Xiao Haiyang took two steps back, leaned against the wall of the stairwell, and slowly slid down a little.
"That's right," he said as though raving. "The fire started in an office in the building's basement and set fire to some liquor storerooms in the basement. None of the employees on that floor had a chance to escape, and the ones who did escape were all horribly mutilated. When the fire spread, quite a few customers were drawn in, too. There were countless dead and wounded. It was…a huge disaster."
At this point, Luo Wenzhou thought it was sounding familiar—fourteen years earlier, the great Captain China had been in his own little world, slacking his way through middle school, but even he'd still had some attention to spare to hear some news about this business. Clearly this fire had been a bigger deal even than "9115."
"Quite a few people were implicated, right?" Luo Wenzhou frowned. "I seem to remember there was someone from our system…"
"Because the fire wasn't just the fault of poor fire safety precautions," Xiao Haiyang said. "Supposedly, a survivor who escaped from the fire made a statement, saying that 'some higher-up from the City Bureau' had made an unsuccessful attempt to extort a bribe and had a dispute with the head waiter. While they were pushing and shoving, he slipped up and knocked the head waiter's head against the corner of a table, and the man died on the spot. The killer wanted to burn the corpse to destroy the evidence and didn't expect that the fire safety installations of a such a high-quality entertainment center would be merely for show. The liquor storerooms were also unreasonably arranged. So he accidentally burned himself up along with the rest."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Luo Wenzhou had had enough of Xiao Haiyang's style of talking, which was both incoherent and as fast as popping beans. He felt that the wandering he'd done in his youth owing to his family circumstances was still expressed in his speech and couldn't be healed. He hurriedly waved a hand to interrupt. "Fei Du, keep your mouth shut, don't set him running again.—What do you mean? Who is 'some higher-up from the City Bureau' supposed to be? Gu Zhao? What was that about extorting a bribe? How do you know? Also, weren't we just talking about Lu Guosheng? How did we get here?"
"I don't know concrete details. This is what I put together later from eavesdropping on the people who came to investigate him.—I only know that Uncle Gu really was investigating the whereabouts of the chief culprit in the 327 case, and his investigation took him to The Louvre. As for the details, he wouldn't have told an elementary school student about them. But somehow, this business turned into, 'On the pretext of tracking down a wanted criminal, Gu Zhao repeatedly extorted enormous bribes from businesses, then lost control and killed someone.' There were witnesses and material evidence…" Xiao Haiyang's voice rolled around in his throat. It was hoarse. His tone became sorrowful. "If he'd been extorting bribes, would he have been living in our…our lousy estate where no one even collected the trash? Up to his death, the most expensive electronic device in his house was the color TV—which he bought specially so I could hook up a game console to it!"
Luo Wenzhou and Fei Du, one leaning against the stairwell's door, one standing in a corner, had Xiao Haiyang pressed between them. Luo Wenzhou was hearing this inside information for the first time. Struggling to cover up his shock under an unflappable expression, he silently exchanged a look with Fei Du—these methods were too similar in style to the orderly deaths of the participants in the Zhou Clan case. A case that in the end came to perfect resolution, with all the "chief culprits" properly dead, not leaving a scrap behind.
The City Bureau's Criminal Investigation Team was the elite within the system. The young and promising deputy-captain doing such a demented thing naturally meant that those with leadership responsibility would get in trouble—no wonder Yang Zhengfeng, who'd already been a full captain then, had lagged behind Director Zhang and Director Lu, his contemporaries; it turned out that the story that Lao Yang had been demoted following a disciplinary action hadn't just been empty rumor—and this heinous crime had then unexpectedly led to a fire, drawing in countless innocents, bringing about an outcome that could be called a calamity…so the leadership responsibility wouldn't only have fallen on a mere Criminal Investigation Team captain; even the city government would have been in trouble.
No wonder the Gu Zhao business had been so severely covered up.
Fortunately the frightening internet hadn't yet taken root and sprouted within their borders at the time, and the dissemination of information hadn't been so quick; that was why the personnel who had been drawn in for no reason on all sides had been able to hide this in complete secrecy, suppressing the whole sequence of events underground so that to this day not a trace could be found of what happened then.
Filled up with a pile of moldy old news, Luo Wenzhou frowned, chewing it over for a good while, then said, "So what were you planning? Tell everyone, say that someone's been hiding the escaped criminal Lu Guosheng, take the opportunity to disclose events from over a decade ago, force the City Bureau to investigate the matter of Gu Zhao anew? Since you knew about this inside story, why didn't you tell me before?"
Xiao Haiyang straightened his neck and sneered at him, not backing down at all. "Because I knew you wouldn't dare to investigate—with good luck, you blind cats might have caught a dead mouse, arrested Lu Guosheng, at best just solving this case. With bad luck, Lu Guosheng would get away with it again, you'd send a report of 'conclusive evidence' to your superiors, put out another wanted notice, and count it as a solved case, too. What about the injustices of others? That sounds nice! Aren't you more concerned with avoiding blame than winning praise? There were so many suspicious aspects of Gu Zhao's case, but who investigated them?!"
Luo Wenzhou crossed his arms in front of his chest. Hearing these lines, he couldn't help sighing over the passage of time—never mind a long time ago, if someone had been standing in front of him asking for a beating like this three or four years ago, he'd definitely have rolled up his sleeves and satisfied their desire.
"Don't say you're different. Wang Hongliang kept everyone in the dark at the Flower Market District Sub-Bureau for so many years, those girls dying under persecution and those drug users being ruined by their addictions, and did anyone care? Did the City Bureau care? Because Wang Hongliang wasn't stupid. He understood that this is a law-abiding society, and 'law-abiding society' protects respectable people. So he picked poor people without any family or connections to target, the transient workers, who no one saw when they were alive and no one cared about when they were dead! If it hadn't come out right when there was a conference being held, if Huang Jinglian hadn't been muddle-headed enough to touch you, Young Lord Luo, the sub-bureau's crowd of scumbags could have endured in peace until the end of the world! And where would all you emissaries of righteousness have been?!"
Luo Wenzhou still didn't respond, but Fei Du frowned slightly.
"That's right, the murdered Feng Bin had parents and friends to come voice their grievances, to come cry and wail. He attended a private school, his family had money and position, of course you'd have to attach value to that, of course you'd have to make a strong appearance of investigating and solving the case, add some brilliance to your resumes for the future. But what about Gu Zhao? He was a bachelor, his only family was his old mother, who fell ill and never recovered after his death. She died not long after. Who's going to demand the truth on his behalf? Who's going to take up the thankless task of remembering the injustice done to him? Who still remembers him!?"
Luo Wenzhou said powerlessly, "You…"
Then Fei Du calmly interrupted him, putting in a word as coolly as an outsider. "Your wish to expose this makes a certain amount of sense.
"But first of all, you picked the wrong media for exposing it. Yan City Mass Media's main product is online media. I don't mind telling you, up to the present moment, they haven't broken through yet. That's why they want to make some big news to get eyes on them. They don't seem to be able to truly guide public opinion. And there's so much fresh news. Celebrities having affairs is more fun to read about than a murder case. Even if you could attract discussion, it wouldn't last longer than a week at most, and then it would be forgotten. And since the accusation that Gu Zhao lied about a lead in tracking down a wanted criminal and further solicited bribes on that basis is already so final, that page would still exist. You can't control this with just a few words of idle rumor online."
Xiao Haiyang stared, looking at him through his tear-blurred eyes, not understanding why Fei Du was suddenly on his side.
Fei Du's tone changed. "The rest, you evidently understand, too. Someone hid Lu Guosheng. To be a little unfeeling, Feng Bin's death, while in fact very tragic, is also an opportunity for us to get at the person behind the scenes—as long as you don't alert the enemy. If you prick old sores at an uncertain time like this, startle the crafty rabbit behind it all, what's going to happen?"
All of Xiao Haiyang's rebukes just now had come out entirely out of impulse. By now he'd more or less finished giving vent to his feelings and some of his reason was gradually returning; he listened to Fei Du's calm and objective speech.
"If I were the person behind the scenes who was hiding Lu Guosheng and heard that this business had made such a fuss, I'd just find some reason to kill Lu Guosheng and deliver his body to the City Bureau so they could close the case—I believe that for the person behind the scenes, this wouldn't even count as making a brave sacrifice; at most it would count as taking off a pair of muddy socks." Fei Du looked gently at Xiao Haiyang. "Officer Xiao, your unconventional gambit may very well be useful. Perhaps it'll help everyone achieve a weekend where they don't need to work overtime."
With each sentence Fei Du spoke, Xiao Haiyang's face turned whiter.
"As for that Feng Bin, a little senior middle school student who couldn't sleep at night and slipped out to run around blindly, his death is his own doing, but since his family has money, they still insist on wasting public resources and police time to investigate the crime over and over, while the real victim of injustice is buried deep in the earth without anyone to inquire about him—just thinking about it makes you feel it's very unfair, isn't that right?" Fei Du looked at Xiao Haiyang with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, opening the door of the stairwell. "If Officer Gu is conscious in the underworld, his resentment must be great. It's truly a pity."
Xiao Haiyang said, "You…you're talking nonsense!"
"What, he has no resentment? Then he truly was a holy man.—Since that's the way it is, for whose sake are you making a scene for here?" Fei Du raised his long, slim eyebrows, displaying grandiose astonishment. He tilted his head and looked at him. "Oh, I get it. You think you've abandoned so many things for the sake of washing away the injustice done to him, borne so many secrets, and your grievance is on your own behalf."
Xiao Haiyang's speechlessness was somewhat frightened and alarmed.
"There's no need for the grievance to go on. Officer Gu didn't ask you to reverse the verdict on his behalf. If you don't succeed in reversing it and his death leaves you with a lifetime of reproach, it'll be truly pitiful. Why is this necessary?" Fei Du's painted-on smile evaporated. He coldly looked askance at Xiao Haiyang, then walked off.
Luo Wenzhou only then sniffed out the faint anger in Fei Du's tone. It mixed with the leftover note of the Mu Xiang he was wearing, resulting in an explosive reaction; it drove itself into Luo Wenzhou's chest, setting off fireworks in his heart—another person had scolded him, and the person whose face never displayed his emotions had actually gotten angry!
"For my sake," he thought.
Luo Wenzhou pulled himself together and used a great deal of effort to hold himself back from smiling idiotically on the spot. Facing Xiao Haiyang again, Luo Wenzhou didn't feel a trace of anger. He very genially reached out a hand towards Xiao Haiyang. "Hand over your work ID and tools. I'm temporarily suspending you from duty. No objections?"
All of Xiao Haiyang's rage had been doused to ashes by the ice water Fei Du had splashed on him. His wrath cooled, but his remorse showed its head. The silly deer had involuntarily been set running again by Fei Du. He thought in panic, "Do I resent Uncle Gu?"
He seemed to be face to face with his own base soul. He stared emptily for a moment, then without saying a word fished out his work ID and handcuffs, handed them over to Luo Wenzhou, and floated off like a morning frost.
Fei Du went straight to see Xia Xiaonan. Passing the office door, he saw Lang Qiao hang up the phone and walk out.
Fei Du said, "Have you notified Liang Youjing's parents?"
Lang Qiao nodded, then looked up at him, feeling a small intuition like a wild beast, sensing that Fei Du was wrapped in a layer of icy shards.
"I want to go have a word with Xia Xiaonan," Fei Du said to her, gentle and refined. "Do you want to come with me? Going with a beautiful young woman may alleviate her anxiety."
Lang Qiao, bewildered, kept pace with Fei Du, tentatively saying, "President Fei, it's gotten cold. Is the royal clan about to go bankrupt?"
Fei Du didn't understand her talk and turned his head to ask, "What royal clan?"
Lang Qiao held the corners of her eyes with her fingers and gave him a smile full of world peace.
Xia Xiaonan was startled by their arrival and quickly raised her head to see who'd come in, then bowed her head deeply again.
"Your classmate told us everything." Fei Du didn't make any superfluous opening remarks on coming in but went right to the point. "Concerning the hunting game on Christmas."
Xia Xiaonan was taken unawares. She shuddered and looked at Fei Du in panic.
"Tell me what you're afraid of." Fei Du looked into her eyes, clearly seeing the girl's pupils contract from nervousness as she struggled, trying to avoid his line of sight. "Xia Xiaonan, look at me and speak. Feng Bin is dead, and you could say it was for your sake. Your other classmate could have stayed out of it but revealed this business to us, also for your sake. Your grandfather left home and rushed to the City Bureau in his wheelchair and is still waiting outside for news, not eating or drinking. Do you want to spend your whole life being a beautiful lantern hanging on a wall? Can you act like a person, speak openly for yourself and for others?"
Xia Xiaonan, who before had only screamed or sat in silence, stared into space for a moment, then without any warning began to cry.
Fei Du waited for her to finish crying without making a sound. It took over ten minutes. When the girl only had the strength left to gasp, he kept going. "Specially enrolled students ordinarily have to sign an agreement with the school. You can't transfer schools, you have to take your university entrance exams at Yufen, or else you'd have to return your scholarship money to the school, is that right?"
Xia Xiaonan nodded breathlessly.
"So at first you were only trying to survive at school," Fei Du said. "Ordinarily, the person who gets chosen for teasing at Christmas doesn't know before it's publicly announced—but this time someone told you in advance. Aside from Feng Bin, there was also another person, right? Just nod or shake your head."
Xia Xiaonan hesitated, then nodded again.
"This person has more power at school than Feng Bin. He asked you to sell out the person who'd warned you out of good will, or else he wouldn't only make it so you couldn't stay at school, he'd also make you return the scholarship. But you took that money home long ago to pay for your grandfather's treatment and cover household expenses. You couldn't return it. You could only yield."
Xia Xiaonan clutched at her own clothing.
"Then, Feng Bin told you his plans. He wanted to take you and the others and leave, reveal the unusual order at school—it seems that he was planning for a very long time. You became an enemy agent among these people."
"He…he only said he wanted to find someone to take care of Feng Bin…" Xia Xiaonan at last spoke, in a voice as thin as a mosquito's whine. "I thought they only wanted to get someone to beat him up outside school, or have the school come get him and discipline him or something… "
"Feng Bin was comfortably off, and his parents are both people of means. Even if he'd been brought back to school, someone would have found a way to keep a disciplinary action off the record—right?" Fei Du said quietly. "But little girl, did you think about it? Even if you'd left school, you still wouldn't have been at the end of your rope. Good and bad fortune comes in waves. In another two or three years, anything could have happened. But you may never again in your life meet another boy who cares for you so much."
Xia Xiaonan was once again crying so hard she couldn't speak. Lang Qiao felt that even she was about to cry listening to Fei Du. She quickly passed over a tissue.
Xia Xiaonan rolled the tissue into a ball and held it tight in her hand. "He… He put…tracking software on my phone…"
Fei Du said, "Who is he?"
Xia Xiaonan dug fiercely into her own hand, hard enough to cut the flesh. She didn't speak.
Lang Qiao automatically followed up, "You don't need to be afraid. This is a public security bureau. No one is going to do anything do you. Who is he?"
Xia Xiaonan was crying so hard she seemed about to pass out. She shook her head.
Lang Qiao looked at Fei Du and saw him suddenly stand up, take off his jacket, and throw it over the surveillance camera; then he walked over to Xia Xiaonan, took a business card out of his pocket, put it in front of her, leaned down, and said something into her ear.
Xia Xiaonan raised her head and looked at him in shock.
Lang Qiao: "…"
Hey, handsome, taking off your clothes and seducing a minor is against regulations!
Fei Du gave the girl an unassailable smile and stood up straight. "Try me."
Xia Xiaonan, hiccuping, held her breath. After a long time, she spat out a name. "It's…Wei Wenchuan!"
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Author's note:
(5) Local edition of Rescue 911, an emergency services documentary series, the backbone watching experience of many a 90s child.