TSMLI CHAPTER 6

Lin Chu blurted out, “You said the deceased’s name was Liu Hongmei?”

Yang Chunbei was in the middle of a lively conversation when she laughed and replied, “Yes, we live quite close by, just two streets apart.” She asked curiously, “You don’t know them, do you?”

Lin Chu turned her head back in a daze, still unable to believe it. Yang Chunbei asked doubtfully, “You really know them?” Lin Chu could only force a dry smile, swallowing the food in her mouth with difficulty and finding it tasteless.

The deceased, Liu Hongmei, had been Lin Chu’s former neighbor across the hall.

When Lin Chu graduated she had been running between school and work and had no time to find a place of her own, so she stayed temporarily at Ye Jing’s until the height of summer, when she moved into the farmhouses.

The people living there were not well-off. Sometimes when Sister Liu bought watermelons she would bring Lin Chu a slice. She was always meek and gentle, easy to get along with. Her two daughters, however, were a bit mischievous. At three or four years old they often made a ruckus. When neighbors banged on the door with angry faces, Sister Liu would always apologize humbly and never had any conflicts with anyone.

Lin Chu had toiled for a year and finally saved up some money. But less than a month after she moved out, Sister Liu met with an accident, and it was a matter of life and death.

In the afternoon the office grew busy, with colleagues constantly running up and down. The body had only been discovered the night before, and the investigation was proceeding intensively. The general manager’s office was cooperating with the investigation, while those gathering information kept a close watch.

As Lin Chu was getting water she saw police officers walking around downstairs in the distance. Holding her cup, she leaned out the window and looked toward the garbage dump area shrouded in smog. It was too far away to see anything clearly. She bit the rim of her cup, her brows furrowed.

Even after work everyone was still talking about it, eager to know the truth of the case. Lin Chu only received Ye Jing’s call after getting on the bus. The case was now common knowledge, and the murder was no small matter.

Lin Chu covered her phone and answered quietly. Ye Jing exclaimed in surprise, “My God, she’s your neighbor? When I watched the news I only saw that the body was found in your workplace. I didn’t expect there to be such a connection.” She immediately became excited. “Hey, did the police question you? Why didn’t they invite you for coffee!”

Lin Chu said irritably, “What does this have to do with me? I moved out a long time ago!”

Ye Jing made a few sarcastic remarks, then analyzed the case with her, betting that the murderer was an employee of the group. Her phone was already hot to the touch when Lin Chu interrupted her. “You haven’t finished work yet, have you? Stop talking. I’m getting off!” With that she hung up at once, leaning against the car window, her lips pressed together in silence.

After a long while the bus arrived at the station. Lin Chu walked to a small restaurant and ordered a bowl of fried noodles to go. The piping hot noodles were served in a styrofoam takeout container. When she returned to her rented room she discovered that the bottom of the container was broken and thick oil had leaked into the plastic bag. She ate most of it, leaving the oiliest part at the bottom.

After taking a shower she went to the kitchen, which had no stove or range hood, to do laundry. It was quite a while before Shi Tingting came back from outside, chatting with someone as she entered. “So you’re going to have to pay out so much in insurance money?”

Sang Feiyan said, “That’s right. Now I suspect this is insurance fraud. There are news stories like this all the time, where husbands buy huge insurance policies for their wives and then murder them for the money.”

Shi Tingting clicked her tongue and shook her head. Seeing Lin Chu washing clothes in the kitchen, she suddenly remembered. “That’s right, that’s Lin Chu’s workplace!”

Lin Chu shook the water off her hands, picked up the basin, and asked curiously, “What?”

Sang Feiyan said, “I hadn’t thought of that until Tingting mentioned it. Didn’t they find a woman’s body in the landfill yesterday? That woman bought an insurance policy from our company three months ago. Now she’s been murdered, and her husband is the beneficiary. He’ll receive a huge sum of money!”

Lin Chu was taken aback, her heart suddenly pounding. “Did the police ask you any questions?”

Sang Feiyan nodded. “They came in the afternoon and asked the insurance agent who sold them the insurance.” She clicked her tongue. “If it really was her husband who did this, how could that woman rest in peace?”

Shi Tingting asked Lin Chu if she knew anything, but Lin Chu knew less than they did. She did not mention knowing Sister Liu, subconsciously not wanting to cause trouble for herself.

But just because she did not want to cause trouble did not mean others had no eyes on her.

The following Friday, discussions about the murder intensified, with Lin Chu merely observing. That afternoon a reporter from the company’s internal publication conducted an exclusive interview with her. The two found an empty conference room on the second floor, the chairs still stacked high. Lin Chu pulled down two chairs and cautiously answered the reporter’s questions. At the end the reporter laughed. “You’re so lucky! Those leaders are so arrogant. Manager Shen from Min’an refused an interview. Forget it, I don’t care anyway. I’ve heard he’s very fierce. I don’t want to scare myself!”

Lin Chu smiled but did not respond.

After working until the end of the day, Lin Chu immediately packed her things, intending to catch the bus back to Chuqian. Her mother had already called to remind her to be careful on the bus. As soon as Lin Chu reached the ground floor and hung up the phone, she heard a loud booming sound. Trouble was brewing.

Jiang Jin quickly blocked Lin Chu’s path, rummaged through his pockets, pulled out a crumpled business card, and introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Jiang Jin, a reporter from the Nanjiang Evening News.” He went straight to the point. “A female corpse was found in the landfill the day before yesterday. I heard you know the deceased?”

Lin Chu was taken aback and immediately denied it. “Who said that!”

Jiang Jin smiled. “Yang Chunbei.”

Lin Chu was speechless. She simply said, “We know each other. We used to live across the hall, but we weren’t very close. What do you want to ask?”

Jiang Jin said, “After this incident, Liu Hongmei’s neighbors all claimed to know nothing about it. I didn’t expect you to be their neighbor as well. So I hope you can provide some clues. Did the deceased have any grudges against anyone before her death, or did anything unusual happen before?”

Lin Chu frowned, feigning recollection. “Really, no. I don’t usually interact with her, and our schedules are different, so I don’t have much of an impression.” In fact Sister Liu really had nothing to criticize.

Several employees in work uniforms were peering in their direction. Jiang Jin was too conspicuous standing there, especially with that eye-catching black motorcycle. Lin Chu did not want to linger with him and tried to leave, but Jiang Jin stopped her. “Think it over carefully. Every seemingly insignificant detail could become an important clue. You know, the deceased left behind two children. They’re so young and have lost their mother. It’s so pitiful. When I went to their house at noon, their father wasn’t there. The two little girls were crying inside the house, almost lifeless!”

Lin Chu said helplessly, “Don’t tell me I don’t know anything. Even if I did know something, I should tell the police!” After saying that she walked around Jiang Jin and headed toward the gate. The employees were still looking in this direction. Lin Chu lowered her head and quickly left.

To get back to Chuqian she had to transfer three times. Lin Chu kept her eyes closed the whole way to rest, and when she got off the first bus in a daze she almost cried out.

Jiang Jin waved at her with a grin. “Beautiful lady, I’ll escort you home!” The people waiting for the bus nearby heard him and all looked knowing.

Lin Chu blushed and ignored him. Fifteen minutes later she boarded the second bus. After it had driven for a while she looked back and, sure enough, saw Jiang Jin riding his motorcycle, slowly following behind. The man next to her, who had been waiting for the bus with her, also glanced back and laughed. “Is this how you young people date nowadays? Quite interesting!”

Lin Chu smiled faintly and remained silent.

By the time the third bus arrived it was already dark, with a thin layer of dark clouds covering the sky. Only then did Jiang Jin realize her destination and called out to her. “Are you going to Chuqian? Where do you live?”

Lin Chu looked around, pretending not to recognize him. Jiang Jin lost his patience, got off his motorcycle, walked up to her, and said with a stern face, “I just wanted to ask you something. What can’t you say!”

Lin Chu looked on incredulously. “Where did I not say anything? I told you I didn’t know anything. Why don’t you believe me?”

Jiang Jin chuckled and was about to speak when a horn blared from the side. A black minivan slowly pulled up to the platform. The rear door opened automatically, and Shen Zhongxun leaned out, frowning as he asked, “What’s going on?”

Lin Chu was slightly surprised, vaguely noticing two familiar-looking senior executives from the city investment company inside the car. Jiang Jin was also slightly surprised and only said, “It’s nothing, just chatting with friends!”

Shen Zhongxun glanced at Lin Chu, who composed herself and smiled and nodded. The bus behind them had already arrived, honking to urge the van and black motorcycle blocking the way. Jiang Jin hurriedly drove them away, and Lin Chu took the opportunity to run to the bus and hurriedly climb on.

Seeing her seemingly flee in disarray, Shen Zhongxun frowned and glanced again through the car window at Jiang Jin, whose expression was displeased. The leader beside him, having finished his call, chuckled. “That looks like Xiao Jiang?”

Shen Zhongxun said, “Yes, it’s him.”

The leader smiled and then brought up the matter of the recent inspection trip to Chuqian.

In the past two years the northern part of Chuqian had undergone demolition and reconstruction. Near the newly built regional center there was a national scenic area. There were still several barren hills and wastelands outside the scenic area that had not been fully developed. The local tourism investment company wanted to join hands with the city investment group to develop the front area. They planned to register a project company with a huge investment amount. Every step needed to be taken with caution. Shen Zhongxun had been sent here. Although he felt surprised, it was also as if it was expected.

Lin Chu kept a close eye on the motorcycles behind her. As night fell and the streetlights thinned out as they entered Chuqian District, visibility decreased. Seeing no headlights on behind her, Lin Chu guessed that Jiang Jin had finally given up and breathed a sigh of relief.

After getting off the bus, Lin’s mother called again to urge her to hurry up. Lin Chu had been delayed by Jiang Jin when she got off work and missed her bus, which was originally scheduled to depart at the right time. She had wasted nearly an hour for no reason. After exiting the station she avoided the unlicensed taxi driver and hailed a taxi. Only then did she tell her mother that she would be home in ten minutes. Little did she know that a motorcycle was following closely behind, but the noise was blocked outside the vehicle, so Lin Chu could not hear it.