1
Eight months had passed, and in a few days, it would be the Spring Festival, a traditional Chinese festival.
During these eight months, Rui Xiaodan had not received a single call from Ding Yuanying. She was busy all day long with endless arrests and interrogations together with her teammates in the criminal police team. Gradually, she had almost forgotten about Ding Yuanying.
That morning, after the special task force for the "December 7th Rape and Murder Case" finished interrogating the suspect, Rui Xiaodan, along with her teammates Zhou Wei and Wang Futian, left the detention center and drove back to the criminal police team.
The sky was overcast. The howling north wind whipped up tiny snowflakes, which were dancing all over the sky. The snowmelt on the road had frozen into hard ice again, covered with a layer of snow grains. Vehicles on the road had to move slowly.
Both sides of the road were filled with a festive atmosphere. The bare tree branches were hung with colored lights and streamers. There was a huge crowd in front of the supermarket, and all kinds of colorful, sensational advertisements were everywhere. People carrying big and small bags could be seen scurrying by everywhere. On this special day, it seemed that even the air was filled with an uncontrollable urge to shop.
The Ancient City Public Security Bureau was located on the widest Ancient City Avenue in the city center. The avenue was so wide that it didn't seem crowded even during the rush hour after work. There was an open area at the gate, and next to it was a parking lot. Under the eaves of the Public Security Bureau building, four big red lanterns with characters on them were hung, forming the festive phrase "Celebrate the Spring Festival". The lanterns swayed in the biting cold wind.
In the office of the criminal police team, the sufficient heating kept the indoor temperature at around 20 degrees Celsius. Several large-leaved ornamental plants still looked vibrant and full of life, not affected by the severe cold at all.
Back at the criminal police team, just after the several people took off their coats and sat down at their respective desks, Captain Lei Jianfeng came in and pasted a duty schedule for the Spring Festival on the notice board. So everyone gathered around to have a look.
Captain Lei was in his forties, strong and full of decisiveness and competence. He raised his voice and said, "As usual, we'll first take care of those who have wives and children, then those who are married, and so on, especially for the New Year's Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year. You can swap shifts freely, but you must inform the team in advance."
After that, the captain went out.
Rui Xiaodan didn't go to look. Even without looking, she knew which days she would be on duty. She was concentrating on studying an interrogation record at her desk. She was reading very slowly and carefully, and from time to time, she would fall into deep thought. One of her jobs was to dig out valuable information from between the lines.
Zhou Wei's desk faced Rui Xiaodan's, and the two were sitting opposite each other. After quickly looking at the duty schedule, he sat back down. Seeing that Rui Xiaodan was looking down at the interrogation record, he gently tapped the table with his finger.
Rui Xiaodan looked up.
Zhou Wei said with a smile, "You didn't even look. You really know yourself well."
Rui Xiaodan asked, "Which shift are you on?"
Zhou Wei said, "You and Fatty are on the day shift on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I and the captain are on the night shift on New Year's Eve."
Zhao Guoqiang, who was called "Fatty", wasn't really that fat. He just seemed a bit fatter compared to the others in the criminal police team. Still looking at the duty schedule, he immediately chimed in, "Don't even think about swapping with me. I won't swap with anyone except Captain Lei. It's not flattery. He has a wife and children and has never had a proper Spring Festival before."
"Who wants to swap with you?" Zhou Wei said to Zhao Guoqiang, then turned to Rui Xiaodan and said, "My girlfriend wants me to have New Year's Eve dinner at her place. Look, I'm not getting any younger. Could you do me a favor?"
"No problem." Rui Xiaodan readily agreed.
Zhou Wei clasped his hands happily and said, "You're so loyal!"
Rui Xiaodan said, "I'm fine on my own. Go and ask Captain Lei."
Zhou Wei immediately stood up and went to find the captain.
Suddenly, Rui Xiaodan remembered something. She put down the interrogation record, stared out of the window glass at the snowstorm outside, lost in thought. After thinking for a while, she took out the phone number book, looked it up for a moment, then picked up the phone on the desk and dialed the number while looking at the number book. It was Ding Yuanying's number. She thought that since it was almost the Spring Festival, she should at least give him a call to show her concern.
After getting through, Rui Xiaodan asked, "Is that Mr. Ding? Hello. This is Rui Xiaodan."
On the phone, Ding Yuanying said politely, "Miss Rui, hello. What can I do for you?"
Rui Xiaodan said a little unhappily, "It's not that I have something to do. I'm asking if you need anything. The Spring Festival is coming soon. Do you need anything, especially someone to look after the house?"
Ding Yuanying said, "I'm not going back for the Spring Festival. Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern."
Rui Xiaodan said, "If you need anything, just give me a call. Don't be polite."
Ding Yuanying said, "Thank you. Thank you. Goodbye."
Rui Xiaodan hung up the phone, feeling a bit surprised. Ding Yuanying was alone outside, unemployed, and not going home for the Spring Festival. This made her feel that it was against common sense.
Zhao Guoqiang asked with a smile, "Xiaodan, who is Mr. Ding? I've never heard you mention him."
Wang Futian also asked with a smile, "Yeah, what does he do?"
Rui Xiaodan also said with a smile, "I'm really sorry to disappoint your eager smiles."
Zhao Guoqiang immediately said, "Don't disappoint us. Compensation in another way is also fine. I'm not as greedy as them. Half a bottle of good wine and four stir-fried dishes will satisfy me."
Wang Futian laughed and said, "That's not greedy?"
Rui Xiaodan said, "I haven't treated you guys for months. It's time I did. Okay, you guys set a time."
At this moment, Zhou Wei walked into the room, beaming, muttering to himself, "The heavenly gate opens, the earthly gate opens. Demons and ghosts, go away. Let me have a New Year's Eve dinner."
Zhao Guoqiang said, "Judging by this enthusiasm, it won't be long before we have to give wedding gifts."
2
On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, some of the staff at the Public Security Bureau had already gone on holiday, and the office of the criminal police team was much quieter than usual. Rui Xiaodan finished organizing the files of the "December 7th Rape and Murder Case" and rushed to the Pretrial Section to complete the file transfer formalities with the Pretrial Section Chief.
The Pretrial Section Chief, while signing the transfer form, said, "You guys are having a good Spring Festival this year. There are no urgent cases at hand, and you can have a few days of rest."
Rui Xiaodan said, "I wouldn't say that."
The Pretrial Section Chief smiled and said, "Well, you just refuted me with that one sentence."
Rui Xiaodan said, "I'm afraid of the Spring Festival. Once the festival passes, I'll be one year older. I'd rather stay busy so that I don't have to think about anything."
As soon as she finished speaking, the mobile phone in her bag rang. She answered it, and it was a call from Captain Lei. The duty room had received a tip-off that a group of drug dealers were conducting a drug deal in a rented house in the urban-rural fringe area. The specific situation was unknown. The on-duty criminal police and the anti-drug squad had already rushed to the scene of the crime, and the others were required to rush for reinforcements.
Rui Xiaodan put away the form and said with a smile, "It's all because of what I said. Look at my big mouth. I deserve a slap."
Rui Xiaodan immediately drove the police car to the scene of the crime.
When Rui Xiaodan arrived at the scene of the crime, she saw that Captain Lei, Zhou Wei, Zhao Guoqiang, and the members of the anti-drug squad had all arrived. The target was a two-story small building of a peasant household, which had already been cordoned off.
Captain Lei gave a brief arrangement: "I'll take Zhou Wei and the members of the anti-drug squad in. Fatty guards the main entrance. Futian and Ma Lin guard the east and west walls. Xiaodan guards the back building's windows. Let's move."
Captain Lei led the people in, and immediately the house was in chaos, filled with shouts, running sounds, fighting sounds, and women's screams. Rui Xiaodan was already used to such scenes. She loaded her gun, stood close to the wall, and watched the movement of the second-floor windows vigilantly, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.
Sure enough, someone jumped from the second floor. It was a burly man wearing only a sweater. With a dull thud, he landed heavily on the ground. Just as he was about to stand up, the muzzle of Rui Xiaodan's gun was already pointed at his head. Seeing that it was a female criminal police officer, the strong man thought he had a chance and suddenly pounced forward, trying to seize the gun. Instead of dodging, Rui Xiaodan leaned forward to meet him. Before the strong man could fully stand up, the butt of the gun had already hit him on the top of his head. When the strong man's head was hit, he instinctively bowed his head. Rui Xiaodan kicked him on the chin with her knee. The strong man let out a scream and fell backward to the ground, with a bump on his head and blood in his mouth. Rui Xiaodan handcuffed the strong man skillfully, and the whole process took less than a minute.
Zhao Guoqiang, who came at the sound, put away his gun and said to the strong man, "Hey, why did you think she was easy to bully?"
The strong man cursed, "Bitch, you're so cruel! You'll never have a good life. No man can handle you!"
Rui Xiaodan said, "Just abide by the law. You don't need to disagree."
A few minutes later, eight criminal suspects, five men and three women, were put into the police car.
Captain Lei said to everyone, "The anti-drug squad's holiday is cancelled. Come back to the bureau with me. The arrangements for other squads remain unchanged. Xiaodan, you're on the night shift. You take the people who were brought here in taxis back and then take a break as soon as possible. Let's call it a day."
Captain Lei and the members of the anti-drug squad escorted the drug dealers back to the criminal police team, and Rui Xiaodan sent Zhao Guoqiang and the others home.
On the way, Wang Futian said, "This case is not a big deal. Just a bunch of petty thieves."
Zhao Guoqiang said, "Yes, third-rate goods. It's not worth our trouble."
Zhou Wei said, "Well, at least we don't have to work hard tonight. If I can have New Year's Eve dinner at her place, it will be a great encouragement for her parents. Maybe they'll be so excited that they'll just throw their daughter into my kitchen."
Zhao Guoqiang said slowly to himself, "It's hard to say where you want her to be thrown, but it's definitely not the kitchen."
Everyone laughed.
While others were joking, Rui Xiaodan was thinking about Ding Yuanying. The question "What can I do for you?" that Ding Yuanying asked on the phone a few days ago had really made her uncomfortable at that time, but after calming down, she thought that this question was not simple. It was obviously a matter of "conscious position," indicating that there was no such procedure as "asking for help" in his mind at all. There was only the setting of "What can I do for you," which was an unconscious and superior conscious position.
She thought that after all, she was the host and was entrusted by others. Since he wasn't going going back for the Spring Festival, she should go and greet him no matter what. Opinions were one thing, and courtesy was another.
So, after sending her teammates off, she drove to the Nancun Community.
She went up to the fifth floor and knocked on the door, but there was no response. She called the number inside, but still no response. She had to go downstairs, still wondering: He has neither relatives nor friends in the ancient city. Where could he go on New Year's Eve?
Just as she was going downstairs, she saw Ding Yuanying coming towards the corridor with two boxes of instant noodles in his arms.
Ding Yuanying also saw her and greeted her hurriedly, "It's Miss Rui. Hello."
Rui Xiaodan asked, "Why did you buy so many instant noodles?"
Ding Yuanying put down the boxes and said, "It's the Spring Festival. The street stalls won't come out until the fifteenth day. I went to the grocery store to stock up on some food."
Rui Xiaodan had grown tired of instant noodles during her criminal investigation work, and the mere mention of the word 'instant noodles' triggered an anorexic conditioned reflex in her. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to eat them continuously for half a month. She said, "Can you always eat instant noodles?"
Ding Yuanying corrected her, "It's not about soaking, but boiling. I bought a small rice cooker specially."
Rui Xiaodan said, "Why are you so stubborn? You could buy some frozen food, like buns, dumplings, wontons, etc., to change the taste at least."
Ding Yuanying said, "No, this is fine."
Rui Xiaodan thought that he didn't have a refrigerator, probably because he was worried that the food wouldn't keep well with the heating in the room. Thinking of this, she said to herself: Fool, on such a cold day, you can just hang a bag outside the window. Do you need a refrigerator? She looked at her watch. It was already past five o'clock. Usually, on New Year's Eve, there were very few people selling things in the afternoon, and every household had already prepared their New Year's goods.
Rui Xiaodan said, "I have nothing else to do. I'm busy with work. I came to wish you a happy New Year in advance."
Ding Yuanying said hurriedly, "The same to you, the same to you. Thank you."
Rui Xiaodan said, "If there's nothing else, I'll leave."
Ding Yuanying said, "Everything is fine. Thank you."
Rui Xiaodan drove away.
The Venus Hotel was decorated with lanterns and streamers inside and out. Red paper couplets with gold characters were pasted on the main entrance, and inverted "Fu" characters were pasted on the glass. Although the parking spaces at the entrance were still empty, the restaurant had already started setting up tables for the reserved New Year's Eve dinners. The waitresses in red satin blouses shuttled back and forth, busy at work.
Seeing the hotel's red Santana parked outside, Rui Xiaodan knew that Ouyang Xue was inside, so she parked the car and went in, asking the waitress to call Ouyang Xue.
Ouyang Xue quickly came downstairs. When she saw Rui Xiaodan, she smiled and walked up to her and said in a low voice, "It's full. We've already received prepaid deposits for over two hundred tables, and it's fully booked even on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. We'll make a fortune this year."
Rui Xiaodan said in surprise, "Great!"
Ouyang Xue asked, "Did you come for something?"
Rui Xiaodan said, "Do you remember that Mr. Ding? It's the Spring Festival, and I went to his place."
Ouyang Xue said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about this person. Didn't he go home for the Spring Festival?"
Rui Xiaodan said, "No, he bought a lot of instant noodles. I think we should send him some food. The street stalls won't come out until after the fifteenth day. It's not appropriate to let him eat instant noodles for half a month. I won't be able to explain it to Yawen later. Ask the young man who's looking after the house to send him some things that can be boiled with noodles, like fried tofu, fried meatballs, fried crispy meat, and send more."
Ouyang Xue said, "Okay, I'll have them do it later."
Rui Xiaodan said, "He doesn't have a refrigerator. Don't forget to tell him to hang it outside the window."
Ouyang Xue said, "Is he that stupid?"
Rui Xiaodan said, "Maybe he's a wise fool."
Ouyang Xue said, "It seems you don't dislike him as much as before."
Rui Xiaodan said, "He didn't even make a single phone call. I asked the security guard in the community. He goes downstairs for three meals a day. I've never seen him associating with anyone, and he rarely goes out."
Ouyang Xue asked, "What's he doing locked up in the room all day?"
Rui Xiaodan shook her head, unable to answer the question, and said, "Every citizen has the right to choose their own lifestyle as long as they don't break the law. Everyone has their own way of living."
However, she still remembered a sentence that Xiao Yawen said to her when they parted at the Frankfurt Airport: With my intelligence, I can't understand this kind of person.
She said to herself: But Xiao Yawen is such a smart person.