The Book of Death by Heart Poison

There are books in the cafe, as long as you order, you can read for free.

The guest put down the tray, held the cup of mocha in both hands to warm his hands, fixed his eyes on the book of the guest opposite, and asked softly, "What is this book about?"

"You're here." The gray-clothed guest was a small man, covering his face with a book and showing the cover, "Eat healthy."

The guest in black smiled, "It's useless to read, none of the food mentioned in this book is your favorite, if you follow it, you won't be able to last for three days."

"Oh, that's not necessarily true." The guest in gray said, "I think I used to eat too unhealthily, and it's time to change."

The guest in black said: "Change? Then there will be no oil and water."

The guest in gray pursed his lips and said regretfully: "It's really impossible to run out of oil and water, I'm afraid there will be no oil and water."

The guest in black took a sip of his coffee, "So, it's useless for you to follow this kind of book. Isn't it hard enough? You can eat whatever you want now."

"You're right." The guest in gray put the book on the table decisively, and began to eat the cherry cake he ordered.

The music in the cafe and the voices of people chatting perfectly covered the content of the chat between the two of them. After a while, the gray-clothed guest put down his fork, and his voice was much lower than before, "I have a new goal."

The black-clothed guest frowned, "I came today to tell you that our plan will be postponed for a while."

The guest in gray was surprised, "Why slow down?"

"Now it's not just the city bureau that's investigating the case, but also people from above. I've inquired about it. It's called the special operations team." The guest in black said, "It is said that the members inside are all elites drawn from various places."

The guest in gray laughed, "That's just right. Why, are you scared?"

"The limelight that should be avoided should be avoided, at least to see what they are capable of." The guest in black said again: "You have to remember, we are not just playing around, and there are bigger plans in the future."

"I know, I know." The gray-clothed guest got a little impatient, "But I want to show them off."

The black-clothed guest raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong with you?"

The guest in gray leaned forward, with a hint of madness in his eyes, "Zhao Ying."

"Zhao Ying?" The guest in black obviously disagreed, "She is not within our scope of punishment."

"Why isn't she here?" The guest in gray licked his lower lip, his expression full of resentment and greed, "She is the same person as us, she should do what we do, but look at her, she has become those people Her accomplice! She still wants to arrest us. Now I think of her name and her face, and I feel uncomfortable here."

As he spoke, the guest in gray poked his chest, "She is protecting those who should be punished, and she is their accomplice!"

At this time, the sound of the music fell back, and the last sentence of the guest in gray was very abrupt.The waiter glanced over, and the black-clothed guest immediately looked at the gray-clothed guest in warning.

The guest in gray suppressed his voice again, "It's okay, they can't hear clearly."

"Now is not the time to act." The black-clothed guest didn't seem to want to talk about Zhao Ying anymore, "And whether Zhao Ying is our next target, it's not up to you alone to decide."

The gray-clothed guest seemed to be unable to bear that gaze, and turned his eyes away in displeasure.

"The situation is special, please hide it honestly for the time being." The black-clothed guest softened his tone, and even stretched out his hand to touch the gray-clothed guest's cheek, "Be obedient."

The guest in gray bit his lip and said after a while, "I see."

Huang Xia's husband, Bai Zhongguo, was on a business trip some time ago and recently returned to Anjiang City.When Huang Xia was killed, the police station had already questioned him. Later, Huang Xia's case and Wang Jie's case were merged, and the serious crime team investigated him again.

He Ruo asked: "Should I tell him to come again?"

Liu Zhiqin shook his head, "No, I just happened to go to his house to have a look."

Bai Zhongguo is regarded as an upper-middle class in the company, he is serious and rigid, and rarely smiles.Even towards his daughter Bai Jiao, his attitude is very cold.

Long before Huang Xia was killed, Bai Zhongguo and Huang Xia had separated.Bai Zhongguo now lives alone in a mid-to-high-end residential area in the east of the city, with four bedrooms and two living rooms, and a large balcony.

Those who live in this type of apartment are generally multi-person families, and they cannot live without fewer people.

Huang Xia also lived here before, and moved to another house after separation. It is also a mid-to-high-end community, and the area is smaller, but the location is better than here, and the house is also newer.

As soon as Liu Zhiqin entered the room, he could smell the smell of ink. There was a large mahogany table in the living room, on which were placed the four treasures of the study. There were more than 20 brushes alone, neatly hung on the pen holder.The furniture is old-fashioned, and there are two imitation blue and white porcelain vases in the corner, and there are words on the wall, imitating the thin gold body.

Calligraphy seems to be Bai Zhongguo's hobby.

Bai Zhongguo made a pot of tea, he was neither surprised nor enthusiastic about the arrival of the police, he seemed rather disgusted that the police disturbed him with Huang Xia's matter, but this kind of disturbance was expected.

"Huang Xia and I were introduced to each other back then, but when Jiaojiao was in high school, we had no relationship. When Jiaojiao was admitted to university, we lived separately and went our separate ways." Bai Zhongguo poured tea for Liu Zhiqin, "I don't know how she offended someone. Although I am her husband in name, I am not much different from a stranger."

Liu Zhiqin said: "Huang Xia entrusted her connections to help Bai Jiao win the yard with the best location on Xieyang Road. Do you know about this?"

Bai Zhongguo nodded, "She asked me if there were any connections. I told her that there are many people on Xieyang Road. For a little girl like Jiaojiao, just buy a medium-sized yard. Business needs to be done step by step. The best picture is to grab meat from other people's mouths. But she didn't listen, saying that I don't want to help my daughter."

"She has this kind of temper. If you reason with her, she won't listen and will bite you back." Bai Zhongguo sighed. It’s a yard with a poor view, but it’s suitable for a young girl like her who starts a business.”

Liu Zhiqin said, "Did you tell Bai Jiao?"

"Tell me, but she said that her mother has already fixed it for her. It is the best yard on Xieyang Road." Bai Zhongguo regretted: "My daughter lives with her mother, and she doesn't get close to me very much."

Liu Zhiqin said: "A more personal question, what is the reason why you can't live?"

"You can't get used to each other." Bai Zhongguo smiled wryly, "You can understand each other when you're young, but you can't when you're old. From the way you behave in the world, to the firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea at home, you can talk about everything."

"Specifically?" Liu Zhiqin said, "What about her makes you feel that you can't go on?"

Bai Zhongguo looked at the writing on the wall, thought for a long time, and then even closed his eyes.

Liu Zhiqin waited patiently.

Bai Zhongguo has a technical background, and people who are dead with technology are usually a little paranoid.But Bai Zhongguo's old hobby is calligraphy, and there are two poems by Tao Yuanming hanging on the wall.

"The first time I had a conflict with her was a new policy for managing workers in the factory." Bai Zhongguo said slowly, "First, extend the working hours, find some workers who cannot balance work and family because of this, and those who make frequent mistakes. Workers, those who complained heavily, and then began to persuade them to leave. These workers are generally not young, and those with families are forced to be cleared out."

Liu Zhiqin frowned lightly. The kind of thing Bai Zhongguo said is very common in society. It is in the gray area of ​​laws and regulations, and there are many shackles in solving it.

But what does this have to do with Huang Xia?

Bai Zhongguo continued: "The task is under the leadership of the superiors. Huang Xia was in the personnel department at the time, and was in charge of the specific removal. This matter, she did not behave properly."

Liu Zhiqin understands that Bai Zhongguo has always stood by the workers and believes that the new policy is unreasonable, and Huang Xia, the specific implementer of the new policy, is an accomplice.But since it was the intention of the higher-ups, Huang Xia seemed to have no other choice but to carry it out.

"She can fully express her dissatisfaction. She has discussed with me many times. She thinks the new policy is unreasonable. At that time, the higher-ups just asked their personnel department to study a feasible method. She is one of the persons in charge. Her words are It has weight." Bai Zhongguo said: "But she is unwilling to speak out for those workers, she will only complain to me about being unreasonable and inhumane, but at the discussion meeting, she was the first to stand up and support the leaders unconditionally. This kind of flattery and flattery, you should have seen it before, right?"

Liu Zhiqin nodded.

Nothing like this has happened in his own workplace, but such flattery is not uncommon in the cases he has been involved with.

"She clearly knows that the decision made by the higher authorities is wrong, but she still rushes to the forefront for this wrong decision." Bai Zhongguo shook his head, "I feel ashamed for her, even if she expresses her dissatisfaction? Try to fight for it. She will give I said that the scope of application of the new policy is only those workers, regardless of my affairs with her, but if she speaks for the workers, then the higher authorities will have opinions on her and me. I told her, you are a typical You don’t know the pain until the knife is stuck in your body!”

Liu Zhiqin said, "Indifference."

"Yeah." Bai Zhongguo continued: "A few engineers and I objected, but it was useless. This matter has to be taken care of by the personnel department. She came back to quarrel with me. Afterwards, we quarreled over and over again, and life became difficult."

Liu Zhiqin had a deeper understanding of Huang Xia after listening to Bai Zhongguo talking about a lot of trivial things about getting along with Huang Xia.

Both Huang Xia and Bai Zhongguo were born in good families, and their lives can be regarded as smooth sailing. They fell in love in the early years because of their admiration for each other.But Huang Xia's being an "accomplice" to the leadership touched Bai Zhongguo's bottom line. In his eyes, Huang Xia was doing evil.

Hua Chong went to Linxian District again, and Zhao Ying was leading the team to investigate on Xieyang Road.Those who wanted to compete with Bai Jiao for yards later bought other yards on Xieyang Road or on the mountain. Some of the businesses did well, while others did poorly.

However, because the overall planning of Linxian District is good, and relying on Anjiang City as a huge source of passenger flow, even the worst-performing ones can still make a lot of money.

"When Huang Xia was killed, it happened to be the peak season, and all the shops were extremely busy. We adjusted all the monitoring, and we can basically confirm that the people on the list have no time to commit crimes." Zhao Ying said: "And I checked them one by one. I feel that their emotions are relatively normal.”

Hua Chong said: "So it is unlikely that Huang Xia will be retaliated by her opponent."

Zhao Ying frowned, "Flower Team, I'm not at ease."

"Huh?" Hua Chong asked, "What's the reason for not being practical?"

"I originally thought that according to the list provided by the project team, there is a high probability that suspicious people will be found, but these people I suspect are actually living an active life. They did not give up on themselves because they lost in unfair competition , Make your own store impressive." Zhao Ying sighed, "But this is the most important clue we have so far. If the murderer is not among them, it means that the road is wrong again."

Hua Chong could see that Zhao Ying was under a lot of pressure.Even though the special operations team has come to support, this rare female head of the serious case team is still in a state of extreme tension.

"The investigation process will not always be on the right path." Hua Chong smiled, "If you eliminate the wrong path, won't you be closer to the right path?"

Zhao Ying lowered her head and forced a smile after a long while, "I'm sorry, Team Flower, I made you laugh. I'm just like this, I want to solve the case quickly, and I'm afraid of long nights and dreams. Maybe, maybe it has something to do with the environment I grew up in. .”

Hua Chong was suddenly interested in Zhao Ying's growth environment, but it was obviously not the time to ask about it.

"I'll continue to do the investigation." Zhao Ying took a deep breath and cheered up, "We are also verifying the people who appeared at Jiangheng Inn that night."

On the way back to the Municipal Bureau, Hua Chong and He Ruo chatted about Zhao Ying.

Obviously, He Ruo admired Zhao Ying very much, "Team Zhao is really good. She came from Jiangxin Village, and it's too difficult to fight until now."

Hua Chong had never heard of Jiangxin Village, so when he entered his name on his phone, the content that popped up made him frown suddenly.

The associated words corresponding to Jiangxin Village on the Internet are ghost village, dead man's village, extinct households, miserable, and when you slide down, almost all of them are washed-out houses and spooky and eerie vegetation.

Some people also updated Jiangxin Village Quest on their social accounts. These photos are newer, but they are still desolate.

"Jiangxin Village is gone. Natural disasters and man-made disasters are too difficult." He Ruo said: "Our local people are afraid of mentioning Jiangxin Village. When I was young, my mother always used Jiangxin Village to scare me. , just throw me over there."

Hua Chong listened to what He Ruo said, while browsing the page.

Jiangxin Village is located in the westernmost part of Anjiang City, in the mountains. It is backward and poor. Most of the young and middle-aged people in the village have gone out to work, and most of the people who stay in the village are the elderly and children.

I don't know why, but most of the children born in Jiangxin Village are girls, and very few boys, so some people said that Jiangxin Village was the "Valley of Daughters".Some experts have conducted research and said that the environment, air, and water resources there are more likely to give birth to girls.But the locals didn't believe it, thinking that witchcraft had come to the village.

The people outside are unwilling to go in, and the young men inside want to run out as soon as they grow up. Jiangxin Village is getting poorer every year, and it is gradually forgotten by Anjiang City.

When people mention it, they usually just say-oh, that "Valley of Daughters".

More than 20 years ago, Jiangxin Village was hit by a disaster.In summer, heavy rains continued, all crops were flooded, and houses collapsed.Jiangxin Village asked for help from the outside world, and the rescue team struggled to penetrate into it.

Soon, heavy rains caused flash floods and mudslides, and almost the entire village was washed away. Most of the villagers and rescue team died, and only 9 villagers were rescued.

The rescued villagers were arranged to other villages and towns, got new household registrations, and started a new life.But their home has been forever buried in Jiangxin Village. For more than 20 years, when mentioning Jiangxin Village, ghost villages are the first thing people think of.

"Team Zhao relied on funding to read the book. She has nothing to do with it, so she just fights on her own." He Ruo said: "Her status as a 'survivor of Jiangxin Village' is actually very inspirational and useful. A few years ago A leader in the bureau asked her if she wanted to use this identity to make a wave of positive energy publicity, but she refused. She said she didn't want to consume Jiangxin Village, she was one of the lucky ones, but those fellow villagers who died were unfortunate."

When approaching the city bureau, Hua Chong put away his phone and turned to look out the window.

"Are you back?" Liu Zhiqin met Hua Chong downstairs in the Serious Crime Unit, and they walked towards the cafeteria together, followed by a fat orange cat, followed by two raccoon cats.

There is a university near the city bureau. Although cats are not allowed in the dormitory, some students still keep them secretly.In the graduation season, these cats that cannot be taken away will face the fate of being discarded.

The school organized a small animal rescue team, but not every cat could find its next home. Some strayed to the Municipal Bureau and refused to leave when they had a bite to eat.

The Municipal Bureau is big and disciplined, but they seem to know that they shouldn't run around here, so they occupy a few sheltered corners and regard the Municipal Bureau as their home.

Although they are all stray cats, there are still some differences between them and the stray cats outside. For example, they are not afraid of police dogs, and they have their own formation when walking.

When the Special Operations Team first arrived, the stray cats were very territorial, and they felt that they were strangers, and they were all eyeing them. Now they like to post them when they see them.

That orange cat especially likes to stick Liu Zhiqin.

Hua Chong knelt down and scratched the orange cat's chin.The orange cat meowed, and jumped behind Liu Zhiqin again.

"It doesn't like me." Hua Chong said with a smile.

Liu Zhiqin said: "Although our flower team is very good, not everyone has to like him, right?"

The orange cat stretched its head to watch quietly.

Hua Chong nodded, and played on the spot, "Well, as long as Liu Maomao likes it."

For a moment, Liu Zhiqin thought he had misheard, "Liu what?"

"Don't you really have a deaf ear? You are young." Hua Chong said, "Do you want me to accompany you to see the ear department after this trip?"

Liu Zhiqin said: "Then say it again."

Hua Chong just said it casually just now, but if he said it again, it wouldn't work, it's a bit ridiculous.

And he didn't mean to call Liu Maomao on purpose, it was too boring, Liu Zhiqin didn't think he hated it.

"Don't say it, don't say it. Blame your deafness."

"..."

The orange cat followed all the way to the cafeteria, and waited in line for food with its companions who were guarding there.

The current investigations into the three cases have not been smooth, but they are not without clues.Hua Chong has experienced this situation countless times, and feels that everything is still under control.

Of course, this mastery has to exclude Gu Yunzui who suddenly appeared not long ago.

After dinner, the two walked around the City Bureau. Liu Zhiqin listened to the investigation situation in Linxian District and said, "I have a new idea here."

Hua Chong paused, "Huh?"

"Chopsticks." Liu Zhiqin said: "Chopsticks are related to food. For us, we can live if we have food, and we will die if we don't have food. Without food, it is equivalent to losing our way of life."

The last time Gu Yunzui also mentioned chopsticks, Hua Chong said: "The intention of chopsticks is the way of life?"

Liu Zhiqin nodded, and told Hua Chong what he had learned from Bai Zhongguo during the day, "In a sense, Huang Xia's behavior cut off the livelihood of those workers."

Hua Chong thought for a while, "This is what Bai Zhongguo blamed on her. She knows it's wrong, and she has the ability to fight for those workers. Even if those workers will still be fired in the end, maybe the compensation measures will be more reasonable. "

"Bai Zhongguo emphasized it several times today—you don't know the pain unless the knife is stuck in your body." Liu Zhiqin said: "Combined with the intention of chopsticks, I suspect that the murderer hates Huang Xia's behavior."

Hua Chong said, "Just hate the act?"

Liu Zhiqin said: "I thought about whether the murderer was among the dismissed workers, but in this way, the other two cases still cannot be explained. So I guess, the murderer may hate similar behaviors, he has been subjected to such harm."

There was a constant flow of people outside the City Bureau, and people were in a hurry.

Night has already fallen, and the pink lights on the street are lit up, giving off the old and welcoming the new.

Hua Chong looked at those who passed him and Liu Zhiqin, some of them were expressionless, some had obvious joy in their brows and eyes, and some were full of sadness.

People's emotions are not the same.

"It makes sense." After a while, Hua Chong said, "Then follow this line of thinking to check on Kuang Ming and Wang Jie to see if they can find something in common."

At this time, Liu Zhiqin suddenly looked across the street.

Hua Chong also followed his gaze.

There is a shopping mall across the street, and the shopping mall is surrounded by a wide square. Vendors who have obtained a stall permit orderly attract customers. Young people carry snacks and linger like going to the market.

Hua Chong was a little surprised. Looking at Liu Zhiqin's appearance, it seemed that he also wanted to go shopping?

Now Liu Zhiqin actually still has this leisurely mood.

"Let's go." Liu Zhiqin said, "Go and have a look."

After crossing the road, Hua Chong realized that he was wrong. It was not the stall that attracted Liu Zhiqin, but the street artist next to the stall.

There are more than 20 of them, with guitars, drums, keyboards and other instruments, I will appear on stage after you sing.

There were extra musical instruments on the ground, Liu Zhiqin chatted with a long-haired guy, who generously lent him the acoustic guitar.

Liu Zhiqin Chaohua Chong waved.

Hua Chong laughed, "Why?"

"Sing a song for you." Liu Zhiqin gently plucked the strings of the guitar with a melodious sound.

Hua Chong opened his eyes wide, "Give it to me? Sing?"

Before joining the special operations team, Liu Zhiqin learned guitar for a period of time, and occasionally played it at home. At the basic level, Hua Chong could not hear good or bad.

He didn't want to understand why Liu Zhiqin wanted to play the piano at this time.

On this main road, there are still a circle of art workers around.Does this person want to engage in performance art again?

"Your birthday is over this year, and there are too many cases, so you can't stop specifically for your birthday." Liu Zhiqin continued to pluck the strings, "Then sing a song first and make up for it when you go back."