Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1025 The Allure of the Night (Revised)

The May wind, though warm and gentle, still couldn't blow away the sorrow on people's faces.

Famine refugees have appeared in the outer city, so several city gates are now under control. There's no other way but to control them. The relief soup shop at the Fire God Temple was looted by refugees, and there were even reported gunshots.

People on the streets and at the police station are on high alert, fearing problems might arise in their jurisdictions, so they have increased patrols.

The final outcome of the "bombing incidents" was that the initial four cases remained unsolved, while the others were all isolated incidents. The task force's final conclusion was: "It is suspected that the perpetrators were hired from out of town, and the perpetrators were young people." This brought the case to a close.

Given the current situation, the branch office put the incident on hold and focused its personnel on the city's defense and control. Although the four victims were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to accept it. In particular, Director Wang was summoned by her superiors and told to consider the bigger picture, since she had recovered and should return to her new work.

So far, the matter was considered closed, but to Director Wang's surprise, while she was busy with the rescue work for outsiders, another incident quietly occurred in courtyard number 95.

One day in mid-May, some people were going to school or work as usual, while those who stayed behind were searching for food all over the world. Every Monday, every household would send someone early with their food ration book to the grain station to wait and buy their ration.

Last night, Liu Haizhong made an appointment with Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family to go to the grain station to queue up in the morning. In order to buy good grain, they even took Monday off.

But Liu Haizhong waited and waited, and Yi Zhonghai didn't come to call him.
Still no sign of her, Liu Haizhong, who was also impatient, called his second son and headed towards the central courtyard. As soon as they arrived, they saw the door to the west wing open, and Qin Huairu came out with her family's grain ration book. Liu Haizhong greeted her and then went to knock on Yi Zhonghai's door.

Qin Huairu closed the door and just as she turned around, the door to the main room rang. Sha Zhu came out with the grain ration book, pretended to lock the door, then turned around and, as if they had bumped into each other by chance, said with a smile, "Sister Qin, what? You're going to buy grain too? What a coincidence, let's go together?"

Qin Huairu knew perfectly well that a cook who didn't get up before eight o'clock would go out to buy grain so early in the morning. But Qin Huairu smiled calmly and said, "What a coincidence. It just so happens that you are strong enough to help me carry it."

On the other side, Liu Haizhong ignored them and pounded on the Yi family's door, calling out, "Old Yi! Old Yi! Grandpa! Grandpa!"

After knocking three times, there was still no response from the Yi family. Liu Haizhong became anxious and pushed open the window next to him to look inside. What he saw startled him, and he said, "Old Yi has moved out. Why is the house all empty?"

Hearing what Liu Haizhong said, Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu were stunned. Just last night, Yi Zhonghai was playing chess and chatting with the neighbors in the yard. How could he have moved overnight? The two of them quickly ran to the window, pushed Liu Haizhong aside, and looked into the house.

Qin Huairu was the first to react. She saw what looked like two legs on the floor near the bedroom and immediately shouted, "Something's wrong! Sha Zhu, go call the police right now!"

Sha Zhu then realized what was happening, agreed, and ran outside. Liu Haizhong also realized what was happening and shouted, "I'll go with you."

Liu Haizhong was so eager to call the police because he felt he should be the first to notice something was wrong and should be the first to report it. He believed this was fulfilling his duty as the person in charge, and also a way to impress the police station leadership—maybe he'd get a commendation. However, Liu Haizhong overestimated his own size. He had barely reached the gate when he couldn't find Sha Zhu. Halfway there, just as he was about to rest and catch his breath, he saw Sha Zhu leading several policemen towards the courtyard.

Liu Haizhong's eyes darted around, and he tried to stop the group, but Sha Zhu shouted, "Second Uncle, hurry up! We don't even know what kind of couple the First Uncle and the First Aunt are."

Liu Haizhong's outstretched arm froze in mid-air. Before he could speak, he heard Director Qi shout, "Don't stop us! Saving lives is the priority. Hurry up!" The group ignored Liu Haizhong and ran towards courtyard number 95.

After panting for a while, Liu Haizhong dragged his heavy steps toward courtyard number ninety-five.

When Director Qi and his team arrived, a large crowd had gathered at the gate of the Yi family's house. Everyone wanted to peek inside, and the neighbors standing in the yard were all talking amongst themselves. Director Qi shouted, "Make way, make way, step back, step back! Sha Zhu, you stay here and block the neighbors, don't let anyone come forward."

Several policemen looked out the window, and Chief Qi directed someone to jump in through the window and open the door. As soon as the door opened, Chief Qi covered his nose and said, "There's sleeping potion. Everyone be careful. Xiao Wang, hurry back and find the forensic department to send someone to investigate the scene. Everyone, get out of here."

The policeman who went in first to open the door said, "Chief Qi, I see two people lying on the bedroom floor. Should we rescue them first?"

Director Qi was very experienced and knew that the person who had been drugged was only unconscious. He directed a few people to carry the person out and take her to the hospital. Director Qi turned around to ask if he had heard any noise last night, when he heard the voice of Liu Haizhong's daughter-in-law, Second Aunt, from the backyard, "Hurry up, something has happened to the old lady."

Director Qi led two people to the backyard, where they found the deaf old lady's door open. The old lady was lying unconscious at the door. Liu Haizhong's wife was frightened and dared not go forward, so she could only shout from there.

Director Qi then instructed two other people to take the deaf old lady to the hospital, and told them to make sure the hospital did everything possible to treat her, because the old lady had climbed out on her own, and she must know something.

Before long, the on-site investigation began. Several neighbors were watching the commotion outside, discussing it in twos and threes. Director Qi also organized people to start asking the people in the yard one by one, mainly asking if they had heard any noises at night.

Until noon, Director Qi had only received one clue: that he thought he heard a cat meowing on the roof last night. The clue came from Mr. Sun, who lived next door to Yi Zhonghai. Mr. Sun was old and a light sleeper, but he didn't hear anything unusual. There was only a cat meowing around 2 a.m., and then nothing else happened.

The on-site investigation yielded no clues, not even a footprint. But what puzzled them was that both Yi Zhonghai's house and the deaf old lady's house had been emptied out, leaving nothing behind, not even a shoe. That night, no one in the entire compound heard any noise. Wasn't this strange? Had everything just flown away on its own?

Director Qi looked at the on-site investigation records and interrogation records, feeling a headache coming on. At this moment, Director Wang arrived with her team. With such a big incident happening in her jurisdiction, she had no choice but to come.

(End of this chapter)