Grocery Store No.514

On October 29, 3020, according to the appointed time, Jiang Chengyan and Su Ke came to Bolang Bar together and walked straight to the bar.

When the bartender saw the two coming over, he greeted them warmly, “Mr. Su, Captain Jiang, you are here.”

The two walked to the bar and sat down. Jiang Chengyan directly said, “We have an appointment with your boss today, is he here yet?”

 The bartender pointed to the northeast corner of the back. “Yes. He is already waiting for the two of you in the office, do you see the stairs over there?” Seeing that, Jiang Chengyan nodded. “You go directly to the third floor. The room that facing the stairs is our boss’s office.”

Jiang Chengyan nodded, thanked the bartender then walked towards the stairs with Su Ke following closely. When he arrived on the third floor, he looked up at the room with the office sign, Jiang Chengyan stepped forward and knocked on the door.

When the door was opened, a young man appeared in front of the door.

Looking at the man, a word flashed in Jiang Chengyan’s mind, gentle as jade, probably to fit describe a man like him.

Kong Fang smiled faintly, but couldn’t hide the tiredness on his face, “Captain Jiang, Mr. Su, please come in.”

Jiang Chengyan smiled politely and said, “Then I’ll disturb Mr. Kong.”

He casually said, “I see Mr. Kong’s face is not very good. Are feeling you very tired?”

Kong Fang looked at Jiang Chengyan with deep sadness in his warm eyes, and asked, “Captain Jiang, Changping, he… did something happen to him?”

Jiang Chengyan’s eyes flashed, he looked at Su Ke before saying, “Listening to Mr. Kong’s tone, you’re familiar with Mr. Jiang?”

Kong Fang unconsciously touched the ring on his ring finger, he went silent for a while, before saying, “he and I are same-sex partners.”

Jiang Chengyan was stunned. He didn’t expect that the person they were looking for would appear in this way so easily.

“Are you saying that you  and Mr. Jiang are same-sex partners?” Jiang Chengyan confirmed again.

“Yes.” Kong Fang said in sadness, “but we broke up a few days ago. Captain Jiang, can you tell me what happened to him?”

“He died.”

“Dead…” Kong Fang’s eyes instantly turned red with tears rolling from it, “actually when you called me, I already guessed that something happened. How could criminal police intervene? It’s just me… I can’t accept…”

Jiang Chengyan pulled out a tissue and handed it to Kong Fang, saying, “Mr. Kong, we can understand your feelings, but there are some things we still need you to cooperate with the investigation.”

Kong Fang took the tissue and said, “You guys ask, I will not hide anything. Just can you not disclose my relationship with him?”

“We will never disclose information about the case. This is the rule. But if you are related to this case, then we must explain it to the family of the deceased.”

“I am not a murderer, and I am not afraid of your investigation.” Kong Fang’s eyes were filled with unbearable sadness. He said, “Actually, I don’t care. People around me have long known about my sexual orientation, but Changping is different. He still has a wife and children.  If they know, it is not good for children’s growth.”

“When did you and Mr. Jiang meet?”

“On October 22, 3017, it was the third anniversary of the bar’s opening, and I stayed at the bar every year on that day until it closed. That day he was sitting at the bar, drinking one glass after another. Because I was afraid he would get drunk and make trouble, I sat over and struck up a conversation with him.”

Kong Fang unconsciously looks at the cup of tea on the table. A gentle smile appeared on the corners of his mouth, obviously, he had fallen into memory.

“When I sat next to him, he seemed a little nervous and wanted to send me away after saying ‘I have company’.”

Kong Fang smiled and then continued, “Usually, I would turn around and leave, maybe because I was too busy that day, so I became interested in him. I didn’t speak. I just sat beside him drinking. Seeing me like that, he stopped instead and hesitantly wanted to talk to me, but he was timid and didn’t dare to speak.  Later, I opened my mouth first, and he told me everything in his heart.”

Kong Fang fell silent, Jiang Chengyan and Kong Fang looked at each other but did not speak.

“All that day he was talking and I was listening. Listening to his inner turmoil and conflict that he was gay and not only married to a woman but also had a child. He loved his son, yet felt sorry for him because he was born not out of love, but because of his escape.”

“I understand his pain. People like us are not recognized by society, and we have to love someone secretly, lest others know, and we’re not only will be excluded but also discriminated against. It’s just that I don’t agree with his approach, and I’m even a little tired of his cowardice. But feelings are so unreasonable, people who are obviously hated, but in the end actually fell in love deeply… “

“I bought this ring. It’s a pair of rings, and the other one is also in my hand. I told him that when he can bravely tell the truth, I’ll put that ring on him, and I’ll never give up to live with him for a lifetime. It’s a pity… What’s waiting is the breakup.”

After waiting for a while, seeing that Kong Fang had no plans to continue talking, Jiang Chengyan asked, “How often do you meet?”

“We meet every month, and we stay for two or three days each time.”

“Where did you meet each time?”

“The Guangmei District in the east of the city, my family has an old house there.”

“When was the last time you saw Mr. Jiang?”

“At 8 PM. on the 22nd, we separated.”

“Where have you been since the separation, who can prove it?

“After we separated, I went home. The next morning, I went to Ancheng for a business trip, and I just came back today.”

“Where is your home, what time do you get home, is there anyone to testify?”

“In Hemei District, when I got home at about nine o’clock. I was alone at home, and no one testified. However, the monitoring facilities in the community are relatively perfect, and you should be able to find the image of my home.”

“Hemei District?” Jiang Chengyan and Su Ke looked at each other, and then asked, “Since you guessed what happened to Mr. Jiang, why didn’t you come back yesterday?”

“When you called me, I was in the hospital with a high fever and couldn’t get out of bed at all.”

“How did you get from Huacheng to Ancheng?”

“Driving. But I came back by high-speed train. I still have a low fever and can’t drive for the time being.”

“What disease does Mr. Kong have?”

“Pneumonia caused by high fever.” Kong Fang said with a bitter smile, “in fact, on the night I arrived in Ancheng, I already felt something was wrong. I just felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to go to the hospital. As a result, it turned into pneumonia. If my friends over there didn’t find it in time, it would be more serious than now.”

“Where did you stay when you arrived in Ancheng, and which hospital did you stay in?”

“I live in the Xingdu Hotel. The hospital is the West Campus of Ancheng People’s Hospital.”

Jiang Chengyan nodded and then asked, “Why did you break up?”

Kong Fang was silent for a while and said, “He said that it was wrong for us to be together. He doesn’t want to make any more mistakes. He wants to return to the family and take good care of his wife and children.”

“How about you?”

“Me? He has already said that, what else can I say? Three years, how proud I am being a person, but because I love him secretly like a thief, the result is a sentence of ‘we were wrong’, how ridiculous. Then we separated. I’m tired too.”

Su Ke, who had been silent for a while, suddenly said, “You were wrong from the beginning. You should have your own moral bottom line no matter how much you love.”

Kong Fang was stunned and said with a self-deprecating smile, “So who is to blame for that?”

“Have you met Mr. Jiang’s family?”

“Yes. We bumped into each other when we went to a gallery to pick a painting.”

“In your opinion, did Mr. Jiang’s wife know of your existence?”

“I don’t think  she knows, he won’t let them know.” Kong Fang looked at Jiang Chengyan and said, “Can I go see him?”

“Now? Your body ……”

“I’m fine, I just want to see him. Obviously, he was alive and well before, so why is he suddenly gone.” Kong Fang’s emotions were obviously a bit unstable.

Jiang Chengyan looked at Su Ke, saw Su Ke nodded then got up and said, “In that case, Mr. Kong, let’s go with us.”

Kong Fang immediately stood up, “Thank you.”

The three didn’t say much and drove straight to the police station. When they arrived at the mortuary, Su Ke took out the door card to open the door, took the lead, and walked in.

Kong Fang paused at the door, his fists clenched as he looked at the open door. Jiang Chengyan stood aside, did not speak, just accompanied him quietly. Although Kong Fang has always been very calm, he can see that Kong Fang is trying to restrain himself. His deep love for Jiang Changping is impossible to ignore.

Standing at the door for a long time, Kong Fang finally stepped into the door and came to Su Ke’s side. He said apologetically, “Sorry, Mr. Su, for making you wait for a long time.”

No matter how sad or upset he was, Kong Fang still had a good upbringing. Who would have thought that such a person would be willing to be a third party for three whole years in order to love someone?

Can love really make a person let go of everything and become the person he once hated? Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but question his heart.

“It’s okay, I understand how you feel.” Su Ke looked at Kong Fang’s increasingly pale face and asked uncertainly, “Mr. Kong, are you really okay?”

Kong Fang looked at the large rectangular drawer in front of him and nodded calmly.

“Mr. Kong, Mr. Jiang’s body is not so complete, so you’d better prepare yourself mentally.”

Kong Fang looked at Su Ke and said reluctantly, “You mean…”

Su Ke nodded and calmly said, “Mr. Jiang was beheaded, and now the head has not been found.”

“How could this …… happen?” Kong Fang’s body stumbled a step and hit Jiang Chengyan’s body.

Looking at his pale face, Jiang Chengyan looks worried and asked, “Mr. Kong, you can come and see it another day.”

Kong Fang shook his head with red eyes and said, “Go ahead. No matter what he is, I want to see him.

Su Ke glanced at Jiang Chengyan and opened the drawer that contained Jiang Changping’s body.

~~~

The author has something to say:

Originally, I planned to save the manuscript, but I quickly issued the document, so my wrap “Jiujun inn” was written like this. It’s supernatural. It’s a small story in a few chapters, with the support of my favorite book friends.