The night was getting deeper, as if a big black cloth was drawn in front of the eyes, so that people could not see the side. Xiao Liu got into the car, didn't look back at us, started the car, and left in the night, only to see the taillights of the car draw a red streamer in the night, and then quickly disappeared at the corner of the street.
The "humming" sound of the motor also seemed to ring in our minds, which made people irritated.
Gu Chen, who has always had a problem with Xiao Liu, doesn't say a word now.
After a while, Guan Zengbin spoke first: "I said, what should we do now? If Xiao Liu catches the murderer first this time, then we probably have to leave Dongxing City."
I looked back at Guan Zengbin, and said softly, "Actually, what's different?"
Guan Zengbin stood on tiptoe, stretched his body, yawned a lot, and then said: "Yeah, I don't care, anyway, our main task is to find Zhao Mingkun, the rest of the time, whether it is In Dongxing City or some other small place, if there is a case, we will investigate it, if there is no case, we will concentrate on finding Zhao Mingkun."
Gu Chen shrugged his shoulders, and then said: "Although I don't care, I am not willing to be preempted like this. Besides, isn't it that his direction is wrong? It's still a long time now, and Xiao Liu doesn't believe us If you don’t tell us the most critical clue, then we will find out this clue ourselves.”
I sighed and said with a wry smile: "That's not what I'm talking about. From my reasoning, Xiao Liu has definitely walked into a dead end. I don't know what clues he has, but judging from the current situation. , he won't find the murderer before us, of course, if he can overturn his original idea, maybe."
I turned around and left, looked up at the stars in the sky, and said calmly: "What I mean is, no matter where you go, as long as there are people, there will be darkness, and where there are people, there will be murders. Human nature is like that."
Xiao Liu's farewell let us understand that Xiao Liu wants to hold power more than we do. This can be seen from the lottery tickets that Xiao Liu bought for three consecutive years. I don't know why Xiao Liu is so short of money, and I have never heard Xiao Liu talk about it, but I understand that Xiao Liu will never let go of a chance.
"Then what should we do now?" Guan Zengbin looked at me.
"Wait." I said, "Now our breakthrough is on this bowl. I think, the bowl that is so important to the murderer must not be a bowl that was found casually. And since we already know the method of making the bowl Although it has been more than ten years since the factory, with Sister Mary's strength, she must be able to find these people and this place."
And it was noon in a blink of an eye.
And when Mary put an address in front of us, Gu Chen stood up with the noodles in his mouth and said, "This is the manufacturing address of that bowl?"
Sister Mary nodded, pointed to the map and said, "That's right, and there is good news. Through the information on the Internet, I found one of the person in charge of the factory. It's a bit too much to say that the person in charge, This is actually a small workshop, run by a family of a few people, because it is a small factory, so there are not many things produced."
We nodded.
Sister Mary continued: "Later, Dongxing City began to develop, and various large factories were established one after another. They closed down within a few years. But I still found the address of one of them, and I gave it to you. The name is Wu Xiufen. This year It’s more than 60 years old. It’s just a small family business with irregular accounts. I don’t know if I still have an impression of these bowls.”
I quickly took a few mouthfuls of rice from the bowl and said, "Whether I remember it or not, Dongxing City was just such a small place back then. No one would go too far to buy bowls, and it was impossible to buy bowls through online shopping. Then, the murderer's house may be very close here. Otherwise, the person who gave the bowl to the murderer is very close."
"Go!" I wiped my mouth with a napkin and said.
This address is in the old town of Dongxing City, and it will take at least three hours by car, even if there is no traffic. We drove the car up the Fifth Ring Road, regardless of anything. When we finally arrived at the location, it was a wilderness all around.
It is not easy to find such a peaceful and peaceful village in Dongxing City. In the fast pace of big cities, we are used to rushing. The village was originally called Dongxing Village, but after Dongxing City was established, the village was renamed Xingdong Village.
"It's ahead." Gu Chen parked the car on the small road, and pointed to a house.
The door is still a wooden door, which looks mottled and old, and has been there for many years.
We knocked on the door, and after a long time, a murky woman's voice said, "Who is it?"
While speaking, the door was already opened, and an old man walked out of it. The old man looked benevolent and kind, giving people an amiable feeling. She looked at us suspiciously and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Guan Zengbin clarified our identities and asked about the Moulin Rouge.
The old man nodded, explaining that the Moulin Rouge was run by her family back then.
With that said, the old man welcomed us into the door.
This is the yard of an ordinary farmhouse, with three rooms in the middle, and east and west rooms on the left and right. The old man welcomed us into the main room, let us sit down, and poured water for us to drink.
I sat on a chair and looked around the house. The home has not been repaired for a long time, and there are dry, cracked and falling walls everywhere. Judging from the furnishings at home, the old lady lived alone. Whether it is the tableware on the table, a few pairs of shoes piled up at the door, or only one quilt on the bed, it all shows this.
I don't know if the old man has no wife, or his wife has left or died.
I flicked forward from the corner of my eye, and saw a photo frame beside the bed. The photo showed a beautiful and moving woman, wearing coarse clothes, but her youth and beauty could not be concealed. The background is a truck, and what extends back in the picture is a small dirt road in the countryside.
Judging from the photo, the eyes of this woman and the grandmother are very similar, and it seems to be a photo of the grandmother when she was young. Guan Zengbin stuck out his tongue and took the photo frame off the bed. I glanced at the date in the lower right corner, but it was an old photo from more than 30 years ago.
"Grandma looked pretty when she was young." Guan Zengbin shook the photo frame in his hand and said with a smile.
The old man turned his head, saw the photo, and smiled: "Yes, I was said to be a tweed in the village back then, and the young men queuing up to propose marriage can line up from the east entrance of the village to the west entrance of the village."
After finishing speaking, the smile on the old man's face disappeared. Instead, there was an inexplicable sadness, and tears rolled in her cloudy eyes.
None of us knew what happened, nor what sad memories the old man had in mind.
Putting the photo frame away, Guan Zengbin walked over, then took the old grandma's hand and said, "Grandma, what's wrong with you."
The old grandma rubbed her eyes with her hands, and said: "When I mention this matter, I can't help but think of my family, but it's been more than ten years since I left, and I'm almost there. This man Ah, when I get old, I can't remember many things, but there are only some things that I will never forget in my whole life."
"Grandma was so good-looking when she was young, and grandpa is quite lucky to be able to catch up with you." Guan Zengbin said softly, "I must have lived happily ever after."
The old lady waved her hand and said: "Don't mention these things, this is fate, whether it is good or bad, high or low, whatever God gives you, you will bear it. But one day but If you don’t stop, you will lose your chance.”
I frowned, the old grandma's words seemed to be very meaningful.
The old woman sighed and said, "What are you looking for me for?"
Guan Zengbin turned on his mobile phone, clicked on the photos of the bowls, and said, "Grandma, we know that your family ran a factory before, the Moulin Rouge factory, take a look, are these bowls made by you?" yes?"
With that said, Guan Zengbin handed the mobile phone to the grandmother to see.
The old grandma looked at the photos on her phone and thought for a moment.
"Yes." The old woman said: "Our factory has been in operation for decades, and it is my father's industry. It is not like today, everything is automated and machined a few decades ago. At that time, we all It was fired manually. Our women are responsible for the glaze."
I said, "In other words, the patterns on this bowl were drawn by you yourself."
The old lady nodded and said, "Yes, we painted it ourselves. It's just that later, with the development of machines, they made better ones than ours, and sold them cheaper than ours. In this way, the factory will gradually become better. It’s booming. But my father’s lifelong property, he didn’t want to sell it until he died. He also made some money in those years, so he kept working like this. He said it was for sale, but in fact it was all given away. The workers also left , just a few of us, take it as a thought."
"So, who took these bowls, or who bought them?" I then asked.
The old man touched his nose with his hand, thought for a long time, and said, "I don't know, I don't know who took these bowls. But I vaguely remember that there are twelve bowls in one set."
"Twelve?" We said in unison.
The old man nodded and said seriously: "I made this bowl with my own hands, and I also drew the pictures on it. It's a set of twelve zodiac signs. Look, what you brought are rats, roosters, and dogs. And pigs, there should be eight more bowls."
Eight bowls, eight dead.