Chapter 673 - 559: Ten Days (Part 1)

Chapter 673: Chapter 559: Ten Days (Part 1)

Anjing. A conference room in the ministry headquarters.

Outside the window, the night was dark.

Xu Jinguang rose to his feet to greet the arriving Minister Liu.

There weren’t many long-unsolved domestic cold cases with enough influence and public attention to still matter. The November 2nd Serial Case was one of them.

By this year, it had been nearly a decade.

Xu Jinguang had been following it closely, and so, naturally, had Minister Liu.

Now that there was hope of a breakthrough, he had specifically made time to remotely observe the questioning of Yang Guofa.

The video feed was already set up.

On the large screen, a scene from the United States appeared.

It was daytime in the video, inside the hotel where Shen Xin and his team were staying.

Zheng Chengbao was leading the questioning.

Yang Guofa also appeared on camera. He looked at the lens, fidgeting nervously, and timidly asked if he was sitting in the right spot.

"It’s fine."

Zheng Chengbao’s tone was as warm as a spring breeze. He chuckled and handed Yang Guofa a bottle of water, telling him not to be nervous.

They had only told him that the entire process needed to be recorded, not that so many people were watching from behind the camera.

First, as required, they had Yang Guofa introduce himself.

After the introduction, Yang Guofa asked Zheng Chengbao where he should begin.

Zheng Chengbao paused for a moment in thought. "Let’s start from the very beginning," he said.

For a fleeting moment, a blank look crossed Yang Guofa’s face.

"The very beginning?"

Yang Guofa murmured to himself. He was silent for nearly a minute before he finally said slowly, "She was a good girl, really."

His thoughts drifted back through time, to November 30, 2008.

That was the day Yang Guofa first met Li Suhua.

...

The "Village Access Project" had only begun in 2003. Even in a prosperous place like Ningjiang, it wasn’t until around 2010 that road access was achieved for every village.

Thus, in ’08, the road from Wudu Yinping County to Liujiaping Town was far from an easy drive.

CLANG! A silver Santana 2000 drove over a shallow pothole, nearly sending the four people inside flying.

"Xiaoliu, slow down a bit," complained Ye Jiawan, the Director of the Nature Reserve’s Publicity Department, from the passenger seat. He quickly turned to ask the two people in the back if they were alright.

That year, Li Suhua was twenty-eight, youthful and beautiful.

She was also a graduate of the Communication University and had stayed in Anjing to work after graduation.

Living in the big city, her style of dress was fashionable and striking.

A long, red down jacket, cinched with a black belt to accentuate her figure.

But compared to the standards of the capital, her look was actually quite understated.

She hadn’t permed her hair. Her long, black hair was simply tied back in a ponytail, but it had been straightened, making it so smooth it shone. She also wore a hair tie with a small blue floral pattern.

Overall, she looked elegant and simple, but a lot of thought had been put into the details.

For example, she wore pearl stud earrings and had a silk scarf tied around her neck.

Most importantly, she was sweet and lovely, especially her skin. As the saying goes, "a fair complexion hides a hundred flaws," and hers was so fair it was radiant.

"We’re fine, we’re fine." The moment she spoke, her voice was that of a professional broadcaster—articulate, melodious, and pleasant to the ear. She even made a down-to-earth, self-deprecating joke to ease the awkwardness, saying there was no need to be so polite. She’d had her share of hardship growing up, she explained, recalling how she used to walk on "cement" roads to school that were really just one foot in water, the other in mud.

After speaking, she quickly glanced at Lu Weihong beside her, saw the equipment at his feet, and reminded him to put it on the seat between them.

To keep the camera from being damaged by the bumps.

That year, Lu Weihong was thirty. After knocking around in the real world for eight years and now working for a magazine, he still hadn’t completely shed the scholarly air of his student days.

He had the thick eyebrows and large eyes that the older generation favored, and he was lean. Dressed in a black windbreaker, he sat quietly, not saying much.

But the glances he cast toward Li Suhua were full of tenderness.

Ye Jiawan picked up his previous topic, passionately explaining the origin of the Rangshui River.

"They say that after the Sky God called a meeting with all the River Gods, the flood season arrived once again."

"Now, the River Gods had all agreed to the plan during the meeting, but when they saw the floodwaters cresting, they couldn’t hold them back. They started crying that they were ’clay buddhas crossing a river—unable to even save themselves.’ They threw the agreed-upon water-diversion rules to the wind and continued to drain their waters into the Bailong River."

"But among those eight river gods, there was one who was both wise and brave—the God of the Fanba River."

"He knew the other river gods couldn’t help it. Eight rivers all flow into the Bailong River. Who can we blame? Our Yinping is just blessed with natural treasures and an abundance of waterways."

"So he came up with an idea. He utilized all the large and small gullies and channels in his domain, diverting the floodwaters into these inlets and ravines to reduce the volume flowing into the Bailong River."

"He held on for forty-nine days straight, surviving the entire flood season. This allowed the people downstream to have a bountiful harvest. Even the Sky God praised the Fanba River God for his noble character and declared he should be rewarded."

"The Sky God then scattered handfuls of gold dust across the hundred-li riverbed of the Fanba River. And that’s why, since ancient times, there has been a gold rush along its banks."

"From then on, because of this act of ’yielding water,’ the Fanba River was renamed the Rangshui River."

Liujiaping was located on the banks of the Rangshui River, bordering Fanba Town to the east.

Li Suhua provided the perfect emotional response, giving Director Ye a thumbs-up. "Director Ye, you know so much!"

Praised by a beautiful woman, Ye Jiawan beamed, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile. He waved his hand modestly and pointed out the window, saying that although Yinping was poor, its natural scenery was beautiful.

Li Suhua nodded in deep agreement.

Outside the window, mountains stretched endlessly. With the onset of winter, the weather was freezing, but because they were on the North Slope of Mount Motianling, there were still vast evergreen coniferous forests, creating a scene where decay and vitality coexisted.

Li Suhua nudged Lu Weihong beside her with her arm, telling him to get his camera and shoot some scenic footage.

The car was bumping around so much that Director Ye just told the driver to stop so Lu Weihong could get some good shots.

He also insisted on taking a souvenir photo with Li Suhua.

Noticing Ye Jiawan trying to inch closer to Li Suhua, both intentionally and unintentionally, Li Suhua masked her awkwardness and reluctance with a formulaic smile. Lu Weihong shook his head inwardly and pressed the shutter.

The two of them hadn’t majored in the same subject, but they had attended the same university.

They met at a student union event.

If it wasn’t love at first sight, it was pretty close.

And Li Suhua had plenty of suitors back then; the girl had been beautiful her whole life.

But what made Lu Weihong proud was that he was the one who came out on top in the end.

The journey from the county seat to Liujiaping was sixty or seventy kilometers, all on winding mountain roads.

They had set out just after nine in the morning but didn’t reach the patrol station until almost one in the afternoon.

They had called ahead, so while there wasn’t a welcome banner, the station chief, Wang Wengang, had already prepared a welcoming banquet and was just waiting for the group to arrive so they could begin.

As the group entered the small cafeteria on the side of the patrol station’s main building, they ran into some patrol officers who were just coming out.

"Lao Liu!"

Wang Wengang called out to one of them.

It was Liu Baoli, holding a freshly scrubbed yellow enamel bowl, with two other men beside him.

One of them was Yang Guofa.

That year, Yang Guofa was twenty-seven. He was thin and dark-skinned. As the weather turned cold, he wore a grayish-black cotton-padded jacket that was so worn it had a sheen, and even then, he was hunched over with his neck pulled in, shivering like a wretch.

The patrol station had dormitories, but as a single man who spent all day running around in the mountains, his personal hygiene was what you’d expect.

His hair was a messy bird’s nest, and he didn’t bother to neatly trim his beard—he just gave it a random snip with scissors, leaving it uneven.

When he saw the bright and beautiful Li Suhua, he, like his colleagues, froze, his eyes staring blankly.

Liu Baoli was married and had children. He was a bit surprised to suddenly see such a fashionable, pretty woman from the city, but he immediately adjusted his composure.

He was already married, forty-two years old; how could he still act like a young buck?

Wang Wengang introduced both parties and then said, "Lao Liu, this time we have major reporters here to do a story, so you need to cooperate fully. Come on, join me for a couple of drinks and get to know them."

The patrol station now had two patrol teams. However, Team Two had just been expanded and established, so the most senior and experienced member was still Liu Baoli, the leader of Team One.

Therefore, it was inevitable that Liu Baoli would be needed to assist with the reporting work ahead.

"Captain Liu, hello, a pleasure to meet you."

Li Suhua quickly stepped forward and shook Liu Baoli’s hand with a beaming smile.

Liu Baoli discreetly wiped his right hand on his cotton jacket before taking hers.

One hand was rough and dark, the other fair and radiant.

Liu Baoli handed his bowl to a colleague and turned to follow the group into the cafeteria.

As soon as they left, the remaining men started to gossip.

That year, Zhou Huayong was also on the team.

Zhou Huayong was there for that first meeting. He was wearing a cotton jacket so short it exposed his wrists. Sniffling his red nose, he said, "These city women really know how to dress up. She looks like a star from a calendar."

Another man chuckled. "It’s not just about dressing up; the key is being good-looking to begin with. Look at our station chief’s wife. She wears makeup too, but is it the same?"

Yang Guofa nodded in fervent agreement.

The station chief’s wife was as fat as Zhu Bajie.

Once men started on this topic, there was no stopping them.

Yang Guofa had just been transferred here last year. He was a man of few words and wasn’t very familiar with his colleagues yet. He wanted to join the conversation but was shut down when someone teased, "What would you know? You’ve never even held a girl’s hand."

...

"They arrived on November 30th. Anyway, over the next two days, I felt like everyone at the station, top to bottom, couldn’t help but like that girl."

"It wasn’t just because she was pretty. It was mainly her personality. She was polite to everyone, spoke pleasantly and appropriately. Even the kids outside the patrol station loved her; they’d chase after her asking for candy."

"The next day, she even joined our morning meeting. She told us about life in Anjing, about the Olympics opening ceremony, and said she’d even been there in person."

"After the meeting, she interviewed us. She even interviewed me separately, asking me what kind of person Liu Baoli was, and how I was adjusting to the work since I’d just been transferred."

"She was really nice."

Times had changed, and thinking back on these old memories, Yang Guofa was filled with emotion.

But mixed in with that emotion was a deep sense of guilt and regret.

"Later, I often thought about it. Sometimes I think, it was really Lao Liu’s fault. He was just too upright. Or rather, so upright he was almost hypocritical."

"He seemed to treat everyone equally, but to put it bluntly, wasn’t he just one of those people who tries too hard to be nice to everyone?"

"And when Li Suhua planned to make him the focus of her story, are you telling me he didn’t feel even a little urge to show off?"

"If he hadn’t overreached and tried to catch Wang Shulin, I don’t think Wang Shulin would have gotten any crooked ideas."

"But look how it turned out. Shouldn’t he be the one to blame?"

Speaking of Liu Baoli, Yang Guofa was filled with a kind of righteous indignation.

Shen Xin and the others were all there, listening silently from off-camera.

Hearing Yang Guofa’s words, a thought struck Shen Xin. ’What does he mean, "catch Wang Shulin"?’