"If it's a case of a crime committed by someone familiar, then we can narrow down our investigation significantly," the cool and aloof girl said, then glanced at Luo Fei, seemingly a bit surprised.
"Does anyone have anything to add?" Zhao Donglai asked the group. Seeing no one spoke up, he turned to Zhou Weimin, "Director Zhou, do you have anything to add?"
Zhou Weimin shook his head and smiled, "Cracking cases is your Criminal Investigation Team's specialty. I'll do whatever you say."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Donglai didn't hold back, "Since no one has anything else to add, I'll assign the tasks now. Wang Dong, Xiaoyue, you two go to the business office to check who the victim contacted in the last month and figure out their relationships."
"Yang Su, Zhang Fan, your task is to go door-to-door and inquire within the community to see if anyone saw strangers from yesterday to seven this morning. Also, register the identities of all males aged twenty to forty with a height over 1.75 meters in the neighborhood."
"Zhaocheng and I will go to the silk factory where the deceased worked to gather information."
After assigning tasks to the Criminal Investigation Team members, Zhao Donglai turned to Zhou Weimin, "Director Zhou, can you lend me two people? Old Liao is leading several colleagues investigating a missing persons case, and I'm short on hands."
"Why not, we're all working," Zhou Weimin smiled, pointing to Zhang Haiyang and Luo Fei beside him, "How about Haiyang and Luo Fei?"
"That works." Zhao Donglai nodded, then looked at the cool and aloof girl, "Yang Mei, take Comrade Haiyang and Comrade Luo Fei to the victim's hometown to find out if the victim had any disputes with others or was particularly close with someone."
Luo Fei finally knew the name of the cool and aloof female officer was Yang Mei.
Zhou Weimin instructed Luo Fei and Zhang Haiyang to follow Yang Mei's orders, and both nodded in agreement.
.....
At ten in the morning, after Zhao Donglai assigned the tasks, Luo Fei and the other two drove to Woniucun—the hometown of the victim, Su Xiao.
The driver was the police officer Yang Mei, and the car was her own, a high-spec Land Rover. Probably a second-generation wealthy family, as if she were a second-generation official, Luo Fei thought she wouldn't dare be so conspicuous.
From Ningjiang City to Woniucun wasn't far, but the road was mountainous, so they couldn't drive fast. It was slow going, and they didn't reach Woniucun until twelve noon.
Woniucun was located halfway up the mountain, nestled against it, with about two hundred households in the whole village.
Upon arriving in the village, the three planned to first visit the village leader's home, as the village leader was undoubtedly the best source for understanding the village situation.
Under the guidance of villagers, the three easily found the village leader of Woniucun.
The village leader, named Wang Youfa, was a thin but energetic old man in his sixties, with forty years of party membership, and had been the village leader for over thirty years in Woniucun.
"Come, come, officers, have some tea," the village leader enthusiastically poured tea for the three officers in a house made of hollow bricks. Afterward, he called to his wife in the kitchen: "Dear, do we still have watermelon left from a few days ago? It's so hot today. If we do, cut one for the officers to eat."
"Village leader, there's no need to be so polite. We're just here to ask you about some things," Yang Mei seemed a bit embarrassed.
Zhang Haiyang also smiled, saying, "Right, village leader, there's no need to be so formal with us."
Upon hearing this, the village leader cheerfully replied, "Why not? I understand how hard you work as police officers. My son is also a police officer, though not here in Ningjiang County; he's in Luoya County."
At this moment, the village leader's wife came over from the kitchen with a plate of sliced watermelon.
"Here, officers, have some watermelon. I've been keeping it in the water tank, so it's chilled!" She said, handing a slice to each of Luo Fei, Yang Mei, and the other officer.
"Thank you, ma'am." Since the watermelon was already offered, Luo Fei didn't refuse, as it was a delight to have chilled watermelon in this hot weather.
Yang Mei and Zhang Haiyang no longer refused either and each took a slice and began eating.
"No need to thank, it's just a slice of watermelon. By the way, officers, are you here for Su Lao Han's daughter, Su Xiao?" the village leader asked.
"How did you know we came for this?" Yang Mei looked at the village leader curiously.
The village leader responded, "Around eight this morning, Su Lao Han received a call from the police station saying his daughter Su Xiao had an incident in the city and asked him and his wife to go there. As soon as they left, you came to find out more, so I figured you must be here for this."
"Officers, is it true that Su Lao Han's daughter Su Xiao has died?" asked the village leader's wife, who had been standing by.
"Why are you asking? Didn't you say you were going to gather pigweed? Why don't you go?" the village leader gave his wife a sharp look, feeling that she shouldn't have asked that.
"I was just asking," the village leader's wife muttered discontentedly but still left the living room.
After she left, the village leader spoke, "Officers, I know you police have rules and can't disclose some things. So I won't ask what I shouldn't, and I won't say what I shouldn't. You can ask whatever you need to know."
One has to admit, as an old party member, the village leader's personal qualities and awareness were indeed high.
Seeing this, Yang Mei asked, "Village leader, please tell us about Su Xiao."
The village leader looked perplexed, clearly not understanding.
So Yang Mei explained, "I mean, what is Su Xiao's usual temperament like? Does she have a boyfriend, who is she close with, or does she have any conflicts with anyone? Anything about Su Xiao is fine to mention."
The village leader understood this time.
He thought for a moment and said, "Officers, to be honest, I've watched Su Xiao grow up. She was well-behaved from childhood to adulthood. Her dad, Su Lao Han, loves eating and doing nothing, spending his days playing cards at the mahjong parlor. Her mom is unreliable too, always following Su Lao Han at the mahjong parlor, not doing their farm work properly, yet their daughter is so obedient and sensible."
"Su Xiao works in the silk factory and has been there for two years. She basically comes back once a week, and each time she brings groceries for her parents. Her salary is just over three thousand a month, but she gives fifteen hundred to her parents every month."
"Of course, though Su Lao Han and his wife might not be great, they truly love their daughter, who came to them late in life. Even though Su Xiao didn't do well academically and didn't get into high school, they didn't want her to toil in the fields, so they got her a job at the silk factory. They reportedly spent over fifty thousand in bribes for that, even selling the two cows they had."
"Also, after Su Xiao started at the silk factory, many people came to propose marriage. In our village alone, a few families were interested because Su Xioa is pretty, well-behaved, and famous for it. Now she has a stable job, so many people are interested."
"Li Daqiang from the neighboring village is known here for having a good family background. His brother is a deputy in the finance bureau, and Li Daqiang runs his own construction business, owning trucks and an excavator, with two houses in the city. His son works in a bank. Li Daqiang's son set his eyes on Su Xiao during a banquet here."
"Later, Li Daqiang and his son came to propose, offering a dowry of fifty thousand. You know, with such a high dowry and Li Daqiang's family conditions, most parents would have pressured their daughter to marry, not caring about her opinion."
"But surprisingly, Su Lao Han and his wife refused because Su Xiao didn't like Li Daqiang's son. Honestly, in the countryside, facing a family with such good conditions as Li Daqiang's, very few parents would listen to their daughter. So I truly admire Su Lao Han for cherishing his daughter so much."