Liu Yinyan was not a left-handed person, in the few days I had spent with him, I knew that. Liu Fei’er’s mother was not left-handed either, she used the chopsticks with her right hand. But their only daughter, Liu Fei’er was left-handed. It could be something or nothing. Guan Zhenglin puffed up her cheeks and then said, “Hereditary genes don’t decide everything. As you know, the human brain controls the opposite side of our body. The left brain monitors the right hand and vice versa. When the mother was pregnant, an external factor might cause the fetus’ left brain to become underdeveloped and thus the child would be left-handed.” Guan Zhenglin was cautious with her words but I caught the meaning within her words, I asked to confirm, “In other words, we can’t tell anything concrete from that alone?”
I snapped my fingers. “But we have DNA identification technology! It’ll be simple to check whether they’re biologically related. Liu Yinyan’s body is at the morgue and we still have Liu Fei’er’s broken finger. Even if I was wrong, the result wouldn’t hurt anyone!” Guan Zhenglin nodded tentatively, “I can do that. But even if you’re right, Liu Yinyan is dead. We’ve all read your report. Liu Yinyan’s love for Liu Fei’er was unquestionable.” Guan Zhenglin was not wrong. The words that Liu Yinyan said before he died did change my perspective on life. When I was small, I thought money was everything and it could ensure lifelong happiness but now I realized money was not everything. Instead, the money built up walls, the people inside wanted to get out and the people outside wanted to get in. They envied and looked down on each other.
“Okay.” I sighed and told Guan Zhenglin, “I’ll leave that to you. Gu Chen, come with me!” Guan Zhenglin widened her eyes at me with confusion, “Wait a minute, where are you guys going?” There was a witness who told me an important detail that I had forgotten all about until now. Several months ago, two people had been following Liu Fei’er, one was Song Ze, and the other was an unknown man. At the time, I thought it was someone from the team of kidnappers but after meeting them in person, I realized it couldn’t be them, because none of them would be stupid enough to let a student notice that they were following Liu Fei’er. And the defining feature that Song Ze noticed about that man was that he was a left-handed person.
At that moment, things started to click. The pieces that I found started to fall into place, things were coming to an end. The rush was coming back but the moment I thought about what Wu Zui told me, the rush was dampened immediately. Shaking my head, I told Gu Chen, “Come on, we might find something.” Guan Zhenglin bade us farewell. Gu Chen and I walked down the road. Sensing my less than stellar mood, Gu Chen said, “Wu Meng, I’m not one to speak my mind but we’ve been transferred to this unit for quite some time already. I remember the first time I saw you, there was a confidence about you.” I turned back to look at him, there was sincerity in his eyes. He continued, “I remember the first case we worked together. You came up with so many analyses with just a glance and even managed to pick out the correct one. But several cases later, how come it feels like you’re getting less and less confident in yourself? It’s like you’re suddenly cautious and afraid.”
“Do you think so?” That was a question I had for myself too. Honestly, ever since my talk with Zhao Mingkun inside Chu Ye’s tomb, an indescribable anxiety had been haunting me. A sense of powerlessness swallowed me and it made me feel like I was only a tool being used by people around me and slowly I lost my passion towards case-solving. Even though Captain Zhao had imparted some wisdom to me, I still felt perhaps I was not doing the world a service, it pained my conscience peeling back other people’s secrets for the world to see.
Gu Chen took out a box of ciggies from his pocket and lit one for me. I smoked it silently as I listened to Gu Chen. “To be frank, I don’t know what you’re so afraid of. Inside the garage, you weren’t afraid of even death. So reclaim your pride because from what I’ve seen, you have everything you need to back it up. Even though that version of you can get quite grating on people’s nerves.” Gu Chen chuckled, “That is the real you.”
We didn’t speak the rest of the way and the burning cigarettes were the only sound.
…
One hour later, we arrived at Song Ze’s university. The young man was still that self-defeating man we encountered, it was hard to change a person fully in a short amount of time. When I told him that Liu Fei’er had been saved, he almost knelt down to kowtow to me. In Song Ze’s eyes, Liu Fei’er was the embodiment of an angel, pure, kind, pretty, generous. I told Song Ze, “Liu Fei’er might have been rescued but she is still not safe. The man who you saw following her hasn’t been captured, so I have a test for you.”
“A test for me?” When he heard that, Song Ze shrunk involuntarily backwards. I sighed helplessly, “Yes, Liu Fei’er and you are classmates. In the next few days, Liu Fei’er would need to come back to school to deal with some paperwork. That man might return to stalk her, so I need you to keep an eye on her. If you spot anything suspicious, call me immediately, okay?”
Song Ze nodded hurriedly. “I thought you were going to tell me to do something else. If it’s about Liu Fei’er, you can trust me fully. The moment she shows up, I will not let her out of my sight. Don’t you worry about that.” The feverish passion in his eyes startled me and Gu Chen. I wondered what Song Ze would feel after he found out the real reason why I was asking him to do this. However, I knew Song Ze would not disappoint me. That middle-aged man should share a unique relationship with Liu Fei’er. Now that Liu Yinyan was dead, the butler was busy with his funeral and everyone in the Liu household had something on their plate, if Liu Fei’er wanted to see that man, now would be the perfect time. “I will inform you when Liu Fei’er leaves her home, pay attention.” I patted Song Ze’s shoulder. “Remember to stick close to her and don’t let her spot you.”
After saying everything, Gu Chen and I returned to Liu Yinyan’s bungalow. The big bungalow was covered with white lanterns and a large black coffin sat at the front door. Based on Liu Yinyan’s hometown culture, the coffin would be placed there for 7 days. Technically, this was supposed to be an open-casket ceremony but thanks to Wu Zui, Liu Yinyan’s body was not in a viewable state. Sometimes in drama, you’d see only a small hole when people were killed by gunshot. It looked clean and presentable but in reality, a gunshot might have a small entry wound but it would cause severe damage within the human body. The exit wound could be ginormous. In Liu Yinyan’s case, it had shattered the back of his head. Death was never anything beautiful.
It was cruel for a daughter to face such a stark death.
Eventually we saw Liu Fei’er come out. “Where are you going? Do you need a lift?” I asked.
Liu Fei’er smiled. “I’m just going to school. The driver will send me there. Thank you.” As Liu Fei’er rode away, I sent a message to Song Ze.
“Are you sure about this?” Gu Chen scratched his head. “You think there’s something wrong with Liu Fei’er? Her father just died, isn’t it inappropriate for us to suspect her?”
I shook my head, “I don’t know but this time I chose to believe in my instinct. Liu Fei’er is not as simple and innocent as we think. Perhaps, someone who grew up in this kind of environment is never going to be simple and innocent.” I turned to look at the big bungalow and the verdancy around it. It was impossible to find such a quiet place at Dong Xing City, it was like a place isolated from the city itself. The people who lived here occupied a different world from the normal citizens of Dong Xing City.
Soon Guan Zhenglin called. The first thing she said was, “Wu Meng, the result is out. Based on DNA comparison, the similarity between Liu Yinyan and Liu Fei’er’s genes is too low, they cannot be biologically related. In other words, Liu Fei’er is definitely not Liu Yinyan’s biological daughter.” I sighed, the result verified my suspicions. Liu Fei’er was not Liu Yinyan’s daughter, and that middle-aged man who followed Liu Fei’er was probably her real father. I had no idea how Liu Yinyan would feel after knowing this truth. His life motto was, to repay kindness with kindness, and repay enmity with justice. Now, he had left everything he had accrued in his life to a person who was not his daughter, someone who might be plotting against him for a long time already. The person he was kindest to could harbor the greatest enmity against him. Then again, Liu Yinyan claimed to have Liu Fei’er when he was 50 years old, the chance of that biologically speaking was too low.
So perhaps Liu Yinyan already knew the truth?
Who knows.
No comments:
Post a Comment