Du Cheng walked into the reading room with a large roll of printing paper that was still warm, found an empty table, and spread the printing paper on the table.This is a map of the city in 1990. Du Cheng found a friend who worked in the city's archives, enlarged it and printed it out.He propped his hands on the table, leaned over and stared at the old map, looking at the landmarks that were once so familiar, but now disappeared in the development of the city.After a while, he opened his satchel, took out a 2013 version of the city map, placed it next to the old map, carefully compared them one by one, and took out a red signature pen to draw on the new version of the map from time to time.An hour later, red circles were all over the brand new map, with words like "11.9①" marked beside it. Du Cheng straightened his sore waist, looked at his watch, reached out and took out a medicine bottle from his satchel, poured out two pills and put them in his mouth. When he searched again, he found that he hadn't brought any water.He cursed secretly, packed his things in a hurry, and walked out of the archives quickly. He bought a bottle of water in a small supermarket outside the museum and drank half of it in one go. The pills in his mouth had already melted, and his mouth was full of bitterness.Du Cheng frowned and rinsed his mouth. He was about to spit it out, but after thinking about it, he swallowed it again. Whether he can survive until the day when the truth is found out, he has no idea in his mind, so let's do his best. It was noon at this moment, Du Cheng returned to the car, reopened the map to browse, finally chose his destination, and drove away. It's a foggy day.In cities located in the north, blue sky and white clouds are rarely seen after winter.Central heating requires burning so much coal that a thin layer of black ash hangs in the air.There were not many cars on the road, Du Cheng looked at the gray sky, and the single-toned buildings and crowds, and turned across the street expressionlessly. Driving into Worker Road, a bright white strip appeared on the right side of the car.Du Cheng looked over subconsciously and found that it was the South Canal of the city.His heart moved, he stepped a little harder, and drove all the way along the river bank. Soon, a large open space on the south bank of the canal appeared in Du Cheng's vision. It used to be called Hewan Park. In 2012, the park was demolished and a temple was built on the original site. Therefore, it is now called Jinding Temple Tourist Area. Du Cheng parked the car on the side of the road, walked down the stone steps, carefully crossed the frosty withered grass, and walked along the slope to the river. The stone bridge, gazebo, and corridor covered with green vines are gone, but the big tree is still there.Du Cheng was a little out of breath. Holding the rough tree trunk with his hands, he looked down at the river bed under his feet. Now is the dry season. Compared with the abundance in summer, the water in the South Canal is much barren, and you can see the silt on the bottom of the river and the aquatic plants swaying with the current.Some places were covered with thin ice, and the unfrozen parts steamed slightly in the weak sunlight. Du Cheng's eyes scanned back and forth in the river, and finally froze in a piece of mud. That is where the body part No. 3 was found in the "11.9" homicide case.To this day, Du Cheng still clearly remembers the phrase "Fuck me" that Ma Jian blurted out when the black plastic bag covered in mud and facing opposite was opened. They were all dressed in olive green, young men who could drink a lot, smoke a lot, and still be fresh enough to carry out arrests after a night of staying up.He was secretly unconvinced in front of the old criminal policeman and called the new policeman a brat.Passionate about riding around on a motorcycle with a gun.Gritting teeth with hatred for every criminal. Du Cheng's heart warmed up.In the same place twenty-three years later, he thought of his young partners and a big case they had faced together. However, this warmth is fleeting.Du Cheng stared at the black mud, as if he saw Luo Shaohua take off his leather shoes, rolled up his trousers, and dragged the black plastic bag ashore little by little.In fact, when he saw the female torso, his first reaction was not fear or nausea.The torso without the head and limbs didn't have many physical features, and he hesitated for a few seconds before realizing what it was. What followed was anger. Under what kind of state of mind would a person dismember a woman into pieces? If he was in front of his eyes at that time, Du Cheng would definitely dig out his brain to see what was inside. And he believed that at the time, the old folks thought the same as himself. Even though, they eventually turned against each other because of this case. Du Cheng lit a cigarette, closed his eyes slightly, and tried his best to relax himself.A woman's torso was once abandoned here, so no matter how long it has passed, there must be some kind of breath left behind.He wanted to grasp this breath, and then go back to the source until he returned to that night twenty-three years ago, saw his face clearly, grabbed his hands, and put the shackles firmly on his hands. "Hey, comrade!" Du Cheng opened his eyes, turned around, and saw an old man in the uniform of a sanitation worker carrying a broom and dustpan, looking at him seriously. "No peeing allowed here!" Half an hour later, Du Cheng parked his car in front of Wanda Plaza in Tiedong District, squinted his eyes and looked at the four-storey commercial building. Finally, he saw the signboard of "No. 87 Pingjiang Road" at the entrance of the shopping mall.He took the satchel from the passenger seat, took out the 1990 map, found the location of the locomotive factory at No. 87 Pingjiang Road, drew a cross with a red pen, and then drove away. At 2:15 in the afternoon, Du Cheng was already sitting in the office of the personnel department of the locomotive factory (now renamed the Northern Locomotive Manufacturing Group).After searching the files, the clerk sent him to the retirement office. In the retirement office, Du Cheng learned that Wen Jianliang, the husband of Zhang Lan, the victim of the "11.9" homicide case, had retired two years ago. His address is unknown, but his mobile phone number can be found.Du Cheng copied the number in a notepad, thanked him and left. At the roadside stall at the gate of the factory, Du Cheng bought a finger cake.He sat in the car, munching, and dialed Wen Jianliang's cell phone number.A few seconds later, a deep male voice said through the receiver, "Hello?" "Hello." Du Cheng swallowed the food in his mouth, "Is this Mr. Wen Jianliang?" "It's me. You are?" "My name is Du Cheng, and I'm from Tiedong Branch." "Branch?" Wen Jianliang's voice hesitated, "Are you a policeman?" "right." "You...what's the matter?" "I want to ask you to understand something." "What's the situation?" Wen Jianliang asked again, "Which aspect?" "It's not business, I want to talk to you personally." "That's unnecessary." Wen Jianliang immediately refused, "I don't know you, so I have nothing to talk about." "It's about your wife's case." Du Cheng paused, "I was one of the investigators back then." "Huh?" Wen Jianliang was obviously surprised, "What do you want to talk about?" "Can we meet?" Wen Jianliang hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "Okay." Du Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, clamped the phone by his neck, and took out his pen. "What is your address?" The moment the door opened, Wen Jianliang recognized Du Cheng. "I remember you, back then you were stronger and had more hair." Du Cheng smiled: "It's been more than 20 years, and now I'm an old man." Wen Jianliang is also much older. He used to part his hair in the middle of the night, but now he combs it back neatly.A gray woolen cardigan stretched over the protruding belly, a pair of dark blue woolen trousers on the lower body, and cotton slippers on the feet, an image of an old man who is retired at home and caring for his life. Wen Jianliang let Du Cheng into the living room and invited him to sit on the sofa.While he was making tea, Du Cheng got up and walked around the house with three bedrooms and two halls.It can be seen that Wen Jianliang lives with his son's family, and their family is fairly well off.There is a birdcage hanging on the balcony, and there is a long table in the southeast corner of the living room, on which are placed pens, inks, papers and inkstones, probably for his pastime after retirement.In short, Wen Jianliang is now leading a peaceful and peaceful life. Soon, Wen Jianliang came out with two teacups and a pack of cigarettes. "I remember you are a smoker." Wen Jianliang took out a cigarette and handed it to Du Cheng. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for catching the murderer so quickly and avenging Zhang Lan." "It's nothing." Du Cheng forced a smile, "What should be done—how are you doing?" "It's okay. After Zhang Lan left, I remarried again. There is no way, the child is too young and needs someone to take care of it." "Then..." Du Cheng looked around. "Leaving again." Wen Jianliang smiled wryly, "I still can't let Zhang Lan go in my heart. If it was a death from illness or any other accident—even if it was a car accident, I wouldn't be so bitter about it, but she was... the second Mrs. Ren couldn't stand this and divorced me." Speaking of this, Du Cheng was also a little sad, and could only smoke in silence. "Then," Wen Jianliang looked at Du Cheng's expression, "what do you want to talk to me about?" "About Zhang Lan." Du Cheng thought for a while, "Everything about her." "Why?" Wen Jianliang was puzzled, "The murderer...hasn't he been shot?" "That's it," Du Cheng said slowly, "We are doing a summary of major and important cases. You know, on the one hand, we need to summarize experience, and on the other hand, we need to improve the ability to prevent crimes. Simply put, we need to figure out, Why did Zhang Lan get killed?" "Oh." Wen Jianliang nodded, but his face gradually turned gray, with a sad expression floating on his cheeks, making him look even older. "I know it's impolite, even cruel." Du Cheng said in a low tone, "After so many years, you still have to recall these things, but..." "It's okay, I can understand." Wen Jianliang raised his head and forced a smile, "If such tragedies can be avoided in the future, Zhang Lan's death will be valuable, right?" In Wen Jianliang's description, his wife is a passionate, cheerful, and kind-hearted woman who loves to talk and laugh, gets along well with others, and has never had any feuds or enmities with others.At the same time, like most women, I love beauty and beautiful clothes. "I still remember what she looked like that day." Wen Jianliang held a cigarette, staring out the window all the time, speaking slowly, "I went to the class reunion and dressed up specially. Black woolen coat, rose red turtleneck sweater, Jeans, short leather boots, smelling good. I was making fun of her..." Wen Jianliang turned his head with a smile on his face, but the circles of his eyes began to turn red. "She's still pretty when she's old." Wen Jianliang put the cigarette butt out in the ashtray, "Now think about it, she's only thirty-three years old, how young she is." When parting, Wen Jianliang noticed Du Cheng's sallow complexion and cheeks already wet with sweat, and asked with concern.Du Cheng didn't want to talk too much about it, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left.Back in the car, he leaned on the steering wheel, feeling the dull pain in his liver getting stronger.He took the pills out of his satchel and swallowed them with water.Then, he opened the notepad and began to sort out the records of the conversation with Wen Jianliang just now. Du Cheng knew that such a visit was not very meaningful.Twenty-three years later, the statement of the victim's family can hardly provide valuable clues.But this is the only thing he can do at the moment. He needs to awaken his professional sense of smell and connect it with a certain breath deep in his memory.Only in this way can he splice the remaining fragments into a chain, and then pursue along it. What's more, his time is running out.
Du Cheng walked into the reading room with a large roll of printing paper that was still warm, found an empty table, and spread the printing paper on the table.This is a map of the city in 1990. Du Cheng found a friend who worked in the city's archives, enlarged it and printed it out.He propped his hands on the table, leaned over and stared at the old map, looking at the landmarks that were once so familiar, but now disappeared in the development of the city.After a while, he opened his satchel, took out a 2013 version of the city map, placed it next to the old map, carefully compared them one by one, and took out a red signature pen to draw on the new version of the map from time to time.An hour later, red circles were all over the brand new map, with words like "11.9①" marked beside it. Du Cheng straightened his sore waist, looked at his watch, reached out and took out a medicine bottle from his satchel, poured out two pills and put them in his mouth. When he searched again, he found that he hadn't brought any water.He cursed secretly, packed his things in a hurry, and walked out of the archives quickly. He bought a bottle of water in a small supermarket outside the museum and drank half of it in one go. The pills in his mouth had already melted, and his mouth was full of bitterness.Du Cheng frowned and rinsed his mouth. He was about to spit it out, but after thinking about it, he swallowed it again. Whether he can survive until the day when the truth is found out, he has no idea in his mind, so let's do his best. It was noon at this moment, Du Cheng returned to the car, reopened the map to browse, finally chose his destination, and drove away. It's a foggy day.In cities located in the north, blue sky and white clouds are rarely seen after winter.Central heating requires burning so much coal that a thin layer of black ash hangs in the air.There were not many cars on the road, Du Cheng looked at the gray sky, and the single-toned buildings and crowds, and turned across the street expressionlessly. Driving into Worker Road, a bright white strip appeared on the right side of the car.Du Cheng looked over subconsciously and found that it was the South Canal of the city.His heart moved, he stepped a little harder, and drove all the way along the river bank. Soon, a large open space on the south bank of the canal appeared in Du Cheng's vision. It used to be called Hewan Park. In 2012, the park was demolished and a temple was built on the original site. Therefore, it is now called Jinding Temple Tourist Area. Du Cheng parked the car on the side of the road, walked down the stone steps, carefully crossed the frosty withered grass, and walked along the slope to the river. The stone bridge, gazebo, and corridor covered with green vines are gone, but the big tree is still there.Du Cheng was a little out of breath. Holding the rough tree trunk with his hands, he looked down at the river bed under his feet. Now is the dry season. Compared with the abundance in summer, the water in the South Canal is much barren, and you can see the silt on the bottom of the river and the aquatic plants swaying with the current.Some places were covered with thin ice, and the unfrozen parts steamed slightly in the weak sunlight. Du Cheng's eyes scanned back and forth in the river, and finally froze in a piece of mud. That is where the body part No. 3 was found in the "11.9" homicide case.To this day, Du Cheng still clearly remembers the phrase "Fuck me" that Ma Jian blurted out when the black plastic bag covered in mud and facing opposite was opened. They were all dressed in olive green, young men who could drink a lot, smoke a lot, and still be fresh enough to carry out arrests after a night of staying up.He was secretly unconvinced in front of the old criminal policeman and called the new policeman a brat.Passionate about riding around on a motorcycle with a gun.Gritting teeth with hatred for every criminal. Du Cheng's heart warmed up.In the same place twenty-three years later, he thought of his young partners and a big case they had faced together. However, this warmth is fleeting.Du Cheng stared at the black mud, as if he saw Luo Shaohua take off his leather shoes, rolled up his trousers, and dragged the black plastic bag ashore little by little.In fact, when he saw the female torso, his first reaction was not fear or nausea.The torso without the head and limbs didn't have many physical features, and he hesitated for a few seconds before realizing what it was. What followed was anger. Under what kind of state of mind would a person dismember a woman into pieces? If he was in front of his eyes at that time, Du Cheng would definitely dig out his brain to see what was inside. And he believed that at the time, the old folks thought the same as himself. Even though, they eventually turned against each other because of this case. Du Cheng lit a cigarette, closed his eyes slightly, and tried his best to relax himself.A woman's torso was once abandoned here, so no matter how long it has passed, there must be some kind of breath left behind.He wanted to grasp this breath, and then go back to the source until he returned to that night twenty-three years ago, saw his face clearly, grabbed his hands, and put the shackles firmly on his hands. "Hey, comrade!" Du Cheng opened his eyes, turned around, and saw an old man in the uniform of a sanitation worker carrying a broom and dustpan, looking at him seriously. "No peeing allowed here!" Half an hour later, Du Cheng parked his car in front of Wanda Plaza in Tiedong District, squinted his eyes and looked at the four-storey commercial building. Finally, he saw the signboard of "No. 87 Pingjiang Road" at the entrance of the shopping mall.He took the satchel from the passenger seat, took out the 1990 map, found the location of the locomotive factory at No. 87 Pingjiang Road, drew a cross with a red pen, and then drove away. At 2:15 in the afternoon, Du Cheng was already sitting in the office of the personnel department of the locomotive factory (now renamed the Northern Locomotive Manufacturing Group).After searching the files, the clerk sent him to the retirement office. In the retirement office, Du Cheng learned that Wen Jianliang, the husband of Zhang Lan, the victim of the "11.9" homicide case, had retired two years ago. His address is unknown, but his mobile phone number can be found.Du Cheng copied the number in a notepad, thanked him and left. At the roadside stall at the gate of the factory, Du Cheng bought a finger cake.He sat in the car, munching, and dialed Wen Jianliang's cell phone number.A few seconds later, a deep male voice said through the receiver, "Hello?" "Hello." Du Cheng swallowed the food in his mouth, "Is this Mr. Wen Jianliang?" "It's me. You are?" "My name is Du Cheng, and I'm from Tiedong Branch." "Branch?" Wen Jianliang's voice hesitated, "Are you a policeman?" "right." "You...what's the matter?" "I want to ask you to understand something." "What's the situation?" Wen Jianliang asked again, "Which aspect?" "It's not business, I want to talk to you personally." "That's unnecessary." Wen Jianliang immediately refused, "I don't know you, so I have nothing to talk about." "It's about your wife's case." Du Cheng paused, "I was one of the investigators back then." "Huh?" Wen Jianliang was obviously surprised, "What do you want to talk about?" "Can we meet?" Wen Jianliang hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "Okay." Du Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, clamped the phone by his neck, and took out his pen. "What is your address?" The moment the door opened, Wen Jianliang recognized Du Cheng. "I remember you, back then you were stronger and had more hair." Du Cheng smiled: "It's been more than 20 years, and now I'm an old man." Wen Jianliang is also much older. He used to part his hair in the middle of the night, but now he combs it back neatly.A gray woolen cardigan stretched over the protruding belly, a pair of dark blue woolen trousers on the lower body, and cotton slippers on the feet, an image of an old man who is retired at home and caring for his life. Wen Jianliang let Du Cheng into the living room and invited him to sit on the sofa.While he was making tea, Du Cheng got up and walked around the house with three bedrooms and two halls.It can be seen that Wen Jianliang lives with his son's family, and their family is fairly well off.There is a birdcage hanging on the balcony, and there is a long table in the southeast corner of the living room, on which are placed pens, inks, papers and inkstones, probably for his pastime after retirement.In short, Wen Jianliang is now leading a peaceful and peaceful life. Soon, Wen Jianliang came out with two teacups and a pack of cigarettes. "I remember you are a smoker." Wen Jianliang took out a cigarette and handed it to Du Cheng. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for catching the murderer so quickly and avenging Zhang Lan." "It's nothing." Du Cheng forced a smile, "What should be done—how are you doing?" "It's okay. After Zhang Lan left, I remarried again. There is no way, the child is too young and needs someone to take care of it." "Then..." Du Cheng looked around. "Leaving again." Wen Jianliang smiled wryly, "I still can't let Zhang Lan go in my heart. If it was a death from illness or any other accident—even if it was a car accident, I wouldn't be so bitter about it, but she was... the second Mrs. Ren couldn't stand this and divorced me." Speaking of this, Du Cheng was also a little sad, and could only smoke in silence. "Then," Wen Jianliang looked at Du Cheng's expression, "what do you want to talk to me about?" "About Zhang Lan." Du Cheng thought for a while, "Everything about her." "Why?" Wen Jianliang was puzzled, "The murderer...hasn't he been shot?" "That's it," Du Cheng said slowly, "We are doing a summary of major and important cases. You know, on the one hand, we need to summarize experience, and on the other hand, we need to improve the ability to prevent crimes. Simply put, we need to figure out, Why did Zhang Lan get killed?" "Oh." Wen Jianliang nodded, but his face gradually turned gray, with a sad expression floating on his cheeks, making him look even older. "I know it's impolite, even cruel." Du Cheng said in a low tone, "After so many years, you still have to recall these things, but..." "It's okay, I can understand." Wen Jianliang raised his head and forced a smile, "If such tragedies can be avoided in the future, Zhang Lan's death will be valuable, right?" In Wen Jianliang's description, his wife is a passionate, cheerful, and kind-hearted woman who loves to talk and laugh, gets along well with others, and has never had any feuds or enmities with others.At the same time, like most women, I love beauty and beautiful clothes. "I still remember what she looked like that day." Wen Jianliang held a cigarette, staring out the window all the time, speaking slowly, "I went to the class reunion and dressed up specially. Black woolen coat, rose red turtleneck sweater, Jeans, short leather boots, smelling good. I was making fun of her..." Wen Jianliang turned his head with a smile on his face, but the circles of his eyes began to turn red. "She's still pretty when she's old." Wen Jianliang put the cigarette butt out in the ashtray, "Now think about it, she's only thirty-three years old, how young she is." When parting, Wen Jianliang noticed Du Cheng's sallow complexion and cheeks already wet with sweat, and asked with concern.Du Cheng didn't want to talk too much about it, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left.Back in the car, he leaned on the steering wheel, feeling the dull pain in his liver getting stronger.He took the pills out of his satchel and swallowed them with water.Then, he opened the notepad and began to sort out the records of the conversation with Wen Jianliang just now. Du Cheng knew that such a visit was not very meaningful.Twenty-three years later, the statement of the victim's family can hardly provide valuable clues.But this is the only thing he can do at the moment. He needs to awaken his professional sense of smell and connect it with a certain breath deep in his memory.Only in this way can he splice the remaining fragments into a chain, and then pursue along it. What's more, his time is running out.
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