, and the two of them rolled down these stairs. Oh my, I don’t know how many times they stabbed each other.”
Guan Yao was a little puzzled. “Grandpa, why didn’t you call the police at the time?”
The old man’s face was hidden in the shadows. He said in a low voice, “I was scared to death, how could I call the police? The two of them chased each other and disappeared in a flash.”
Yu Chunming took two steps down and said to the old man, “Grandpa, would it be convenient for us to come into your house and take a look?”
“This…”
*Thump!* A muffled sound came from the back window of the west apartment.
The two instantly narrowed their pupils and rushed down the stairs, pushing past the old man and walking into the house.
“Old Guan!” Li Xiaotian shouted from the back door. “Someone ran away from here! The person’s appearance and clothing match the one we’re looking for!”
Yu Chunming immediately turned around and went to the back, along with Meng Changqing.
“Quick, quick, quick!” Li Xiaotian was struggling to pull open the car door. He pointed Yu Chunming in a direction. “It’s the Farmers’ Market over there. He ran into the Farmers’ Market!”
Yu Chunming took off in pursuit. At this moment, Guan Yao, who had jumped out of the back window of the west apartment, also came to his side. The two chased one after the other, crossing the iron railing around the front of the door.
At midnight, the Farmers’ Market was empty, and the shops were all quietly covered with a layer of plastic sheeting. The person who escaped slipped and almost fell under one of the stalls.
Guan Yao shouted as he ran, “Police, stop!”
Naturally, that person wouldn’t listen to him. He turned to the left and was about to escape from between two shops. But at this moment, Li Xiaotian blocked the other side with his car.
“Yu Chunming, hurry!” Seeing that the suspect was preparing to turn to the right, Guan Yao immediately shouted loudly, “Go block him!”
Yu Chunming knocked over a baffle blocking the road in front of him and cut straight through, running towards the man. Unexpectedly, the man suddenly stopped, pulled out a knife, and threw it at Yu Chunming’s face.
Yu Chunming felt a chill down his spine and ducked to hide behind a nearby shop. Seeing that he had lost his footing, the man turned and threw a backpack, hitting Yu Chunming hard.
*Thud!* Meng Changqing, who was coming from the side to intercept him, was also directly knocked to the ground.
“Damn…” Guan Yao came up, panting heavily. He pulled up Yu Chunming, who hadn’t been able to get up for a long time, and said to Meng Changqing, “Don’t chase anymore, don’t chase anymore, he has sharp weapons on him.”
Meng Changqing grimaced and limped two more steps, stopping somewhat unwillingly. “Why is this person so strong?”
Guan Yao took a breath and turned to look at Yu Chunming. “How are you? Are you okay?”
Yu Chunming shook his head, but his face didn’t look good. “Where’s the grandpa who opened the door? Did you handcuff him?”
The old man’s surname was Zhang, and he had just turned sixty this year. He was terrified, his face ashen. He clasped his hands together and pleaded repeatedly, “Police officers, you really can’t blame me, you really can’t blame me! He put a knife to my neck, forced me to take him in, and forced me not to tell anyone. The hat you found, I just took it out and threw it away when I went out to throw the trash this afternoon when he wasn’t paying attention. If it weren’t for that, he would have killed me before he left!”
“We’re not blaming you,” Guan Yao said, stifling a breath. “What exactly is going on?”
Hearing this, the old man hesitated. “To be honest, he really is my tenant. When he came to rent the house half a month ago, he assured me that he was just here to do some small business, and he would leave when it got colder. At the time, I was afraid of trouble, so I took the money and let it go. But when I rented the house to him, I didn’t expect that he would cause this trouble!”
“Then, does Grandpa have this person’s identity information?” Guan Yao asked.
The old man with a wrinkled face replied in a low voice, “I saw the ID card, there was no problem with it. It seems to be called, called Lin something, right?”
“Surname Lin… Lin Zhimin?” Guan Yao was surprised.
“Yes, yes, yes,” the grandpa nodded. “That’s the name.”
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