At 9:30 in the morning, Wu Dongyan received a call from Ran Manman. During the call, she said that she accidentally injured Wei Liang.
Ran Manman was sobbing on the phone and couldn't even speak clearly. Lin Shuyue happened to be with Wu Dongyan, and after hearing what she said, she walked towards the community where Ran Manman rented.
When they arrived, Ran Manman was sitting in the living room, and Wei Liang was tied to a stool with a rag stuffed in his mouth.
After looking around and not seeing any bloodstains, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Ran Manman was still sitting on the sofa in a daze. Half of her face was swollen, the corner of her mouth was also swollen, and there were traces of tears on her face.
"Ran Manman?"
Wu Dongyan's cry brought Ran Manman back to her senses. She looked at Wu Dongyan and others in police uniforms, and tears suddenly fell.
"I was cleaning the house this morning when Wei Liang came in pretending to be a water meter reader. As soon as he came in, he started choking me." Ran Manman looked at Wei Liang, hatred pouring out of her eyes.
She really didn't expect that the man who begged her not to divorce yesterday and sent her messages talking about love at night would come to her house this morning and beat her up.
Even now, Ran Manman still remembers the feeling of suffocation vividly. She unconsciously touched her neck, and the dryness and pain in her throat became more obvious.
She said, "If my brother hadn't arrived in time, I would have been strangled to death by him."
Ran Manman never hid her desire for a divorce from her family. She called home last night and her brother came over this morning.
They all knew the Wei family too well. Except for Wei Yu, they were all cold-hearted. Wei Liang seemed okay on weekdays, but he knew that she had filed for divorce before and that the Wei family had put pressure on her family.
As a husband, he had never fought for her. She had long understood that all those things he had said before, such as moving to her dowry house for her and coming to Pengcheng to work for her, were just because he wanted a legitimate reason to do them.
So during the years she was with Wei Liang, her reputation was always bad no matter where she went. She saw it clearly, so she no longer cared about it.
But today's Wei Liang still made her feel scared. He was too scary. This man was too scary.
It was at this moment that she was absolutely certain that he knew exactly what Xing Yueya and Wei Rongzhen had done to Wei Yu.
But because he wasn't the one being hurt, and no matter how Xing Yueya and Wei Rongzhen treated Wei Yu, it didn't harm his interests, he turned a blind eye. He pretended to know nothing, feeling at ease and guiltless as he worked for Wei Yu. He repeatedly contacted Wei Yu, attempting to kidnap her by using the small favors he had shown her. What was his ultimate goal?
This morning, Ran Manman didn't dare to think too deeply about it. She even dared not think about the extra money that appeared in Wei Liang's card shortly after Xinxin was brought to Wei Rongzhen, and how he had suddenly been promoted from a front-line employee at the hydropower station to a member of the office logistics team.
There are many people, little work, and good benefits. It is much better than the previous front-line staff.
For the first time, Ran Manman discovered that the man beside her was so shameless and despicable! She was especially grateful to Wei Yu at this moment. If Wei Yu hadn't reminded her that year to be wary of the Wei family, she might have been sold out and had to pay for the Wei family money.
Ran Manman's hands were shaking, and her story made Wei Liang struggle hard while sitting on the stool.
Wu Dongyan and the other man glanced at him and asked, "Where's your brother?"
"The nursery teacher called and said Xinxin was crying a lot at school, so I asked my brother to pick her up."
Wei Xinxin was at a kindergarten near Ran Manman's rented house. It only took ten minutes to go there and back. As she was talking, the sound of conversation outside came into the house.
"Uncle, I want an Ultraman. All the kids in our class have one. Last time my mom gave me money to buy one, but then I met my dad. He took my money and told me that Ultraman is a toy for boys and girls can't play with it." Xinxin's voice was strong and soft, but the content of her words made Ran Manman feel sad.
Just like Wei Rongzhen didn't treat his daughter as a human being, in Wei Liang's eyes, his daughter wasn't a human being either. It was just that Wei Liang disguised himself because of the general environment.
However, no matter how much one pretends, he cannot pretend to be meticulous in details. For example, as Xinxin said, he even needs a child's pocket money.
Wei Liang is also a man with a proper job and a good monthly salary. He even takes away the child's pocket money of one or two yuan. Is he dead poor?
Xinxin walked into the house holding the hand of Ran Manman's brother. When the uncle and nephew saw the police, they paused at the same time. Xinxin ran to Ran Manman and buried herself in her arms, while Ran Manman's brother was taken aside by Wu Dongyan for questioning.
Everyone was present, and Wei Liang had been untied. The rag on his mouth was also removed. He stretched his hands, which were numb and swollen from being tied up. "Comrade police, we just had a little quarrel. There's no need for you to come to my house, right?"
Wei Liang had already figured out how to escape when Ran Manman's brother subdued him. For millennia, under the Chinese national conditions, a fight between a couple, or a one-sided assault by one, would be deemed a family affair after just a few words.
The saying "even an honest judge cannot judge family disputes" has been passed down for thousands of years. Wei Liang has learned many of his father's essential teachings from childhood.
Besides, if Ran Manman said he broke into a house and killed someone, did he really do that? Does anyone have any evidence to prove it?
Wei Liang was certain that the police had no way to deal with him. There were no injuries on Ran Manman's body, and the appraisal showed that they were not even minor injuries. If the police arrested him, they would at most give him a verbal education.
Lin Shuyue listened to Wei Liang's shameless words, but her eyes fell on a black bulge on the chest of drawers in the corner.
Ran Manman curled the corners of her mouth and sneered. She had known what kind of person Wei Liang was for a long time, but every time, Wei Liang could refresh the bottom line of the impression he had of her.
"I installed surveillance." Ran Manman's words made Wei Liang's face darken.
"Are you sick? Why are you putting surveillance cameras at home?"
"If I hadn't put up the surveillance camera, how would I know you were such a beast?" Ran Manman installed the surveillance camera to prevent any possible trouble. It had only been installed for a few days. When Xing Yueya entered the hot spring villa sanatorium, Ran Manman was planning to divorce Wei Liang.
But before she could get the divorce, Xing Yueya got into trouble.
The couple started arguing. The police who came with Wu Dongyan tried to persuade them but failed. Wu Dongyan then followed Ran Manman's brother to the second bedroom, where there was a computer. After watching the morning's surveillance footage, Wu Dongyan personally handcuffed Wei Liang.
Judging from Wei Liang's attitude and words when he rushed in, as long as Ran Manman did not change her confession and let him go, he would not be able to escape the charge of intentional homicide.
Ran Manman and her brother took little Xinxin with them. Xinxin was not very curious about her father being arrested. She was even looking around with great interest in Ran Manman's brother's arms.
Lin Shuyue did not go back to the Public Security Bureau with them. She watched Wu Dongyan and others walk away.
The wind blew her hair. Lin Shuyue thought that Wei Xinxin was much luckier than Wei Yu because her mother loved and protected her. In addition, she was still young when Wei Rongzhen molested her, so those things didn't affect her much.
Lin Shuyue didn't drive, nor was she in a hurry to leave. Instead, she walked slowly along the roadside.
It is already the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and the festive atmosphere on the streets is even stronger. Some shops have already started playing New Year songs.
There were many more stalls selling chrysanthemums and orange trees along the street. Some people had also started selling lanterns and couplets. There were also many beggars and performers.
People selling various small commodities were also waiting to make a final profit before the New Year. Lin Shuyue caught several pickpockets along the way and handed them over to the patrolling police nearby. By the afternoon, she had earned more than 700 points.
Just as she was about to make further progress, she received a call from Lou Fengqin. Lin Shuyue heard that her tone was not very good, so she decided to call it a day and go home.
As soon as she reached the door, she could hear the voice broadcast of the good and evil discrimination system.
[ Ding ~~~ Congratulations to the host for assisting the police in solving the 'Nursing Home Murder Case'. This mission rewards 30 years of life, RMB x 6000, and points x 30000. ]
The system, which has been upgraded for the fourth time, no longer gives each case a name as before. Instead, it directly marks the crime value of the suspect, which means the case is opened.
The mission is over when the murderer is caught and confesses.
This unusual system voice broadcast made Lin Shuyue stop abruptly.
To be honest, this case is not a particularly big case. It cannot be compared with many previous cases and is particularly easy to solve. She did not actually play a big role in this case.
The reward of RMB 6,000 was nothing, but the thirty years of life value and 30,000 points were something Lin Shuyue had not expected.
[ System, are you bug? ] This was Lin Shuyue's only thought after hearing about choosing this reward.
She no longer needs to worry about her life value. Her life value has reached more than ten years now. Adding the thirty years of the system, she has a lifespan of more than forty years.
She is now twenty-one years old, and with a lifespan of more than forty years, she can live to be over sixty. Lin Shuyue's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad premonition.
[ Ding ~~~ System self-checking in progress. Ding ~~~ Self-checking completed. Everything is normal in this system. ]
Since the system is normal, then...
[ System, are you leaving? ]
[ Yes, host. Since this system has been bound to you, it has solved many cases and rescued many people. Part of its merit has been returned to you, and part has become nourishment for the system. As of today, the energy pool of this system has accumulated 97% of its energy value. When the energy value is full, this system will be separated from the host. ]
After hearing the system's confirmation, Lin Shuyue couldn't tell what she felt for a moment.
She has been bound to the system until now. In Lin Shuyue's heart, the system has become her best partner.
Lin Shuyue had thought that it would leave, but she didn't expect that this day would come so soon. She was reluctant to let it leave. How could she describe this feeling? It was like a comrade-in-arms who was particularly good to her was about to leave. The sadness and reluctance made her particularly uncomfortable.
The Good and Evil Discrimination System sensed the host's mental fluctuations and proactively said: [ Host, don't worry. When the system leaves, it will leave you with a standalone version. The host can manually operate this system in the future. ]
This sentence did not bring much comfort to Lin Shuyue, and she was still very sad.
Lin Shuxing came out carrying the trash and saw her standing stupidly at the door. He came up and touched Lin Shuyue's forehead: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
After Lin Shuxing's pregnancy reaction ended, her belly swelled up like a balloon. She herself was not that fat, but she was much rounder than before.
"I'm fine, where's Mom?"
"Inside the house, I made some bone soup. We're going to have hot pot later. Ah Yang and the others picked a lot of cauliflower when they came back today. They're delicious with hot pot."
"Okay." Ah Yang and his classmates have finished their exams and are officially on holiday today.
When Lin Shuyue entered the house, she saw her grandmother Lu Xiangcao and her aunt. They were sitting in the yard, and her aunt was peeling fruit for Lu Xiangcao.
Lin Shuyue greeted them and went into the kitchen. Lou Fengqin was chopping radishes. Seeing Lin Shuyue, she said, "Your grandmother and your aunt have been living with us for a while. The nursing home's environment and services are good, but it's too unsafe."
"You know, the one who died, Xing Yueya, her daughter dressed up as a nurse and walked into her ward to give her an injection." Lou Fengqin went to the sanatorium early yesterday morning after receiving the news.
Wei Yu's actions were also discovered. Fan Damei sent a message to Wei Yu before she was discovered by Lin Shuyue and others.
Wei Yu went straight to the nursing home early in the morning. With the help of Fan Damei, she put on the clothes of a nursing home center nurse and hid herself.
After Fan Damei was arrested, she found an opportunity and went up to give Xing Yueya an injection.
After beating her, she escaped by climbing over the wall. It was precisely because of this that even though Xing Yueya had not died in the sanatorium, the original residents of the sanatorium no longer trusted the sanatorium's security.
Who can guarantee that they don't have one or two enemies? Lou Fengqin's family didn't want Lu Xiangcao to live there anymore.
Since there are many rooms at home, they just let Lu Xiangcao and her aunt live here.
No one in their aunt's family objected. They had even decided to rent a house in Pingsha Village in a couple of days, ready to move in when the demolition happened.
"It's better to stay at home. It's more lively and more crowded to celebrate the New Year here."
Lin Shuyue's words touched Lou Fengqin's heart. A lot of things happened last year, but Lin Jianxin went to prison, her son Ah Yang was found, her eldest daughter got married and her grandson was about to be born. She had a companion who could accompany her until old age, and she also had two more daughters.
Now her mother has arrived, and her eldest brother, who has always been kind to her, and his family are about to move into the village. Lou Fengqin feels that after all her years, this year has been the most fulfilling.
They must have a good time this New Year.
Lin Shuyue talked to Lou Fengqin for a while and then returned to the room. Passing by the living room, it was very lively. Zeng Xiaoyi and Bai Pingping each played a harmonica slowly according to the music score. If there was anything they didn't understand, they would stop to discuss it.
Zhou Bingrong and Ah Hao came. Ah Hao and Ah Yang were sitting on the mat on the ground, playing video games with game controllers. Zhou Bingrong was watching the game from the side, giving Ah Yang and Ah Hao some advice from time to time.
When they saw Lin Shuyue, everyone happily called her "Second Sister".
Ah Hao and Zhou Bingrong often come to Lin Shuyue's house and have already regarded Lin Shuyue's house as their second home. Lin Shuyue didn't bother to be polite with them. After saying a few words, she went back to her room.
When she got to the room, she lay on the bed, feeling listless. Knowing that she had to separate from the good and evil system, she felt very uncomfortable.
[ System, when will you leave? ]
[ The system can leave the energy pool once it reaches 100% energy. ]
Lin Shuyue hummed, but remained silent. She was carefully considering the system's words today. To fill the energy pool, one needed merit.
As for merit, she needs to prevent the case from happening and save the innocent victims who died later in the case.
Things that Lin Shuyue had not figured out before, she now understood. Since she bound this system, all the cases discovered were major cases. It turned out that it was all because of this, because of merit.
Perhaps her life value was also due to this merit? After all, judging from what she had learned at her brother-in-law's house, she should have died the moment she awakened her memories of her previous life and was bound to the system.
Now that the system's energy pool is almost full, it has added that much health to her. Thinking of this, Lin Shuyue suddenly felt relieved.
"Second sister, it's time for dinner." While Lin Shuyue was analyzing, Ah Yang's voice came from outside the house.
Lin Shuyue got up, put on her furry slippers, and went out. The large round table in the living room was set up for two people. Her uncle, his two children, and Lin Shuyue's cousins were all there. The whole family was beaming with smiles, and their faces were full of warmth as they spoke to Lin Shuyue and her family.
After dinner, the family watched TV together. The movie on TV was "The Monkey King". This movie was shown every year and every month, but the ratings have never been low.
At 8:30 in the evening, Lin Shuyue's cell phone rang. She picked it up and saw that it was Hang Jiabai calling.
Lin Shuyue picked up the phone: "Ah Bai?"
"Well, I'm here, please come out for a moment." Hang Jiabai's voice was low and magnetic.
Lin Shuyue's face lit up with joy: "You're back?"
As she spoke, she ran outside without even putting on her coat and opened the door. The street light at the door was dim and a young man was standing under the light. He was wearing a jacket that was dyed a warm yellow by the dim light and holding a bouquet of red roses in his hand.
Lin Shuyue hung up the phone and ran towards him. He opened his arms and Lin Shuyue ran into his arms.
The familiar scent of soap entered her nose, and with it a sense of security that Lin Shuyue couldn't describe, the two hugged each other tightly.
Lou Fengqin saw Lin Shuyue go out after answering the phone without wearing a coat. She was afraid that she would catch a cold, so she followed her out. Seeing the two people hugging each other tightly outside, she thought for a moment, turned around, went home, and went into the kitchen to start chopping ginger.
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai seemed unaware of it. After waiting for who knows how long, they separated. The wind was a bit chilly tonight, and Lin Shuyue was wearing a long-sleeved base layer. Before she felt cold, Hang Jiabai had already put the flowers on the ground and took off his coat.
The familiar warm breath enveloped her body, and Lin Shuyue coughed: "When did you come back?"
Hang Jiabai squatted down and picked up the flowers, and Lin Shuyue naturally reached out to take them.
"I finished my exams this morning and had a flight at 5 p.m. I came here after dropping my things off at my residence." Hang Jiabai hadn't seen Lin Shuyue for more than half a month. A lot of things had happened during the months they had been apart, and Hang Jiabai had heard about them. He looked at Lin Shuyue carefully and was relieved to see that she had no injuries on her body.
"Why didn't you tell me this morning? You even lied to me and said that you had a closed class to attend." Lin Shuyue had been in constant contact with Hang Jiabai today. Hang Jiabai was really tight-lipped and he didn't reveal anything about his return.
Lin Shuyue thought about it now and gave Hang Jiabai a coquettish look.
Hang Jiabai smiled as he looked at Lin Shuyue, whose beauty was enhanced by the roses under the street lights. He felt his chest soft and warm.
"I wanted to give you a surprise."
Lin Shuyue smiled: "It's really a surprise. Have you eaten?"
Hang Jiabai shook his head. Lin Shuyue pulled Hang Jiabai into the house. Lou Fengqin was standing at the kitchen door. Seeing them come in, she hurriedly said, "Xiao Hang is here too? Come and have some ginger soup. Have you eaten yet? I made some bone soup. Can I make you some rice noodles?"
There are many children in my family, and they are all in their teens, which is the age when they can eat. They always have rice noodles and other things at home, and there is never any leftover every day.
Sometimes in the middle of the night, when Lou Fengqin got up to go to the bathroom, she could still hear Ah Yang and the others shouting and yelling for supper.
Hang Jiabai was not afraid to see Lou Fengqin. He thanked Lou Fengqin with a smile on his face and said frankly: "Thank you, Auntie."
Lou Fengqin was very satisfied with Hang Jiabai. She said to Lin Shuyue, "Take Xiao Hang into the living room and return the clothes to him. You went out without clothes, and you might catch a cold."
Lin Shuyue had long been accustomed to Lou Fengqin's nagging. She perfunctorily dealt with her while pulling Hang Jiabai into the house. Everyone in the room turned around to look, and Hang Jiabai even paused.
Lin Shuyue introduced her family to him. After her introduction, Hang Jiabai greeted everyone very politely.
Bai Wenhua was already very familiar with him, so he called him over and poured him a cup of tea. Lin Shuyue put the flowers in her hand on the cabinet next to the TV, took off his coat and gave it to him, put on her own coat, and went to the kitchen to help Lou Fengqin.
When she came back with the ginger tea, Hang Jiabai, Bai Wenhua, Luo Zhengjun, their uncle, and their cousin were already chatting animatedly.
In such a lively family, Hang Jiabai drank a bowl of spicy and pungent ginger soup and ate a bowl of rice noodles with big bone soup. At ten o'clock, he was already exhausted and was left to live in the room in the house that was bought by Bai Wenhua.
When they woke up, it was already broad daylight. Except for her aunt and Lu Xiangcao, everyone in her uncle's family had left. Bai Wenhua and Lou Fengqin went to the store to help. Lin Shuxing and Luo Zhengjun also left. Bai Pingping and the other two also wanted to go to Ah Hao's house to play, so they left early.
Only Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai were at home.
The two of them were intimate in Lin Shuyue's room for a long time. When they came out of Lin Shuyue's room, Lin Shuyue's body was soft and her lips were red. Occasionally she glanced at Hang Jiabai, her eyes were like hooks, making Hang Jiabai's heart beat like a drum.
Hang Jiabai ran ten kilometers and never felt his heart beating so fast.
"Let's go." Lin Shuyue didn't drive over. The two took a taxi to Xijiang Apartment. Lin Shuyue drove and took Hang Jiabai to his house.
He did not live with his grandmother Liu Wushuang, but instead lived in a community not far from the Public Security Bureau.
The community is very old and there are some mold spots on the exterior walls due to wind and sun.
There was no parking lot in the community, so Lin Shuyue parked her car outside the community and walked into the community hand in hand with Hang Jiabai.
The community is not big, with the gate as the dividing line. There are two six-story buildings on each side, with six units on each floor and two households in each unit.
The room Hang Jiabai bought was 203 on the second floor of a three-unit building. He took out his key and opened the door, and was greeted by a scent of soap that was exactly the same as the scent on Hang Jiabai's body.
Lin Shuyue walked in and Hang Jiabai closed the door behind her.
"I bought this house with my salary the year I first started working because the owner was in a hurry to sell. So the price was not expensive, and since it's an old neighborhood, it was 80,000 yuan."
"I borrowed a lot of money from colleagues to buy this house. When I paid it back, I couldn't even afford instant noodles in a bucket, let alone cigarettes."
The room has two bedrooms and a living room. The kitchen is right in front of the door. The second bedroom is to the left of the kitchen, and the living room is to the right. The master bedroom and bathroom are both next to the living room.
The window in the living room was very large and closed. Hang Jiabai went to open it, and a cold wind blew in, blowing away the smell in the room.
Lin Shuyue was sitting on the brown leather chair in the living room, and the off-white tiles on the floor were spotless.
"Isn't Teacher Liu your grandmother? They don't give you money?"
Hang Jiabai placed an unopened bucket of water on the water dispenser in the living room, turned on the heating function, and then took out a bag of tea from the drawer of the TV cabinet.
"They gave me the house and land when I came of age, but I always feel that the house I bought with my own money is different."
Lin Shuyue agreed with this point.
The two of them stayed in the room for a while, drank two cups of tea brewed by Hang Jiabai, and then Lin Shuyue and the other person went out.
Hang Jiabai will not report until tomorrow, so the two of them plan to go see a movie today.
There is a small shopping mall directly opposite this community, and there is a cinema on the fourth floor of the mall.
The two did not drive, but walked hand in hand. Just as they reached the entrance of the mall, a girl of seven or eight years old blocked their way.
"Big brother, your girlfriend is so pretty, how about buying her some flowers? One yuan a flower, not expensive."
The two looked down and saw that the little girl was wearing a red cotton coat that didn't fit her well. The sleeves were black and stiff, her pants had a hole in them, and the shoes she was wearing were obviously ill-fitting.
Her hair was messy and she was very thin, which made her eyes look particularly big. Because she was exposed to the wind and sun all year round, her face had varying degrees of redness and cracking.
Hang Jiabai took out his wallet, took out fifty yuan and handed it to the little girl, saying to her seriously, "Sell it all to me, no need to give me the change. Thank you for your compliment, I think she is very beautiful, and your flowers are beautiful too."
The little girl looked at the green fifty-yuan note and smiled happily, and blood immediately oozed out from the cracks on her lips.
She seemed to feel no pain, and auspicious words came out one after another: "Thank you, big brother and big sister, I wish you a happy marriage and a son soon."
She took out all the flowers from the basket—ten red roses, their heads wrapped in plastic bags and their stems very thin. She carefully handed them to Hang Jiabai and then skipped away.
Hang Jiabai gave the flowers to Lin Shuyue and said, "Let's go. Are you hungry?"
"Not hungry, but thirsty."
"Then let's go buy some water."
There are some snack shops at the front of the square. Every household has a refrigerator with some drinks. Lin Shuyue is drinking the Vitasoy bought by Hang Jiabai while waiting for him to pay.
Turning around, she saw a little girl selling flowers standing in front of a short man in the corner of the square, and her basket, which had just been empty, was filled with flowers again.
The extra money that Hang Jiabai had just given was snatched away by the man. The little girl lowered her head, and the man tapped her head with his hand and walked away.
The little girl wiped her tears with her fingers, then struggled to pick up the flowers in the basket and continued to look for customers on the side of the road.
Some people would stop to listen to her, some would simply ignore her, and some would even push her away with an impatient tone and walk away.
The little girl was used to being rejected. No matter how she was treated, her expression didn't change and she continued to look for the next person.
Next to her was a stall selling grilled tofu. Today was not the weekend nor was it the end of the day, so there were not many customers.
Seeing Hang Jiabai holding flowers and looking at the girl selling flowers, she asked, "Both of you, are the flowers you bought from that girl?"
Lin Shuyue turned to look at her, but before she could say anything, the proprietress continued, "You are kind-hearted. But it would be better if you didn't buy it."
"The girl only had to sell 20 flowers a day. If she didn't sell any, she would be beaten and have no food to eat. But if she did, she would have to sell half as many flowers that day. If she didn't sell any, she would still be beaten."
"Poor thing." The proprietress secretly pointed at a disabled beggar kneeling on the ground and whispered, "See? He's also in the same group as the flower seller."