Chapter 836: The Death of Their Parents

“How did Uncle Wang die?” Chen Shi asked.

“One year, Uncle Wang was adding an attic to his house. He had just paid off his debts, so I asked where he got the money for the renovation. He smiled and said he borrowed it, but it was okay because he’d have money soon. That night, the two rice harvesters visited him. I saw them standing on the unfinished top floor, talking. Uncle Wang seemed to get more and more agitated. Later, when I was about to sleep, I heard a loud bang. I thought someone’s cured meat fell off the line. The next morning, the villagers found Uncle Wang dead, having fallen from his roof. The door was locked from the inside. The police investigated and ruled it a suicide, noting he had drunk a lot. The case was closed, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. During the harvest, I cautiously asked Chu Wei about Uncle Wang’s death. He patted my neck and smiled, saying, ‘Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t. Otherwise, you might accidentally fall off a roof yourself.’”

“Uncle Wang knew their secret and tried to blackmail them, so they silenced him?” Chen Shi speculated.

“I thought so too, but I was too scared to say it out loud. I’m a coward; I didn’t dare provoke them… Uncle Wang wasn’t the only one who quit halfway. One year at the end-of-year banquet, a regular attendee was missing. I asked about him, and his fellow villagers just shook their heads furiously, telling me not to mention it.”

“If you were so afraid, why did you keep dealing with them?” Chen Shi asked.

Jia Laosi hung his head in shame. “The first year I made fifty thousand, then another fifty thousand the next year. I couldn’t imagine not making that money the third year… You won’t arrest me, will you?”

“What did you do that warrants arrest?”

Hearing this, Jia Laosi breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, thank you, officer.”

“Don’t be too happy. Whether you’re guilty of withholding information or aiding them depends on your cooperation. Stay put and give us your contact information. When we need you to testify, you come and tell the truth, just like today.”

“Of course, of course!”

“One more question: do you know where the rice growers live?”

Jia Laosi shook his head. “They’re very secretive. They never reveal anything personal. I’m not even sure if they’re men… I mean, they never even use the bathroom in front of me.”

“I see.”

Leaving the guesthouse, Chen Shi suddenly stared into the distance and said, “Damn it.” Lin Dongxue asked what was wrong, and Chen Shi replied, “I’m starving!”

They found a small restaurant and ordered some local dishes. Small-town restaurants are hit or miss, but today they got lucky; the food was quite good.

“At least we’ve made some progress. Where to next? Back to Wangchenggang?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Is everything ready?” Chen Shi asked.

Lin Dongxue called Lin Qiupu while eating. After a brief conversation, she said, “My brother says they couldn’t track the harvesters’ phone signals. We don’t need to go back to Wangchenggang. They’re wrapping up there.”

“Figures it wouldn’t be that easy. No surveillance here, so we’ll have to use old-fashioned methods.”

“The good news is the killer left DNA behind. We should have results by tomorrow. If they have a record, we can identify them.”

“Then let’s head back after lunch. It’ll be dark by the time we reach Long’an.”

“Six hours on the road in a day. This case is a tough one,” Lin Dongxue smiled wryly.

After lunch, they started driving back. Lin Dongxue practiced her driving while Chen Shi took a nap in the passenger seat. The afternoon sun in May was blinding through the windshield. Chen Shi woke from a nightmare, startling Lin Dongxue, who asked what he dreamt about.

“I dreamt something happened to Yueyue. Scared me to death,” Chen Shi said.

“Haha, shows she’s the one you care about most. When was the last time you dreamt of me?”

“Dreams come from anxiety. I’m not anxious about you, so I don’t dream of you.”

“Nice dodge! We’re almost there.”

Just then, Lin Dongxue’s phone rang. She couldn’t take it, so Chen Shi put it on speaker. Lin Qiupu asked, “Are you back in the city?”

“In twenty minutes.”

“Come to the station.”

The call ended. Although Lin Qiupu was always serious, he rarely spoke to Lin Dongxue in such a stern tone. She wondered what urgent matter it could be, hoping she hadn’t done something wrong.

“Should I come?” Chen Shi asked.

“Up to you.”

At that moment, Chen Shi’s phone rang. It was the agricultural professor. He put it on speaker. The professor said, “Mr. Chen, I reviewed the data and did some basic tests on the rice. It… it’s just ordinary rice.”

“Isn’t it genetically modified?”

“Yes, but just a common GMO.”

“Where are you now? At school? Home?”

“Don’t come looking for me!”

The call abruptly ended.

Chen Shi stared at his phone, puzzled. “Could he have been threatened?”

“We just saw him this morning. Could someone have threatened him so quickly?”

“If so, it means someone is watching us.”

Lin Dongxue glanced in the rearview mirror. Chen Shi said, “You go to the station and trace the professor’s phone. I’ll go find him.”

“Got it!”

They split up. Lin Dongxue went to the station, handled the phone tracing, and then went to see Lin Qiupu.

Lin Qiupu was sitting in his office, tapping the table and frowning. When Lin Dongxue entered, he told her to close the door and asked, “Do you remember how Mom and Dad died?”

Lin Dongxue raised her eyebrows slightly. Lin Qiupu never brought this up. She said, “A car accident.”

“Yes, a car accident. A truck carrying cement pipes failed to secure its load, and the pipes rolled off, crushing their car. Their bodies were unrecognizable…” Lin Qiupu’s expression darkened as he recalled the incident. It had a profound impact on him; he was almost in junior high at the time, while Lin Dongxue was only seven and her memories were hazy.

“Why bring this up now?”

Lin Qiupu handed her a file containing detailed information on a fugitive. As she read, Lin Dongxue saw that the suspect was implicated in the accidental deaths of a couple—her parents.

In addition to their deaths, the suspect had committed other murders. When he caused the accident, he was already a wanted criminal.

“The DNA results are out. He’s one of the rice harvesters we’re looking for. What shocks me isn’t that he killed our parents, but that he’s a repeat offender. Our parents’ deaths might have been murder!”