Grocery Store No.514

At four in the morning on November 5, 3020, Wang Lei returned to the grocery store and told Ling Hua’an what happened at the police station one by one. Before Ling Hua’an could say anything, Jiang Changping’s cold and faint voice came into his ears.

“I know where my head is. ”

Ling Hua’an was taken aback, and then asked, “Do you remember everything?”

Jiang Changping was silent for a moment before he faintly responded.

Ling Hua’an sighed, “if you plant something, there’s cause and effect, you must have figured it out too.”

“Master, after this matter is over, I would like to meet Kong Fang. “

“Your partner?”

Ling Hua’an nodded when he heard Jiang Changping’s response.

Half an hour later, Yan Yu drove to the grocery store and helped Ling Hua’an to close the store. After that, the two drove to Xihua Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Huacheng.

At the foot of Xihua Mountain, Yan Yu got out of the car first, walked to the passenger seat to open the door, and helped Ling Hua’an to get out of the car. Ling Hua’an raised his head and looked in the direction of Xihua Mountain. He raised his head and looked in the direction of Xihua Mountain. The dots of fluorescent light flickered, encircling the entire mountain. But in Yan Yu’s eyes, on this moonless night, the mountain was so dark that makes he couldn’t see anything clearly.

Ling Hua’an asked indifferently, “Where?”

Yan Yu didn’t answer Ling Hua’an question, he just stood aside quietly. After spending three years with Ling Hua’an. He was used to this kind of situation.

Jiang Changping’s cold and faint voice sounded in his ears and said, “It’s halfway up in the east of the mountain. ”Ling Hua’an frowned slightly. Although this mountain is not high, he has limited mobility. If he wants to climb the east mountain, it will definitely take a lot of time. The police station may not be able to wait. Ling Hua’an pondered for a while, then took out a yellow talisman from his pocket and chanted the incantation silently. The yellow talisman spontaneously ignited out of thin air. When it burned out, a man in a coat appeared in front of him. That man has a mustache. Although his eyes are small, he is divine. He looks very smart at first sight.

The man smiled, “Mr. Ling, I haven’t seen you for a long time. You finally have time to recruit me?”

Ling Hua’an looked at the man and said lightly, “Mr. Hu, I have something to trouble you.”

“It’s easy to talk about it, as long as the price is in place.”

The man was named Hu Si. He is a Yin who worked under Niútóu and Mǎmiàn¹. He occasionally comes out to make extra money. He is famous for asking for money. But on the contrary, as long as he negotiated a good price, he never defaulted on his debts and would definitely handle things properly, and he was one of the few people that Ling Hua’an often asked for help.

Ling Hua’an took the bell out of his pocket and handed it to Hu Si. “This mountain is a tourist attraction, and there should be tourists camping out. I would like to ask Mr. Hu to help him find his head and guide the tourists to call the police.”

Hu Si took the bell and shook it gently. He said in surprise, “This man died miserably, but he doesn’t have any resentment. Mr. Ling really did a good job.”

“It has nothing to do with me, it was his own epiphany.” Ling Hua’an paused, then said, “Then I’ll trouble Mr. Hu.”

“It’s simple, but the price…”

“The price is set by Mr. Hu.”

“Hehe,  I recently browsed the circle of friends and found that GOJO has released a new product. But it was not very expensive. That is… tens of thousands of yuan, so…”

GOLO² is an internationally famous sports brand. Although Hu Si often wears a coat, he loves to collect sneakers. Whenever GOLO releases new products, he will definitely buy them.

“Okay, I’ll buy it and burn it for Mr. Hu tomorrow.” Ling Hua’an agreed.

“Mr. Ling is so straightforward. Leave this matter to me and  I promise to do it properly for you.”

“Then please come back to the store after Mr. Hu is done.”

“No problem, no problem, see you later, Mr. Ling.” Hu Si walked towards the east of the mountain with the bell after he finished speaking, he just took a few steps but he was already far away.

Ling Hua’an turned to look at Yan Yu and said, “let’s go back to the store.”

**

In the interrogation room of the Criminal Investigation Team, Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min were interrogating Li Qiuran.

“Li Qiuran, Yao Jiang has done this for you, don’t you want to say something?”

Li Qiuran’s eyes were slightly red, said in disbelief, “I didn’t expect that he would kill Jiang Changping. If I had known that things would turn out like this, I shouldn’t have had sex with him in the first place.”

Yao Min laughs angrily, “Captain! I want to swear! She meowed³. This woman is so good at acting, I’m almost sickened by her. ”

“Why did you give him the car key? Didn’t you say you’ve lost contact with him after you had sex with him?”

“There was really no contact before.” Li Qiuran wiped the corner of his eyes and continued, “After Changping left that night, he didn’t come back. In the morning he sent a message saying something was delayed for two days. Although I felt uncomfortable, I couldn’t help it. Later, I received another text message saying that he lost his car key. I didn’t think much of it and sent it down, but I saw that it was actually Yao Jiang. He said that he and Changping are now friends and it was not convenient for Changping to come and get it, so he ran an errand for Changping. We all know each other, so I gave him the car key.”

Jiang Chengyan was really speechless, he didn’t expect Li Qiuran to be so difficult to deal with.

Seeing Jiang Chengyan’s silence, Li Qiuran continued,  “Captain Jiang, since Yao Jiang has confessed to the crime, shouldn’t you let me go?

Yao Min couldn’t hold back and said angrily, “Li Qiuran, Yao Jiang has done so much for you. Yet you only think about yourself, is your conscience eaten by a dog?

“Officer Yao, from what you said  Yao Jiang killed my husband and destroyed my family. Do I have to be grateful to him?” Li Qiuran flashed a faint mockery in her eyes, “Captain Jiang, Officer Yao, I know you are tired from continuous high-intensity work. I don’t blame you for being confused, but don’t try to splash dirty water on me.”

“You!” Yao Min’s face flushed red.

Dōng dōng dōng

There was a knock before the door was pushed open. Li Tong rushed over and looked at Li Qiuran, “Captain, please come out for a moment.”

Jiang Chengyan nodded, cleaned up the things on the table, and said, “Let’s go, go out and have a look.”

“Captain Jiang, the murderer has pleaded guilty. You have no reason to detain me…”

Jiang Chengyan stared blankly at Li Qiuran, “”Li Qiuran, I’m a stubborn person and I will definitely try my best to do whatever before I decide something. The same with the case, so do not be happy too early. I will be watching you to death!”

Li Qiuran was shocked by Jiang Chengyan’s eyes. She silently watched the two walk out of the interrogation room.

Yao Min gave a thumbs up and said, “Captain so mighty, don’t be too relieved!”

Jiang Chengyan ignored Yao Min, looked at Li Tong, and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Li Tong in excitement, “Captain, the police center received a report just now saying that a head was found in Xihua MountainWhen passing by the door of the grocery store, Jiang Chengyan subconsciously looked at the glass window and found that other than Ling Hua’an, Yan Yu was also there. He couldn’t help feeling a little sour, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and drove in the direction of Xihua Mountain..”

“Human head?” Jiang Chengyan’s eyes lit up, and he also became excited, “Why are you still standing here, hurry up and leave.”

“Go go go.” The crowd followed behind them with great enthusiasm as their feet flew out of the office.

Jiang Chengyan came to the front of the car, suddenly stopped, and asked, “Have you contacted Su Ke?”

“I called Suke as soon as I received the news. He should be on his way to the scene now as well.”

“Good, let’s go.”

When passing by the door of the grocery store, Jiang Chengyan subconsciously looked at the glass window and found that other than Ling Hua’an, Yan Yu was also there. He couldn’t help feeling a little sour, but he quickly adjusted his mentality and drove in the direction of Xihua Mountain.

**

At one o’clock in the afternoon, everyone in the criminal investigation team had been busy all day and night, each of them had panda eyes but their faces were full of excitement. Jiang Chengyan swept a glance at the crowd and said with a smile, “Okay, take advantage of this moment to take a nap, don’t stay up here.”

Liu Ran suddenly said, “Captain, Yao Min has been interrogated with you all night. Let her rest, I’ll go in with you.”

Yao Min hurriedly shook her head, “No. No. I’m not tired at all. I’m so excited right now that I want to scream thinking of Li Qiuran’s expression later.”

“Then you should pay attention later, don’t ruin the image of our police.”

“How come? Captain, you underestimate me too much.”

Jiang Chengyan shook his head with a smile and walked straight to the interrogation room, followed by Yao Min.

After staying in the police station for more than 40 consecutive hours. Not only didn’t have any good rest, but she also had to fight with Jiang Chengyan. Li Qiuran’s spirit was very tired, and her previously calm emotions started to get irritated. She looked up at the clock on the wall, suppressed the irritability in her heart, and quietly waited for 48 hours to come.

Just when there was still half an hour left, the door that had not been opened for seven or eight hours was pushed open. Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min came in from outside.

“Captain Jiang, 48 hours are coming up, shouldn’t you let me out now?” Li Qiuran’s tone carried impatience, as well as a vague sense of smugness.

Jiang Chengyan sat back and said with a smile, “Li Qiuran, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get out.”

Li Qiuran was stunned, and asked with an ugly face, “ Jiang what do you mean? Yao Jiang has already pleaded guilty, why are you still holding on to me? where exactly have I offended you that makes you have wronged me like this?”

Jiang Chengyan also didn’t have the patience to talk nonsense with her anymore, “Eight hours ago, we went to Xihua Mountain and found the head buried in the middle of the mountain, belonging to Jiang Changping.”

Li Qiuran’s face changed, she pretended to be calm and said, “then congratulations. Changping has the whole body now.”

“Li Qiuran, your ear seems to be injured. How did you hurt it?”

Li Qiuran’s pupils shrank, her fists clenched subconsciously then explained, “Hanhan is so naughty. When I was playing with him a few days ago, he accidentally pulled on my earrings, so I got hurt.”

“Do you see this earring?” Jiang Changping picked up an evidence bag from the table and walked to Li Qiuran.

“No. It’s not mine, I don’t have this style of earrings.” Li Qiuran clenched her fists tightly and looked at Jiang Chengyan with wide eyes.

“You should be curious about where this earring was found.”

Jiang Chengyan paused for a while then continued, “This earring was found inside Jiang Changping’s mouth. Fortunately, the temperature is low in the mountain, so the decomposition of the body was much slower, so this crucial piece of evidence is still well preserved.”

Li Qiuran’s eyes keep drifting, it was obvious that her brain was running at a high speed.

“There are bloodstains left on this earring. Your DNA has been detected, which can be used as direct evidence. Li Qiuran, if you try to deny it this time, it will be useless.”

Li Qiuran lowered her head, clenched her palms with her fingers, and went silent for a while, before saying, “Why don’t you just let me go?”

“It’s our responsibility to investigate the truth of the case. Li Qiuran, it’s not that we won’t let you go. When you choose to kill, you are destined for today’s result.”

“Why do you just refuse to let me go, why!” Li Qiuran raised her head and looked at Jiang Chengyan, her eyes full of resentment.

“Then why don’t you let Jiang Changping go?” Jiang Chengyan looked at her calmly.

“Why?” Li Qiuran said with a grim face, “Because he deserves to die! Obviously, he is gay, but he still wants to marry me.  Do you know that he cheated on marriage? If he cheated, even if there are more women outside, I can tolerate it. But …… but he is like a woman, lying under the body of another man, I can not accept it. Can not!”

“You should have known a long time ago that he was gay, why do you keep doing it?”

“Why?” Li Qiuran murmured and repeated, she lowered her eyes, and tears flowed down her cheeks into her collar. A miserable smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, “because I love him.”

“I don’t know when it started, but I fell in love with this gentle and considerate man. He knew what I wanted without saying anything, shushing me, and taking care of me in every possible way. I was like a treasure in his hand. It made me think that I was married to love. Although Yao Jiang loves me, I have never felt that kind of love in him, so I loved Jiang Changping wholeheartedly.”

“Since you love him so much, what about Jiang Xiaohan?” Yao Min couldn’t help but ask out.

“Do you think I’m dirty?”

Li Qiuran looked at Yao Min, who opened her mouth but said nothing.

Li Qiuran’s mouth curled into a bitter smile, “I was dirty like before as the first time I was molested  by my own father.”

Yao Min asked in shock, “How could…”

“You guys didn’t check it out? I thought you guys were omnipotent.” The bitter smile at the corner of Li Qiuran’s mouth tinged with mockery, “Yes. Such a scandal. Could that woman say anything about it outside? She didn’t hesitate to leave me and live a good life, leaving me struggling in the mud. I’m afraid I would have been dead long ago.”

“I’ve been ruined in the hands of that beast all my life, something worse than a dog or a pig.”

There are complex emotions emerging from Li Quran’s eyes. Fear, resentment, disgust, and other negative emotions came in a flood, slowly drowning her. She opened her eyes and grabbed her collar like a dying fish.

Yao Min quickly grabbed her hands, hugged her tightly, and said comfortably, “It’s alright, it’s alright, don’t be afraid, it’s alright, it’s alright…”

Li Qiuran grabbed Yao Min’s clothes tightly, gasping for breath, tears fell on the ground, and it took a long time to recover.

“Since we established our relationship, we had a poor sexual life. I thought he pitied me because of the shadow of my childhood. I love him more in my heart, and desperately want to give him a child. But his sperm survival rate is very low, almost impossible to get me pregnant, so I decided to do artificial insemination. In order to stabilize our relationship and on the other hand to deal with his parents. However, I tried for half a year and suffered a lot, but still could not get pregnant. His parents were even more critical of me and even said that if I could not have children within a year, they will ask him to him divorce me. Although he repeatedly assured me that he would not divorce me, I was still afraid, uneasy, and even scared. I met Yao Jiang in a desperate situation. Then we had sex. Ironically I actually got pregnant.”

“From pregnancy to delivery, he took great care of me and treated me so well. He thought the child in my belly was his. The anxiety in my heart gradually became a matter of course. At that time, I felt that I was the happiest woman in the world.”

“But all this was broken by a man three years ago. Yao Jiang came to the door with a stack of photos. In the photos, Jiang Changping and Kong Fang were very close, and the corners of his lip had a smile that I had never seen before. And that’s when I realized that his tenderness and unfailing attention towards me all stemmed from the guilt of cheating on the marriage.”

Jiang Chengyan asked aloud, “Since when did you have the intention to kill him?”

“Some time ago, I found a divorce document in the study drawer. If it’s only for two or three days in a month, I can bear it. I have endured it for so long, but he wants to leave me forever. I won’t allow it, absolutely not! I didn’t want to kill him, but he made me do it!”

“Li Qiuran, do you know why Jiang Changping went out that time but came back early? “

Li Qiuran looked at Jiang Chengyan and felt a bad feeling in his heart. He asked, “why?

“Jiang Changping went out this time to break up with Kong Fang. He couldn’t bear the guilt in his heart and planned to return to his family.”

Li Qiuran looked at Jiang Chengyan blankly. With tears in her eyes, she unconsciously murmured, “What do you mean by that?”

Jiang Chengyan sighed and said, “Between Kong Fang and family, he chose family.”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible. I saw the divorce document with my own eyes.” Li Qiuran shook her head desperately.

Seeing the fear in Li Qiuran’s eyes, Jiang Chengyan couldn’t bear it in his heart, but he said truthfully, “This is what Kong Fang told me. Maybe he had struggled to choose between family or love before, but he finally broke up with Kong Fang and chose his family.”

“How? How is it possible?” Li Qiuran looked at Jiang Chengyan helplessly and cried, “Why didn’t he say it, why didn’t he say it?”

“He should not know that you have found out his secret, so he plans to keep this matter rotten in his heart forever. It’s just a pity that you didn’t give him the chance to make up for it.”

“How could this be? It shouldn’t be like this…” Li Qiuran collapsed, grabbed Yao Min’s clothes, and looked at Yao Min almost pleadingly. “He is lying to me, he must be lying to me. You say, say that he is lying to me…”

Yao Min hesitantly opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

“No…no…you’re all lying to me…”

Li Qiuran’s spirit completely collapsed, she was lying on the chair and howling ……

**

After Jiang Chengyan interrogated Yao Jiang again, he finally understood the whole story. 

In the beginning, Li Qiuran did have the intention of using Jiang Changping to escape from Li Jian/Guo but later was impressed by Jiang Changping’s tenderness and thoughtfulness which made her fall deeply in love with Jiang Changping. 

Yao Jiang never gave up on Li Qiuran, he lived in anonymity around Li Qiuran. When Li Qiuran was helpless and desperate, he took advantage of it and made Li Qiuran pregnant with his child.  He thought this way he could continue to be with Li Qiuran, but he didn’t expect Li Qiuran to just use him. By chance, Yao Jiang bumped into Jiang Changping and Kong Fang on a date.

Knowing the fact that Jiang Changping was gay, he went to a bar to apply for a job in order to watch Jiang Changping. He showed Li Qiuran the photos he had taken, but Li Qiuran chose to swallow her breath. He couldn’t get angry about it, so he sneaked into Li Qiuran’s house and put the divorce agreement in the drawer of Jiang Changping’s study, which led to such a tragedy.

Yao Min couldn’t help sighing and said, “Before, I still held grievances for Yao Jiang, but now I know the context, and my heart feels very entangled.”

“This is called ‘pitiful people must have something to hate’.” Liu Ran couldn’t help but sigh.

“In the final analysis, it’s the tolerance of homosexuality in this society. Discrimination, exclusion, and verbal abuse make them afraid to even fall in love openly, so they can only sneak around.”

Jiang Chengyan smiled and said, “These are all external factors. If Jiang Changping can be as brave as Kong Fang, the result will not be like this.”

Yao Min nodded, looked at Jiang Chengyan with an ambiguous smile, and said, “So if you have someone you like, you must boldly pursue it. Don’t miss it and regret it later.”

Everyone looked at each other, Li Tong smiled and asked, “ What’s the matter? Listening to what Yao Min said, is our captain an  Iron Tree Blooming⁴?

“Captain, who is that person?  Is she good-looking, when will we meet her?”

The case was over, and everyone felt a lot more relaxed.

Jiang Chengyan’s face was hot and he quickly answered, “A group of nosy girls. All right, all right, hurry back. Leave work early today and finish the follow-up processing of the case tomorrow. I’ll apply to the director for your leave, three days each.

“Yeah!” Everyone couldn’t help cheering. Half a month of high-intensity work had exhausted all their energy, and they desperately wanted a vacation.

Jiang Chengyan shook his head, turned around, and went back to the office. Although the case was over here, there were still a lot of documents he needed to get done soon. He had to be busy for a day or two.

Dīng líng líng. 

The alarm from his phone suddenly rang. Jiang Chengyan, who was burying himself in writing documents, glanced at his mobile phone. After writing the last few words, he turned off the alarm. He got up then picked up his jacket and walked out of the office.

It was already dark outside, and the office was quiet. He was the only one left. He walked to the window and stared out. The light in the grocery store was on, and Ling Hua’an was sitting in front of the cash register looking busy. Jiang Chengyan smiled, he turned off the lights in the office, before turning to leave the police station.

Ling Hua’an was giving a checkout when the door of the store was suddenly pushed open and a bell sounded.

Sun Ming greeted with a smile, “Captain Jiang, you’re here.”Jiang Chengyan responded softly but looked at Ling Hua’an.

Ling Hua’an was stunned, and after scanning the code of the last item, he said, “The total is 45 Yuan.”

After the customer scanned the QR code to pay, Sun Ming put the purchased items into the shopping bag, he smiled and said, “Thank you for your patronage.”

The customer walked out of the store with their things, followed by a pleasant bell sound.

“Isn’t the case solved? Why is Captain

Jiang still working overtime today?” Ling Hua’an pointed to the table in front of the glass window and fumbled out from behind the cashier.

Jiang Chengyan hurriedly stepped forward to support Ling Hua’an’s arm and explained, “There is still a lot of work needed to get follow-up, so I will be busy for a day or two.”

The two sat down in front of the glass window, and Ling Hua’an asked casually, “So, Captain Jiang hasn’t eaten yet?”

“Not yet, I’m here for a bowl of noodles.”

“Then you go get it, it just so happens that I bought a pan to fry eggs. It can change your taste today.”

“Hua’an, why did you buy a pan?”

Jiang Chengyan looks forward to hearing Ling Hua’an answer.

A smile flashed in Ling Hua’an eyes, and he replied casually, “when the police officers come to eat noodles, they can make some other snacks.”

“Oh.” Jiang Chengyan responded somewhat disappointedly, and said, “Then I’ll go see if it works.”

Although Jiang Chengyan lived alone, he seldom used the stove. He usually used a microwave to heat something. He knew how to use it, but he never used a pan before. Fortunately, Sun Ming was there. Although he was in a hurry, he successfully fried two eggs.

Jiang Chengyan took the noodles and fried eggs.  He sat down in front of the glass window, and said, “Hua’an, I fried two eggs. Would you like to try them?”

“Have you added salt?”

Jiang Chengyan was stunned for a moment and then said embarrassingly, “No, I just put oil. Forget it. Don’t eat it. I’ll cook it for you next time.

“After the case is over, Captain Jiang should have a vacation.”

“There should be, what’s wrong?

“Aren’t you going to cook for me? Whenever you are free you can come to my house.”

Jiang Chengyan froze,  the egg he had just picked up fell into the bowl again, “Go to… your house?

~~~

The author has something to say:

No matter how hard it is, cheating on marriage is wrong!

No matter how much you love, you must keep the basic bottom line!

I hope all lovers can be married!

🔔Cafe’s Memo 📝:

Arc one ended in this chapter.

1. Niútóu – Ox-Head and Mǎmiàn: Horse-Face are two guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology, link↺
2. The raw at first written it was GOJO, but maybe the author typo for that one. ↺
3.  cursing slang means drat/frick ↺
4. Iron Tree Blooming = a highly improbable or extremely rare occurrence ↺