A haunted house?
Hahaha, how could that be?
Naturally, no one took this to heart, merely sighing at the unpredictability of life, the way the strongest rope is the first to snap.
Others could be left unsaid, but Yuan Shaóe seemed to have died a natural death from illness.
However, Lü Qingqing did not think so. Too many coincidences often indicated an anomaly. Before leaving, she whispered a few words to Ouyang Wen. Ouyang Wen gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, if there are any changes, I'll start the investigation immediately."
In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday. Lü Qingqing was packing some things to go to the study hall when Hu Jia knocked on the door.
"Keep this ointment with you," Hu Jia said, handing her a white bottle.
What is this?
"The physical training is very intense. This can relieve bruises, sprains, and other symptoms." Without waiting for a response, Hu Jia directly placed the bottle in Lü Qingqing's hand.
Seeing the figure flee in a hurry, Lü Qingqing smiled and closed the door.
Hehe, quite cute.
Lü Qingqing played with the ointment bottle in her right hand, gently unscrewed the cap, and brought it to her nose to smell. It was quite fragrant.
"Knock, knock..."
Another knock on the door.
Still not enough after delivering the ointment?
Lü Qingqing lightly hopped to open the door, "Ouyang?"
"I guessed you'd be home," Ouyang said, still the gentleman. "May I come in?"
"Of course!"
Ouyang entered the room, looked around, touched the wall, and patted the back of a chair. "I never expected you to be the first person to live in this room."
"That's only because you have too many places to stay and look down on this one," Lü Qingqing teased.
Ouyang Wen smiled.
He had once considered moving in, but Hu Jia's memory was stuck at 22, the exact period when the two of them were having a conflict. Therefore, he decided against it.
"By the way, I'm here for two things. The first is that Yuan Shaóe did indeed have anomalies on his corpse, just as you guessed."
Lü Qingqing put down what she was doing. "What happened?"
"His skin and lips were cherry red."
"Carbon monoxide poisoning?"
Carbon monoxide poisoning, or CO poisoning, as we commonly call it.
In fact, Lü Qingqing had discovered distinct petechial hemorrhages on the eyelids of the deceased the previous night, which was a characteristic sign of death by suffocation.
However, it had only been an hour or two since Yuan Shaóe's death, and the post-mortem signs were not yet obvious. That was why she had asked Yuan Shaóe to come back for a second examination the next day.
As expected, there were abnormalities!
Ouyang Wen said that the Yuan family used to live in a wooden house, which was naturally quite airy. So, when they built a brick and tile house, they completely ignored its airtightness, thinking it would be as drafty as the wooden one. The entire ground floor had only one window. Later, they even listened to a feng shui master and raised the courtyard walls, further obstructing air circulation.
When Yuan Shaóe lit a fire in his home, carbon monoxide accumulated throughout the house, leading to the accident.
"Huh? Yuan Shaóe was making roast duck, so why did his wife and son get poisoned before him?"
"Because Yuan Shaóe had to tend the fire and add wood, running in and out of the house, and occasionally getting fresh air."
Hearing this, Lü Qingqing felt a surge of emotion. It seemed that the villagers lacked a sense of crisis, and also it was related to their lack of education, their inability to judge dangerous conditions. It was precisely because they didn't understand that they attributed the incident to feng shui after it happened.
"If our police force were sufficiently familiar with the individual circumstances of the residents in their jurisdiction, they might have discovered the problem during the Yuan family's first incident, thus preventing the subsequent accident."
This incident had a profound impact on Lü Qingqing. She secretly vowed that as soon as she reached a position of authority, her first priority would be to change the current working methods of the police, to improve the patrol system, and to ensure that every beat officer was fully aware of the situation in their jurisdiction.
Seeing Lü Qingqing lost in thought, Ouyang waved his hand in front of her. "Hey, what are you thinking about?"
"Huh? Nothing," Lü Qingqing smiled awkwardly. "By the way, what was the second thing?"
"The other matter is somewhat personal. You can refuse."
Upon hearing Ouyang say this, Lü Qingqing became even more curious.
"What is it? I'll help as much as I can."
"Yesterday, there was a shooting incident outside the city. The deceased was named Li Zhenhui. Ten years ago, he was also a member of the task force investigating a shooting case."
Ouyang conveyed the most information with the fewest words.
There were originally 5 people on the task force. Hu Shilong was the only one who was silenced.
Afterward, Ouyang and Hu Jia inquired with the senior officers who had served on the task force. They all said that Hu Shilong had requested to withdraw from the task force the day before the incident. At the time, people thought he was under too much pressure. It was only later that they realized he must have uncovered some crucial information and intended to act alone.
However, his solo attempt was unsuccessful, and he was instead murdered.
For this reason, many people mocked Hu Shilong after his death, saying he was overestimating himself and trying to hoard information.
But Li Zhenhui did not think so. He had privately approached Hu Jia and Ouyang, saying, "Your father was a good man."
From then on, Li Zhenhui stopped working on the front lines and instead took on logistical support. His whereabouts became increasingly scarce until yesterday, when Ouyang saw his body.
Shot in the forehead, a fatal blow.
And the bullet caliber was identical to the murder weapon from back then.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Find someone."
"Who?"
"Uncle Li's son, Li Yongqiang."
Li Yongqiang, Li Zhenhui's only son. About five years ago, the father and son had a huge argument over a trivial matter. While it was normal for father and son to quarrel, Li Yongqiang unexpectedly slashed Li Zhenhui's arm with a dagger.
A father striking a son was understandable. A son striking a father was an unforgivable sin.
Because of this incident, which caused a great stir, Li Yongqiang, who was still a student, was expelled from school. Later, with the help of some police officers he knew, he found a place to settle down.
This place was the study hall.
Ouyang said that he had always thought the father and son were too stubborn. What family feud couldn't be resolved overnight? They even severed their father-son relationship.
But now, he thought, it might have just been an act. Uncle Li intentionally severed ties with his son to protect his life.
Ouyang's deduction was indeed plausible. "Don't you know each other?" Lü Qingqing looked at Hu Jia, implying, why don't you go yourself?
"Because I am Hu Jia's adopted son," Ouyang answered Lü Qingqing's question with a single sentence.
Indeed, if the murderer was targeting the Li family, and they discovered Li Yongqiang had contact with Ouyang, they might mistakenly believe that Li Yongqiang possessed some evidence, thus putting him in greater danger.
"Alright, I'll be in touch," Lü Qingqing agreed without hesitation.
Lü Qingqing knew that since Hu Jia's accident, Ouyang Wen had never given up on finding the truth behind the shooting case. Now that there was finally a clue, he would naturally not let it go.
Both as friends to the two of them and as a police officer, Lü Qingqing could not stand by and do nothing.
Seeing Lü Qingqing's prompt agreement, Ouyang hesitated. This matter was very dangerous. No one could guarantee that the killer wouldn't blow someone else's head off next.
Perhaps sensing Ouyang's wavering, Lü Qingqing clapped him on the shoulder. "Trust your sister. Your sister is legendary!"
She was telling him to put aside his worries.
...
The moon hung high above the trees. Just as Ouyang left, there was another knock on the door.
Who is it again?
Lü Qingqing felt that this evening was quite busy.
"What is it?" Lü Qingqing asked, looking at Hu Jia at the door with a puzzled expression.
"Why did he come here?" Hearing Hu Jia's question, Lü Qingqing couldn't help but chuckle. He was very wary of Ouyang.
Lü Qingqing briefly explained the situation. Seeing Hu Jia look enlightened, she couldn't hold back her thought, "By the way, he's actually quite good to you. You should cross out those words in your notebook."
The words "Stay away from Ouyang."
"Impossible. He's always up to small tricks. I don't want to be inexplicably kicked out of the police force. I have to guard against him," Hu Jia said very seriously.
Lü Qingqing was speechless.
"That was ages ago. He doesn't think like that anymore. You even worked on a case together and ate meals together a few weeks ago," Lü Qingqing said sincerely to Hu Jia. "Believe me, you get along well, you just don't remember it."
But not remembering didn't mean it didn't happen.
Seeing Hu Jia staring blankly and not speaking, Lü Qingqing became a little impatient.
"Speak up! If you don't, I'm closing the door."
"You can close the door."