Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

"It happened on a Sunday in the fall of that year. The printing factory had just moved all the equipment, and the whole 'Yiyuan' was really empty. According to the usual practice, Yuan Jia was going home that day. Fudan University is located in the east of Shanghai. , from there to the "Yiyuan" in the west, you have to change trams three times in the middle, and it takes about two hours on the road. Yuan Jia leaves school at 9 o'clock, and usually arrives home at close to 11 noon. Every Sunday, Yuan Bohan and his granddaughter gather Early in the morning, he ordered the nanny to go to the vegetable market to buy a lot of vegetables. The nanny was busy in the kitchen all morning, preparing sumptuous Chinese food and dinner. According to her, when the wall clock in the living room just struck 10 o'clock , someone knocked on the door outside the yard. The nanny thought it was Yuan Jia who had arrived home early, but when she opened the door, it was a strange boy, tall and thin, very upright and handsome. The boy politely asked if Mr. Yuan was at home. Before the nanny could answer, Yuan Bohan greeted the boy with a gloomy expression. He obviously knew the boy, and silently led him into the small study room converted from the hallway.

"The nanny returned to the kitchen and started cooking. From time to time, there were conversations between the old and the young in the corridor. At first, the voice was not loud, but it gradually became more intense. Especially Yuan Bohan, the obvious anger could be heard in Yuan Bohan's old voice. The nanny felt that he Must have been reprimanding the boy, flustered, she listened attentively to figure out what was going on, but couldn't understand a word. Later, she recalled, the two must have been using a kind of speech that she totally Arguing in languages ​​you don't understand!

"The quarrel in the corridor continued, and the paging phone rang outside the courtyard, asking the nanny to answer it. At that time, home telephones were still rare, and the original telephone lines of 'Yiyuan' were removed. Yuan Bohan applied for installing a private telephone. After handing it over for more than half a year, nothing came to fruition. The nanny mustered up her courage and went to the door of the study to ask Yuan Bohan for instructions. The old man shouted outside still angrily: "Go and answer the phone! By the way, I will go to Commander Kai to buy four chestnut cakes."

"The nanny hurried out. She went to the paging phone station at the entrance of the alley first, but the phone had already been hung up. The aunt at the station said that the call was from Yuan Jia, and she couldn't wait to leave a message: "There is something in the school and I will be late." I can’t make it home before noon, so let grandpa eat lunch first.” The nanny said that she was a little secretly happy when she heard this message at the first time, because someone at home was arguing, and she was worried that Yuan Jia would run into her when she came back. So, the nanny went to Huaihai Kaisling on the road buys cakes. This is Yuan Jia's favorite snack. Yuan Bohan prepares it for her every time he goes home. Kaisling is not far from 'Yiyuan', but it takes more than half an hour to walk back and forth. Nanny She said that it should be around 11:30 when she returned to 'Yiyuan', and she smelled a pungent gas smell as soon as she opened the door. She rushed into the kitchen and saw the borscht stewing on the stove spilled all over the floor, and the gas was never turned off. The stoves of the fire kept coming out, and she almost fell down in fright. She couldn't remember whether she turned off the fire before leaving. She quickly opened all the windows and ran to the corridor. The corridor door was closed and unlocked , she opened the door and went in, only to see Yuan Bohan lying on his back on the sofa, and there was no trace of the visiting young people. The room with the doors and windows closed was also smelling of gas, so she yelled to open the doors and windows, and then returned to the sofa Looking at Yuan Bohan, the old man's face was livid, foam was hanging from the corner of his mouth, and he didn't respond to her shouts at all. The nanny ran out of the hospital in a panic, shouting for help. Soon many people came from the alley, and everyone was in a hurry They quickly carried Yuan Bohan to the open space outside the house, and someone called an ambulance. Soon the ambulance arrived, and the doctor announced Yuan Bohan's death after a brief examination. The figure appeared in front of the 'Yi Garden'...

"Tong Minghai, a policeman from the police station, began to investigate the cause of Yuan Bohan's death. He was no stranger to Yuan Bohan's grandparents. Yuan Bohan returned to Shanghai from the Henan countryside and re-lived in the 'Yiyuan'; he brought little Yuan Jia to report his household registration; he demanded the return of the entire 'Yiyuan' , all these things have to go through the hands of Tong Minghai. Tong Minghai, who comes and goes frequently, has a long-term friendship with Yuan Bohan, a descendant of a big capitalist. He has been caring and helping this ill-fated man as much as possible. The old man also loves the smart and beautiful little Yuan Jia. Tong Minghai was shocked by Yuan Bohan's sudden death, especially the many suspicious points in the whole process made him uneasy.

"According to the doctor's diagnosis, Yuan Bohan died of the double blow of heart attack and gas poisoning. Neither of them was enough to cause him to die suddenly in just half an hour, but the combination of the two reached the point of rapid death. The effect. The nanny was so frightened that she couldn't explain what was going on with the borscht. Tong Minghai had no choice but to regard the gas overflow as an accident, but he firmly believed that Yuan Bohan's heart attack was not an accident, but should be It has something to do with the young man who visited rashly that morning and then disappeared mysteriously.

"Tong Minghai must first confirm the identity of the young man. Yuan Bohan is dead, the nanny does not know him, and no one in the surrounding neighbors witnessed him entering the 'Yiyuan' that morning. At that time, the technology of criminal portraits was not yet popular, and there was no Cameras are everywhere... In desperation, Tong Minghai asked Yuan Jia. According to the nanny's description of the visitor, he asked Yuan Jia to think about whether he knew such a person. Yuan Jia immediately denied it, but her painful and hesitant expression Without escaping Tong Minghai's eyes, he felt—she should know him!

"There is one more thing that is wrong. Yuan Jia said that she did not call home that morning. Tong Minghai also confirmed it when he asked Yuan Jia's classmates. Yuan Jia left just after 9 o'clock that day as usual. Dormitory. However, she did not return home before 11:00 as usual, but arrived after 11:30. Why? She just said that the tram was running slower than usual, and when changing trains, it happened to miss the usual one. That class was delayed. Tong Minghai couldn't believe Yuan Jia's words. Then, why did she lie? Where did she go during the half-hour delay? What was she doing? The aunt at the paging station was sure she had received it. It was a call from a female voice. I still clearly remember that the voice on the phone was very young and sweet. If this call was indeed not made by Yuan Jia, would someone pretend to be her? What is the purpose?

"Tong Minghai was having a headache when news came suddenly: Someone said he knew the young man who visited 'Yiyuan' and saw his behavior in 'Yiyuan' with his own eyes! The witness is Qiu Wenyue, a senior high school graduate from the nearby Huahai Middle School Students, Huahai Middle School is the middle school that Yuan Jia just graduated from. Qiu Wenyue and Yuan Jia are in the same grade and in different classes. "When Qiu Wenyue was taken to the police station, her face was pale and listless, and she was so frightened that she couldn't even speak coherently. She told Tong Minghai intermittently that her home lived in Shikumen, one street away from 'Yiyuan'. Looking out from the north window of the bedroom on the second floor of her house, she happened to be able to see the inside of the 'Yi Garden'. At noon that day, she saw the young man enter the 'Yi Garden' with her own eyes and talked with Yuan Bohan in the living room. Later Yuan Bohan seemed very excited , walking around the room waving his fists, suddenly fell down clutching his chest. Qiu Wenyue said that she saw the man help Yuan Bohan to lie down on the sofa, then walked into the kitchen, picked up the borscht pot and poured out the gas The fire on the stove, and then closed the door and left 'Yiyuan'. Qiu Wenyue said that she was scared and confused at the time, and couldn't understand what happened, so she just sat by the window in a daze. Seeing the nanny come back, a few minutes later the alley was full of chaos.

"Tong Minghai was stunned. This is a big trouble. The accident turned into a murder case! Just after recording the testimony, Qiu Wenyue's mother was notified to pick up her daughter from the police station. Tong Minghai realized that he also vaguely recognized her. She is an English teacher at Huahai Middle School." , named Yin Huiru. Yin Huiru was shocked when she saw her daughter, especially when she heard the name of the young man pointed out by Qiu Wenyue, her expression turned pale and her whole body was on the verge of collapse. He fainted on the spot. Tong Minghai was surprised by her fierce reaction. At this time, Yin Huiru explained that the young man was also a senior high school graduate of Huahai Middle School, and Yin Huiru had taught English for five years from the second to the third year of high school. student!

"Tong Minghai immediately found the boy, and he admitted calmly that he had indeed been to 'Yiyuan' that day, and had had some disputes with Mr. Yuan Bohan, but later he saw that Mr. Yuan was over-excited and unwell. He helped him lie down on the sofa to rest, and left by himself. As for what happened afterwards, he knew nothing about it, and he categorically denied what Qiu Wenyue said—it was complete nonsense! "Tong Minghai decided to ask Qiu Wenyue to confront the boy. Before he could notify, Yin Huiru brought her daughter to the police station again, but this time, they came to retract the confession! Qiu Wenyue cried with snot and tears and said that she sprinkled it herself. Lie, in fact, she just happened to see the boy enter the door of "Yi Yuan". The so-called intentionally turned off the soup pot and turned off the fire was made up by herself after hearing the comments from the people in the alley. Tong Minghai was so angry, Yin Huiru kept apologizing, saying that she never thought her daughter would do such a ridiculous thing, but Qiu Wenyue did lie, because before 12:00 noon on Sunday, she was in the school's weekend repeat class, and the entire class Classmates can testify that Qiu Wenyue was with everyone from 10:00 am to 12:00 am. It is absolutely impossible to watch "Yi Garden" from the bedroom on the second floor of the house. As for why Qiu Wenyue framed that boy, Yin Huiru said that it was just her daughter's impulsive adolescence The ignorance shows that she has been secretly in love with that boy for a long time, and she just wants to use this to get his attention. "What's even more exasperating is that Qiu Wenyue has just finished retracting the confession here, and the nanny followed suit and retracted the confession! She said that she was so frightened that she lost her head before, but now she remembered it all. Yuan Bohan ordered her to answer the paging phone She had already finished talking with that boy before, so that boy left 'Yiyuan' before her. Her words also confirmed from another angle that Qiu Wenyue's second testimony was true. "The murder case turned into an accident again. The ups and downs in it made people laugh and laugh, and it also discouraged the comrades in the police station. Tong Minghai did some investigations later, but there was no breakthrough. Time passed slowly, The incident that happened in "Yiyuan" was finally forgotten by people. After Yuan Bohan was cremated, overseas relatives came to Shanghai to take his ashes to the United States for burial, and they seemed to say something to Yuan Jia. Since then, Yuan Jia has been living in the In the dormitory of the school, I never went home again. 'Yi Garden' was neglected, the roses, rhododendrons and crabapple flowers all died one after another, and only mice and cockroaches came and went at night. Only the lilac tree lived tenaciously in the wilderness In the midst of decadence, there are no eyes full of sympathy, care and thought to accompany her, and the smoke cloud of purple flowers blooms silently and withers in sadness. Every night, 'Yiyuan' is like the girl in "Lonely Star Blood and Tears". The ugly old girl in a yellow wedding dress tastes the cruelty and impermanence of fate under the tight wrapping of death, admiring herself, lamenting herself and abandoning herself. "Only Tong Minghai, an old policeman at the police station, has always been worried. He has been paying attention to Yuan Jia's movements, and always feels that there is a secret buried in this girl's heart, and he looks forward to one day being able to reveal the secret with his own hands.