"Exactly, if you don't understand anything, you can ask us. Don't make inappropriate jokes anymore, it's undignified." Lü Qingqing directly escalated the issue to the dignity of everyone present, naturally drawing their support.
Tong Meng looked speechlessly at the fat man. He was truly an idiot. She had asked him to find a way to subtly tease Lü Qingqing, but he had gone and handed over a banner instead.
Lü Qingqing ignored Senior Brother Pang. She picked up the skull. "Actually, there are differences in the skeletons of males and females elsewhere."
Lü Qingqing pointed at the skull and explained: Generally, male skulls and mandibles are larger and more robust, while female ones are smaller and more delicate. The female skull's forehead is often fuller than a male's, similar to a child's. The bony protrusions on male skulls are rougher than on females, and the skull surface is also rougher. From the facial perspective, male faces are narrower and longer, with more robust bones. Conversely, female faces are lower and more delicate, with smoother bone surfaces.
"And this skull has well-developed brow ridges, the forehead slopes backward and upward, the mastoid process is large, and the external occipital protuberance is prominent, so it can be determined that this is a male."
Lü Qingqing's words once again drew a round of admiration. This made Lü Qingqing feel a bit dazed herself. Sometimes, she really couldn't help but stand out.
"So, first, could Detective Chen please provide a list of males who have gone missing in the village within the last ten years." Since the deceased's gender was confirmed, the next step was to identify them.
In fact, Lü Qingqing really wanted to check if these remains belonged to Wang Yanlin, the "269 King Yanlin," but she had to restrain herself. She couldn't let the people behind Tong Meng know that she had already found a clue about "269."
"We've already prepared that." Detective Chen, being observant, handed over a list.
Lü Qingqing quickly scanned it and was surprised to find that Wang Yanlin's name was not on it.
"That's all?" Lü Qingqing asked uncertainly.
"That's all!" Detective Chen replied.
Lü Qingqing frowned. Didn't Ouyang Wen say that Wang Yanlin disappeared three months after marriage? Why did Detective Chen omit his name from the list?
Lü Qingqing was about to ask more when she suddenly noticed Tong Meng looking at her. She cursed herself inwardly and put on an indifferent expression.
The village had a total of five missing persons in the past ten years. This number seemed high, but considering the special era, it wasn't excessively so.
After all, communication was not developed. Some people left to work, and some fled due to famine, never to return.
Everyone quickly divided the tasks. Lü Qingqing was assigned to investigate the case of someone named "Luo Honglei."
Ouyang Wen had mentioned that knife marks were found on the left toe of the skeleton, and Wang Yanlin also had an injury on his left toe. This led Ouyang Wen to conclude that the remains belonged to Wang Yanlin.
Lü Qingqing had initially trusted Ouyang Wen's judgment completely. However, Detective Chen's omission of Wang Yanlin's name from the missing persons list indicated a potential problem.
Either Wang Yanlin was still alive, or Detective Chen's work was not thorough.
Lü Qingqing pondered finding an opportunity to investigate further.
Therefore, while taking the investigation record from Luo Honglei's family, Lü Qingqing kept trying to find a way to bring up Wang Yanlin without arousing Tong Meng's suspicion.
According to Luo Honglei's family, he disappeared eight years ago, supposedly to go out to work, and never returned. Lü Qingqing offered a few comforting words and then steered the conversation to other villagers.
"Do people often go out to work from this village?"
"Yes, in this era, if you don't go out to work, you can't survive. The farmland doesn't support us anymore."
"Who used to go out to work in the village? Did they all return safely?"
"They all came back, except for our Luo Honglei, who never returned."
As she spoke, the aunt began to cry softly.
"If you give me the names of those who went out to work before, I'll go and ask them one by one to see if I can find any clues."
"Oh, alright. But I've already asked those people, and there's no news."
Saying that, the aunt handed over a string of names. Finally, Lü Qingqing heard Wang Yanlin's name.
For the subsequent tasks, Lü Qingqing directly assigned everyone in her group. She asked them to visit one person each, and Wang Yanlin's case happened to be assigned to herself.
During the assignment of tasks, Tong Meng remained silent, not saying a word. Even when she heard that she would be going to Wang Yanlin's house, there was no change in her expression.
This made Lü Qingqing wonder for a moment. Had her intuition been wrong?
The Wang family's house was a bit far. Lü Qingqing walked quickly.
It was a small courtyard with only two mud-thatched rooms. Through the fence, she could see a middle-aged man doing woodworking in the yard.
"Excuse me, is this Wang Yanlin's house?" Lü Qingqing approached and greeted him.
"May I ask who you are?" the man asked, nodding in response.
Lü Qingqing explained her purpose and carefully observed the man.
He had a round face, a flat nose, and slightly crooked teeth.
"I heard that Brother Wang also returned from outside not long ago? Where did you go to work?"
"Qijiang, down the Yangtze River."
"Oh my, you've been away for quite a few years. You've made your wife wait a long time at home."
"Yes. At the time, I wasn't thinking straight. I was easily swayed by a few words and ran off. In the end, I didn't earn any money, and I almost lost my wife."
Wang Yanlin said that he had encountered human traffickers who, after deceiving him out of Chongqing city, sold him directly to a black coal mine.
For eight full years, Wang Yanlin had no contact with his family. If the government hadn't changed to new leadership, he might still be digging coal underground.
"Alas, Brother, you were indeed too careless. You were a police officer before, didn't you have any precautions?" Lü Qingqing said this while constantly watching him, trying to find any clues from his expression.
"Police? What police?" Wang Yanlin looked confused. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he hurriedly stood up and wanted to go back inside, "I have some matters at home, please excuse me."
With that, Wang Yanlin directly pushed Lü Qingqing out of the yard and closed the gate.
It was a courtyard enclosed by wooden stakes. Even standing outside, Lü Qingqing could see Wang Yanlin's hasty figure returning indoors.
Hmph, this person is too suspicious.
They had been chatting well just now, but as soon as the topic of being a police officer came up, his expression immediately changed.
Could it be?
Lü Qingqing leaped and directly jumped into the Wang family's yard. Seeing Lü Qingqing enter, Wang Yanlin frantically tried to close the door. Lü Qingqing casually threw a stone, which hit his finger.
With a yelp of pain, Wang Yanlin failed to close the door.
"What do you want? Police officers don't break into other people's houses." Wang Yanlin looked at Lü Qingqing in fear.
Lü Qingqing looked down at him. "What are you hiding from? Is there anything you can't tell me?"
"No, I'm not hiding," Wang Yanlin's eyes darted around.
Lü Qingqing squatted in front of him. "What? You can't stand talking about your past as a police officer?"
"No, no."
"Or perhaps you have no way to talk about your past as a police officer?" Lü Qingqing stared into Wang Yanlin's eyes. "Because you were never a police officer, you are not the real Wang Yanlin."
What?