Era: Starting from the local police station

When Diao Cuihua walked in, she saw a young policeman sitting on a small stool. There were notebooks and pens on the dining table in front of him, and a small stool opposite the table, which was obviously prepared for her.

A middle-aged policeman sat behind them, his face serious. The entire room was in his field of vision, and no small movement by anyone in front of him could escape his bright eyes.

Diao Cuihua's heart skipped a beat.

Jiang Zhenghua smiled and pointed to the stool opposite him: "Comrade Diao, please sit down."

He was also sizing up Diao Cuihua in front of him. She looked to be no more than thirty years old, with an oval face and a pair of bright, sparkling eyes. Her skin was fair and clean, and her delicate eyebrows were perfectly curved.

Even though she was already a mother of two, the blue factory uniform couldn't hide her figure. Her breasts were full and stretched out in a soft curve, her waist was slender, her hips were perky, and she was plump but not bloated. Even the slight flirtatious look in her eyes when she looked up, mixed with a touch of melancholy from a widow, made people's hearts itch.

Diao Cuihua swayed her hips, stepped forward, pulled out a stool, and sat down. Her lips parted slightly, and her voice, though soft, held a resolute quality: "Thank you."

Zhang Yi glanced at it, quickly left the room, and closed the door.

"Name?"

"Wang's daughter-in-law, Diao Cuihua, is twenty-eight years old."

Jiang Zhenghua's face was serious as he asked in a deep voice, "Do you know why I called you here?"

Diao Cuihua nodded slightly, her head slightly lowered, and said softly, "I know. My mother-in-law told me as soon as I got home that Hou San was murdered, probably because she was questioning him about something."

Jiang Zhenghua nodded: "Then tell me about your relationship with him."

Diao Cuihua suddenly raised her head, her eyes already brimming with tears, and said somewhat agitatedly, "Officer, he and I are just neighbors, what have we done? If this gets out, if people hear this, how will I, a widow, face anyone after this?"

By the end, she was sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

Jiang Zhenghua remained unmoved, sat up straight, and quietly looked at her.

Jin Hong, who was observing from behind, narrowed his eyes. This woman was indeed not simple; she saw through the textual trap that Zheng Hua had set in one go.

Seeing that Jiang Zhenghua remained unmoved and was looking at her with a hint of mockery in his eyes, Diao Cuihua noticed that he was not moved.

She wiped away her tears, tidied her temples, and cursed the scoundrel inwardly for not knowing how to cherish a woman.

With a sob in her voice, she said, "Officer, you have to believe me, I really... really have nothing to do with him. Maybe someone said we were close..."

Suddenly, she raised her voice sharply: "Heaven and earth bear witness. He only took pity on me, a widow and orphan, and wanted to help me out. He asked me to help with the washing and cleaning, and he gave me a few pounds of cornmeal in return."

After speaking, she looked at Jiang Zhenghua with teary eyes and asked cautiously, "This...this doesn't violate policy, does it?"

Jiang Zhenghua shook his head and said in a deep voice, "It's not against the rules. This is simply helping each other as neighbors, and it's a manifestation of a harmonious society."

Diao Cuihua immediately breathed a sigh of relief, her lips curled up, and she patted her full chest with her right hand: "That's good. I'm just a woman and I don't really understand. I was really afraid of violating the policy."

Jiang Zhenghua snorted coldly and asked again, "Tell me about Hou Laicai."

Diao Cuihua sighed softly, as if she were feeling pity or sorrow, and her eyes held a hint of melancholy.

"To be honest, I don't know much about him. I only know that he's from the countryside, and his wife ran off with someone else because she thought his family was poor."

She suddenly stared intently at Jiang Zhenghua: "Tell me, he's being filial to his elders and paying for his mother's medical treatment. Is that wrong? Doesn't he have parents too? Shouldn't he be filial to his elders?"

Before she could answer, Diao Cuihua's tears started falling again.

She wiped away her tears, half-covering her mouth as she said, "My husband died. I couldn't bear to leave my two children and my elderly mother-in-law behind, so was it wrong of me to insist on staying at home? My husband fell ill just a few days later, and then my mother-in-law suddenly got sick. Not only did we lose all our savings, but we also borrowed so much money from others. My children are crying from hunger every day, and it breaks my heart as their mother."

Jiang Zhenghua patted the table: "Comrade Diao, please don't get agitated, stay calm."

Unmoved, Diao Cuihua continued to sob, "It's so rare to find kind-hearted people who take pity on us, a widow and orphan, and let me do what I can to earn some food so I can live with a little dignity. Why can't some people stand to see us doing well? They gossip all day long, saying I'm not virtuous, boohoo..."

"Do we deserve to be hungry and cold? Don't you have any compassion? Do we deserve to be poor...?"

Diao Cuihua seemed to have found an outlet, and she wanted to pour out all the grievances she had accumulated over the years.

Jiang Zhenghua sneered inwardly, capped his pen, gently placed it on the notebook, looked around, and saw a thermos under the workbench.

He got up and went over, picked up a rough bowl with a chipped rim from the cutting board, and poured some boiling water into it.

The moment he picked up the bowl, he felt the water had gone cold, so he walked to the table and placed it in front of Diao Cuihua: "Drink some water and calm down."

Diao Cuihua raised her head. At this moment, her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, her eyes were filled with tears, and a few strands of hair stuck to her cheeks. The setting sun reflected on her face through the glass, adding to her charm.

She said softly, "Thank you, it was my fault. There's always so much gossip around a widow's house, and this life is suffocating me."

Jiang Zhenghua sat down again: "Drink some water to soothe your throat."

Diao Cuihua raised her right hand, wiped her face with her frayed sleeve, picked up the bowl and took two sips.

Setting down her bowl, she said in a steady voice, "Brother Hou was a good man and shouldn't have ended up like this. He told me that his family was from Houjia Village in the suburbs of Beijing. Because his mother was seriously ill and needed to take medicine all year round, his older brothers... He couldn't bear the poverty any longer, so he resolutely went to the city to make a living."

Jiang Zhenghua stopped taking notes: "Do you know when he entered the city?"

Diao Cuihua nodded slightly: "It was probably around 1955. I don't know the exact time; he just mentioned it casually during a chat."

Do you know what kind of job he was doing back then?

"It seems like I'm doing odd jobs, working as a porter, helping people move things around, earning a little money through hard work."

Jiang Zhenghua looked at her and asked in a deep voice, "Do you know where he used to live?"

Diao Cuihua shook her head: "I don't know. He never told me, and as a widow, I can't ask too many questions. Most of the time, we just chat briefly, and I listen if he wants to talk. You know, as a widow, I don't dare to stay in his room for long. Even so, the people in the courtyard have already misunderstood and started gossiping about me."

Her eyes welled up with tears again.

Jiang Zhenghua changed the subject again: "You said he used to be a cart owner, so he should have his own cart. Do you know where his cart is?"

Diao Cuihua pondered, "I remember he told me that he didn't dare bring it into the yard, afraid that someone would borrow it and that the Dong couple would raise the rent, so he stored it with a friend."

"Do you know his friend's name? Where does he live?"

Diao Cuihua shook her head: "I don't know, how could he tell me everything to an outsider? But later last year, he got in touch with our factory's leaders, and after getting temporary work, he sold the car."

Jin Hong, sitting in the back, suddenly asked, "Who did you sell it to?"

"Boss, I'm not sure about that. It should be the same as a boss's job, something ordinary people wouldn't need."

Diao Cuihua was taken aback.

Jiang Zhenghua looked up at her, then buried himself in his notebook and began to write.

Jin Hong asked again, "How did you know he had made contact with people in your factory?"

"I didn't know at first either. I just ran into him at the factory's second canteen. At first, I thought he was just a temporary worker and didn't pay any attention."

Diao Cuihua paused briefly, brushing a strand of hair from her temple: "It was only after it happened so many times that I asked out of curiosity, and that's when I found out that he had made connections and was able to get temporary jobs, and even lead the villagers to do them. He's really amazing."

Jiang Zhenghua asked, "Do you know who he's connected with?"

Diao Cuihua shook her head repeatedly: "I don't know. It should be someone from the personnel department. I heard that they have the final say on temporary workers."

After saying that, she picked up the bowl again, ready to drink water.

Do you know when they connected?

Diao Cuihua paused in her drinking, then took two gulps and put the water down: "It was probably at the end of the year before last, he suddenly became rich."

She lowered her head, her face slightly flushed, with a shy expression.

Jiang Zhenghua looked at her and asked, "Why are you so sure?"

"Because before the Lunar New Year last year, he secretly gave me a piece of cloth and some meat, which I took back to make new clothes for the elderly and children in my family."

Diao Cuihua raised her head and said pleadingly, "I was afraid my mother-in-law would overthink it, so I told her it was a reward from the factory leaders, and I begged you to keep it a secret. I had no choice; my children and elderly relatives really had no clothes to wear, so I accepted it."

Tears welled up in her eyes again: "Being a widow is really too hard. If I get a little close to someone outside, people will gossip and say I'm a vixen. If I bring back some nice things, I have to endure my mother-in-law's questioning. If I can't explain where they came from, she'll say I'm not a virtuous woman and she'll make a scene with me."

At the end, she covered her face and choked up.

Jiang Zhenghua said solemnly, "Don't worry, we're just asking a few questions, we won't tell anyone else."

Diao Cuihua thanked her softly.

Do you know who he's had a conflict with?

Diao Cuihua shook her head: "I don't know. He's very kind and has a good temper. He probably never argued with anyone."

Afterwards, Jiang Zhenghua asked a few more questions.

Sometimes Diao Cuihua would answer, and sometimes she would shed tears and weep, covering her face.

Seeing the room darken, Jiang Zhenghua closed his pen: "Comrade Diao, thank you for your cooperation. If you remember anything, please contact us."

Diao Cuihua wiped away her tears and nodded pitifully.

After she left, Zhang Yi, Zhang Chongguang, and Geng Jianwu came in.

Zhang Chongguang asked, "How was it? Did you gain anything?"

Jiang Zhenghua stood up, stretched a couple of times, took out cigarettes from his pocket and handed them out to the group, and said with a wry smile, "He said a lot, but it's all stuff we already know, nothing useful at all."

Jin Hong lit a cigarette and sighed, "This woman is no ordinary person."

Zhang Chongguang asked curiously, "Deputy Director Jin, what did you say?"

Jin Hong took a puff of his cigarette and said, "At the beginning, we arranged the environment. When we saw that situation, many men would have been nervous, but she just cried and relieved the pressure directly."

Jiang Zhenghua said with a wry smile, "They used the tactic of using softness to overcome hardness, what can we do? They keep saying that they are struggling to make ends meet and that they are a vulnerable group. But as soon as you ask them about the key points, they start crying and talk about other things. There's no way we can be tough on them."

Zhang Chongguang sighed, "I understand what you mean. They're just cooperating with our work, not being prisoners. Even if they don't want to answer, we can't force them."

Jiang Zhenghua said seriously, "But precisely because of these things, she actually exposed some things."

"What's up?"

Jiang Zhenghua glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice, "She's too smart. Everything she mentions is something we can easily find out, or something we can investigate with a little effort."

Zhang Yi asked, puzzled, "Deputy Director Jiang, is there a problem with this? Isn't getting along with people often about understanding basic information?"

Jin Hong interjected, "You're right, but you're wrong about one thing. You can't know everything, but she seems to know everything. However, if you dig a little deeper, she knows nothing. Do you think that's normal?"

Geng Jianwu continued, "Given their relationship, if they were truly going to confide in each other, it's impossible that they would only reveal the surface details without revealing any deeper information; that would be completely illogical."

Zhang Chongguang exhaled a smoke ring and said in a deep voice, "In this situation, there's only one possibility. She knows this person and the things around her too well, even better than the person herself, which is why she can control things so precisely."

Zhang Yi gasped, swallowing hard. "This...she's amazing!"

The others remained silent.

The room fell into a brief silence, broken only by the sound of smoke rings being exhaled.

Jin Hong looked at Jiang Zhenghua: "What are you planning to do?"

Jiang Zhenghua pondered for a moment and said, "We don't have much evidence right now, so we can't take any measures. We can only have someone monitor him."

Jin Hong nodded: "I'll arrange this."

Zhang Chongguang sighed, "This case seems to have made great progress, but there is no substantial evidence. Although we are very close to the truth, it is like being separated by a layer of fog, and we can never grasp the key points."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Did you find anything from your visits?"

"We didn't get much information. They all said they weren't familiar with the deceased, and it was all just basic information."

Just as Geng Jianwu finished speaking, footsteps echoed in the courtyard.

Then the door was pushed open, and Director Qiao walked in.

He greeted him with a smile, "Deputy Director Jin, you're back."

Jin Hong nodded: "How's the situation over there? Is it the epicenter?"

"It's basically confirmed to be the primary crime scene, and it's pretty much as Deputy Jiang described. The victim was crushed against the wall and killed, and there was blood on the ground."

Everyone looked at Jiang Zhenghua, their eyes flashing with admiration.

Director Qiao sighed, "The scene was damaged quite badly, and many people thought it was caused by a fight among young people, so no one called the police. Also, the scene was on a main road, so we couldn't collect any useful clues."

"Where is the scene? Is it in the vicinity that Comrade Zhang Qin mentioned?"

"That's right there, just a few dozen meters from Comrade Zhang Qin's house. After interviewing several people, we confirmed that they heard 'robbery' shouted, but it was only once, so no one went to check."

Just as Jin Hong was about to speak, the sound of calling for the children to eat came from the courtyard.

"Okay, let's call it a day. We'll discuss everything at the meeting when we get back."

Everyone nodded and walked outside.

As they stepped out of the courtyard, Ge Guifu, who was standing not far away, immediately came up to them: "Leaders, are you done with your work? Would you like to come in and have a drink of water?"

Jin Hong waved his hand: "No, I have a lot of things to take care of. This house is temporarily sealed off, and we need to keep an eye on it to make sure the children don't wander in."

Ge Guifu immediately nodded: "Don't worry, I will definitely give them all my instructions."

The group walked out of the courtyard.

A large crowd gathered nearby, occasionally whispering amongst themselves.

Chen Shan and his companions, who were smoking, immediately stood up straight and greeted him.

Jin Hong nodded, glanced at the crowd, and said loudly, "Let's call it a day."