Chapter 16

After arriving at the Public Security Bureau at noon, Liu Handong had been in the meeting room giving his statement. He had a boxed lunch, and after the first statement was completed, another officer took over and asked the same questions again, not missing a single detail. The same questions were asked at least eight times, leaving Liu Handong's mouth dry and somewhat impatient. Fortunately, there was plenty of good cigarettes and tea, which helped him endure.

An old police officer repeatedly questioned Liu Handong about the details of the gunfight at No. 108 Tiesha Street. The details largely matched those in Ma Guoqing's statement. The old police officer couldn't help but put down his pen and ask, "You, young man, how can you be so brave? You remained calm and fought back against a group of armed criminals. Weren't you afraid?"

Liu Handong replied, "I was afraid afterward, but at the time, I wasn't thinking about anything else. I just wanted to take them down. I didn't know how many of them there were, but I figured if I could take one down, it would be worth it, and if I could take two down, I'd be ahead."

The old police officer asked, "When the criminals held Ma Guoqing hostage, you shot him dead without giving him a chance to speak. Where did you get such confidence? Weren't you afraid of hitting the police?"

Liu Handong said, "I wasn't afraid. At such a close distance, if I missed, I might as well hang myself. By the way, in the army, I used the Type 81 rifle, and I could hit the shell at ten meters."

The old police officer took a sip of strong tea from his teacup, "The army does train people. From your file, I see you received a third-class merit, was it for shooting?"

Liu Handong said, "No, I was the champion in pig feeding in the army."

The old police officer almost spat out his tea. Seeing that Liu Handong didn't seem to be joking, he nodded and said, "Impressive, every profession has its champions."

The door opened, and Wan Xudong brought in a woman in her twenties, saying, "Xiao Liu, this is a psychological expert from the provincial department, here to provide you with psychological counseling."

Liu Handong asked curiously, "Counseling for what?"

The woman sat down and said, "Hello, my name is Shangguan Jin. You can call me Teacher Shangguan. Usually, after police or military personnel kill criminals, they may experience some psychological barriers. I'm here to help you deal with these emotions."

Liu Handong said, "Thank you, but it's not necessary. I'm fine."

Teacher Shangguan smiled faintly and looked at Wan Xudong, who cleared his throat and said, "Alright, if you need anything, you can find Teacher Shangguan later."

Teacher Shangguan left a business card for Liu Handong and left with Wan Xudong.

Dinner was still a boxed meal. The internal staff brought two boxes to the meeting room. A while later, a few female police officers came in, bringing two more boxed meals, saying they were on a diet and couldn't eat them. Liu Handong didn't hesitate and ate them all.

It wasn't until 11:30 PM that Liu Handong, as an important witness, was sent to the Public Security Bureau's guesthouse by Wan Xudong. The guesthouse was next to the bureau and only open to internal staff. It was decorated to the standards of a four-star hotel, with only three people staying on one floor: Liu Handong and two auxiliary police officers assigned to protect him. It was more like they were afraid he would run away.

The bed in the guesthouse was very soft, the sheets were white, the air conditioning was strong, and there was hot water available 24/7. Liu Handong bounced on the bed and said, "I've never stayed in such a high-end hotel before. Brothers, let's go out for some barbecue, my treat."

The two auxiliary police officers quickly declined, unwilling to go. Liu Handong didn't insist, took a shower, and went to bed. He was exhausted from the past two days, especially the mental stress. Once he relaxed, he fell into a deep sleep. However, he woke up at six in the morning, a habit he had developed in the army.

At 7:30 AM, Liu Handong returned to the meeting room with the auxiliary police officers to continue his statement. However, no one paid attention to him for half an hour. It wasn't until 9:00 AM that Wan Xudong, looking tired with dark circles under his eyes, came in.

The killer who had been hit on the head by Wang Xing and suffered a concussion had escaped from the hospital the previous night. The key figure in the case, Gu Changjun, had died mysteriously in the detention room, preliminarily determined to be from a sudden heart attack.

According to the confession of Gu Changjun's subordinate, Dogzi, on August 31st, he was instructed by Gu Changjun to disguise himself as a police officer and kidnap a young girl. He bound her with tape and nylon rope, put her in a burlap bag, and after a long search, chose Liu Handong as the target.

Gu Changjun's plan was to place the kidnapped girl in a black car, then kill the black car driver to create the illusion that the driver had kidnapped and killed the girl, and then crashed into the Huai River. However, the driver discovered them halfway, forcing them to act prematurely. In the end, they were no match for the black car driver. Gu Changmin, sitting in the passenger seat, died from hitting his head, and Hu Zi was thrown out of the car, impaled by a steel bar. Fortunately, the construction site was a project of the Shifeng Group, and the subsequent Gu Changjun used a crane to save him.

Combining the recollections of Shu Fan and Liu Handong's statement, the entire case became clear. However, the only thing that didn't make sense was why Gu Changjun wanted to kill Shu Fan, and after the first attempt failed, he hired a group of killers to launch a strong attack. The most reasonable explanation was that he was acting on Wang Shifeng's instructions to kill Shu Fan to take revenge on Xia Qingshi.

Gu Changjun's plan was flawless. A recent case of a black car driver kidnapping and killing a young woman had caused panic. By creating a similar case while the impact of the previous one was still fresh, the police would face pressure from superiors and public opinion. In such a situation, they might overlook details and hastily conclude the case, thus successfully framing the black car driver.

With Gu Changjun's sudden death, the case could not proceed, and it had to be hastily concluded, leaving many questions unanswered.

Wan Xudong, of course, wouldn't tell Liu Handong these details. He just shook Liu Handong's hand and said, "Xiao Liu, you're done here. You can go home now."

"Is it over already?" Liu Handong was a bit disappointed. The boxed meals at the bureau were delicious, and the air conditioning in the guesthouse was strong, making it very comfortable.

"It's over. Thank you for your cooperation. We'll contact you if we need anything," Wan Xudong said absentmindedly. With Gu Changjun's death, the storm had calmed, but someone had to take responsibility for the poor supervision, and the bureau was likely to face a storm.

"By the way, what about my car?" Liu Handong remembered his old Santana, which might still be usable after some repairs.

"It was towed to the scrap yard by the traffic department," Wan Xudong said, then left with the two auxiliary police officers.

Liu Handong, thinking about his old Santana, headed straight to the scrap yard in the southern suburbs. The yard was filled with impounded and accident vehicles, as well as many scrapped cars from various organizations. Every day, vehicles were destroyed, and a dozen or so dilapidated cars were lined up, with a tracked engineering vehicle smashing them into flat sheets with a large iron plate.

Liu Handong's Santana was among them, flattened into a pile of metal. He stood on a hill, feeling heartbroken, but then noticed several cars that still looked relatively new, which gave him an idea.

"Hey, stop right there, I'm talking to you," a voice shouted from behind. Liu Handong turned around to see the traffic police officer who had chased him that night at the scrap yard.

Liu Handong ran, and the traffic police officer chased after him, shouting, "Stop right there!"

The scrap yard was in a remote area, flat and open. Liu Handong ran very fast, and the young traffic police officer pursued him relentlessly. They ran from the yard to the fields and then to the road. Liu Handong still had energy, but the traffic police officer was exhausted, holding his waist and slowly moving forward, then sitting down by the roadside.

Liu Handong chuckled, about to leave, when a Santana police car suddenly appeared, blocking his path. The driver pointed at him and said, "Run, see if you can run faster than my four wheels."

"I won't run anymore, do what you want," Liu Handong said. He could run, but he couldn't outrun a car.

The young traffic police officer, limping and drenched in sweat, walked over, his face showing great pain. "Oh my God, I almost ran out of breath. Old Wu, do you have any water in the car? Give me a drink."

He then pointed at Liu Handong and said, "Why did you run? I wasn't going to arrest you. You're really fast, are you a horse?"

Liu Handong looked at the police car, noticing that the broken rearview mirror he had damaged had been replaced, but some scratches were still visible, making him feel guilty. He wasn't afraid of being arrested but was worried about fines. He only had three hundred yuan, given by his mother.

The young police officer took two bottles of mineral water from the car, gave one to Liu Handong, and drank a few sips from the other, then poured the rest on his head, shaking his hair. "You're good, I'm the city's long-distance running vice-champion, but I couldn't catch you."

Liu Handong laughed, "Even if you were the champion, you couldn't catch me. We were stationed at a high altitude in the army, running five kilometers every day with weapons and ammunition. This is nothing."

The young police officer asked, "Liu Handong, where did you serve in the army?"

Liu Handong said, "I served in Yunnan. How do you know my name?"

The young police officer said, "Everyone in the city's police force knows your name. You've caused quite a stir in Jinjiang. We didn't sleep all night, working overtime. You even killed criminals on the spot. I've been a police officer for two years and have never seen such a big scene."

The old police officer said, "Being wanted is one thing, but the most bizarre part is that you were ordered to be killed on sight one night, and the next day, you became a hero for your bravery. I've been a police officer for twenty years and have never seen anything like this."

Liu Handong said, "So you chased me for that?"

The young police officer said, "Of course. How could we not meet such a legendary figure? I heard you killed several armed criminals. How did you do it?"

Liu Handong said, "I'm hungry. Let's go eat. I'll treat you, and we can talk over lunch."

The old police officer looked at the time and said, "Let's go."

The three drove to a braised meat restaurant in the southern suburbs. It was noon, and the road in front of the restaurant was lined with taxis. The drivers, seeing the police car, hurriedly ran out to move their cars.

"Let's go somewhere else," the old police officer said with a bitter smile. "The relationship between traffic police and taxi drivers is like that between cats and mice. It feels uncomfortable to eat under the same roof."

They chose a less crowded home-style restaurant. Liu Handong ordered four meat dishes. Since it was lunchtime, they didn't have beer but bought a pack of Hongmei cigarettes from a nearby store. They chatted and ate, and Liu Handong learned that the old police officer was named Wu Lianghai and the younger one was Tan Jiaxing, both from the Yunshan traffic police.

Tan Jiaxing asked, "Why did you go to the scrap yard?"

Liu Handong said, "To find my car."

Tan Jiaxing said, "Your car has already been destroyed. If you're looking for a driving job, you might want to check with the taxi company. They're hiring."

Before they could chat much longer, the radio crackled with a call about an accident nearby. The two police officers quickly put down their chopsticks, grabbed their hats, and said goodbye to Liu Handong before leaving.

Liu Handong couldn't finish all the food alone. He asked the server to pack it up and pay the bill. The server said the bill had already been paid by the young police officer.

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