NOS Chapter 28
by VolareChapter 28 Thousand Gold Slope (4)
These words left Yu Chunming momentarily stunned. After a long daze, he finally asked, “The hidden truth behind the Za Mu Er 9.24 fire?”
Guan Yao nodded, “I’ve already convinced Chief Zhang to withdraw your suspension and change it to a warning.”
“I…”
“No need to thank me,” Guan Yao waved his hand. “Remember to submit the written self-criticism to me, 1500 words, the content must be profound and serious, understand?”
Yu Chunming’s lips moved slightly, but he didn’t ask the question, “Why are you helping me?”
Guan Yao also avoided the topic, saying, “Since you’re back on duty, you can continue to work with me. You know, whether it’s the case in Songlan last year or the case in Mopan Mountain now, the most important connection lies not only in the two suspected overlapping suspects, but also in the fire thirty-three years ago. You always go to the No. 2 Timber Factory site day after day, probably… it’s for this reason, right?”
Yu Chunming remained silent.
“If you’re willing…” Guan Yao gazed at him, a strange feeling tightening in his heart, “If you’re willing, the two of us together can definitely find out the truth of both the old case and the current one.”
Hearing this, Yu Chunming slowly smiled, “Yes, the two of us together can definitely find out the truth of both the old case and the current one.”
That night, Za Mu Er welcomed the first snow of the winter. In Guan Yao’s memory, it was the first time in recent years that it had snowed so early.
He stood by the window in the morning, looking outside, and couldn’t help but nag, “In this weather, you still want to wear a jacket? You’ll freeze into an ice pop!”
Yu Chunming had just removed the IV drip and barely regained his freedom of movement. He slowly moved to Guan Yao’s side, following his gaze downward, “The snow hasn’t accumulated.”
“How could it accumulate? It’s not heavy, and the temperature hasn’t completely dropped yet.” Guan Yao glanced at him. “Are you really a northeasterner?”
Yu Chunming leaned against the windowsill, and said faintly, “I remember there was a year in Za Mu Er when it snowed at the end of August, and by the beginning of October, the ground was covered in a layer of it.”
Guan Yao thought for a moment, and didn’t deny it, “What you’re talking about must be something that happened twenty or thirty years ago. There’s nothing like that these past few years.”
“Why not,” Yu Chunming turned around and sat back on the bed, “There was one four years ago, have you forgotten?”
“Four years ago?” Guan Yao belatedly realized, “That’s right, you remember it clearly.”
Yu Chunming raised an eyebrow, naturally unable to explain why he remembered it so clearly.
But Guan Yao didn’t care, he looked at his watch and said, “I have to go back to the station. Yesterday, the ceiling of the detention room behind the station collapsed, and we spent the whole afternoon fixing it. Because of that, Li Xiaotian and Fang Wang hurriedly interrogated Qin Tian and sent him away, the questions they asked were all muddled. But, it really wasn’t him who stole Li Ying’s money. We visited the owner of that grain and oil store, and they said that Li Ying’s own cloth bag had a hole in it, his wallet fell out, and a kind person picked it up and left it with them… what a mess.”
Yu Chunming asked seemingly casually, “Qin Tian’s in the detention center?”
“If he’s not in the detention center, where else would he be?” Guan Yao replied, “This kid claimed that he picked up his drugs outside the Hui Chun Billiard Hall. We checked the surveillance footage and found that he wasn’t lying. But Qin Tian didn’t pick up someone else’s drugs, he picked up someone else’s cigarette, and that cigarette was laced with something bad.”
Speaking of this, Guan Yao specifically pointed at Yu Chunming, “Don’t you do things like that.”
Yu Chunming opened his mouth, wanting to swear.
Guan Yao, however, preemptively blocked his words, “Then we followed the surveillance footage and found a suspicious person who was selling drugs at the billiard hall. Li Xiaotian and the others already tracked down the address of this suspicious person last night, and they’re still staking out the place this morning. I’ll go relieve them in a while.”
“What about Li Ying?” Yu Chunming asked.
“Li Ying?” Guan Yao sighed. “We checked the surveillance footage on the train that day three times. To be honest, we can’t see any problems with him. He did block you that day, but in that kind of situation, it’s normal for him to want to run elsewhere, so… so we can only let him go. Perhaps, he’s just a coincidence.”
“If it was a coincidence, would you have summoned him again that day?” Yu Chunming retorted.
Guan Yao didn’t speak.
“There are no coincidences, there won’t be coincidences, just like Ge Xiaopei and…”
And the person who delivered the letter to me, pushing your bicycle, Yu Chunming said silently in his heart.
He knew that if he could produce the still-existing letter in front of everyone, perhaps more people would believe that he was innocent, but—
Why did the person who delivered the letter to him this time use Guan Yao’s bicycle? Who was he trying to drag down?
Therefore, once this letter was handed over, the person whose reputation would be damaged would not only be Yu Chunming himself. If this time, like last time, the finger pointed back at him, or even at Guan Yao?
Yu Chunming didn’t dare to take the risk, and even more unwilling to let the innocent Guan Yao become his “accomplice.” This was his only selfish thought, and also his greatest selfish thought.
“What’s wrong?” Guan Yao saw that Yu Chunming wanted to say something but stopped. He asked puzzledly, “Besides that letter, do you have any other hidden secrets?”
“No.” Yu Chunming replied without thinking.
Guan Yao was dubious. He turned around and put on his coat, saying, “I’ll bring you lunch at noon.”
“No need.” Yu Chunming wanted to refuse again.
But Guan Yao wasn’t asking for his opinion at all. He ordered like giving instructions, “I’ve already arranged for Guan Ning to make dumplings at home, she happens to be off today.”
“No, no need…”
“I’m leaving.” Guan Yao waved to Yu Chunming with his hat.
“No need to trouble Guan Ning.” Watching Guan Yao walk out of the ward, Yu Chunming weakly completed the second half of his sentence.
Guan Yao didn’t hear a word. He suddenly felt very good, and when he got into the stakeout car that Li Xiaotian had left by the street, he even hummed a cheerful tune.
Meng Changqing was gobbling down a bun. When he saw Guan Yao coming, he hurriedly asked, “How’s Officer Yu doing?”
Guan Yao yawned, “He’s alright, how about you here?”
Meng Changqing had slept all night, his snoring nearly causing Li Xiaotian and Fang Wang to throw him out into the snow. Right now, he was in high spirits. Hearing Guan Yao ask this, he excitedly replied, “Just now, I saw a woman go into that guy’s room.”
“Woman?” Guan Yao picked up the camera that Meng Changqing had put aside and started flipping through the pictures. “What does she look like?”
“She’s… tall, fair-skinned, pretty…”
“Stop, stop, stop, what kind of description is that?” Guan Yao frowned and interrupted Meng Changqing. “How tall, what’s her figure like, facial features, what’s she wearing? Did you feed everything you learned to the dogs?”
Meng Changqing’s face turned red, and he said in a low voice, “Master, actually, I think that woman looks… a bit familiar.”
“Familiar?” Guan Yao was surprised. “Have you seen a lot of women?”
“Not really, but…” Meng Changqing hesitated for a moment, and then answered, “I feel like she looks… a bit like Guan Ning…”
“Damn!” Before Meng Changqing could finish speaking, Guan Yao, who had finished checking the photos, cursed out loud. He dropped the camera, turned around, and was about to get out of the car to directly block the person.
“Hey, hey, Master, wait! Someone’s coming!” Meng Changqing grabbed him.
Guan Yao slammed on the brakes. He looked up and saw a tall, slender man with a bag appear in front of the flat house, and the person who opened the door was his own niece, Guan Ning.
Guan Ning was wrapped up tightly and wore a mask, looking very cautious. After opening the door, she looked around for a long time before welcoming the person inside.
“Master, this wouldn’t really be…”
“Shut up!” Guan Yao sternly interrupted Meng Changqing, he tightly gripped the car door, wishing he could jump out of the car right now and drag Guan Ning in front of him to question her thoroughly.
Meng Changqing wasn’t stupid, he immediately understood when he saw Guan Yao’s expression, so he shut up and didn’t say anything more.
“Notify the ones staking out over there, go up and apprehend the people.” Guan Yao said, suppressing his anger.
Meng Changqing hesitated a little, “Master, are we really going to apprehend them at this time?”
“If we don’t apprehend them now, are we going to wait until they run away before going up?” Guan Yao pulled out the police baton from behind his waist, pushed open the door, and was about to get out of the car.
Meng Changqing wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t a clever person either. But somehow, at this moment, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Taking advantage of the moment Guan Yao turned around, he took out his phone and quickly sent a message to Yu Chunming.
—After all, Guan Yao doesn’t usually go crazy, but when he really does go crazy, there has to be someone who can hold him back.
Thus, Yu Chunming, who had just recovered from his fever and was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, woke up with a jolt. He was stunned for a moment, unable to understand what Meng Changqing’s message meant.
“Bed 13 needs a fluid change.” Coincidentally, a nurse walked into the ward.
Yu Chunming threw his phone aside and grabbed his jacket, which still had bloodstains that hadn’t been washed out. “I’m not getting any more drips, I want to be discharged.”
At the same time, Guan Yao, who had already been blinded by anger, kicked open the door of the flat house.
Guan Ning was sitting at the table, seemingly waiting for the man to take out what she wanted from his bag, but the sudden change startled her and she jumped up, nearly knocking over the clothes rack behind the table.
“Everyone, get on the ground, don’t move!” Guan Yao shouted.
Guan Ning was surprised and blurted out, “Uncle?”
Guan Yao didn’t recognize anyone, “I told you to get on the ground!”
“No, I…”
Before Guan Ning could explain, Meng Changqing had already pressed her shoulders and forced her to the ground.
“Don’t cuff me, why are you cuffing me, Brother Changqing!” Guan Ning shouted as she struggled.
Fang Wang, who had followed in to make the arrest from the other side, was also a little incredulous. He pointed at Guan Ning and looked at Guan Yao in astonishment, “This is…”
“Don’t cuff her, take her back together.” Guan Yao said coldly, withdrawing his gaze from Guan Ning.
After all this commotion, Guan Ning’s hat, mask, and scarf had been pulled off. She sat in the car, looking aggrieved. “Uncle, what are you doing?”
“What am I doing? What do you think I’m doing?” Guan Yao finally couldn’t hold back and started to scold her. “What are you doing with that scumbag?”
“I…” Guan Ning choked and couldn’t speak.
“Do you know what kind of person he is?” Guan Yao shouted angrily. “You’re mixing with a drug dealer, are you trying to rebel?”
“Drug dealer?” Guan Ning’s expression instantly changed, she asked in horror, “Little Song is a drug dealer?”
“You don’t know?” Guan Yao frowned.
“I, I don’t know…” Guan Ning said in a daze. “How would I know he’s a drug dealer, he, he’s my…”
“He’s what?” Guan Yao questioned.
The man known as “Little Song” was Guan Ning’s secretly kept “boyfriend,” and also the drug dealer the Linchang Police Station had discovered on the surveillance footage outside the Hui Chun Billiard Hall, who had caused Qin Tian to mistakenly ingest the “problem cigarette.”
He was already twenty-nine years old, thirteen years older than Guan Ning, but he had become Guan Ning’s “boyfriend.”
Guan Yao was furious, wishing he could beat this “Little Song” on the spot. If the police station’s surveillance camera wasn’t still working, the captain of the Law Enforcement Team would have violated some rules.
Therefore, Shu Wen, the only female police officer in the station who could participate in criminal case investigations, rushed over after hearing the news, and stopped Guan Yao from interrogating “Little Song.” However, if he didn’t interrogate “Little Song,” he would have to face the trembling Guan Ning sitting outside. The more Guan Yao looked at his niece, the more angry he became, and he was about to grab something and start hitting her after only a few words.
“Uncle, it’s really not my fault, he said he was only nineteen, how would I know he was so old?” Guan Ning cried.
Guan Yao stood in front of Guan Ning with a broom that the old aunt in the kitchen used for cleaning, scolding her, “Is this a question of how old he is? How old are you, is this the time for you to be dating?”
Guan Ning stood in the hall on the first floor of the Linchang Police Station, crying and sobbing, attracting the attention of the people who came to do business.
Guan Yao took a deep breath and pointed at her, asking, “Have you ever taken drugs with that person?”
Guan Ning opened her red and swollen eyes, and cried even louder, “How would I have ever taken drugs? I really don’t know what kind of person he is!”
“You…”
“Guan Yao.” Just as Captain Guan was preparing to carry out the next step of the “interrogation,” a somewhat airy voice rang out at the door. Guan Yao paused, and looked up to see Yu Chunming walking towards him.
“What’s going on? Why is she crying like this?” He asked softly.
Guan Ning turned her head and saw Yu Chunming, and started crying even harder. She choked and called out, “Uncle Yu…”
This cry instantly shortened Guan Yao’s anger a lot. He put down the broom and walked forward, pulling Yu Chunming further into the hall. “Why did you come out?”
Yu Chunming coughed lightly and replied, “The anti-inflammatory medicine ran out yesterday, and there were only two bottles of glucose left this morning. I discussed it with the doctor and decided to just check out.”
“Check out what?” Guan Yao’s voice suddenly rose again, “You had a cut behind your ear yesterday, and you want to check out today…”
“What cut, just a minimally invasive surgery.” Yu Chunming ignored Guan Yao, and turned to ask Guan Ning, “Meng Changqing said you… got involved with the drug dealer who sold drugs to Qin Tian?”
Hearing this, Guan Yao’s face immediately darkened. He grabbed Guan Ning’s collar and was about to take her to the Law Enforcement Area.
“Hey,” Yu Chunming quickly stopped him, “What are you doing? Guan Ning is an underage girl, even if she made a big mistake, you can’t handle it like this.”
“Uncle Yu, save me!” Guan Ning immediately grabbed Yu Chunming’s arm like grabbing a life-saving straw. “I really didn’t know Little Song was a drug dealer, and I didn’t know he was twenty-nine years old. I’ve only been dating him for less than three months, I don’t know anything.”
These few trembling words finally allowed Yu Chunming to sort things out. He sighed and said to Guan Yao, “Just for this?”