Chapter 161 - 159: Twins
"Do you want me to help find an adoptive family or an orphanage for Ping’an?"
Jiang Li looked at Hu Yuanyi. ’You can’t hold on to someone who’s determined to leave, just like Aunt Yu back then.’
Hu Yuanyi looked at her and nodded. "I’ve really let Ping’an down all these years. After my accident, he had just learned to walk. When he was hungry or thirsty, he’d find something to eat on his own."
"Then one day, I saw him come to the hospital carrying a jar. He opened it, and inside was mushy rice. I nearly died of shock. He was only three years old..."
As Hu Yuanyi spoke about Hu Ping’an, there was no pride in his voice, only guilt.
Jiang Li listened quietly as he told her about Hu Ping’an’s first time cooking rice, and how the first dish he ever made was just vegetables boiled in plain water.
Hu Yuanyi paused for a moment. "Actually, Ping’an’s real name isn’t Ping’an. It’s Hu Jinghong, a name that means to have lofty vision and soaring ambition. After Xiao Mei’s accident, I never called him that again."
"COUGH, COUGH... As long as he’s safe and sound, that’s all that matters."
"Miss Jiang, if it’s possible, please find a place for Ping’an where he can be warm and fed."
"Okay."
When Jiang Li came out of the hospital room, Miao Anji and Hu Ping’an were sitting on opposite sides.
Seeing her, Hu Ping’an looked up. "Auntie, does Daddy not want me anymore?"
With red eyes and trembling lips, Hu Ping’an looked at her. He’d often heard the neighborhood aunties say that his dad would leave sooner or later. His dad had even told him that one day, he would go to find his mom.
Even though his dad hadn’t said it outright, he knew. His dad had wanted Uncle Luo to give him away before. He didn’t want to go; he wanted to stay with his dad.
Jiang Li walked over to Hu Ping’an, crouched down, and looked at him. "Your mom and dad love you very much. They would never abandon you. It’s just that they can’t be with you for the longer journey ahead."
"But their love will always be with you."
Hu Ping’an looked at her, seemingly understanding but not fully, his cautious eyes filled with longing. "Auntie, I don’t want Daddy to leave."
Jiang Li looked at Hu Ping’an and silently hugged him.
「At the police station.」 Luo Binglin’s men quickly summoned the flowerpot seller. The seller, named Zhang Kaicheng, came from a family of craftsmen.
Luo Binglin stared at the file in his hands. They wouldn’t have discovered it if they hadn’t looked into it, but it turned out Zhang Kaicheng was a distant relative of Lu Zhi.
Trembling with anger, Luo Binglin glared at Zhang Kaicheng and slammed the file onto the table.
"Zhang Kaicheng, I’m asking you, where are the rest of Tang Xiaomei’s remains?"
Zhang Kaicheng picked up the photo from the table and glanced at it, his eyes widening in surprise. He then looked at Luo Binglin and explained, "Officer, I didn’t make this flowerpot. My dad did."
"My dad liked to leave a fingerprint on the bottom of the pot every time he finished one. This batch of flowerpots, they’ve all, all been sold. But I have the records here. I’ll find them for you."
After speaking, Zhang Kaicheng picked up his phone to call his wife.
Seeing how cooperative he was, Luo Binglin didn’t say anything more.
Soon, Zhang Kaicheng’s wife hurried over, bringing a notebook and the type of flowerpot he had told her about.
"Officer, my husband is an honest, law-abiding man. He’s always just been his dad’s helper. We would never do something like this."
Her voice trembling, the woman handed the flowerpot to Luo Binglin.
Luo Binglin took it for comparison, then sent it to the forensics lab.
Zhang Kaicheng licked his lips and continued, "It’s true we’re related to Lu Zhi, but we’ve had pitifully little contact over the years. After the incident happened, we just sighed about it. We never, ever thought it would have anything to do with us."
’What rotten luck,’ Zhang Kaicheng thought. The two families had so little contact that if the police hadn’t investigated, he’d have all but forgotten who Lu Zhi was.
In his memory, he had only met Lu Zhi’s family a few times. He never would have imagined that this business of murder would have anything to do with them.
"Where’s your father?"
"My dad died two years ago." Zhang Kaicheng couldn’t help but mutter, "No wonder he went so quickly. He must have scared himself to death."
Luo Binglin was momentarily speechless. He glanced at the couple. The priority now was to find all the flowerpots that had been sold.
Luo Binglin had his team use the addresses in the ledger to start searching. Some were pots, others were planters.
"I’m just curious, how on earth did Lu Zhi get Zhang Qiang to take the body? If we knew that, this case wouldn’t have dragged on for so long."
Lu Xingye looked at the file in his hand. Zhang Qiang, fifty-eight years old, died of a heart attack. According to Zhang Kaicheng’s account, he didn’t know about any interactions between Lu Zhi and his father, Zhang Qiang.
’Which means the two of them likely had dealings in private.’
Lu Xingye looked up at Zhang Kaicheng. "Where did your father go during the New Year?"
Zhang Kaicheng answered honestly, "He went back to our hometown for the New Year. My wife was pregnant at the time and couldn’t handle the bumpy ride, so we didn’t go. My dad and mom went back together."
"Your mom?"
Zhang Kaicheng nodded. "I guess my mom is a maternal aunt to Lu Zhi."
"Do you have a photo?"
Zhang Kaicheng quickly found a photo and handed it to them.
Luo Binglin looked at one of the people in the photo. "This person looks familiar."
With that, he went through the old video footage and quickly zeroed in on one person.
On the first day of the New Year, visitors had come to Lu Zhi’s home. Among them was Zhang Kaicheng’s mother.
"And your mother?"
Zhang Kaicheng looked at his mother’s figure in the video in surprise. "At the time, my wife was pregnant. I asked my mom to stay home and help take care of her, but she refused no matter what. Then she left in a hurry."
After listening, Luo Binglin continued to flip through the evidence. With this new direction, it was as if the fog before his eyes was being swept away.
’Lu Zhi didn’t leave the house, but relatives visited. During that time, a relative took Tang Xiaomei’s body, then returned to the countryside and performed a series of...’
Luo Binglin recalled the situation from three years ago. They had summoned everyone who visited Lu Zhi back then, too.
"Your mother, Wang Zhaodi..."
"Officer, my mom’s name isn’t Wang Zhaodi. It’s Wang Qiao."
Luo Binglin instantly felt a lump in his throat. ’This kind of situation usually means twins.’
Luo Binglin sat down, his mind a complete mess. ’Wang Zhaodi... Wang Qiao...’
"Is the person in the video your mother?"
Zhang Kaicheng nodded. "She’s wearing the exact same thing."
’So, the one I summoned back then was Wang Zhaodi??’
"Your mother... is she still alive?"
Zhang Kaicheng nodded. "Yes. After my dad died, my mom went back to our hometown."