NOS Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Border Marker (6)

Chapter 98: Border Marker (6)

It was cold on the ridges, but relatively warm in the taxi. Jiang Min turned the heater to the maximum, then looked up at Yu Chunming, “Feeling better?”

This was a new car that Kong Dahui had bought last year, and the heating system was working diligently. In less than five minutes, a thick layer of mist formed on the windows.

Yu Chunming didn’t speak. He hugged his arms, quietly watching Jiang Min rummage through the glove compartment.

“I remember there was a bottle of stomach medicine in here, Kong put it in, how come I can’t find it now?” Jiang Min seemed a little anxious.

Just outside, whether from the cold or from anger, Yu Chunming suddenly had a stomach ache so bad he couldn’t stand up straight. He was about to squat on the ground when Jiang Min grabbed him and shoved him into the car.

A few minutes later, the car was already very warm, but Yu Chunming still felt like a knife was twisting in his stomach. He was pale with pain, and it took him a long time to catch his breath.

“Found it.” Jiang Min finally said.

She unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and brought the medicine to Yu Chunming’s mouth.

Yu Chunming sat still, “What’s your relationship with Kong Dahui?”

Jiang Min paused for a moment, then silently withdrew the water and medicine. She answered, “We’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Yu Chunming frowned.

Jiang Min didn’t seem to think anything was wrong. She said frankly, “I met Kong last year at the billiard hall. At that time, Qin Tian was fighting and causing trouble over there, and the boss called me to mediate. Qin Tian grabbed my hair and slammed me against the wall. Kong stood up and twisted that kid to the police station.”

After speaking, she smiled wryly, “At the beginning of this year, Qin Tian ran to Songlan by himself. I spent the Spring Festival with Kong, and then we got together.”

Yu Chunming wasn’t curious about Jiang Min’s romantic history, but he still waited for Jiang Min to finish speaking before asking, “What about Qian Guowei?”

Jiang Min still had the same calm look on her face. She answered, “Qian Guowei sent me a text message four weeks ago. In the text message, he asked me to send him a package of clothes, 50,000 yuan, a mobile phone, and a clean SIM card.”

“What the hell?” Yu Chunming’s frown deepened. He questioned, “Why didn’t you say anything when Shu Wen and I went to see you last time?”

“Who wants to admit they made a mistake in front of the police?” Jiang Min didn’t seem to feel a shred of guilt. She continued, “According to Qian Guowei’s request, I hid the mobile phone, SIM card, and clothes at the intersection of the national highway outside Beilin Village. I divided the 50,000 yuan into two hundred, nine thousand, and forty thousand eight hundred. I deposited the two hundred at a restaurant in a town near Baihua’s place. The nine thousand and the mobile phone and clothes were buried at the same location, and the remaining forty thousand was placed under an abandoned bridge pier north of the Ning Nie Li Qi River.”

Yu Chunming listened and didn’t speak for a long time.

Kong Dahui, who had been driven back into the house by Jiang Min, came out again. He stood in front of the courtyard door and looked around for a long time, seemingly worried that Yu Chunming would do something out of line.

Jiang Min was a little helpless. She opened the door and got out of the car, waved at Kong Dahui, and waited another three minutes before the middle-aged man, who looked indeed very honest and reliable, turned around and went back into the house.

“You should take the medicine.” Jiang Min closed the car door and said, looking at Yu Chunming’s face, which had become even paler.

“Did you delete that text message?” Yu Chunming didn’t respond, and directly started searching Jiang Min’s phone.

Jiang Min didn’t move, “I deleted it.”

“Deleted it?” Yu Chunming didn’t find the text message and felt a little irritated. He asked, “Did you meet Qian Guowei?”

But Jiang Min was also a very stubborn person. She said firmly, “I didn’t. If you want to arrest me and throw me in jail because of this, then go ahead and do it. I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?” Yu Chunming was amused by her attitude. “Tell me, why didn’t you call the police the first time you received such a text message?”

“I look down on the police, they’re just a bunch of drunks and good-for-nothings.” Jiang Min held out her hands, “Cuff me, then.”

Yu Chunming took a deep breath, and patiently said, “It’s not like I can just arrest you and throw you in jail just because I say so. The police need evidence to solve a case. Even if you throw a tantrum in front of me, it won’t solve anything.”

But Jiang Min didn’t listen. She finally made Yu Chunming understand where his stubborn temper came from.

The woman leaned back in her seat, sitting as steadily as Mount Tai: “I’ve already deleted it. You can’t see the text message. What else do you want to ask? Just arrest me and take me to the police station to talk.”

Yu Chunming angrily said, “You think I wouldn’t dare to arrest you and take you to the police station? Jiang Min, you’re now suspected of harboring and shielding a criminal, which carries a sentence of up to three years for the minor offense, and ten years or more for the serious offense! What, are you planning to go in and keep your old son company?”

Jiang Min remained unmoved, as if she really intended to go in and keep Qin Tian company.

Yu Chunming was so angry that his breathing became painful. He pointed at Jiang Min, and said incoherently, “If you cooperate with me now, I can still try to get you a lenient sentence. But if we find out about it ourselves in the end, even the King of Heaven can’t save you!”

“I don’t need the King of Heaven to save me either.” Jiang Min was quite composed.

“Good, good!” Yu Chunming immediately pushed the door open and got out of the car. He stood outside the car and said, “Didn’t you delete the text message? I’ll go back to the station right now, find the carrier, and have them restore all your account information. I want to see what you’re hiding!”

After speaking, he turned around and braved the cold wind, plunged into the cornfield, and prepared to walk back to the car he had driven.

But before he had taken a few steps, Yu Chunming couldn’t hold on any longer. The little breakfast he had eaten was now all piled up in his throat, and the spasms in his stomach came one after another. Before he even reached the car, he threw up in the stubble field until the world spun.

Jiang Min didn’t know when she had walked up behind him, and had even thoughtfully brought the bottle of mineral water. She seemed very kindly and said, “It’s cold and drafty outside. Why don’t you go inside and sit for a while? I’ll have Kong fill up a hot water bottle for you to warm up with.”

Yu Chunming waved her hand away, bent over, and swallowed hard several times before barely suppressing the urge to vomit. He had no choice but to take the mineral water and rinse his mouth.

“Where’s that bridge pier?” After his stomach felt a little better, Yu Chunming stood up straight and asked.

Jiang Min hesitated for a moment, then answered, “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?” There was no way Yu Chunming could believe such a clumsy lie. He said with a cold face, “Since you don’t remember, then get in the car with me, and we’ll go north and look for it, one bridge pier after another.”

“No…”

“Get in the car.” Yu Chunming didn’t give her any room to bargain, grabbed the woman’s arm, and directly stuffed her into Guan Yao’s red “SUV.”

Jiang Min struggled, “Qian Guowei must have already taken that 40,000 yuan and run away. You won’t find anything now!”

“We won’t know if we can find it until we go.” Yu Chunming looked at Jiang Min’s face, which was slightly red in the cold wind, “Unless, you hid something else in that place.”

Jiang Min’s expression changed slightly when she heard this, and then she clung tightly to the car door, refusing to give in.

Yu Chunming continued, “I can tell you that Qian Guowei plans to leave the country on December 2nd. Today is November 26th, and there’s still a week until December 2nd. It’s not easy to smuggle large amounts of money across the border in this week. So, if Qian Guowei didn’t take the money in person, it must still be in the location you mentioned. Jiang Min, tell me the truth, have you ever met Qian Guowei in person?”

“No.” Jiang Min remained stubborn.

Yu Chunming continued, “Jin Gou Mountain No. 1 Patrol Station is the location Qian Guowei agreed upon with the smugglers. Qian Guowei may not easily appear there, but the bridge pier under the Ning Nie Li Qi River is not necessarily the same, after all, people can choose not to leave the country, but they can’t live without money. Jiang Min, I’ve been a criminal police officer for ten years, do you think you can deceive me?”

There was nothing wrong with those words. Jiang Min knew that her lies couldn’t deceive Yu Chunming at all, but she still stubbornly said, “I won’t take you there.”

“It’s okay, I can find it myself.” Yu Chunming slammed the car door shut without any mercy. “I know several cross-river bridges on the Ning Nie Li Qi River near the border. We’ll search them one by one, and we’ll always find it.”

After speaking, he glanced at the time, “Maybe we can be back before dark today.”

Jiang Min repeated mechanically, “Maybe we can be back before dark today.”

At noon, the weather in the depths of the Jin A Lin Mountain changed drastically. After crossing a hill, it suddenly started snowing heavily. Guan Yao and the others’ car was stuck halfway.

“Let’s wait until the snow gets lighter before we go. It’s not worth it if we have another accident.” Wang Zhen instructed.

Guan Yao led the small-time smugglers out of the car to relieve themselves. He stood on the side of the road and looked around, saying, “I think this snow might fall all night. We might as well brave the snow and get there sooner.”

Before he could finish speaking, Guan Yao’s phone, which he had been carrying in his pocket, suddenly rang. The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

Wang Zhen immediately became alert, “Turn on the speakerphone.”

Guan Yao’s heart was in his throat. He slowly let out a breath, pressed the answer button, and then turned on the speakerphone and recorder.

Everyone present held their breath and stared intently at Guan Yao’s phone.

But at this moment, all that could be heard was the howling wind. No one spoke on the other end of the phone either, as if they were all waiting for the other party to speak first.

Guan Yao pursed his lips and raised his voice to ask, “Who is this?”

It was quiet on the other end.

Guan Yao steeled himself and said, “I’m hanging up if you don’t talk!”

“Don’t hang up!” The next moment, a hoarse shout came from the other end of the phone. Someone cried out, “He’s gone, he left this morning! I don’t know where this is, you guys have to save me…”

“Who’s gone?” Guan Yao’s heart was in his throat. He asked loudly, “Changqing, is that you? Changqing!”

Beep—

The call was cut off halfway through the sentence. Guan Yao’s mind tightened, and he brought the phone closer to his face only to find that the call had been interrupted due to the unstable signal in the mountains.

“What’s going on?” Wang Zhen shouted.

“No signal.” Guan Yao started walking towards the car. “Where’s the satellite phone?”

In order to make it easier to contact each other after entering the mountains, they had brought the only satellite phone and radio equipment in the whole bureau when they left. At this time, these things, which they thought would be idle, were finally going to come in handy.

“Han Chen, send a telegram to the bureau and have them immediately check the location of this number. Guan Yao, use the satellite phone to call back and see if they’ll answer.” Wang Zhen ordered.

Guan Yao immediately did as he was told. He gave the number to Han Chen and then quickly turned on the satellite phone.

Beep, beep beep—

Soon, the other end rang, and they could wait for an answer.

But Guan Yao waited for a full minute and didn’t hear the familiar and spine-tingling voice from before. Everyone deflated and watched him hang up the phone.

“No one’s answering.” Wang Zhen’s heart sank.

“No one’s answering.” Guan Yao clenched his fists.

“Perhaps because of the previous phone call, the… the little Meng was discovered.” The old criminal police officer who was traveling with them said with some difficulty.

Guan Yao didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t not believe this guess. He sniffed, raised his head, “Try again?”

“Try again.” Wang Zhen responded.

But this time, no one answered either.

After putting down the satellite phone, Han Chen also had a reply. He squeezed next to Guan Yao and said to Wang Zhen, “Master, colleagues at the bureau said that the phone also came from the Huangsha Ridge area. The signal on the other end has disappeared, and they are further pinpointing the location.”

“Huangsha Ridge…” Wang Zhen gritted his teeth. “Huangsha Ridge is so big, how are we going to find him?”

Guan Yao didn’t speak, Han Chen didn’t speak either, and the others who were traveling with them didn’t know how to answer.

They were now in a dead end. The suspect’s methods were not sophisticated, but in this backward and desolate primitive forest, these methods were enough to make the police, who had countless high-tech equipment, spin in circles.

Guan Yao thought countless times, was the only way to find Meng Changqing to catch the suspect? At that time, would Meng Changqing still be a lively and energetic child?

No one could guarantee it.

And now, even the always optimistic Wang Zhen could only comfort himself, “It’s also a good thing, at least we’ve confirmed that Little Meng is still alive, right?”

No one answered, because no one dared to say that Meng Changqing could stay alive under these circumstances.

“Let’s go to the Jin Gou Temple, let’s go now. I suspect the suspect is still wandering around there.” Guan Yao suggested.

That was the only way, this was the only path they could take.

The Jinbei van restarted and headed towards the distant, overlapping mountains. The snow in the mountains was dazzlingly white, the green on the pine branches disappeared in a flash, the silence under the sky was deathly, and in the vast A Lin, it seemed that only this one car was driving alone.

Yu Chunming was gripping the steering wheel, staring intently at the road ahead.

“You should take the medicine.” Jiang Min said kindly.

Yu Chunming sat still.

“Is your injury healed? Is it convenient for you to drive?” Jiang Min asked again, her eyes falling on Yu Chunming’s right arm, “Didn’t you… didn’t you sprain it before?”

“It’s already healed.” Yu Chunming replied.

Jiang Min was still watching him.

“Sit still, don’t keep looking at me.” Yu Chunming said unhappily.

Hearing this, Jiang Min finally withdrew her measuring gaze.

“You don’t like me being with Kong.” After a long while, Jiang Min suddenly said.

Yu Chunming only felt it was incomprehensible, “What does you being with Kong Dahui have to do with me?”

Jiang Min pursed her lips. She wanted to say that you didn’t like me being with Wu Laosan back then, but the words came to her lips, and Jiang Min swallowed them back.

Yu Chunming did speak, he said, “Kong Dahui is just a taxi driver?”

“Yes.” Jiang Min replied.

“His home is in Kongjiatun?” Yu Chunming asked again.

“Kongjiatun, Group 2, Number 18.” Jiang Min said Kong Dahui’s home address very precisely.

Yu Chunming still looked unkind, “How many people are there in his family?”

“A total of five people, his parents are both alive, and he has two younger sisters.” Jiang Min replied, “The older sister and I were born in the same year, and the younger sister is ten years younger than me. Kong has an ex-wife, and the child born to his ex-wife is a teacher in the south. That woman left with him seven or eight years ago.”

Yu Chunming didn’t speak anymore.

Jiang Min looked at him, “Police officer, what else do you want to ask?”

Yu Chunming twitched the corner of his mouth, his eyes drifted to the birch trees beside the road.

Seeing this, Jiang Min said very seriously, “Kong Dahui is a good man, I might spend the rest of my life with him, if you want, I can actually…”

“Don’t talk to me again until we get there.” Yu Chunming interrupted Jiang Min with a cold tone.

So, Jiang Min closed her mouth knowingly. She sighed softly, seeming a little disappointed.

[The author has something to say]

A warning for the next chapter

PS: “Painting the Moon” has updated an extra.