"Right, since the missing persons don't match, let's try the non-missing ones," Lu Qingqing said, forcing out a rather lame excuse after thinking for a long time.
"Non-missing ones?" the fat senior brother repeated, "Lu Qingqing, are you still asleep?"
Not just the fat senior brother, but everyone else stared at Lu Qingqing in surprise, though they were too polite to ask.
"Detective Chen, look at Liu Li. No one knew when she returned to the village in the evening. So, isn't it possible that people who claim to have moved away, or who say they've moved, appear to have their whereabouts known by everyone, but in reality, no one has actually contacted them?"
Uh.
Yes, that was indeed possible.
Lu Qingqing opened up a new line of thought for everyone, and soon, they came up with a few more names, including Wang Xia.
"Let's exclude this person first. His relatives still live in the village and visit occasionally. So they are not truly out of contact."
"This person must also be excluded. Although they live in town, they are often seen."
Detective Chen systematically eliminated people, and finally his gaze fell on Wang Xia.
This indeed was someone who had gone away and never returned.
"Who said Wang Xia had moved away?"
"Wang Yanlin."
"Besides him, did Wang Xia tell anyone else he was moving?"
"No!"
"Then let's go find this Wang Yanlin."
Lu Qingqing's eyes lit up. After going in such a big circle, they had finally gotten to Wang Yanlin.
A group of people swaggered to Wang Yanlin's house. "Your village should really be renamed Wang Family Village. Almost everyone is surnamed Wang," Guan Jinsong joked.
"Yes, most people in the village are surnamed Wang. This Wang Xia, Wang Yanlin, Wang Yangang – you've encountered all of them are surnamed Wang," Detective Chen replied.
Hmm?
Lu Qingqing tilted her head. "Wang Yangang? You mean that kid Gangzi?"
"That's right! He and Wang Yanlin are cousins," Detective Chen said.
Wang Yangang and Wang Yanlin were brothers?
Yesterday, all the suspicions were focused on Wang Yanlin, and then something happened at Wang Yangang's house. Was there a connection?
Lu Qingqing secretly made a mental note of this, planning to tell Hu Jia later.
Seeing Wang Yanlin again, he was no longer as flustered as when Lu Qingqing had met him yesterday. Instead, he was quite calm.
Regarding Wang Xia, Wang Yanlin said his only impression was from eight or nine years ago. It was one evening when Wang Yanlin went out to relieve himself and saw Wang Xia leaving. When he asked, he learned that Wang Xia was returning to the city and would never come back.
Since then, Wang Yanlin had not seen Wang Xia again, nor did he know where he lived.
Everyone felt disappointed after hearing this.
Only Lu Qingqing suddenly said, "Wang Yanlin, you must have heard that the victim's toes were injured. I want to see your toes."
"See mine?" For some reason, Lu Qingqing clearly sensed a hint of nervousness in Wang Yanlin.
"Yes, I heard your toes were injured before, and I want to see if people with injured toes walk steadily. This will help us determine if the victim walked steadily before death."
Lu Qingqing's explanation made everyone suddenly understand.
Although they felt it was unnecessary, they didn't see any harm in it.
Wang Yanlin was wearing thick clothes, and Zhan Ruoxuan and Guan Jinsong stepped forward to help.
However, their skills were poor, and they almost pulled off Wang Yanlin's undershirt several times.
After examining Wang Yanlin's injury, everyone dispersed.
Only Zhan Ruoxuan and Guan Jinsong stayed by Lu Qingqing's side. "Why did you ask us to pull open Wang Yanlin's clothes just now? Do you want to see the uncle's flesh too?"
"Scram!" Lu Qingqing's toe landed squarely on Zhan Ruoxuan's butt.
"I think he hasn't been beaten enough by Captain Hu," Guan Jinsong said with a laugh, then subtly gestured with his eyes. Hu Jia was watching them from not far away.
Lu Qingqing waved happily, and Hu Jia responded enthusiastically.
"Heh, be careful not to wave your hand off," Zhan Ruoxuan grumbled resentfully.
"Kid, seeing them so affectionate, aren't you unhappy?" Guan Jinsong nudged Zhan Ruoxuan's arm. This kid always had a bad attitude towards Hu Jia and followed Lu Qingqing around every day. Many people speculated if he liked Lu Qingqing.
"Tch! You're overthinking it," Zhan Ruoxuan retorted with an eye-roll. "I like gentle little bunnies, not those tigresses."
"Oh, Qingqing, Zhan Ruoxuan says you're a tigress!"
"..."
"Damn it! Guan Jinsong, you're asking for it!" Zhan Ruoxuan jumped onto Guan Jinsong's back and started messing with his hair.
Guan Jinsong carried him on his back, laughing heartily.
Lu Qingqing, who had intended to reprimand Zhan Ruoxuan, saw the scene and thought, "Alright, it's not too bad," and let him off the hook.
Seeing Lu Qingqing run towards Hu Jia, Zhan Ruoxuan seemed to lose all his energy, his eyes dimming.
He had indeed harbored some feelings for Lu Qingqing before, especially when he knew she was only pretending to be Hu Jia's fiancée.
But later, he realized Lu Qingqing had become deeply immersed in the role without even knowing it, and he understood that he was too late.
Fortunately, his feelings were not too deep, and he quickly withdrew from this unrequited love.
Now, being a good friend by Lu Qingqing's side was also good.
Zhan Ruoxuan slid off Guan Jinsong's back, and Guan Jinsong pounced on him again.
The two of them laughed and joked, letting all their thoughts fade away with their laughter.
"How was it? Did you find out?" Hu Jia and the others gathered together.
"Yes, this Wang Yanlin is not Wang Yanlin!" This was the second time Lu Qingqing had said this.
Last time, it was a guess.
This time, it was a certainty.
"His skin color is normal, no signs of pallor from illness. His clothes have almost no patches. His gait is steady and even, and he eats without haste. Therefore, he is not someone who frequently works in the mines."
Lu Qingqing's words made Zhan Ruoxuan and Guan Jinsong suddenly understand.
No wonder Lu Qingqing had asked them to observe Wang Yanlin's living habits, and no wonder she had asked them to look under Wang Yanlin's clothes.
Coal miners who worked in the mines regularly had several common characteristics. Due to the high intensity of physical labor, they ate quickly and in large quantities.
Because coal miners walked ten or even more miles daily from the mine entrance to the workface, they walked very fast, their footsteps sounding like the wind;
Miners who spent long hours underground were not exposed to sunlight, so their skin had an unhealthy pallor and they were prone to skin diseases;
Due to the peculiar working environment, even clean work clothes looked the same after being in the mines. Therefore, miners were accustomed to patching their clothes repeatedly. Furthermore, Wang Yanlin claimed he was abducted and didn't earn money, so the clothes he wore after returning home should have had patches.
These characteristics that miners possessed were not found in Wang Yanlin. He had only been back for about ten days, so it was impossible for him to change so drastically.
"Finally, according to the intelligence we received, the Wang Yanlin who was a police officer in Chongqing had a splayed-foot gait, while this Wang Yanlin from the village did not have this problem. Therefore, I am certain that Wang Yanlin lied. Firstly, he did not go to work in the mines. Secondly, he did not go to the city to be a police officer."
Since he did not go to the city to be a police officer, then who was the real police officer?
It was highly likely Wang Xia.
And where was Wang Xia?
Perhaps he was that pile of bones!