Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Jingzhou Old Town, 4:20 PM.

"Director Lu, the patterns match."

Lin Huahua turned the laptop around, and on the screen was a yellowed scanned document.

"This toothed design was used in the internal pass of Haizhou Port in the 1990s, indicating it was of a high rank."

Lu Yike had a photo of a round metal piece taken from the gray truck on her lap. She looked down at it and saw that the fine teeth on the edge of the metal piece were arranged neatly.

"Have you found the person who handled this?"

"Back in the Haizhou Court case, there was a court clerk named Zhou Lan. Her handwriting was found in the appendix of the case file. Later, she was transferred, and there are no more official work records after that." Lin Huahua rubbed her sore eyes. "According to the household registration, Zhou Lan has passed away. Her daughter runs a convenience store in the old town, the address is just ahead."

Lu Yike did not get out of the car immediately.

She pulled out a copy of Lu Zhengping's note from the file folder. The paper was protected by a transparent clip, and the words on it were clear: "Abnormal throughput at berth 07, no response after reporting."

Those were the words left by her father. Over the years, no one in the family has ever formally talked about Haizhou; Lu Zhengping has always kept that experience in silence.

Lin Huahua turned to look at her, "Director Lu, should I go in first and sound them out?"

"No need." Lu Yike put the copy back, picked up her umbrella, and said, "You can't get the answer to this kind of thing by asking someone directly."

The convenience store was narrow, with the shelves crammed full. Behind the checkout counter sat a woman around forty years old, her hair tied back with a black hair tie, counting her change.

Seeing the two enter, she looked up and glanced at them.

"Take whatever you want to buy."

Lin Huahua picked up a bottle of mineral water and placed it on the counter. "Sister, I need to ask about someone."

The woman stopped counting her money.

"I sell things here, I don't pry into people's business."

Lu Yike stood in front of the counter. Today she was wearing a dark trench coat and did not take out her identification.

"Zhou Lan, is she your mother?"

The woman's expression tightened. "You've got the wrong person."

"We came from the old case in Haizhou."

"I don't know anything about Haizhou." She shoved the drawer in with a "whoosh," the coins rattling loudly.

She got up and reached for the roller shutter cord. "Get out, I want to close the door."

Lin Huahua instinctively tried to stop her.

Lu Yike raised her hand to signal her not to move. After the sound of the tricycle bell outside had faded into the distance, she took out the transparent clip from her bag and gently pushed it onto the counter.

"You can look at this first."

The woman's hand, which was pulling the door open, froze in mid-air. Her gaze fell on the piece of paper, and she stared at it for a long time.

"This character..."

"Written by Lu Zhengping."

The radio in the store was still on, broadcasting the weather forecast.

The woman loosened the ropes, walked back to the counter, and, gripping the edge, her lips moved several times before she managed to utter a hoarse voice: "Lu Zhengping is still alive?"

"Alive." Lu Yike paused for a moment. "He's retired now."

The woman's shoulders were tense. "My mother mentioned this name. She said that back then, there were still people who were willing to write it down, and there were still people who were willing to leave that sentence on paper."

Lu Yike felt a pang of guilt and didn't respond.

The woman pushed the transparent clip back. "You can leave now. My mother is dead, and there's nothing left in the house. Those people have looked for me many times and asked me many times. My sister went missing around that time."

Lin Huahua's expression changed. "Zhou Qin?"

The woman glanced at her, her eyes filled with wariness and exhaustion. "You've even found out about her, so why are you asking me?"

"My father wrote that note back then, and Aunt Zhou Lan remembered it her whole life. Your sister Zhou Qin's disappearance is also inseparable from that matter." Lu Yike looked at her, "If you still have something, keeping it buried will only put their minds at ease."

The clock behind the counter moved one notch.

The woman's eyes were red, but she forced herself to stay upright.

"My mother was having nightmares before she died, always saying there was a car parked downstairs and someone smoking at the stairwell. I was only a teenager then, and my younger sister was still little. She was afraid to turn off the lights when she slept at night." She took a breath and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. "Later, Zhou Qin went to school and never came back. We reported it to the police, placed notices in the newspapers, we did everything we could. But my mother said, 'Don't look anymore, if you keep looking, I'll be gone too.'"

Lin Huahua stood by the shelf and closed her notebook.

Lu Yike lowered her voice slightly, "Did Aunt Zhou Lan leave anything behind?"

The woman remained silent for a long time.

A little kid ran in through the door, grabbed a bag of spicy strips, and Lin Huahua paid for it.

After the child ran away, the woman went around the counter, locked the shop door from the inside, and pulled the roller shutter door down halfway.

"I don't know if you can save it."

"I can't lie to you."

The woman glanced at her instead, "That sounds true."

She walked to the freezer in the corner, bent down and moved the bottom row of frozen goods, reaching her hand into the bottom of the cabinet to feel around.

Lin Huahua was stunned. "Hidden here?"

"They ransacked the closet, dismantled the bed frame, and even opened my mother's urn. Nobody would put their hand under the ice cream counter."

With a "click," the thin bottom plate was pried up.

The woman took out an old brown paper bag from inside. It was wrapped in three layers of plastic sheeting, the tape was yellowed, and the edges were damp with frost.

She held the paper bag as if it were something burning hot.

"My mom said that if one day someone comes looking for me with the calligraphy written by Lu Zhengping, I should hand this over."

Lu Yike reached out and took the paper bag; it was very light.

She placed the items on the counter, looked at the woman, and said, "I need to confirm this on the spot."

The woman nodded. "Tear it down. I've guarded it for over twenty years, that's enough."

Lin Huahua took out an evidence bag, gloves, and a portable camera.

Lu Yike put on gloves and peeled off the first layer of plastic sheeting, the tape making a slight tearing sound.

Second layer, third layer.

The kraft paper bag was exposed, and two words were written in blue-black fountain pen at the seal: Zhou Lan.

The handwriting was heavily pressed down.

The woman turned her face away. "My mom had beautiful handwriting. But then her hand started shaking, and she stopped writing."

Lu Yike opened the seal and took out a yellowed handwritten table. The table lines were crooked, the numbers were densely packed, and the header read "Haizhou Port Berth 07 Throughput". Some data was circled in red pen, and there were corresponding figures next to it.

Lin Huahua leaned closer to examine the data, then lowered her breath. "The reported figures and the actual installed figures are vastly different. Director Lu, these figures have been altered."

Lu Yike stared at the date circled in red pen, which matched the missing shipping schedule in the old case file of Haizhou.

Back then, berth number 07 swallowed far more than just cargo.

The woman stood beside the freezer, her voice soft, "My mom said that as a clerk, her job was only to take notes. But that day she saw someone switch the forms, and she secretly copied the one that had been replaced."

Why didn't she hand it in?

The woman gave a bitter smile. "She had a relationship with someone. Later, our window was smashed, and someone was following my sister in the hallway. My father was already gone by then, so what could my mother do?"

Lu Yike put the handwritten form into the evidence bag and affixed a temporary number.

There is also a hard card at the bottom of the paper bag.

When it was taken out, the edges of the card were worn, the plastic seal was bubbly, and the front was printed with "Haizhou Port Group Internal Senior Pass". The photo was blurry, and the facial features were blurred by water vapor, with only the collar and ID number still recognizable.

Lin Huahua lowered her voice, "A premium pass, allowing access to the core area of ​​berth 07."

Lu Yike flipped it over to the back, where there was a line of penmanship with heavy strokes.

Her hand stopped.

Lin Huahua sensed something was wrong and immediately moved closer. "Director Lu?"

Lu Yike laid the card flat, stared at the three words, and spoke after a few seconds.

"Take a photo. Encrypt it."

Lin Huahua immediately turned on the offline device. "Send it to Director Qi?"

"hair."