Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Two : 4

When news of Zhou Liping’s arrest reached the temporary command center, cheers erupted in the printing workshop! The detectives, who had been working tirelessly all night, though their eyes were dark-rimmed, now wore smiles. Some leaned against the wall, taking out cigarettes and puffing away; some called their wives, humbly apologizing for not coming home the previous night; some did chest-expanding, shoulder-twisting, and head-turning exercises, their bodies cracking, while others untied plastic bags from the wooden cart, pulled out a cold, hard fried dough stick, and chewed it laboriously, wolfing it down.

Because it was a major criminal case, the subsequent interrogation would be conducted in the pre trial section of the Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Department. A detective approached Liu Simiao and asked, “Director Liu, should we pack up here?” He meant, should they prepare to dismantle the temporary command post and evacuate? Liu Simiao gave him a cold look and said nothing. The detective, sensing the situation, quickly moved aside.

The case was solved just like that? Liu Simiao was somewhat surprised. Four people were murdered, the bodies set on fire, and the perpetrator was a seasoned veteran with extensive counter surveillance experience—yet he was caught so easily… Thinking back to the harrowing autopsies performed by Tang Xiaotang under the tunnel ventilation shaft, to the tireless efforts of her colleagues across the street in the nursery, to the bewildered, helpless faces they exchanged during the case analysis meeting in this room that morning, and especially to the white plastic sheeting blown across the wall by the fierce wind, she suddenly felt as if she were in a dream.

Just then, her phone rang. When she answered, Li Sanduo’s excited voice came through: “Simiao, well done!”

“It’s all thanks to the comrades.”

“Don’t be modest. I already know. The reason we caught them so quickly is mainly due to your correct investigative approach… Now it’s the pretrial department’s turn. You should go home and rest!”

The soup was hot, but there was a single strand of hair mixed in the broth. Others couldn’t see it, but Liu Simiao noticed it perfectly.

“Just say what you mean. Are you telling me I’m not allowed to touch this case?”

“Look at you, you’re even more narrow-minded than Lin Daiyu,” Li Sanduo said with a grin. “Director Xu and I discussed it, and he’s letting you rest because he’s worried you’ll get sick from overwork. The Municipal Criminal Investigation Department has a huge workload; who are we supposed to find to replace you? Besides, at subway transfer stations, everyone manages their own lines. It’s not like Song Dandan is pulling a sheep from head to toe!”

Liar! Liu Simiao understood. Li Sanduo’s words were half true and half false. The arrest of a major criminal suspect certainly marked a new stage in the case. Not to mention criminal investigation, even criminal investigation had to give way to interrogation, but it didn’t mean that criminal investigation could be completely abandoned. Leaving aside the possibility that the real culprit might be someone else, even if Zhou Liping were indeed the murderer, the subsequent legal procedures—from the conclusion of the investigation and transfer to the attorney general for review and prosecution to the court trial—each required forensic reports from the criminal case technical department. While she wouldn’t personally handle most of this work, his deliberate emphasis on “taking a break” still hinted at something more.

In the past, given Liu Simiao’s temperament, she would have relentlessly pursued Li Sanduo’s every whim, demanding an explanation. But over the past year, she’d felt a growing sense of weariness… Therefore, she, who had always been meticulous in her work and life, increasingly harbored thoughts of “good enough” and “it’s better to be a little oblivious.” This growing sentiment made her increasingly irritable and conflicted; she didn’t want to compromise, yet she had no choice but to.

“Okay,” she said.

Li Sanduo hung up the phone, and Liu Simiao guessed he must have let out a long sigh of relief.

The moment she put down her phone, she suddenly had a strange feeling. Looking around, the police officers in the printing workshop, who had just been relaxed, seemed to have suddenly become busy. Half-closed laptops were reopened, typing out random characters; pencils were scraping irregular lines on sketchbooks; half-disassembled EPS foam templates were being put back together and then taken apart again; heads down, like squirrels, they were repeatedly counting the easily identifiable evidence; seemingly discussing the case, they were actually talking nonsense… Liu Simiao understood. They must know she had been ordered to leave the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case’s Special Task Force, so they could only pretend to be engrossed in their work, hiding the confusion and embarrassment in their eyes. She appreciated it.

Liu Simiao glanced at her watch; it was already 4:30 p.m.

If she went home now, she might still be able to catch her online dance class at the Vaganova Russian Ballet School.

But… the key leaders of the Special Task Force group weren’t around. Was it appropriate to just leave like this? At least she should say goodbye to Du Jianping. Just then, a roar suddenly came from the corner of the printing workshop: “What?! How could this happen?!”

Liu Simiao looked towards the direction of the voice and saw an officer responsible for coordinating the Special Task Force with the local police station handling the case, yelling, “This is outrageous! Has that guy surnamed Ma gone mad?”

Liu Simiao walked over and asked, “What happened?”

The officer seemed not to hear her, still raging into his phone: “You immediately send someone to take that chef for a medical examination! Also, bring Ma Xiaozhong under investigation! What? You can’t do it? What are you good for—”

“I asked, ‘What happened?!'” Liu Simiao’s tone instantly turned sharp.

The officer, no longer daring to feign deafness, forced a smile and pointed to the phone, saying, “Director Liu, Ma Xiaozhong has gotten himself into big trouble…”

Liu Simiao snatched the phone from him and asked the officer on the other end, “This is Liu Simiao. What exactly happened?”

Here’s what happened: After receiving orders from Du Jianping, Ma Xiaozhong, along with a subordinate named Feng Qi, rushed to Tongyou Nursery to take over Chai Yongjin’s duties. His first order was to remove the plainclothes officers who were glaring at him at the front and back entrances. Then he called the orphanage staff into the lobby and had them sit on the grass-green faux leather upholstered bench near the entrance. He pulled up a chair and sat opposite them, chatting casually: “Are the wages high at the orphanage? What are the living conditions like? Are the children easy to care for?” They were chatting so enthusiastically that the frozen dumplings would be ready in three minutes. The employees, initially apprehensive about what was going on, immediately relaxed when they saw this incredibly ugly, somewhat dim-witted, short, fat man chatting away. Ma Xiaozhong was particularly fond of the director’s secretary, Chi Fengli, calling her “sister” affectionately. Chi Fengli, a woman who frequented brothels, saw that this short, fat man was clearly on a different path from the upright “detectives” and seemed more like a brothel boss. She naturally swayed gracefully, crossing her legs and constantly rubbing a barely perceptible hole in her underwear with her little finger, while flirting with Ma Xiaozhong behind her hand. Feng Qi cleared his throat several times to remind Ma Xiaozhong to be mindful of his manners, but the short, fat man seemed not to hear and continued his banter with Chi Fengli.

What interrupted Ma Xiaozhong’s pleasant mood was a phone call. It was from the Special Task Force, reporting the latest developments in the case: they had identified Zhou Liping as the prime suspect, and the detectives were now splitting into two groups, one going to his home and the other to his workplace to make the arrest.

Hearing the name “Zhou Liping,” Ma Xiaozhong paused, but before he could think further, the orphanage doors opened.

A woman in her forties walked in. She was short, with short hair, wearing a camel-colored leather jacket with a lapel collar, under which she wore a white off-the-shoulder wool sweater that accentuated her curves, and cropped fringed jeans. Her face, with its strikingly high cheekbones, was covered with a thick layer of powder, almost white, as if deliberately concealing her dark circles. The area around her eyes was painted even whiter than the rest of her face. Her protruding lips were coated with thick lipstick, like a freshly scooped-out chicken heart placed in the center of a white porcelain plate.

As soon as she entered the lobby, the employees sitting on the upholstered benches all stood up and called out, “General Manager Cui!”

Ma Xiaozhong knew this was Cui Yucui, the deputy general manager of Tongyou Nursery. He stood up quickly, smiling broadly as he stepped forward and extended his hand: “Hello, General Manager Cui, I’m a police officer in this area; my surname is Ma. You can just call me Old Ma.”

He was already at a disadvantage in terms of presence. Cui Yucui placed her hand in his palm, then immediately withdrew it, her eyes wary: “Why did you call me back so suddenly?”

“Look at you, what could possibly happen? What could possibly happen?” Ma Xiaozhong looked apologetic. “Well, there was a hit-and-run accident last night; someone died, and the vehicle fled. You know, it’s almost the end of the year, and everyone’s trying to meet their year-end targets. The traffic police investigated quickly, suspecting the vehicle was the one driven by Director Xing, so they sent Wang Chao and Ma Han to investigate. But just now they got word that the vehicle was found, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Director Xing’s car. They were furious and sent me to clean up the mess. If there’s nothing else, my little brother and I will leave.”

The employees sitting on the upholstered benches were completely confused. The police had indeed asked many questions during their investigation, mostly focusing on Xing Qisheng’s whereabouts, but they had also asked many questions related to the management of the orphanage. So, they couldn’t tell how much of what the short, fat man was saying was the truth. Cui Yucui was also confused. However, she was a seasoned veteran, adept at adapting to changing circumstances and speaking to different people in different ways. Since the other party was an official and was being quite polite, she couldn’t maintain a cold demeanor. So, she put on a smiling face, personally lit a cigarette for Ma Xiaozhong, and the two began a polite, albeit feigned, conversation. Ma Xiaozhong asked several questions, mostly concerning Xing Qisheng’s personal habits, avoiding the core of the case—essentially circling around the edge of a well. Cui Yucui skillfully navigated these questions, neither stepping on the line nor crossing the line. Only when Xing Qisheng’s love life was mentioned did she casually remark, “He likes young women, the younger the better.” Suddenly realizing she might have said something wrong, she glanced at Ma Xiaozhong and saw the short, fat man leering at the hole in Chi Fengli’s leggings. She quickly changed the subject.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind them: “The food’s here!”

Ma Xiaozhong looked up and saw a burly man in a military green jacket over a white chef’s uniform walk into the building through the back door of the orphanage. His face was ruddy, his eyes were small and beady, and his chubby belly made him look pregnant. He was carrying several enormous plastic bags, which rattled as he walked.

“And this is?” Ma Xiaozhong asked Cui Yucui, pointing to the man.

“Our orphanage doesn’t have a canteen, so we have a long-term contract with a nearby restaurant for meals. This is Chef Bao, who’s in charge of cooking and delivering the food,” Cui Yucui said. “If you don’t have anything else to do, why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?”

It was clearly a polite way of saying goodbye, but Ma Xiaozhong didn’t seem to notice. He chuckled and said, “That would be great! I haven’t had lunch yet, so this is perfect for a one-pot meal.” He got up, took the plastic bag from Chef Bao, and placed the white lunchboxes on a long table in the hall, opening them one by one: Spicy Frog, Deep-fried Pork Tenderloin, Black Pepper Beef, Steamed Mandarin Fish… Perhaps because the food was freshly cooked, it was so hot that he kept rubbing his fingers. One of the round takeout containers of maocai, a type of Sichuan hot pot, made his mouth water: the bright red, spicy broth was filled with prawns, sliced ​​beef, tripe, crab sticks, enoki mushrooms, and blood tofu… He broke off a pair of chopsticks, picked up a piece of basa fish, and stuffed it into his mouth, slurping and exclaiming, “Delicious! It’s fucking delicious!”

Master Bao had never seen this short, fat man before. Seeing his vulgar eating habits, he snorted disdainfully, then picked up a smaller plastic bag and walked into the stairwell.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Ma Xiaozhong called out to him while eating. “Don’t go! What’s that delicious food in that plastic bag? Let me see.”

“What’s there to see!” the man surnamed Bao said impatiently. “It’s for kids.”

Cui Yucui quickly stepped forward, smiling sweetly at Ma Xiaozhong, “Old Ma, that bag is for the children. We can’t eat children’s meals at our age… Old Bao, this police officer is just joking with you. Hurry up and take the food to the children!”

Upon hearing it was a police officer, the man surnamed Bao panicked and strode towards the stairwell.

Ma Xiaozhong, carrying the hot pot, intercepted him in two steps, chuckling, “You’re so inconsiderate! I told you to open it, so open it! Old Ma has never seen what children’s meals look like in his life. Let us see!”

The man surnamed Bao looked at Cui Yucui, who was about to step in to smooth things over when Feng Qi, standing to the side, stepped forward and blocked her way. Having no other option, the man surnamed Bao put the plastic bag on the ground, squatted down, and slowly untied the bag. He took out a lunchbox and spent a long time prying open the lid.

What appeared before Ma Xiaozhong was a box full of a paste-like substance that was hard to call food. Only upon close inspection could one discern its contents; it was essentially a mixture of leftover dishes dumped into a bowl of leftover dumpling soup—indistinguishable from swill. A half-smoked cigarette butt was even clearly visible floating on the surface…

Feng Qi felt a surge of blood rush to his head.

Just as he was digging his fingernails into his palms, silently reminding himself, “As a policeman, I must never abuse force,” Ma Xiaozhong roared and slammed the bowl of spicy hot pot onto Bao’s face. The scalding soup instantly flared up countless blisters on Bao’s face, causing him to howl in pain and double over. Before he could even cover his face, Ma Xiaozhong swiftly raised his knee and slammed it into the very center of Bao’s nose. The sound of the nasal bone cracking and shattering could be clearly heard! The man surnamed Bao immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious. His face was a mixture of red and purple, blood and soup, making his features unrecognizable. He looked almost exactly like the boxes of swill he had fed the children!

The naive twenty-something-year-old driver from the orphanage had just shouted, “Why are the police hitting people?” when Ma Xiaozhong kicked him to the ground and slapped him repeatedly across the face. He cowered like an attacked armadillo, too afraid to utter a word. The other employees were terrified when they saw this previously kind and affable short, fat man suddenly become ferocious and enraged. Cui Yucui, being more worldly, took out her phone to take a picture, but Feng Qi snatched it away. She was a shrew to begin with, and this time she lunged at Feng Qi, tearing at him. Ma Xiaozhong’s comment, “Feng Qi, are those handcuffs on your waist just for playing house?” immediately reminded him. He pulled out the handcuffs, twisted Cui Yucui’s arms behind her back, and cuffed them. He then grabbed her by the neck and pressed her to the ground. Cui Yucui kicked and screamed for a while, but seeing it was useless, she stopped struggling, still cursing incessantly.

“You!” Ma Xiaozhong yelled at the nursery staff, who were trembling like roosters scurrying with the plague. “All of you, squat down facing the wall and don’t say a word!”

Hearing the earth-shaking noise outside, the police officers who had been searching through documents in the office and supervising the children in the classroom all came out. Seeing that it was Police Chief Ma losing his temper, they quickly pretended not to see anything and went about their business. Feng Qi called two people to take the man surnamed Bao to a nearby hospital, then came over to Ma Xiaozhong with a worried look and said, “Police Chief, you’ve really messed up this time…”

Ma Xiaozhong, rubbing his sore knuckles from hitting someone, said, “Go call the Special Task Force and give them a full, detailed report.”

“You think things aren’t bad enough?” Feng Qi’s eyes widened. He glanced at the nursery staff squatting in a row facing the wall, then pulled Ma Xiaozhong aside and whispered, “If the higher ups find out, you’ll definitely be dismissed and investigated. Now we need to figure out how to downplay this and make it disappear…”

Ma Xiaozhong grinned: “Listen to me, call the Special Task Force team. Exaggerate, don’t downplay it.”

Feng Qi had worked with him at the police station for several years and knew all too well that this Police Chief was cunning and ruthless, almost unmatched in the world. Although he didn’t know what he was up to, doing as he was told was the right thing to do. So he called the Special Task Force team to report the situation, then looked up and suddenly found Ma Xiaozhong gone.

Where did he go?

Feng Qi looked around and found Ma Xiaozhong standing at the door of a house, peering through the crack.

Feng Qi walked over and followed his gaze. He saw a policewoman smiling as she read a picture book called “The Letter Has Arrived” to children. The children, some with physical or intellectual disabilities, sat around her, looking at her face and then at the book in her hands, listening intently. Their eyes held a mixture of excitement and curiosity. A little girl with a large head and a soft neck nestled in the policewoman’s arms, clutching her clothes tightly as if afraid she would leave. The twilight light streamed through the window, illuminating them with a hazy, poignant scene.

“Police Chief,” Feng Qi said softly, “Director Liu Simiao answered the phone. She wants you suspended immediately pending investigation and further action from higher authorities. Sun Kang, the Police Chief from Hongshan Road Police Station, will replace you.”

“A big radish?” Ma Xiaozhong nodded. “He’s one of our own. When he arrives, remember to tell him that Director Xing Qisheng isn’t just a victim.”

Feng Qi was a little confused. “Wasn’t he one of the four dead on the Sweeping Mouse Ridge?”

“When Cui Yucui said Xing Qisheng ‘likes young girls,’ she didn’t look at Chi Fengli, and Chi Fengli remained calm, showing no guilt or anger. This means that the ‘young’ Cui Yucui was referring to wasn’t her.”

“Hey, I thought you were looking at Chi Fengli because—” Feng Qi suddenly understood Ma Xiaozhong’s meaning, his face turning deathly pale. He looked at the children in the classroom. “You mean—”

Ma Xiaozhong pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and shoved it into Feng Qi’s hand: “Go north to the second traffic light; there’s a Xi Bei Youmian Village restaurant. Go buy twelve children’s meals, and while you’re at it, also get some stir-fried vermicelli with cabbage, braised beef in a small pot, scrambled eggs with sesame oil—anything suitable for kids, but no chili… Also ask the colleagues on duty here what they want to eat, and buy it all to bring back.”

Feng Qi was quite surprised. He knew Ma Xiaozhong was always seemingly rough but actually very thoughtful, but he hadn’t expected him to be this meticulous, considering the children’s dinner on the way here.

He took the money and walked out. At the stairwell, he turned back and saw Ma Xiaozhong still standing there, his expression gloomy, his gaze fixed intently on the classroom—completely unlike the usually carefree Ma Xiaozhong…

When Feng Qi returned to Tongyou Nursery carrying a large bag of food, Ma Xiaozhong was gone. In his place was Sun Kang, the Police Chief of Hongshan Road Police Station, a burly, large-handed man. He and Feng Qi went to the room where the children were. The policewoman, her throat dry from telling stories, looked at them like saviors and said to the children, “Children, let’s wash our hands first, then we’ll eat, okay?”

The children looked at the boxes of fragrant food spread out on the table, their faces lighting up with delight. But not one of them went forward, and not one of them washed their hands.

The policewoman understood. Even when the children ate swill, they were usually punished by the caregivers. Furthermore, no one helped them develop the habit of washing their hands before meals. So, she went to the bathroom, filled a basin with water, and washed each child’s hands with soap before letting them get their utensils.

The children rushed to a cracked cabinet next to the radiator, opened the door, and took out their “utensils.” The older children unpacked them and distributed them to the younger ones.

The policewoman glanced at them and froze.

They weren’t “utensils” at all; they were just used instant noodle containers and forks. Perhaps because they had only been rinsed briefly with water after each meal, the bottoms of each container were filthy, either crusted with grime or covered in green mold—only one stainless steel bowl was slightly cleaner.

Sun Kang picked up a container of instant noodles, looked at it, and angrily cursed. Seeing the children were frightened, he quickly squatted down and explained, “Uncle was cursing bad people, not you.” The policewoman told him, “I’ll go find a supermarket or convenience store nearby and buy some tableware—something decent, not easily broken, made of wood or enamel.”

The policewoman had only taken two steps towards the door when the little girl with the large head and soft neck suddenly burst into tears, rushing over and grabbing her clothes, not letting her go. Then almost all the children started crying, and the room was filled with sobs.

The policewoman squatted down, hugged the little girl, and gently comforted her. Gradually, her own eyes also reddened.

Sun Kang dragged Feng Qi outside: “What’s going on?!”

Feng Qi recounted the entire incident of Ma Xiaozhong assaulting the chef, then said, “Police Chief Ma instructed me to tell you that the orphanage director named Xing Qisheng isn’t a victim.”

Sun Kang was taken aback at first, then understood. His face turned ashen as he nodded and called over one of his subordinates, saying, “Have the station send a car and arrest all those idiots… those scumbags squatting in the lobby! Put them in several rooms, assign people to watch them all night, and don’t let them collude. This makeshift operation is like a staged drama; who knows what kind of show they’re up to!”

A policewoman suddenly poked her head out of the room. “Police Chief Sun, come in for a moment.”

Sun Kang went inside. The children had calmed down and were quietly waiting for their meal.

“What’s the matter?” Sun Kang asked.

The policewoman pointed to a row of unfolded lunchboxes on the table.

Sun Kang didn’t understand, frowning, and said, “Just throw them away; they’re disgusting. If the children are alright, go buy some cutlery. I’ll keep an eye on things here—”

“No, Police Chief Sun,” the policewoman said, “I counted; there are twelve children here, but fifteen lunchboxes.”

“So what?” Sun Kang only mumbled a question before his eyes widened suddenly!

He suddenly realized whose three extra lunchboxes they were.