winter past

After hearing this, Zhao You quickly finished eating, packed up the takeaway boxes and threw them into the car, and took Xiaoman straight to the grocery store at the entrance of Huangguozi Village.

The grocery store is open now, and there are two small tables outside, with some straw hats, clothes, remote control toy cars, hair clips, stickers and other things, and a large freezer full of cold drinks and ice cream, which is buzzing Shaking, non-stop cooling air.There are many trees around, cicadas are constantly singing, the air is dry, stagnant and windless.Zhao You and Xiao Man parked the car near the bus stop, and they were already sweating after only twenty steps to the door of the shop.The two stood at the door for a while, but no one came out to say hello. Zhao You patted Xiao Man, and cast his eyes on the row of nail polish placed behind a pile of hairpins.Xiaoman picked up one of the bottles of nail polish, looked at it, and looked into the store.The shop was dark, and a trace of coolness slipped out from the darkness.

Xiao Man called out, "Boss Wang?"

After the call came, a bald man in short-sleeved shorts came out of the store slowly shaking a cattail fan. The man saw Xiaoman, and the two looked at each other. The man smiled, stretched out his hand, and shook hands with Xiaoman. : "Officer Xiao? Why are you here?"

Xiao Man then shook hands with the man: "Don't call me a police officer, I've quit being a police officer a long time ago, Boss Wang, long time no see."

"You... I can't recognize you at a glance? Did you get rich in South Shanghai?"

Xiaoman pointed to the short-sleeved underpants and flip-flops on his body, and said with a smile: "Hey, what a fortune, you are doing shipping with my uncle, and you go out to sea from time to time, but you haven't changed much."

Boss Wang smiled naively, raised his hand to caress the little hair on his head, turned his gaze, and looked at Zhao You.Zhao Youying went up to shake hands with Boss Wang, and said, "Ms. Xiao is now our city bureau's case-handling consultant."

"Oh, oh, it's because of the 64th." Boss Wang pulled out his hand, shook the cattail fan vigorously, and enthusiastically invited the two of them into the room: "Sit inside, it's so hot outside, and the air conditioner is blowing inside. Come, come, eat watermelon? It’s been frozen all night! Come, come in!”

He himself went into the house.Holding up the nail polish, Xiao Man asked, "Is this nail polish blue?"

Boss Wang looked back and said, "Yes, yes." He stood at the intersection of light and dark, stretched his neck and looked at Xiaoman and Zhao You, a little confused: "The nail polish thing is not about the woman who found the body that day." The police just came to inquire, and asked a lot of things, so... what else do you want to inquire about?"

Zhao You picked up a toy sprinkler gun on a small table and pulled the trigger. Boss Wang went over, took the gun and said, "Buy it for your son? This is the newest one. I'll get you some water. You try to take advantage of it."

Xiaoman glanced at the toy remote control car on the small table, and said, "Is this the latest one? It's selling well, right? Children like it?"

Boss Wang entered the shop in a vague response, followed by Zhao You and Xiao Man. There was a counter in the shop, and beside the counter was a straight road leading directly into a living room. At this moment, Boss Wang was not there. He heard his voice coming from the living room.

Xiao Man said, "We have entered the house."

"Come in, come in." Boss Wang leaned out from behind a pillar and pointed to a sofa seat: "Sit, sit, just call me Lao Wang, just call me Lao Wang."

Xiao Man and Zhao You sat down on the sofa. From their angle, they could see Boss Wang, who was standing in front of the sink in the kitchen playing with the toy water gun.The living room is not big, and most of the room is occupied by many high-stacked cardboard boxes. On the packaging of the cartons are instant noodles and potato chips. There is a calendar on the east wall and a square dining table. Near the kitchen, surrounded by four chairs.There is a huge photo frame hanging behind the dining table, which is filled with various photos, including black and white, colored photos, hazy salon wedding photos in the style of the 67 era, and fashionable high-definition photos. Souvenir of the trip.

Boss Wang came out with a water gun filled with water and handed it to Zhao You.Zhao You took the water gun with a smile and said, "I'm not married yet."

Boss Wang nodded and said, "Try." He suddenly slapped his forehead, got up and went outside, and after a while, came in with a bottle of blue nail polish: "Do you want this color?"

He said: "Xiaoqin likes to use this color, and the paint for her home is also bought from us, but that batch is sold out and not in."

Xiao Man smiled and said, "When I saw you earlier, I was still Xiao Wang, but now I've become Lao Wang."

Boss Wang laughed twice, couldn't sit still, got up again, went into the kitchen again, took out a big watermelon from the refrigerator, and yelled: "It must be sweet! It will split when the knife touches it. La."

He starts to cut the watermelon.Zhao You got up with a water gun, walked to the cardboard boxes, opened one of the boxes with the instant noodles logo on it, and found that it was indeed filled with instant noodles.

Boss Wang asked in the kitchen: "Haven't you eaten lunch yet? How about a bowl of noodles?"

Xiao Man said, "Is your wife not at home?"

Boss Wang said: "Take the child back to her mother's house and visit relatives."

Zhao You paced back and forth in the living room, and in the big photo frame he could see a family portrait, showing a bald boss Wang in a suit, a middle-aged woman in a white skirt, and two half-grown women in floral skirts. Girls, Zhao You said: "Two girls? Are you in school?"

"Yes, yes, I'm in elementary school."

"Is it summer vacation yet?" Zhao You asked.

"Oh, my mother-in-law's family has a funeral, and I don't know any distant relatives, so I didn't go, and I kept it to watch the store." Boss Wang put the cut watermelon on the coffee table in front of the sofa while talking, took a piece of watermelon himself Nibbling, urged Xiaoman: "Eat, eat."

Looking upwards, Zhao You saw a whole row of black-and-white portraits hung high on the big photo frame, and there was a shrine dedicated to Guanyin hanging high near the window. His face was glowing red, three sticks of incense were placed in front of the altar, and a small bench was placed under the altar.

"That's my father, my mother, and my grandparents." Boss Wang said, "They're all gone."

Zhao You nodded, put the back of his hand behind his back, pointed to a photo in the big photo frame and asked, "Is this you?"

In that photo, there is a little boy who looks somewhat similar to Boss Wang. He is standing in front of the welcoming pine in Huangshan, carrying a red kettle on his back, with his head held high.

"This is you and your dad?"

Pre-research Dujiat

Next to the photo of the welcoming pine, there is a photo of two similar-looking people holding a blue butterfly-shaped kite in their hands. The background is a place like a school auditorium, and the two are smiling very much. Happy, that little boy, who looks like Boss Wang, has a medal made of paper hanging on his chest, surrounded by the medal, with the words "Gold Medal of the Third Handicraft Competition of Heishan Junior High School" written on it.

Zhao You said, "Win the prize? You look a lot like your dad." He turned to look at Boss Wang with a smile. Boss Wang wasn't sitting in the living room anymore, and was sweeping the tiled floor in the living room with a broom. , the tiled floor was dusty.Boss Wang replied smoothly: "Ah, um, yes...handmade award..."

Zhao You and Xiao Man exchanged glances.Zhao You walked towards the kitchen and asked, "The kite is gone? Is that a kite?"

"It's broken early."

Xiaoman asked: "You rented the house to Weng Qing, right? Do you know that she has made many friends around?"

Boss Wang shook his head, waved his broom into the concrete floor of the kitchen, and said with a sigh: "You know that room, it's evil, it's been closed since what happened in 98, I don't think she has a place to stay. , discuss it with the mother-in-law, and just rent it to her."

"Your wife agrees?"

"Yes, she agreed." Boss Wang straightened up, stood in the kitchen, looked at Xiaoman and said, "Those beggars can't be rushed away, and I don't think the house can be rented out, alas, actually You said they were miserable, right? I just want to take it as a good deed." Boss Wang was frowning, and after finishing speaking, he bent down and continued to sweep the floor.

Zhao You also entered the kitchen, sprinkled some water on the floor, and said, "You sweep, I'll sprinkle some water for you, it's not so dusty."

He also asked, "Did your father leave sick?"

"Well... my mother left in a few years." Boss Wang looked up at him, "Go and eat watermelon."

Zhao You smiled, pointed to a small door in the kitchen that was half-hidden, and asked, "Where does this door lead to?"

"Didn't you see any new faces in the village recently?" Xiao Man asked.

Boss Wang suddenly put down his broom, looked at Zhao You, then at Xiao Man, and clapped his hands anxiously: "I told that policewoman everything I know! That paint, that nail polish It is true that I sold it to Weng Qing, but I have nothing to do with her case!! It has nothing to do with it! Which household in this village uses something that I didn't buy? You go and find out!" He was anxious Stamped her feet: "Besides, I don't have the guts to kill people! Besides! I have no motive! I'm still pointing at her to pay me rent, why should I kill her? Me! Someone died in that house before. If one dies, do I want this house or not??"

Zhao You comforted him and said, "Yes, yes, you are a businessman, and you will definitely not engage in such a loss-making business."

Xiaoman also asked: "Did Weng Qing buy the toy car for her son? She returned to the village from Qingshi that night, and your shop was still open. She bought the toy car to give to her son, right? Or you?" For her?"

Boss Wang swallowed his saliva, shaking the few strands of hair on his head, and said with a bitter face, "What toy car? What are you talking about!"

Xiao Man looked out, Zhao You squatted down, sprayed some water on the mud floor of the kitchen, looked at the two mud marks on the ground, and asked, "Do you use that kind of roller cart for moving goods? What size are the wheels? I haven’t seen them, are they placed outside the house?” After speaking, Zhao You went to push open the small door in the kitchen, and there was a small yard outside the door. Pickled vegetables, peppers, a few kimchi jars near the door, a Wuling Hongguang van parked in the yard, piled up some firewood, supported by three rows of bamboo poles, on which some clothes and pants were dried, and behind it was a large field of rice field.

Zhao You looked at Boss Wang and said, "When you come from Qingshi, you must pass by the door of your shop when you enter the village. On the night of May 5, did you see Weng Qing come back? Normally, when the car comes, it should stop at your door. Right? If you drive further in, the road is not easy to drive, it is very narrow.”

Xiao Man said: "Weng Qing's red suitcase, have you seen it?"

Boss Wang looked left and right, tongue-tied, squatted on the ground, and cried: "I really didn't kill the man! When she came back that night, my wife took two children to a friend's house in the city to play. The children played It was so crazy, I fell asleep at my friend's house, and told me that they would not come back at night. I had already closed the shop at that time. When I heard the sound of a car, I took a look and saw her dragging a box. , I just... I called her into the house! Who would have thought that the woman came back in the middle of the night, so I told her to go through the window quickly, and the box was left here. I was afraid that my woman would find it, so I hid the box Get up, I just found time to throw it away last night..."

"Where did it go?"

"Just throw it outside in the field."

Zhao You said, "Why don't you throw it farther away?"

Boss Wang said, "I'm afraid that someone will find me dragging that box! One of the wheels of that box is broken, and it's making a lot of noise!"

Boss Wang wrongedly argued: "I have nothing to do with Weng Qing! I am not afraid of the shadow of my identity card. I also wanted to adopt that child because he was so pitiful. Did you hear any rumors that the child was my little one?" Baby? Really not!"

"I'm afraid he won't become autistic too!"

"Also?" Zhao You walked back to the sofa, took a piece of watermelon and ate it.

"Just the kid in the case in 98, the one Police Officer Xiao came to inquire about before, isn't he autistic?" Boss Wang said.

Zhao You looked at Xiaoman, and Xiaoman said, "Did Weng Qing come back by car?"

"Ah."

"Did you see any car?"

"No, I just saw the headlights turn on."

At this time, there was a "bang" sound outside, like a firecracker exploding, Xiao Man's face turned pale and he trembled all over.Zhao You and Boss Wang followed the sound and looked out, and then the suona sounded.Boss Wang said: "It's about moving on the 32nd..." He walked to the window and confirmed: "That's right, it's moving, and I found a group of musicians to set off firecrackers to remove bad luck and spread bad luck. "

The sound of bang bang bang exploded one after another.Xiaoman wiped his face, stood up and said, "I'm going out to smoke a cigarette..."

He went out through the little kitchen door.Zhao You also went to the window, looked out, and saw red confetti flying all over the sky, a group of young men carrying burdens, all of which were tied with red ribbons, walking from the village to the grocery store.In the burden-carrying team, one could still be seen wearing a golden armor, jumping up and down with bare feet, his body twitching as if possessed by a demon.

Zhao You asked Boss Wang: "Where did you move to?"

Boss Wang looked at him and said, "Don't talk to my wife, okay?" He glanced outside, "Maybe move to the city, their children have several houses in the city, and share one for the old couple. That's it."

Zhao You asked again: "What does the yellow fruit in Huangguozi Village mean? Do you produce yellow fruits here?"

"No, rice and pepper are grown here, and the fruit trees are peaches, which are not yellow."

"Is there a county chronicle or something here?"

"County Chronicle?"

"It is to record how this village came to be, and what happened in ancient times."

"I don't know. The most educated people in the village used to belong to Lao Lin's family. If he is still here, maybe he knows something."

"Lao Lin?"

"My father's generation is a character. In the past, Lao Lin was the only one who could read. He saw a doctor and helped people write and read letters."

"He passed away? Are his descendants still in the village? What's his name?"

"Passed away, starved to death. I don't know the names of the descendants. Lao Lin didn't live in the village, but lived on the mountain. It was very mysterious. There seemed to be a boy in his family. I don't know very well. The one they lived in before Officer Xiao also knows about the small wooden house. He came here ten years ago and asked me about the old Lin’s family. Some old people in the village remembered a little bit and helped him find the small wooden house. I went to have a look. There are a lot of medicinal materials in it, and no one has lived in it for so many years, and the things inside are not broken or rotten."

"It was also in June, right? Teacher Xiao came to investigate some serial murder case in Qingshi ten years ago. At that time, he suspected that the case in 6 was done by one person, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Boss Wang pondered, "You said that this person is strange enough, he specially killed people in June." His eyes changed, and he said, "But I remember that Officer Xiao came to inquire about Lao Lin's affairs. At that time, it was already autumn."

"Do you still remember what happened ten years ago?"

"Remember! That day I stepped on a trap on the mountain, and it was set by those homeless men to catch rabbits! It also has scars, look." Boss Wang lifted up one leg of his trousers, and there was indeed a scar on his right leg.

"Then do you remember where the wooden house is?"

"I haven't been there for a long time. I heard people say that the wild boar has been taken over now. You have to be careful with the wild boar. You can't beat it, you can't afford it!"

The crackling outside became more lively.Zhao You pointed to the kitchen and said, "I'm going to smoke a cigarette too."

He went to look for Xiaoman in the yard, Xiaoman was sitting on a bench, shrunk his shoulders, shrunk his neck, facing the dazzling green farmland, motionless like a stone statue, I don't know what he was thinking .Don't know if he's still here.

Zhao You walked over and covered his ears.He didn't move anymore, and stood behind Xiaoman like a stone statue. After a long time, the sound of firecrackers gradually faded away, and the music of gongs, drums and suona gradually dispersed. Xiaoman patted Zhao You's trouser leg, and Zhao You He bent down and brought his ear to Xiaoman's mouth.Xiao Man grabbed his sleeve and said to him, "Your heart is beating so fast!"

Zhao You said, "They are talking to you, listen carefully."

"What did you say?"

"Say I like you."

Xiao Man laughed, moved Zhao You's hand away, and cursed: "Xiao Zhao, you are a bit disgusting and nauseous."

He stood up and went back to the grocery store, Zhao You followed behind him and said, "You can put it mildly, it's called earthy love talk."

Xiao Man smiled and scolded: "Nervous..."

The two went back into the house one after the other. Zhao You and Boss Wang inquired about the route to Montenegro, and said to Xiao Man, "Let's go into the mountain and have a look."

Xiao Man didn't refuse, and Boss Wang led them to the trail on Shangheishan. Zhao You suddenly remembered something, and asked Boss Wang, "Did your family have a dog before? It died suddenly a while ago?"

Boss Wang sighed, and was about to cry again, and said in a low voice: "Yeah, foaming at the mouth, I guess I ate some poisonous mushrooms in the mountains. We usually pay close attention to this dog, and this dog is also smart and doesn't eat randomly. I don’t know what happened, I didn’t see it back home that night, and when I searched for it the next day, I found it dead... Sigh..."

"Where was the body found?"

"It's near here." Boss Wang walked into the woods for a while, pointed to a tree stump and said, "It's right here."

Zhao You took a photo and asked, "Is the dog buried? About when did it happen?"

"Buried, buried in the backyard. It was discovered on the 5th at the end of May. The dog's death...is there any problem?"

Zhao Youdao: "I'll send someone to your place to see this dog later."

Boss Wang was sweating profusely, holding Zhao You very nervously: "This... Could it be that someone is eyeing our house? Weng Qing died in our house, and that dog... Could it be saying, next time? One is me, right? Ah? Do we have to find someone to protect us??"

Xiao Man said: "There are no enemies outside, right?"

"No, really not!"

"Don't worry, just follow a procedure." Zhao You said, "The police just check everything, don't worry."

Boss Wang wiped his face, hurriedly left Zhao You and Xiao Man, and walked out of the forest by himself.Zhao You immediately contacted Zhu Zhao, asking him to bring someone to the grocery store in Huangguozi Village to find Boss Wang, and to do an autopsy on a dead dog.

After the phone call, Zhao You and Xiaoman continued to go deep into the mountains and forests. He asked, "What happened to the kid in that case in 98?"

Xiaoman said: "It's similar to this time. The child came home from school and found his mother's body. It was also at No. 64. At that time, his mother was the concubine of Boss Wang and his father in the grocery store."

"I suspect that this case in 98 was the first case committed by Lin Midong."

"Lin Midong should be an adult that year, right?" Zhao You thought for a while and said, "Why does this relationship between the characters look like an endless loop movie?"

Xiao Man said: "At that time, the policeman who handled the case asked the child if he saw the murderer or any suspicious person. The child was probably stimulated, so he didn't say a word. Later it was judged that he had autism. He was often bullied at school, his body was always covered with injuries, and once his head was cut open, the village government sent him directly to an orphanage and planned to send him to a special school."

"The Black Mountain Welfare Institute?"

Xiao Man nodded: "Ten years ago, the Montenegro Orphanage was still there. I checked the files, and the child's autism would have been cured after entering the Orphanage. Maybe it was because of a change of environment. The teacher at the Orphanage said that after knowing the child's After the experience, I specifically asked the teachers and helpers in the orphanage not to mention his mother or the case with him. The other children in the orphanage are either mentally handicapped or deaf-mute. They don’t usually get in touch with social news. He said that the child is far away from the controversy of public opinion, and he is gradually becoming more cheerful. When I contacted him, he was studying at a university in Nanjing. He was about to graduate at that time. My girlfriend in Nanjing said that she plans to stay in Nanjing forever."

"What major?"

"If you are engaged in the media, the job is to be the director of the TV station."

"That's pretty good." Zhao You looked around, "Lin Midong's hometown is here, right?"

Xiaoman didn't stop walking, walking among the mountains, pointed forward: "His family used to live in some small wooden house in the mountains."

"Do you remember how to get there?"

Xiaoman said: "I don't remember, I'm not familiar with this place. To be honest, I don't know the way when I enter the mountain." He stopped on the side of the road and asked Zhao You: "What about you? Do you know how to go down the mountain and you came up the mountain?" He looked back and said reluctantly, "I should have asked Boss Wang to come with me."

"Yeah, why did you forget to call him? He seems to know where the cabin is." Zhao You looked at Xiaoman awkwardly, Xiaoman forced a smile and asked him: "It's okay, what should we do now?"

Zhao You opened the phone map and said, "Yes, there is a signal, but the navigation has no route."

"Are you still going?" Xiao Man asked, rubbing his fingers.

Zhao You said: "Next time." He looked up at the sky, the dense tree canopy covered the sun, and the sky looked very dark, "Go back the same way, I still remember the way when I came, follow me let's go."

Xiaoman agreed, and the two turned back.From time to time, a light swept across the forest, casting beams of light on the ground, and the cicadas screamed loudly.They stomped leaves and branches.

Zhao You asked again: "You found out that Lin Midong was usually active near Ping'an Park, so did you also find out that his father is the barefoot doctor here?"

There was another "click", and Zhao You looked at Xiaoman.Xiaoman nodded.Zhao You walked downhill while supporting the tree beside him, and said: "He said in the files of the orphanage that his father died when he was ten years old, and he had no other relatives, so he was sent to the orphanage. His father was hungry. dead."

"How did you find out? I heard it's a confidential file now." Xiao Man said.

"Ah? Really?" Zhao You said, "Team Zhan told me about it. Ten years ago, he was also in the task force. After killing Lin Midong, Team Lei told them in a meeting."

Xiao Man walked up to Zhao You and said, "I suspect that his father Bigu cultivated immortality and starved himself to death." He stood on a dirt road stepped on by people, turned to look at Zhao You, and asked, "You and Yin Yin are not together?" Is the teacher okay? She told us that if she is not at home, no one knocks on the door, especially anyone who claims to be her mother or your mother."

Zhao You smiled.

"Are you laughing at me for changing the subject abruptly?" Xiaoman shrugged his shoulders pretending to be relaxed, his eyebrows raised accordingly, but the corners of his eyes drooped uncoordinatedly.The expression on his whole face was messed up.

"No, we just chat casually. You can say whatever you want. I laughed because you suddenly cared about my private life. Even if you changed the subject before, you wouldn't ask these questions," Zhao You said. Beside Xiaoman, at this time, he could already see the rice fields through the sun-dried pine trees in front of him, and he said, "Let me update you with the situation I have so far."