heart poison

A strong wind blew in the middle of the night, and most of the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers in the yards of the houses fell.In the early morning, the tourists who had been cleared of their suspicions had already left, and the "Shanweitang" was rarely deserted.The formerly busy front hall was empty, not even the receptionist who was supposed to be on duty was there, and there was no one in the backyard.Qian Chuangjiang turned around, and there was a warm smile on the corner of his lips.

He raised his eyes to look at Qian Fengjiang's room, the doors and windows were closed, and he didn't know if there was anyone inside.Looking at his father Qian Yong's room, the doors and windows are also closed, but there must be no one inside - Qian Yong has been in the hospital for so long, maybe in this late autumn, he will swallow his last breath.He imagined his father's death indifferently, without a trace of emotion in his eyes, his eyes were as cold as if they had been poured with ice water.After a while, he lowered his head and stood there quietly for a while, then rolled up his sleeves, took a broom, and went to the backyard under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree to calmly clean up the fallen sweet-scented osmanthus.

Qian Fengjiang likes these sweet-scented osmanthus flowers that emit a strong fragrance in autumn, and he likes everything related to "romantic", but he doesn't feel it. He just thinks that the golden yellow on the ground looks very annoying, like fallen leaves that are about to die.

If it is dead, shouldn't it be cleaned up and thrown away?What are you still doing here?

Fallen leaves are like this, sweet-scented osmanthus is like this.

People, too.

The backyard of "Shanweitang" is very large, with a rockery and a pond.A few years ago, Qian Fengjiang was arty and asked people to plant many osmanthus trees. Now a large number of osmanthus trees are scattered on the ground, and cleaning is not a small project.But Qian Chuangjiang was not annoyed, he swept it bit by bit, and even hummed an out-of-tune song because he was in such a good mood.

The singing was intermittent, high and low, as if it was conveying the joy of the person who sang it.

Aunt Li, who has worked as a helper in "Shanweitang" for many years, followed the voice to find her, and was about to call out, "Miss, someone from the police station" when she shivered inexplicably.

She looked suspiciously at Qian Chuangjiang, who was sweeping the floor, and belatedly realized that the song hummed by the other party was a bit pervasive.

But why she infiltrated people, she couldn't say.

She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, listened carefully, and gradually recognized the melody, and goose bumps suddenly appeared on her arms.

What Qian Chuangjiang was humming right now was actually the dirge played in the mourning hall after someone died in his family!

—— "Dum, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!"

The mourning music itself is thick and heavy, entrusting the mourning of relatives, but Qian Chuangjiang just smiled and hummed it in an extremely relaxed and happy tone.

That smile, that tone, that weird "thump" sound is simply creepy.

Aunt Li was numb all over, felt a sudden chill, her throat seemed to be choked, and after a moment of numbness, she hurriedly ran away.

Hearing the movement behind him, Qian Chuangjiang stopped humming and cleaning the sweet-scented osmanthus, and looked in the direction of the front hall.After a while, the weird smile on the corners of his lips gradually faded away.

??

The police station was full of people coming and going, and the corridor was full of curses and shouts, which was quite noisy.However, the sound insulation effect of the police room is good. As long as the door is closed, the sound outside becomes a slight muffled sound that can be ignored.

It was not the first time Hua Chong had dealt with Qian Fengjiang, but it was the first time he saw him so restless.

Qian Fengjiang has always attached great importance to his appearance, and he always looks presentable when he goes out. Whether facing a man or a woman, he does his best to show the most perfect side.But today, he couldn't even maintain basic cleanliness—his hair wasn't neatly combed, his beard wasn't shaved, and his clothes were still the same as yesterday, with a few stains on them.

It looked like he ran away from home in a hurry.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Hua Chong threw a piece of bread and a box of milk on the table in front of him, dragged away the opposite armchair and sat down.

He shook his head vigorously, without touching the food, and asked, "Can I smoke here?"

Hua Chong nodded: "You can do whatever you want."

It wasn't until he took a deep breath that Qian Fengjiang's mood stabilized a bit, his pimple lips moved, "My brother... Qian Chuangjiang must have done something! He has a problem!"

"Well, tell me, I'll listen." Hua Chong was not excited, got up, and pushed open the window to let the smoke disperse.

"He, he is very wrong!" Qian Fengjiang finished smoking a cigarette, and immediately lit another one, "Ever since three people were burned to death on Xulu Mountain the night before yesterday, I found that his reaction was very wrong, like, like crazy Same."

"How crazy?" Hua Chong was calm on the surface, but not on the inside.It's just that Qian Fengjiang was so nervous that he stuttered, if he showed his restlessness again, Qian Fengjiang might be speechless.

"He seems to be very happy, laughing all the time, that laugh scares people to death, laughing makes me hairy. He, he told me to die, let's die together." Qian Fengjiang said shaking his legs, "I admit it , I have never been very close to him. Especially as adults, we each have our own social circles. I don't know what he is doing, and he doesn't know my life. But we grew up together, whether he loves to laugh at me or not I know it! He has a dull face all year round, and once he smiles, it’s like the sun is coming out of the west. It seems that this kind of expression shouldn’t appear on his face at all!”

Having said that, Qian Fengjiang paused, and raised his hand to press his eyelids, as if they were beating uncontrollably.

After about ten seconds, Qian Fengjiang continued: "But he heard that someone was burned to death in Xulu Mountain, and he laughed very happily! Can you imagine that scene? Everyone was in a hurry, but he was alone" giggling "Laugh! When the accident happened, I was very emotional. I was worried about the fire, so I burned the road to develop tourism in our village. He suddenly said that everyone would die together. I was shocked, and I pushed back before I could think about it. I gave him a hand and told him to go away. Yesterday, I thought about his reaction, and the more I thought about it, the more strange it became, so I asked him why he said that. He laughed even more strangely, saying that the fire burned all the money, and the whole village died of poverty. Good. Listen! What is he talking about?"

Hua Chong clenched his right hand into a fist and pressed it lightly to his lips.

Last night, inspired by the proprietress of the fungus shop, he and Liu Zhiqin discussed the possible consequences of the murder on Xulu Mountain for Luoguan Village—tourists stopped coming, tourism income was cut off, and the whole village returned to poverty.

From this consequence, the motive of the murderer can be deduced, and another possible identity of the murderer can be deduced, that is, the least wealthy part of Luoguan Village.

Qian Chuangjiang is clearly one of the richest people in Luoguan Village and one of the biggest beneficiaries of Luoguan Village's tourism development. Why do they have the same idea?

It doesn't make sense at all logically.

Qian Fengjiang smoked very quickly, and it didn't take long for the ashtray to be filled with ash and cigarette butts, "Didn't you check who didn't have an alibi yesterday? The night before yesterday, none of us knew that Qian Chuangjiang had gone. Where, I asked him and he didn’t say anything. He came back from the police station yesterday, and his behavior became even weirder. He stood alone in the backyard with a smile on his face. I thought what the hell was he doing, but when I got closer, I realized that he was humming Sorrow! Fuck, I was scared to death!"

Qian Fengjiang breathed a sigh of relief, but his face became paler, and he continued: "And the direction he was facing when he was humming, yes, yes..."

After "yes" for a long time, Qian Fengjiang trembled, his tongue seemed to be knotted suddenly, and he couldn't speak clearly.

Hua Chong frowned, imagining Qian Chuangjiang smiling and humming sadly in the middle of the night, and had to admit that it was indeed a bit intrusive.

And Qian Fengjiang saw that scene directly.

Half a minute later, Qian Fengjiang seemed to have finally straightened his tongue, and said in fear: "It's the direction of the village school! It's the village school where Qian Maojiang was burned to death! I, I suspect now that he is the murderer! Qian Mao Jiang, Qian Qing, and the three people who died this time were all killed by him! He is a pervert with mental and psychological problems, and it is impossible for normal people to react like him!"

Hua Chong propped his forehead with his right hand, his mind was running fast.

According to Qian Fengjiang's description, Qian Chuangjiang has the characteristics of a murderer.In the two murder cases ten years ago and now, Qian Chuangjiang had the time to commit the crime, and even had the motive for committing the crime.But why should he be so obvious?As one of the "rich upper classes" in Luoguan Village, why did he want Luoguan Village to return to poverty?If he is really the murderer, are Zhou Liangjia and the other three randomly selected "sacrifices"?Ten years ago he was 10 years old?Can he kill the five of Qian Maojiang?

Qian Fengjiang hugged his head, his shoulders trembling, "I never told the police before, Qian, when Qian Maojiang died, Qian Chuangjiang was also laughing and humming. I couldn't understand him at the time. What song is humming, now that I think about it, but, it may also be a sad song!"

Hua Chong looked solemn, "Why didn't you say it ten years ago?"

"Because I didn't know he might be the murderer!" Qian Fengjiang yelled out, "I just, I just thought he hated Qian Maojiang as much as I did! Qian Maojiang did all kinds of evil, bullying others outside and bullying at home. No one can control me and Qian Chuangjiang! Our father, the old man lying in the hospital waiting to die, is still facing Qian Maojiang! How old were we ten years ago? I was almost beaten to death by Qian Maojiang! We all hope that Qian Maojiang will die! Qian Maojiang really died later, and he died very badly. He was burned into a piece of black carbon, and I was too happy! I didn't think about who the murderer was. Eliminate harm from the people!"

Qian Fengjiang wiped the sweat off his brow, "I never thought that Qian Chuangjiang might be, just..."

It was the murderer who killed Qian Maojiang!

At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the house.

Hua Chong turned his head, "Who?"

"Flower team, it's me!" Zhang Mao said outside, "Brother Xiaoliu asked me to call you, Qian Chuangjiang has arrived."

Hearing this, Qian Fengjiang's expression became tense, and panic filled his brows.

Hua Chong glanced at him, "This is the police station, there is nothing to be afraid of."

Qian Fengjiang nodded in panic, "Are you going to interrogate him now?"

"Go and talk to him. See what he has to say." Hua Chong stood up, "I'll let other police officers come over, if you have anything else to say, you can tell them."

??

Qian Chuangjiang was wearing a slim windbreaker, fashionable casual trousers, and a pair of spotlessly polished pointed-toe leather shoes. His beard and hair had been groomed, and he seemed to have been well-groomed before he came to the police station.

The moment he pushed the door open, Hua Chong almost had hallucinations - the one sitting here was Qian Fengjiang, and the sloppy man just now was Qian Chuangjiang.

However, Qian Chuangjiang, who has dark skin and rough facial features, is really not suitable for this outfit.

As Qian Fengjiang said, Qian Chuangjiang had a smile on his lips, that smile made people uncomfortable, as if he heard the sound of nails scratching the blackboard out of thin air.

Liu Zhiqin was already in the police room, but he didn't write a single word in the notebook open by his hand.

Hua Chong looked at Qian Chuangjiang, and found that not only his clothes had changed obviously, but also his aura was completely different from the last time we met at "Shanweitang". It was not so dull and depressing, as if suddenly It's a lot easier.

"In a good mood?" Hua Chong asked casually.

Qian Chuangjiang raised his eyes, his smile remained on, "It's okay."

"Yesterday you have been questioned about the case, but today I still have to ask you personally—where were you the night before yesterday? What were you doing?"

According to the interrogation record, Qian Chuangjiang's answer was - fishing in the small river beside the village.

But no one can prove this statement. No one saw him fishing, and no camera captured him when the crime happened.And he did not bring the fish he caught back to "Shanweitang".

His words were like casual lies.

After asking the question, Hua Chong kept staring at Qian Chuangjiang.

Qian Chuangjiang hardly moved at all. After a long silence, he said, "I went to the village primary school, not the new village primary school, but the one that had an accident."

Liu Zhiqin moved his fingertips inadvertently, and asked, "What are you doing there? Why did you say to go fishing by the river yesterday?"

Qian Chuangjiang shrugged his shoulders indifferently, his expression changed from the previous dazed look, and there was a hint of laziness and joking, "Is there any difference between going to the village and going to the river? Anyway, no one will testify for me. No matter where I go, I will There is no such thing as your so-called 'alibi'. If you believe that I killed the people on Xulu Mountain, I will not be able to prove my innocence."

"Then did you kill them?" Hua Chong asked in a cold voice, completely unaffected by his emotions.

The police room suddenly fell silent, with the sound of inaudible breathing floating in the air.

After a while, Qian Chuangjiang grinned and said, "What do you think?"

The ball was thrown back, and Hua Chong remained undisturbed, "The three of them are dead, what good is it for you?"

Qian Chuangjiang laughed out loud, "Does it count as bringing this village back to its original shape?"

Hua Chong narrowed his eyes.What Qian Chuangjiang said and reacted at this time proved that Qian Fengjiang was not lying.This person with unusual behavior really hoped to destroy the tourism industry that Luoguan Village had worked so hard to develop.

But why?

"You are the beneficiary of Luoguan Village's economic development, and you are one of the people who benefit the most." Liu Zhiqin leaned forward and asked: "The better the development of Luoguan Village, the better your life will be, Luoguan The richer the village, the richer you are. Why would you want to destroy it?"

Qian Chuangjiang fell silent, his eyes seemed to be covered with fog, and he seemed to have returned to the dull state before.

After a long time, he said: "Because I don't deserve it."

"Not worthy?" Hua Chong asked, "What is not worthy?"

Qian Chuangjiang shook his head and stopped talking.

"What about Qian Maojiang?" Hua Chong asked again.

Hearing this name, Qian Chuangjiang frowned suddenly, but soon let go, and said with a smile: "He is dead, and the happiest people are me and my second brother—Qian Fengjiang."

??

There were too many suspicious points on him, so Qian Chuangjiang was temporarily left at the police station.

As the temperature rose in the morning, Hua Chong had already taken off Liu Zhiqin's sweater, and he was standing on the balcony at the end of the corridor, eyes blinded by the sunlight.

Liu Zhiqin walked over, holding two pieces of ice cream in his hand, "I bought it at the canteen, I heard it tasted like when I was a kid, try it?"

Hua Chong took a piece, saw that it had melted a bit, quickly took a bite, and let go of his slightly frowned eyebrows, "It's more delicious than Luocheng's."

Liu Zhiqin smiled, "The price is also cheaper than in Los Angeles, only one dollar."

Both of them ate ice cream very quickly, Hua Chong threw away two small wooden sticks and asked, "Do you think Qian Chuangjiang is the murderer?"

"He looks like a murderer." Liu Zhiqin said: "At least he looks more like Yuan Feifei, but I always feel that something is wrong."

"I also feel like I'm in the dark." Hua Chong nodded, "He has the ability to commit crimes, and he also has the desire to commit crimes, but it may not be the case that he killed Qian Maojiang and others ten years ago, and Fan Miao and others the day before yesterday. It's him."

"The most important thing is that he didn't admit it himself, and we didn't find any evidence." Liu Zhiqin held the handle of the railing, "Qian Chuangjiang is obviously excited about what happened in the village, and the emotions he showed just now are not fake. But he His words and deeds before and after are full of contradictions - he seems to want us to think that he is related to the case, and even thinks that he is the murderer, but he doesn't give an answer, admit it, explain it, or even the most basic refutation. I can't figure out what he is What do you want to do?"

Hua Chongdao: "I have figured out a possibility."

"Ok?"

"He wants to mess us up and see us busy because of him."

Liu Zhiqin frowned, "What is his purpose for doing this?"

"Assuming he is the murderer, then he may have done this to delay time. Without conclusive evidence, we cannot convict him, and some evidence will disappear due to the passage of time. Assuming he is not the murderer, he suddenly? This pool of muddy water either means that he has a mental problem, or..." Hua Chong paused, "He knows who the real murderer is, and for some reason, he intends to help the murderer."

"I have checked his internet traces and mobile phone communications, and there is no suspicious person in his contacts." Liu Zhiqin said: "His personality on the Internet is very withdrawn, no different from himself. If he is not the murderer , but knew the murderer, how did he communicate with the murderer? In this day and age, you can’t rely on writing letters, right?”

"Don't tell me, there is really a post office in the village." The police station is one of the tallest buildings in Luoguan Village, and the location is very good. Standing on the terrace on the top floor, you can basically have a panoramic view of the whole village.Hua Chong said and pointed to the railing, "It's that red house, did you see it?"

Liu Zhiqin leaned forward, "It looks like a time post office selling souvenirs."

"Go and see?" Hua Chong suggested.

Liu Zhiqin was slightly puzzled, "You don't really think that Qian Chuangjiang communicated with someone by letter? Even if he sent a letter, he wouldn't send it in a souvenir shop that caters to tourists."

"Let's see." Hua Chong said and walked into the corridor.

Liu Zhiqin sighed and followed quickly.

??

The red house is well repaired, like the wooden house where elves live in fairy tales.Through the glass windows, you can see all kinds of souvenirs placed inside, and there is an entire wall with postcards.

In normal times, there must be many tourists filling out postcards in the store.But now, the door of the red house is closed.

"Almost all the tourists have left, and those who stayed in Luoguan Village may be related to the case." Liu Zhiqin stood outside the door, "It seems that the boss is too lazy to do business."

Hua Chong walked around the red house, "Don't you think this house is a bit strange? Its decoration style is completely different from other farmhouses and restaurants."

"The others are all Chinese style, only it is Western style, with a fairy tale style." Liu Zhiqin stepped back a few steps and looked around, "It is separated from the street and other buildings by a certain distance."

Hua Chong took out his mobile phone, "It seems better to ask the locals."

Ten minutes later, Qian Lu, a policeman from the police station who had accompanied them to the village primary school last time, arrived.In the past two days, there was turmoil in the village, and the police couldn't sleep peacefully. Qian Lu had a lot more white hairs on his head.

"This shop belongs to Qian Baotian's family. There is no business here, so it is closed." Qian Lu said, "It not only requires someone to guard it, but also wastes electricity."

"Qian Baotian?" Hua Chong had no memory of the name.

"Here, just the owner of that 'Baotian' farmhouse!" Qian Lu pointed to a family a hundred meters away, "Their farmhouse is doing very well, and many young people like to live there. This store is the first two. It seems that it only opened in [-], I heard that it mainly sells slow postcards, which are very popular with young people, I don’t know much about it.”

Hua Chong heard some clues, "Then before this store opened, what was this red house used for? Why does it not match the overall style of Luoguan Village? I heard that the houses here are all planned in a unified way, even the doors are the same. , why is this building so special?"

Qian Lu was stunned for a moment, "The red house? Ah, this house was built by Qian Baotian's family. That's right, the buildings in our village are basically planned in a unified way, but this is not the central area, and no one claimed it when it was originally planned. , it has been empty. When Qian Baotian was planning to open a shop selling souvenirs, the time for unified planning was long past. They said that this kind of house is beautiful, with a combination of Chinese and Western styles, and young people like it, so they built it, and there is no such thing in the village. No matter, it’s all about generating income anyway, if everyone lives well, our whole village can be better!”

Hua Chong glanced at Qian Lu, and Qian Lu asked in surprise, "I, did I say something wrong?"

Hua Chong shook his head, did not explain, but went through Qian Lu's words and Qian Chuangjiang's words in his mind.

Living in the same village, people's thinking is as different as a gap.Qian Lu hopes that the whole village will get better and better together, but Qian Chuangjiang hopes that everyone will die together.

Suddenly, Qian Lu said "Yo".

Hua Chong came back to his senses, looked up and found two familiar figures.

Liu Zhiqin said: "Zou Ming and Wu Chen."

"Look! I said young people like this place." Qian Lu smiled, "They must want to come and look at the souvenirs, but it's a pity that Qian Baotian closed the shop. No, I have to ask him to do it. Business!"

Zou Ming and Wu Chen came from the direction of the police station.They can't leave Luoguan Village for the time being, but they don't need to stay in the police station all day, they are allowed to come out to get some air.

As soon as he saw Hua Chong and Liu Zhiqin, Wu Chen's expression immediately changed, he looked extremely vigilant, and even slowed down his steps.Zou Ming didn't respond. When he walked in front of Hua Chong, he nodded politely, "Hello."

Wu Chen looked at the red house, and was very unhappy, "What's the matter? It's all your fault for coming here, and the door didn't even open. What souvenir did you buy? Go back!"

Zou Ming turned his head to look at the locked door, showing some regret, "Well, let's go back."

"Are you here to buy souvenirs?" Hua Chong asked.

"Then what else?" Wu Chen said, "You didn't say we were not allowed to leave the police station."

Zou Ming stared at Wu Chen, Wu Chen immediately turned angry: "Why are you staring at me? I'm not wrong! We are not murderers, so what are we afraid of!"

Zou Ming sighed, "Don't be so angry."

"You still think I'm angry? I've come out to buy souvenirs with you, and you still..."

"I didn't ask you to accompany me." Zou Ming interrupted, "You insist on coming out with me."

Liu Zhiqin put his right hand in his trouser pocket, and watched the bickering with Hua Chong.

Wu Chen bluffed, his voice grew louder and louder, as if he was about to hit someone in the next second, but in fact it was just an amazing battle.On the other hand, Zou Ming, even bickering is gentle, with a very indifferent expression on his face, and he doesn't know whether it's because he is too well-bred, or because he doesn't care about everything.

Just as the two were about to leave, Qian Lu called Qian Baotian over and said out of breath, "You want to buy souvenirs, right? Don't leave, don't leave! The boss is here!"

Qian Baotian opened the door with a smile on his face, "Please come in, please come in."

Hua Chong looked at Zou Ming, only to see that he hesitated for a moment, Wu Chen was the first to step into the store.

"Come in!" Wu Chen said impatiently, "Didn't you want to buy souvenirs?"

"En." Zou Ming took a few steps forward and walked into the store.

The red house looks quite big from the outside, but inside it is not spacious because there are too many things. Six men entered at once, and it immediately seemed crowded.

Hua Chong looked at the furnishings in the store, but Liu Zhiqin kept paying attention to Zou and Wu.

A few minutes later, Zou Ming picked out a wooden fruit plate and walked towards the checkout counter.And Wu Chen was still picking left and right, and asked loudly: "You just bought it?"

Zou Ming didn't answer. After paying, he walked to the door of the store, "Look slowly, I'm going back."

"Fuck!" Wu Chen had no choice but to put down the gadget in his hand, and chased him out, "Hey, what are you doing so fast? Wait for me! What did you buy? What is this thing? It's so ugly..."

The well-crafted wood-carved fruit bowls are not cheap. Zou Ming picked the most expensive one, 800 yuan, and bought it without mentioning the price.Qian Baotian happily patted Qian Lu on the back, "Thank you, thank you for notifying me, otherwise I would have missed a deal!"

Hua Chong walked out of the store and looked at the backs of Zou Ming and Wu Chen, "Zou Ming is the one who wants to buy souvenirs, but Wu Chen seems to be more interested in souvenirs."

"When buying a wood-carved fruit plate, you need to choose carefully. At the very least, you should read the entire fruit plate." Liu Zhiqin stood beside Hua Chong, "But Zou Ming didn't even unfold the fruit plate, and paid for it in the folded form. And Woodcarved fruit bowls are not unique souvenirs in Luoguan Village. If Zou Ming really wants to buy souvenirs, he shouldn’t just buy a woodcarved fruit bowl.”

"He is perfunctory." Hua Chong squinted his eyes halfway, "What is he perfunctory?"