heart poison

Chu and Town are located in front of Luocheng and Xiancheng, closer to Xiancheng, but under the jurisdiction of Luocheng.

This kind of small town has some characteristics - it is easy to be ignored, the management is relatively chaotic, and the level of economic development is low.Among all the towns under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles, Chuyu Town's per capita income ranks at the bottom.

Hua Chong was unable to sit in Luoguan Village and wait for the investigation results of the Qu value, so he simply explained to Liu Zhiqin, then applied for a helicopter with Chen Zheng again, rushed to Chuyu Town as quickly as possible, and personally checked Zou Ming's past experience .

Qu Zhi was already waiting at the Fuxin Orphanage in Zhennan, with a serious expression on his face: "I have inquired, this orphanage was rebuilt five years ago on the basis of the old orphanage, the location is the same, the house is the same, but the management staff has changed. They only have the record of Zou Ming being adopted by Zou Mei, and there is no record of Zou Ming being sent to the old orphanage."

Hua Chong walked forward quickly, his face was not very good-looking, but he was not as anxious as Qu Zhi, "There are no records, but there are always people who remember. Even if the management staff changes, these people don't know Zou Ming, but they do know people There are always people who used to work in the old orphanage. Don't forget, this kind of small place pays most attention to 'interpersonal relationship', work and affairs, and nothing can escape the word 'relationship'. Zou Ming was adopted at the age of 11. The person who adopted him was a single woman in her thirties, this kind of thing is highly topical in a small area, and some people who know it may have forgotten it, but if you click it, the other person may remember it.”

Qu Zhi thought about it, and it was indeed the truth.It's easy to forget about a couple adopting a three- or four-year-old because it's too mundane to be an after-dinner conversation.But there's a general tendency to remember a young single woman adopting a teenage boy because it didn't seem so "normal".

The current dean of Fuxin Welfare Institute is surnamed Xin. He is slightly fat and wears a pair of glasses with thick lenses. He talked nonsense for a long time before facing the curve value, but he missed the point.After Hua Chong arrived, he didn't say a word of nonsense, and he didn't make polite remarks to her. He showed his ID and asked her, and he didn't even have a chance to make friends with her.

Dean Xin was stunned for a few seconds, and had no choice but to hold out a bunch of documents, flipping through them while shaking his head, "I can only find out that Zou Ming used to be called Mi Hao, Mi from Dami, and Hao from Haoyue. I really don't know anything else. You guys It’s the police from the Municipal Bureau, and they may not be very clear about the situation in Chuyu Town—we are no better than your main city, and the entire social welfare system in the main city is basically complete, but our side was a mess a few years ago. Bee Orphan Have you heard about the orphanage? The director is a human trafficker who killed dozens of poor children. If this is the case in one orphanage, how can other orphanages get better?"

Hua Chong nodded.He had heard about it, but didn't know much about it.All I know is that the Bee Orphanage is a social welfare institution that accepts children without parents on the surface, but it is actually engaged in human trafficking and child pornography.The dean colluded with grassroots officials, and his influence was intertwined in Chuyu Town and its surrounding areas.Later, foreign reporters went to the orphanage to investigate undercover, and only then did they thoroughly expose the darkness and filth.After the incident was exposed, the entire city of Los Angeles, and even Han Province, began to make great efforts to rectify welfare institutions, and a large number of unqualified or substandard orphanages were dealt with.

"Our Fuxin Welfare Institute was established after the unified rectification. The director of the former Xingxing Orphanage also had problems. He sold a few children. I heard that the police haven't caught him yet." Dean Xin shook his head, " I really can't tell you about Zou Ming's origin. What I don't even know, the other teachers don't even know."

"You must know a few staff members of Xingxing Orphanage." Hua Chong looked straight into Dean Xin's eyes without hesitation.

"This..." Dean Xin looked away and hesitated for a while, as if he couldn't bear Hua Chong's stare, he could only say: "I know them, but they..."

"Give me the contact information." Hua Chong said.

When leaving the Fuxin Welfare Institute, Hua Chong held a piece of paper with three strings of names, phone addresses and addresses in his hand.

Qu Zhi said: "This Dean Xin, I asked her before, and she even played Tai Chi with me, saying that she didn't know anyone. Once you came, she said everything."

"When you meet this kind of people, don't use 'interrogative sentences' to communicate with her." Hua Chong said: "If you ask her if she knows, she will of course say no. For them, one thing more is worse than one thing less." Human life Guan Tian' they don't care about it, but the principle of 'disaster comes from the mouth' is better than anyone else."

In the past few days, Qu Zhi has brought some members of the serious crime team and the entire criminal investigation team around to investigate the case. His eyes are full of bloodshot eyes and his voice is a little hoarse. Hug a fist.

Dean Xin mentioned three people in total, a former volunteer, a driver, and a teacher.The volunteers and the driver didn't stay in Xingxing Orphanage for a long time, so they didn't know much about it. They only remembered that Mi Hao was picked up by a "beautiful woman".The driver was an old bachelor who was almost 50 years old. After drinking some wine, he squinted his eyes meaningfully when he mentioned "Mi Hao" and "woman".

"Are human beings naturally interested in gossip between the opposite sex?" Qu Zhi complained: "Zou Ming was only 11 years old at the time, a proper underage, and they could 'imagine' it, I really feel a little disgusted. "

"Hold it, I don't have time to make you sick." Hua Chong parked the police car that Qu Zhi drove from Los Angeles in a dark and cramped alley, "Get out of the car, Xu Xiaolin's home is here."

Xu Xiaolin is over 50 years old and lives in a half-old courtyard in Chuyu Town. She is the third person that Dean Xin wrote on the paper, and the person who is most likely to know Mi Hao.

She lost her husband when she was young and had no children. She worked in Xingxing Orphanage for more than ten years. Later, the orphanage was banned and she lost her job. She then worked as a part-time worker and lived alone until now.

Apparently, before Hua Chong and Qu Zhi arrived, she had already received a call from Dean Xin and knew the purpose of the two criminal policemen.

"I have an impression of this child, Mi Hao." She invited the two of them into a dimly lit room, and made tea in a glass cup that didn't look clean. "At that time, a woman came to adopt him, and there were still rumors in the yard It's been rumored for a while. We all thought she wanted to adopt a little girl, but in the end she decided to adopt a half-grown boy. Don't tell me, isn't this an excuse for someone to talk about?"

Sitting on the old sofa, Hua Chong didn't care whether Zou Mei's actions would leave a story for others - in fact, for some people who are bored, no matter what others do, they may leave a so-called " handle".These people never understand that other people's lives have nothing to do with them.

"When Zou Mei adopted Mi Hao, did she say why she chose Mi Hao?" Hua Chong asked.

"Let me think about it." Xu Xiaolin lowered her head and thought for a moment, "Oh, she said that she is usually busy with work, and she is afraid that she will not be able to take good care of the child who is too young. As for the girl, she is afraid of being harmed by others in the future. It must be a boy, preferably at an age. Bigger ones. This is simply nonsensical, how could a girl be murdered?"

Hua Chong frowned.

Adopting a girl is afraid of being harmed in the future?

Zou Mei adopted Zou Ming because of this reason?

But why does she feel that the girl will be murdered in the future?

Something flashed through his mind, Hua Chong was taken aback for a moment, and couldn't help pinching the space between his brows tightly.

"Do you remember when Mi Hao first arrived at the orphanage?" Qu Zhi said, "The file management was not perfect before, and we couldn't find out when and why he was sent to the orphanage."

"You're asking the right person." Xu Xiaolin showed a slightly smug expression, "For a while there were not enough people in the yard, so I helped record the daily life of the children. Mi Hao came here one summer, dressed in rags, Like a little beggar. Fortunately, the temperature was high at that time, if it was winter, he might have frozen to death."

"Which year is summer?" Hua Chong asked.

"I can't remember which year, but he was not young when he came here. No, I have to think about it." Xu Xiaolin said, breaking up her fingers, and raised her head half a minute later, "It was the time before he was adopted. A year? He didn't stay in the courtyard for too long, I only lived one winter as far as I remember."

The year before adoption?Hua Chong winked.Zou Ming was 11 years old when he was adopted, which is stated in the preserved information, so he was 10 years old the year before.

Zou Ming came to the Xingxing Orphanage in Chuyuzhen in the summer of this year, and Liu Zhanfei's body was found in the spring of the same year.

One year ahead, it was the year when the village primary school had an accident and Liu Xuchen died of illness.

This year, Zou Ming and Liu Zhanfei were both 9 years old!

An unbelievable idea appeared in Hua Chong's mind, his eyes widened, the light in them was extremely bright, and the corners of his forehead trembled uncontrollably.

Several silky threads passed through and intertwined in my mind, quickly forming a weird and cold net.

Liu Xuchen died of illness in Xiancheng;

Fan Miao, Sheng Feixiang and Zhou Liangjia are from Xiancheng;

After news of Liu Xuchen's death was reported back to Luoguan Village, Liu Zhanfei disappeared and was found dead in the river the following year;

Liu Zhanfei's body has not undergone a professional autopsy, and was only identified by the village chief and others;

The unidentified Mi Hao appeared in Chuyu Town not far from Xian City;

Mi Hao was adopted by Zou Mei and changed his name to Zou Ming;

Zou Ming and his classmates went to Luoguan Village for a trip, and somehow bought a wooden fruit plate in a souvenir shop;

The place where the souvenir shop is located is the former home of brothers Liu Xuchen and Liu Zhanfei!

Hua Chong's breathing became heavy, his fingers were quietly clenched, and his joints turned white.

Xu Xiaolin was frightened by his reaction, he hesitated and couldn't speak.

Qu Zhi was also quite surprised, and whispered: "Flower team? Flower team?"

Hua Chong came back to his senses suddenly, and looked at Xu Xiaolin with sword-like eyes, "Tell me everything you remember about Mi Hao!"

Xu Xiaolin probably didn't have much experience with people like Hua Chong, so she panicked for a moment and said tremblingly, "Okay, okay... I'll just say it."

According to Xu Xiaolin's recollection, Mi Hao came to Xingxing Orphanage alone without any money and no identification.At that time, the management of the orphanage was loose, as long as a child came, the director would accept it, regardless of the origin—this was also the status quo of the entire welfare institution in Chuyu Town at that time.Led by the Bee Orphanage, many helpless and helpless children were "transferred" in the orphanage, and then became trading items for human traffickers to make a fortune.Although Mi Hao is not young, but he looks handsome, the dean saw him, and admitted him into the courtyard without hesitation.

No one can tell Mi Hao's actual age. He claims that he was abandoned by his parents when he was born, and grew up with scavengers. He doesn't remember who his biological parents are or where his hometown is.One year, the old scavenger who had been taking care of him passed away, so he wandered from neighboring provinces all the way to Chuyu Town to beg for food.

After settling down in the orphanage, Mi Hao became the teachers' right-hand man.Not to mention his hands and feet are diligent, he is also very good at coaxing young children.At first, the dean was afraid of getting into trouble, so he asked someone to investigate his life experience, but nothing was found out.The other party said that this child has never registered, so he must be a child who was thrown away.In those days, in some remote villages, children were often abandoned, which was not a strange thing at all.The dean has many things to worry about in a day, but this matter was left behind.

After that, Mi Hao was adopted by Zou Mei and changed his name to Zou Ming.

The implementation of the orphan settlement policy varies from place to place. As long as the relationship is in place, many procedures will be simplified.Hua Chong understood what was tricky, and said goodbye to Xu Xiaolin, "Maybe Zou Ming is lying."

Qu Zhi was not as inexperienced as Zhang Mao. After hearing Xu Xiaolin's words, he knew that Zou Ming might have a problem.His age and experience are all spoken out by himself, and no one can confirm it.

"Zou Mei may not be simple." Hua Chong lit a cigarette and tossed the lighter and the cigarette case to Qu Zhi, "It's impossible for her not to expect that her adoption of an 11-year-old boy would cause criticism, but she insisted on doing so. What's in it for her?"

"Some people worry that the child will be too young to take care of after adoption. This is normal." Qu Zhi said, "But Zou Mei means not to have a girl, because the girl will be hurt when she grows up. This kind of reason is too far-fetched."

"Girl, girl..." Hua Chong frowned, whispering to himself, "Hurt..."

Qu Zhi was taken aback for a moment, his scalp suddenly went numb like an electric shock, "Flower Team, did you miss Wang Xiangmei and the others?"

"Wang Xiangmei, Chen Yun, and Zhang Dandan, they are all girls who have been hurt, and two of them have been hurt to death." Hua Chong stood still, "Why did Zou Mei conclude that she would be hurt if she was a girl? Because she herself was hurt. Hurt? Or...she is the one who hurt the girl? "

Qu Zhi had goosebumps on his arms, "Stop talking! I, I have to seriously think about it!"

Hua Chong paused with his fingers holding his cigarette, "Zhang Mao said that there have been family members who have been stalking the bureau these days, arguing to go to Luoguan Village."

"Yeah!" Qu Zhi's chest felt tight when he thought of this incident, "I can't even talk to them, I'm about to be tortured like crazy!"

"Where's Zou Mei? Has she been here?"

"Her?" Qu Zhi shook his head, "No. She is a strong woman, she is usually very busy."

Hua Chong sat in the passenger seat and didn't speak for a long time.

Qu Zhi felt like a cat scratching in his heart, "Flower Team!"

"Don't make noise!" Hua Chong said, "I'm thinking about something."

"Don't just think about it, let me think about it together? If you don't speak, I'm fucking flustered! You used to be like this. You kept silent, and then you said something amazing, which caught me off guard!"

"I think where should we go now." Hua Chong took a deep breath, "Should we go back to Luocheng, or go to Xiancheng nearby."

Qu Zhi was startled, "Where's Luoguan Village? Where can I leave you?"

"Brother Xiaoliu is here." Hua Chong rested his fingers on his chin, his tone full of trust, and after a few minutes he said, "Let's go back to Luo City first. I have to see Zou Mei."

??

In the middle of the night, the residential area of ​​Chenglong Bay in Mingluo District is peaceful and peaceful, and the single-family villas look reserved and noble under the night.

The arrival of the police car tore a not-so-deep crack from its flawless appearance.

In the cracks are the lives of some people who have already been riddled with holes, and the wounds that have been covered until they bleed thickly.

Chenglong Bay is the top villa area in Los Angeles, and the people who live here are either rich or noble.But in fact, there are not many people who buy houses here by their own ability. Most of them have rich parents, and a small number of them rely on being mistresses for wealthy businessmen and senior officials.Elites from all walks of life and important politicians generally do not live in this most conspicuous place.But there are exceptions to everything, and Zou Mei is one of the exceptions in Chenglong Bay.

The villa she bought is located in the S-class area of ​​Chenglong Bay. There are only four villas there, one of which has no head of household, and the other two have not-so-disgraceful owners.

The street lamps cast a soft light, and a black low-key luxury car passed by on a quiet path.Most of the residents in Chenglong Bay have gone to bed, but Zou Mei has just finished her day's work.The team she leads is developing an overseas supreme medical examination house purchase tour project. There are too many places to manage and negotiate.

This happens every year, or even every quarter.The initial preparation of a project is the most troublesome and most energy-intensive time.As a company executive, she hasn't had a good night's sleep for a long time. Today, she retreated from a social occasion and it was almost early morning when she returned home.

Her car met Hua Chong's car in front of the villa.

When Hua Chong saw the woman getting out of the car, Hua Chong was stunned for a moment.

He has seen her!

When investigating the case of Wang Xiangmei and Chen Yun, he and Liu Zhiqin went to "Xiaoyun Food" to call for surveillance.Before driving away, I happened to see a lady who was dressed out of place with a night market food stall picking up vegetables in a plastic basket.

The lady moved skillfully. After picking it up, she didn't sit on the small plastic stool outside the store. Instead, she stood aside and waited quietly until she took the packed food from the busy guy.

That noble lady is actually Zou Mei!

Hua Chong quickly picked up the clues almost instinctively——

Zou Mei has been to "Xiaoyun Gourmet" before, and it doesn't look like it's the first time she went, so she probably knew the missing Chen Yun;

The murderer who killed Wang Xiangmei used a large amount of sevoflurane, and the three people who died on Xulu Mountain were also anesthetized by sevoflurane;

Zou Ming's life experience was a mystery, and his behavior was strange. When Fan Miao and others were killed, he had no alibi;

The relationship between Zou Mei and Zou Ming is that of adoptive mother and adopted son!

Within seconds, Hua Chongdun felt dizzy and his eyes turned black.

All kinds of clues stimulated his nerves like needles, and the pricked place was unbearably painful, but clear.

He trembled slightly, and a thin layer of sweat oozed from his neck.

Qu Zhi didn't notice his abnormal state, got out of the car and walked towards Zou Mei.

Zou Mei stood under the street lamp, wearing expensive but low-key business attire. Although she had been traveling for a day, her makeup and hair were still in place.She is very beautiful, not the kind of extremely seductive beauty, but dignified and generous beauty, almost not aggressive, but there is a gentle aura of a mature and successful woman in her eyebrows and eyes.

But compared to many strong women, she seemed much softer, with something elusive in her eyes, it was hard to say whether it was sadness or compassion.

Seeing Qu Zhi take out the ID, Zou Mei was stunned for a moment, and then smiled calmly, "You are here to ask me about Xiao Ming's situation, right? You are still working so late, you have worked hard."

Qu Zhi has dealt with many unreasonable and unreasonable people, and suddenly met a very reasonable, gentle and beautiful woman, and was a little at a loss for a while.

"It's inconvenient to talk standing up, let's sit over there." Zou Mei pointed in the direction opposite to her villa, apparently not intending to let the two policemen who visited late at night enter the house.

It is true that Hua Chong and Qu Zhi cannot enter her villa at this time.

There are many places suitable for chatting in Chenglong Bay. Zou Mei led the two of them to a non-closing cafe, ordered two cups of coffee and a cup of hot milk, and said with a smile: "Thank you for not coming to my company to find me during working hours , that will cause me some inconvenience. I guess you two have to keep busy after you leave me, so drink some coffee to refresh yourself."

Her voice is very gentle, with the calmness and elegance of a high position in the workplace.Hua Chong stared at her face, trying to find some traces of tension, but because of the ambiguous lights of the coffee shop, he found nothing for the time being.

"Xiao Ming called me and briefly told me what happened in Luoguan Village, so I don't have to worry." Zou Mei lowered her eyes and shook her head slightly, "To be honest, I didn't expect him to go on a trip with his classmates. This kind of bad thing will happen. As a mother, I can’t not worry at all. Fortunately, he is fine. He told me that when the murder happened, he and a classmate did not have an alibi, so they had to stay in the Luoguan village cooperates with the police investigation. I believe my child, he is kind and gentle, and it is absolutely impossible to have anything to do with the case."

The waiter brought coffee and hot milk, then left quietly.There is no one else in the cafe in the early morning, the air is filled with the mellow aroma of coffee and soothing music.

This kind of atmosphere is easy to relax and even be attacked by drowsiness, but whether it is Hua Chong or Qu Zhi, the nerves are highly tense at this time.

The woman in front of them is not simple - this is their common cognition.

"Zou Ming is the child you adopted in Chuyu Town 8 years ago." Since discovering the connection between Zou Mei and "Xiaoyun Food", Hua Chong's focus is no longer on Zou Ming alone.He looked directly into Zou Mei's eyes, trying to peek into her heart from those eyes that could be called affectionate.

"Yes." Zou Mei raised her hand to stroke her temples. This gesture was done elegantly and full of charm, "I don't have a husband, and my physical condition can't bear children. At the age of 35, I felt that I was not young, and my financial conditions allowed So I wanted to adopt a child, firstly, to explain to myself, and secondly, to contribute a little bit to the society."

"Zou Ming was already 11 years old at the time." Hua Chong deliberately showed a puzzled expression, "I heard that most adopters prefer younger children. Because the older the child, the harder it is to discipline and get close to the elders." .”

Zou Mei shook her head with a smile, "For me, children at Zou Ming's age are the best. The younger the child, the more he needs the company of his parents, and I am busy with work, often need to work overtime and go abroad, so I can't stay with my child for a long time. You said that older children are 'difficult to discipline' and 'difficult to get close to the elders', this is not a problem in my relationship with Xiao Ming. He is a sensible child, obedient and self-disciplined, I don't need it at all How to discipline him. As for getting close or not, Xiaoming and I are very independent people, we are used to taking care of each other, but we don’t need to get too close.”

Hua Chong asked a little harshly: "After adopting Zou Ming, have you ever been criticized by others?"

"Are you referring to other people's gossip?" Zou Mei leaned lightly on the sofa and said softly, "I don't care."

The corner of Qu Zhi's eyebrows twitched.

"I was scolded to this position. The criticism given to a woman in the workplace is far worse than me adopting an 11-year-old boy." Zou Mei smiled bitterly, "If I care about everything, it will be endless There is no way to work and live normally. I just made a choice that is the best for me, and it has nothing to do with what people think, and it is beyond my control."

"The best choice?" Hua Chong said slowly: "I don't quite understand, you are a woman and a successful woman, so why did you exclude 'girls' from the best choice when adopting a child?"

Hearing this, Zou Mei's eyes suddenly changed, and a ray of panic flashed in An Ran's eyes, but this ray of panic quickly disappeared without a trace.

There was a wry smile on the corner of her lips, "The more successful you are, the more you understand how hard it is to be a woman. As a mother, raising a daughter is much harder than raising a son. I worry about it when I was young, and I worry about it when I grow up. I'm afraid that she will not live well." Well, I'm afraid that she will be bullied, and when she gets married, she will still worry that her husband's family will treat her harshly, and her husband will neglect her... I don't think I can bear the pain of raising a daughter, so I simply chose a boy."

These reasons seem irrefutable, and Qu Zhi is even said to be a little ashamed-at least in the workplace, men do have more promotion channels than women.

"Do you know Zou Ming's past?" Hua Chong was completely unmoved, and continued to ask calmly.

"He is an orphan." Zou Mei said, "Being abandoned by his parents since he was a child, life is not easy. So he knows how to cherish and be grateful. Before the age of 11, he did not live a good life, nor did he receive a decent education. .But right now, dare I say, he's better than most of his peers."

"What else?" Hua Chong's voice was still impersonal

"Anything else?" Zou Mei frowned, "You mean, you have found out his background?"

Hua Chongwei raised his chin, "You don't seem to care about his past at all. For you, as long as the adopted child is not an 'easy to hurt' girl, it's fine, right?"

The line of Zou Mei's neck suddenly tightened, and the light in her eyes shrank rapidly.

Hua Chong had a panoramic view of all these subtle reactions.

"Zou Ming..." Hua Chongzheng wanted to continue, but the phone on the coffee table vibrated.He subconsciously wanted to reject it, but when he picked it up, he saw the words "Liu Zhiqin" flashing on the screen.

"Sorry." He stood up, tapped Qu Zhi's shoulder twice with his left hand, walked quickly to the corner, and picked up the phone.

Liu Zhiqin's voice came immediately, "Flower Team, I found something."

"Well, what's the matter?"

"Ten years ago in Xiancheng, Zhou Liangjia, Fan Miao, and Sheng Feixiang planned a suicide farce."