96 A Father

 

Xiao Liu continued to stay guard at the Liu mansion and he assigned a group to search the mountain. Even though the chance of us finding a clue was slim, we were not giving up. As an officer, it was our job to see clues when others failed, to see answers where others were unable to. Only then, one could be called a good police officer. I knew that was impossible for me but I would take it one day at a time.

I soon reached my destination. This was an illegal market, the boss didn’t even have the permit to sell cigarettes. It was because of Sister Mao that we even managed to find this place. Seeing the boss cower before Gu Chen, I knew that the boss must have had a ‘friendly’ discussion with Gu Chen before I arrived. Why else would he be so cooperative?

“Well.” Gu Chen cracked his knuckles loudly. The boss smiled genially and said, “Erm, about a month ago, someone came here, it was a new customer. As you know, in our line of business, normally we’ll only open our wares to people who came with recommendations. After all, there’s no telling what they might do with the tobacco, right? We don’t want people to get injured, do we?”

“Go on.” Gu Chen urged without even looking at the boss. The latter nodded and continued, “Normally we don’t have many customers looking for these specialty items but there is something that stood out about this customer.” The boss paused again as if to build tension. “What is it?” I asked.

The boss burst out laughing and then said, “The man has a full face of beard but he has male-patterned baldness. It’s like all of the hairs have decided to grow on his face. He is about 1.75 metres tall and has a square face. He looks about 40 to 50. He’s quite large and muscular. He’s not like your usual middle-aged uncle.” The boss glanced at Gu Chen before he continued, “It is hard to forget someone so unique so when this brother showed me the picture, I recognized him immediately. Even though he didn’t have a beard in the picture, but I am sure it was him.” In other words, the purchaser had to be Lin Dafa but to confirm, I asked, “Did he purchase Davidoff mixed tobacco?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” The boss clapped. “That was the tobacco he wanted. As you know, that kind of tobacco has a strong kick. It’s not for beginners so I warned him about it. He assured me it was going to be fine because he is an old smoker.” The boss was surprisingly chatty. “In fact, he even told me that the taste of the mix was not yet what he wanted, it was too English for his taste. He would add Zhang Ye City’s wine, those were cheap but incredibly fragrant. After that, he would add some white sugar. When I heard that, I knew I was dealing with a pro!” The boss was basically brimming with joy, “Oh, it was like I had found my brother from a different mother. As you know, I too am a connoisseur of specialty cigarettes. I asked him to leave me his name and phone number so that we could exchange tips in the future, but that bastard!” The boss sighed and shook his head. “He not only didn’t want to share with me his phone number, he even refused to even give me his name! If not for our common hobby, I would have kicked him out that day. I might not look like it, but I’m quite well-versed in kung…”

Gu Chen slammed his palm on the table and growled, “Get to the point!”

The boss jumped and then mumbled weakly, “And so I purposely sold him the item at a marked-up price. He accepted it, he thought he could just walk all over me because he had money. After he left, I told the story to my friends and swore to not sell him anything else again. My pride is worth more than his money. But he came back again yesterday. I stood by my ground and refused his business. He should have asked around to know who he’s dealing with.”

Gu Chen frowned. “Didn’t I tell you to get to the point?”

“Right, right, right!” The boss said hurriedly. “So I told him I had no more stock, I just wanted him to show me some respect but the bastard only nodded and told me he’d be back again. Won’t you be mad too? He’s like a stone, impossible to crack!” My eyes brightened. The boss was definitely not a person you’d want to befriend because there were too many negatives in his personality but it was also his nature that aided us this time. Of course, I didn’t show that on the surface. “Do you know what business this brother is in?” I pointed at Gu Chen.

The boss nodded. “Of course, he’s Sister Mao’s people, isn’t he? I know Sister Mao, she sometimes will source her tobacco from me.” I smiled, thankful that Gu Chen didn’t expose his real identity. That was the right thing to do or else this man would have closed up and escaped the next day. With a warm smile, I added, “Actually that man’s name is Lin Dafa, he’s Sister Mao’s enemy. He’s recently escaped to Dong Xing City, he must not know that this is Sister Mao’s territory. So my brother here will stay with you for a while until we can capture Lin Dafa, understood?”

“Of course!” The boss answered. “Little brother, I’ve been in the business for decades already, how could I not understand something as simple as that? I knew from first glance that this brother is someone admirable. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of his living arrangements here. That Lin Dafa, I knew he is a good-for-nothing, a rat in the sewer, a bug in the rice…” I waved my hands to stop him. “In that case, thank you for your cooperation. I’ll go back to inform Sister Mao about this.”

The boss must have thought I would go and praise him before Sister Mao and that would translate into more business. A sneaky look appeared in his eyes, I found it laughable. After we walked away, Guan Zhenglin told me, “That boss sure is interesting, a typical tailcoat rider.”

I chuckled. “Indeed, people like him like to bully the weak and lick the boots of the strong. They’re cheap and stingy but at least we know they won’t do anything too out of line.”

…

Back at the office, I updated Captain Zhao with our situation. He nodded and finally his frown softened a bit. “If we can catch one alive, we’ll nab the rest.”

Mary added, “I’ve already found all the info about Lin Dafa, he’s currently 42 and has a 19 year-old daughter. 4 years ago, Lin Dafa was sentenced to life imprisonment due to murder. 3 years ago, he was given the death sentence after killing a cellmate in prison, but before the sentence arrived, he chose to commit suicide. He cut his wrist but he failed. He was sent to the hospital. While he was hospitalized, he used the bedsheet to make a rope and climbed down from the 7th floor, he wasn’t seen until now.” As I expected, these people were all death row inmates.

“Why did he kill in the first place?” Guan Zhenglin asked. Mary then told us a story about being a father. The event happened 4 years ago, at the time Lin Dafa was 38 and his daughter, Lin Rong 15. Lin Dafa’s wife died a long time ago, and so he had to work hard to raise his daughter alone. He would return home after midnight. Whenever he came home, his daughter would be asleep or she’d left a note that she was sleeping over with a friend. 15 years old was a sensitive age and Lin Dafa had no experience raising a daughter. Sadly, Lin Rong didn’t understand the difficulty of her father as well. She looked down on him. Other people’s fathers wore ties and suits but her father was a small-time laborer. She felt embarrassed by him and didn’t want to be seen with him.

Lin Rong at 15 strayed on the street before she’d go home; Lin Rong at 15 had already learned how to cuss like a sailor; Lin Rong at 15, got to know a rich second-generation who was 20 plus; Lin Rong at 15 went on a car trip with the man to another city; Lin Rong at 15 disappeared for a whole month.

Lin Rong’s teacher went to her home to find her and she found an empty house. The teacher couldn’t contact Lin Dafa because he was too poor to afford even a phone. Lin Dafa worked a continuous contract at a construction site for a whole month and Lin Rong was absent for a whole month.

Lin Rong and her friend; the rich second-generation and his friend. 2 male, 2 female. 2 men in their 20s, 2 girls in their 15s. The rich man gave Lin Rong 3000 RMB, she had never seen so much money in her life. Lin Rong couldn’t remember being so happy. That month, the four of them stuck like glue, in more ways than one. Nothing was off-limits, within or without the bedroom.

Lin Rong came home from her trip and Lin Dafa was still none the wiser. Until one day the school had a physical exam. That day, Lin Rong was diagnosed with AIDS. Finally Lin Dafa managed to pry the story out from her. Lin Dafa brought this to the police and the rich second-generation was summoned. Turns out when he was 20, he got AIDS from some random woman. He felt cheated, because he was still young and rich. So he turned his anger outwards. He wanted to make as many people suffer as he did. That month, Lin Rong and her friend became a woman but they also got AIDS.

When the rich second-generation was questioned, he only laughed, “Those women, you’ll be able to pry their legs open if you shower them with enough money. Ha ha, interesting. Yes, I did it. I only wanted those gold diggers to feel what I feel.” The police who did the interrogation wrote this on the file, ‘That smile was the happiest and the most disgusting smile I’ve seen in my life.’

Lin Rong was expelled from school because AIDS was still a great stigma. No school wanted her and the other kids’ parents wouldn’t let her come to the same school as their kids. What if AIDS was contagious?

Therefore, Lin Rong spent her whole time at home. She morphed into a different person, she became as silent as her father. Most of the time, Lin Dafa and Lin Rong sat there quietly, not saying anything… from morning to night.

But as they say, quiet always precedes the storm.

One day, Lin Dafa left home with a cleaver.