Chapter 141 - 121: Case Closed! Cause and Consequence

Date: June 2, 2001

Summer

Prologue:

The "Quietly·Case"

["Suicide Note, Account Book, Revolving Lantern"]

It was pitch-black here, devoid of any light. It felt like a cage, but worse than a cage—there was only a suffocating darkness.

In the darkness stood dozens, perhaps hundreds, of chairs, arranged on terrain like that of a tiered lecture hall. Not a single person could be seen in any of them.

This was a movie theater.

Xu Huo was surrounded by darkness. He walked past the front rows, bypassing the first five.

He sat down in the very center of the sixth row.

"WHOOSH!"

His vision suddenly flooded with white. The projector’s beam lit up the entire space, illuminating Xu Huo—the sole person among the hundreds of seats, as if he had booked the whole theater for himself.

The movie’s opening theme began to play. Xu Huo paid it no mind.

On the two chairs beside him were two objects.

One was a suicide note.

The other was an account book.

He lowered his head, picked up the suicide note, and placed his hand on the first page.

As he did so, a sound emerged in the silent theater.

"RUSTLE..."

At the same time, an image appeared before his eyes.

...

...

[DELETED]

...

...

May 7, 2003.

This was one of the few good hospitals in Zhaozhou City.

The hospital was crowded, and there were many children.

On the fourth floor of the hospital, two people were sitting by a door.

They were two girls, both nineteen years old. One of them took out a workbook and, using her lap as a desk, struggled to do her homework.

A moment later, her father came out. The girl’s face immediately lit up with a smile. She put her workbook in her backpack and turned to leave.

The other girl remained seated on the bench.

She was the same age as the other girl and was also holding a pen, writing something. But what she wrote was a little different.

[March 6, 2001, owe Uncle Zhang three hundred yuan, unpaid.]

[July 7, 2002, owe Aunt Li’s family two hundred yuan, unpaid.]

[Owe Cousin Zhang’s family eight hundred yuan, unpaid....]

[...]

She used a worn-out pen she’d found in a trash can to write in a notebook.

It was a debt ledger, with every single loan recorded inside.

After a while, she finished recording the debts from the past two days. She calculated the total carefully, then let out a sigh of relief and tucked a stray strand of messy hair behind her ear.

She stared at it for a long time.

Then, she put the account book down and took out another notebook.

[Ledger]

This was a ledger, but it was also a diary—a diary of every time she earned money.

She placed her hand on it and opened it to the first page.

[March 7, Mom’s payment notice arrived. We’re still short thirty thousand yuan. I asked the foreman for an advance on my wages, and he agreed. He even gave me an extra hundred. The foreman looks fierce, but he’s actually a good person...]

[The donation channel the hospital helped me contact finally came through today after a long delay. They gave me three hundred yuan.]

[Still far from enough. The families of a few other patients told me about a place to sell blood. I sold a lot and got a good amount of money...]

[At the place where I sold blood, I met a girl in a wheelchair handing out flyers. She seemed to have been watching me for a long time. I went over and asked if she knew of any high-paying jobs. As long as it paid well, I’d do anything...]

[She asked about my family, then offered me a job.]

...

[April 13, after working off the advance from the foreman, I started my new job. The pay isn’t high, but they provide food, and I can also collect plastic bottles and cardboard here to sell for money.]

[It’s pretty tiring, actually. A lot of people come to get food. They’re around my age, but their clothes are so gorgeous. If I could trade them for money, Mom could probably stay in the hospital a few more days...]

[The one who got me the job told me there would be someone at the school. I ran into this person. I saw them while I was collecting trash.]

...

[April 15, I saw that person again.]

[I’d seen her many times while collecting trash. This time, she said if I knelt on the ground and let her slap me twice, she’d give me two hundred yuan.]

[I got an extra two hundred yuan. The doctor said eating more nutritious food would help Mom recover, so I bought a few apples.]

[I’ve had apples before. They’re delicious.]

[Dad gave me one when I was little. I haven’t had any since Mom was hospitalized, but I can still remember the taste. I know they’re good.]

...

[April 17, that person came again. This time, she brought two others with her.]

[This time they said they’d give me five hundred yuan to roll around in the trash bins. I did it and got the five hundred.]

[Another one said I could get two hundred yuan for kneeling on the ground, barking like a dog twice, and spinning in a couple of circles.]

[The last one goaded me into licking her shoe. I didn’t manage to, though. When I got close, she stomped on my head, but she still gave me three hundred yuan.]

[I made over a thousand yuan today. I couldn’t resist and spent two yuan on a chicken leg. I regretted it right after, but the shop owner wouldn’t give me a refund. Mom, I’m sorry...]

[When I got back, Mom asked why I stank so bad. I told her I had bad luck and slipped and fell into a disgusting ditch on the way home.]

[Mom didn’t find out. Hehe.]

...

[April 20.]

[I met an old woman.]

[The old woman’s eyesight was a bit poor, but she could still see me. She said the girl in the wheelchair regretted it. That she wasn’t actually a bad person, just that something had happened to her that made her mentally unwell.]

[The old woman wanted me to quit my job and leave. I didn’t want to, so I ran away.]

.....

[April 22.]

[The old woman came again. She tried to persuade me to leave again.]

[I told her things were fine this way. At least Mom could stay alive. The money Dad hid has been used up, so Mom can only rely on me now.]

[She got angry and begged me, saying those girls weren’t good people, that they were just treating me like a dog for their amusement.]

[I know, actually. I’m not stupid.]

[But... dignity doesn’t really matter. Licking spit, rolling on the ground, barking like a dog—none of it matters.]

[As long as they pay me. As long as they give me money, that’s all that matters. They can make me do anything for money!]

[I don’t mind being a dog.]

[As long as Mom can live.]

[That’s how I comfort myself...]

...

[May 20.]

[I’m starting to be able to save money. After paying the bills, I’m starting to have a little left over.]

[If I keep this up, Mom will be able to have her surgery. Then, when Dad gets out, we can all be together!]

...

[June 13.]

[I’ve saved up a lot of money. I’m almost there!]

...

[June 25.]

[Mom died.]

...

[June 26... Nothing.]

[June 27... Nothing.]

[June 28... Nothing.]

...

The moment the diary closed, the blare of a horn sounded as a vehicle appeared before Liu Wen.

Liu Wen didn’t react. She watched silently, not moving a single step.

The front of the vehicle grew larger and larger, from a small dot until it filled her entire vision.

"BANG!"

Liu Wen fell to the ground. The two notebooks she always carried scattered across the pavement.

The wind blew one of them open to a certain page.

[May 30.]

[Apples... what do they taste like?]

[Are they sweet? I seem to remember they were very sweet...]

[Dad, I miss you.]

...

...

Liu Wen had a father.

His name was Liu Bo.

Liu Bo was born in ’62, and Liu Wen was born in ’83.

When Liu Wen was born, Liu Bo was completely at a loss. The rugged, one-point-nine-meter-tall man was as flustered as a little girl. He held the small, wailing bundle in both hands, having no idea what to do.

The neighbors said he’d had a "money-losing commodity." Every time Liu Bo heard this, he would fly into a rage.

He would rush over, but instead of cursing at them, he’d yell at their mothers, grandmothers, wives, or daughters-in-law, loudly declaring that the person thought *they* were money-losing commodities.

After one or two such incidents, the neighbors stopped talking.

This sort of thing was actually very common in that era. The practice of "devouring the heirless"—bullying families with only daughters—was rampant.

But Liu Bo couldn’t stand hearing such things, and after a couple of times, he even resorted to violence.

His younger brother watched his rampaging older brother, thought for a moment, and a light bulb appeared over his head.

He clapped his hands in a moment of inspiration, pointed a finger to the sky, and spoke with great wisdom.

"Bro, you’re such a badass, you should join the army!"

And so, Liu Bo enlisted, just barely making the age limit.

Life in the military was tough. He was older, had a steady personality, and a daring spirit.

As a result, he became the "big brother" of his unit.

Soon after, he shattered the regiment’s records for assembling and disassembling Firearms, as well as for marksmanship, earning a Third-Class Merit.

During that time, his squad leader walked around with his nose in the air, asking everyone he met, "How did you know our squad won a Third-Class Merit?"

No one else had any objections.

Liu Bo was just too incredible. During runs, he could even drag an exhausted teammate with one hand, hauling them along on a fully-equipped cross-country run while they stared in a daze.

Without a doubt, he was a total beast.

But whenever he called home, they would see Liu Bo sticking his butt out, speaking in a high-pitched voice.

The one-point-nine-meter-tall, muscle-bound, buzz-cut-wearing tough guy acting like a little girl made his comrades cry out that they couldn’t stand how sickening it was.

Not much time passed.

His outstanding performance was noticed by the higher-ups.

Very smoothly, Liu Bo was snatched away by them. His old unit’s commander even cursed them out for it, but still had to see him off.

After arriving at the secret location, Liu Bo once again became the "big brother."

There was no helping it; he was just that incredible.

So incredible that the other elite soldiers seemed like complete rookies in front of him. One by one, before the training could even break them, they were broken by him.

Afterward, he earned several more commendations on missions.

Once, they were resting together, discussing why they chose their codenames.

Someone said "Hawk" was cool. As a sniper, he had to be stylish. What’s a sniper if not stylish?

They then asked another person.

That person’s codename was "Thermos Assaulter." With a dark expression, he said he’d been careless and hadn’t realized the codename would stick with him for his entire military career.

When they asked Liu Bo, he said with a chuckle.

He said that apples were delicious. After he got out, he didn’t want a job; he’d take his discharge pay and open an apple orchard.

Then, he would be tilling the land in the front, while his soft, cuddly daughter gnawed on an apple with both hands, and his wife cooled off in the shade nearby.

As he spoke, he rolled off the bed.

He made a gesture, pretending to hold a hoe, and brought it down toward the ground.

"Just like this."

The hoe fell.

...

"BANG!"

The sound of the hoe striking.

It rang out at 11:30 PM on October 30, 2003.

Dozens of armed police and over a hundred regular police officers stared at Liu Bo’s body in silence.

...

...

[The "Quietly·Case"]

(Case closed!)

PS: You have to read the author’s notes, I’m begging you on my knees.