24 - I want him alive

“Okay, it seems that the truth of the situation has come to light 1 .” Wu Fengrong said: “This bug is proof. Liu Qin, I despise the most those who eat at others’ expense 2 . Today, you’ve betrayed me so you must not blame me for not siding with you. For a government employee to know the law and still break it, causing deliberate harm, disturbing the peace…..even breaking these few laws is enough to land you in jail for several years. How much did this family of yours give you that you would take such risk? You can smooth things over by obediently talking and turning yourself in, otherwise, you’ll have to play it by ear.”

After a moment, Liu Qin began to speak with a dejected expression.

“ The young man is underneath a board in the conductor’s office, and he’s fine. He hadn’t wanted to leave until he was reunited with his girlfriend, so I had no choice but to knock him out and tie him up. His father said that as long as I could bring him back to Tongzhou unharmed, I would be paid. I need to make a payment for my house and I need this money. Rong-ge, don’t call me a traitor. Even a hero will bow down for five cups of rice 3 . I really had no choice. It’s not like you don’t know how much a transit police officer makes monthly.”

He spoke as though it were obvious and proper. Even Zhou Chi couldn’t continue listening and she scolded him, saying: “You’re comparing yourself to a hero? Pah! Trees need back 4 , but you’re shameless.” Listening to this, Wu Fengrong burst out laughing. He patted the top of the young medic’s head, indicating that she should calm down.

“ How am I shameless?” Liu Qin argued back noisily: “What have I done? From the beginning, this young man is innocent. I was only helping his father by keeping him away from the situation so that he wouldn’t do anything foolish. Otherwise wouldn’t you all have just watched as he got mixed up with that disaster of a girlfriend? Anyway, I haven’t done anything wrong. I had no choice but to hit Rong-ge over the head, and it isn’t like he was injured since I moderated the amount of force I put into my hands. Also, the person who bumped into you at the station wasn’t me. In the early morning, the transit police team shift began together with that of the service crew’s, so I didn’t have any time to run around the station like that. That was someone else’s handiwork. The child’s father only sent me to follow you.”

Zhou Yanling frowned: “You’re saying that you’re not the only spy? There was another at the station? Aside from you, who else boarded the train?”

“ There wasn’t. There’s only me on the train. The one at the station is not the same person as the one on the train. The person who hit you at the station didn’t board at all.” Liu Qin said: “I don’t know the person you’re looking for. We’ve never met face-to-face, I only know that they exist. I bought that ticket of yours. As we pulled up to the station, I waited in car 4 and, as I watched you approach, I pretended to patrol the car. While the passengers milled around boarding, stowing their luggage, looking for their seats and juggling their families, I took advantage of your lack of attention to plant that button.”

The expressions on Zhou Yanling and Wu Fengrong’s faces were ugly. Liu Qin was a complete scoundrel, treacherous and deceitful, and all around disgusting. Nether knew how he had become an officer in the transit police, and even after putting on airs he was still dirty. If these were normal times, Wu Fengrong would have scolded him, but this situation was different. If he scolded him, it would only be to vent, and he didn’t feel like scolding him. Just thinking about scolding him was enough to make him lose self-respect.

As expected, Zhou Yanling felt that there was still one issue that was unresolved–

“ Why did Hé Da put me on this train?”

Liu Qin did not respond to his question.

Zhou Yanling said: “Since he knew that Shi Xiaoran was the killer, he must also know everything that happened that night including that he framed me, right? It’s impossible that he hadn’t planned to put Xiao Quan’s fate in my hands, right?”

Liu Qin still didn’t understand. Zhou Chi was also confused by what she was hearing.

Zhou Yanling was forced to be patient and explain: “Since Hé Da already wanted me to take the blame, why would he suddenly decide against that and send me to board this train to prove my innocence? These two actions contradict each other. If he had already wanted to use this a pretext to break up these young sweethearts, then instead of shifting the blame to me, couldn’t he have gone straight to the police station and it would’ve gone smoothly? If that was inconvenient for him, then couldn’t he have had the manager of the internet cafe do in his stead? Why do something so complicated?”

Only after hearing this explanation did Liu Qin seem to understand: “It seems to be like that. I…..I don’t know either, aiya! I really don’t know! I just got paid to do this task. I didn’t think about it so carefully. Perhaps in the beginning he was trying to help that girl, but then his son became too protective of her which frightened the father? How about that? When it comes to being a traitor, I can’t even be compared to this youngster. Unfilial to his own father and only devoted to his girlfriend, if I were his father I would also be afraid that he’d turn himself in to take the blame.”

“ What else does Hé Da know?”

“ Uh…..Hé Da was actually the one who came up with the idea to frame you. The exact details of the arrangement also weren’t told to me, so I don’t know either. But the two of them talked for a while and Hé Youan told me that, the night it happened, he immediately called his dad, and his dad took the two of them back. He said that, at that time, he was very scared and had no idea what to do. When his father arrived, the two were hugging each other and crying. His dad just said, “It’s all right, this won’t be difficult to fix,” then had the chauffeur drive the two back first. It was only later that his father told him what had happened to you. It’s precisely because he’s a kid that he even had the guts to frame you, that he wanted to assist him so thoroughly like this.”

In this way, it clearly explained why Zhou Yanling’s old colleague, who was at the scene, didn’t make a speak up later. It was because Hé Da paid this old colleague for his silence. When Zhou Yanling sobered up, he would inevitably want to try to find people to testify on his behalf. This colleague would have been a crucial alibi for Zhou Yanling. And without the police finding out about Hé Youan and Shi Xiaoran, the charges would naturally, ultimately fall on Zhou Yanling. This could only have been done by Hé Da. Hé Youan wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this.

“ As a result, he was accused of framing someone instead of his father. He didn’t say that his father knew about this matter precisely because he wanted to remove Hé Da from the equation.” Zhou Yanling sneered: “Even if you call him a traitor, others certainly wouldn’t. Unexpectedly, he’s full of unquestioning filial piety.”

Then and there, Liu Qin’s face was slapped. He angrily curled his lip and did not answer.

Wu Fengrong handcuffed him and let him lead the way to the conductor’s office to find Hé Youan. After the three arrived at the conductor’s office, Liu Qin took a few short steps to one of the steel plates, indicating to Wu Fengrong that he was under here. Despite the many years Wu Fengrong worked on this train, he would never have anticipated that Liu Qin would hide someone under one of the plates.

Part of the bottom of the some the cars was formed of two steel plates between which was a hollow space 5 . One of the plates was meant to act as a buffer against the jolting of the wheels. The other was meant to increase the thickness of the bottom of the train’s cars and provide stability. Between them was a very narrow crevice, and below that layer wasn’t an entire steel plate but rather a frame from which the wheels and tracks were clearly visible. Lying between these two layers wouldn’t be an easy task. It’d be similar to clinging onto the bottom of the car, practically hugging the wheel. The speed of the train generates fierce and dangerous slipstreams. Even the slightest carelessness was likely to cause someone to fall into the wheels and be crushed to death. Liu Qin must have directly tied him to the frame in order to feel assured enough to have Hé Youan lie there.

Zhou Yanling found a tool that could be used to pry up the steel plate and, as soon as it was lifted, he was faced with a violently strong wind that blew his hair straight up. Wu Fengrong’s eyes instinctively narrowed. The space was completely empty. Where was Hé Youan? There was only the wheels frantically rolling onwards, the two steel rails of the track glowing red with heat and between them, the ash grey crushed rocks which blurred into what could be mistaken for fresh snow as the train swept past.

Wu Fengrong seized Liu Qin’s collar: “You fucking tricked me! Where is he!”

Liu Qin was stupid with shock. His eyes were wide and staring with confusion and surprise.

“ That can’t be. I put him there myself. I literally dragged him here! I swear it!” He pointed his finger skywards and shouted: “I’m not lying! He was really here, and I…..I don’t know why it’s like this.”

Zhou Yanling’s heart sank: “It’s Shi Xiaoran.” He went outside to ask the nearby passengers: “Have you seen two young students, one boy and one girl, pass through here? The girl’s hair is tied back and the boy wouldn’t have looked conscious. They’re probably about this tall, coming up to about my chin. There might have been a tall and thin migrant worker with them.”

The passenger recalled: “About five minutes ago, I think. They went to the back. What’s happened?”

Zhou Yanling understood: “Even though Shi Xiaoran didn’t know where Hé Youan was, she was able to find him through us. She planned this out well. She sent a text message letting us know that she didn’t have Hé Youan and then she used us to find Hé Youan for her. She only needed to follow us and then she knew immediately where Hé Youan was hidden. She must have overheard Liu Qin a moment ago. We were just a step too late.” He ruthlessly kicked the steel plate back to its original position.

“ At least they’re still on the train.” Wu Fengrong patted his shoulder: “As long as they’re still onboard, we have a little leeway. Fortunately, we now have more manpower, and the number of transit police is sufficient enough to be useful. Cuff Liu Qin here and have someone watch him while we continue to search.”

Letting Shi Xiaoran retrieve Hé Youan wasn’t a complete disadvantage. At least it made it unlikely that the girl would impetuously kill again.

With a terrible expression on his face, Liu Qin looked at the steel plate. He virtuously faced Wu Fengrong and begged for forgiveness: “Rong-ge. Please spare me this time, Rong-ge. Please be charitable. Aside from hitting you, I haven’t done anything to offend Heaven and reason. I can’t lose my job and I can’t go to prison. I genuinely know what I’ve done was wrong. I beseech you, Rong-ge, don’t hand me over to the police.”

Wu Fengrong didn’t speak yet. Zhou Yanling slapped him in the face, but he didn’t contain his strength and the force of it struck Liu Qin to the floor, leaving a distinctly red mark on his face. He covered his face and shouted: “Don’t hit, don’t hit!” Zhou Yanling backhanded him. He didn’t dare shout. Instead, he covered his face and cowered in a corner, looking pleadingly up at Wu Fengrong.

Wu Fengrong said: “If you were a little tougher, I’d respect you as a man and hand you over peacfully and without mishap. If you happen to get beaten up, is there anything I can do about it?”

Liu Qin dragged himself over and grabbed onto the leg of his trousers: “Rong-ge, you can beat me, you can kick me. Just please don’t hand me over to the Ministry of Public Security. You can even whip me. I beg you, please have mercy, Rong-ge. I’m only 25 years old. I don’t want to be taken in…..” Wu Fengrong knocked him away.

Zhou Yanling opened his phone and looked through it again. The entire text message change had been deleted. Apparently, Hé Da was thorough in his dealings and didn’t want to leave any evidence that could be used against himself. Still, now that Liu Qin was in their hands, Hé Da wouldn’t get away.

“ How do you and Hé Da usually communicate?”

“ Through text. But he said that they all need to be deleted.”

“ Send him a message saying that Hé Youan has already disembarked at Yangjiao, and urge him to get rid of me as well. After that, ask him to pay you for your part. Quickly now.”

Liu Qin didn’t understand: “It was already agreed that once you got off you’d be left alone. He doesn’t want your life.”

Zhou Yanling sneered: “I want proof that you and he are really in contact with each other, that the both of you have are exchanging services for money; secondly, I want to know why he wanted me to board this train. I don’t believe that he wanted me to catch Shi Xiaoran just because he was panicked and bitterly disappointed that Hé Youan overly favored his girlfriend. He went to such great lengths, first to tamper with the crime scene and then again to bribe my colleague, that he didn’t need to send me to board this train. It would have been both time and labor efficient to turn me over to the police. He’s a business man, this sort of accounting is something he does well.”

“ He has several numbers and he’s always the one who contacts me. I don’t know which one he’ll use.”

“ It doesn’t matter. Just use the one he used most recently.”

Liu Qin had no choice but to lower his head to do as requested. After about ten minutes, there was a text message in reply.

–Leave Zhou alone. I want him alive. Naturally, I’ll pay you once I verify that the child is back safe and sound.

Liu Qin passed the cellphone to Zhou Yanling.

Zhou Yanling asked: “RongRong, what do you think about this?”

Wu Fengrong looked at the last text message: “’He wants you alive.’ means that you being alive is useful to him. To put it bluntly you’re useful to him right now, but it’s hard to say what use you’ll ultimately be put to. I agree with your way of thinking. There are many ways to break up this couple, yet Hé Da chose the most costly method to do this. It’s just not normal.”

However, if Liu Qin continued to ask questions perhaps he would give the game away. Hé Da would quickly come to know that Hé Youan hadn’t disembarked, and once he knew that Liu Qin was lying, it would immediately expose Liu Qin’s arrest. And they still didn’t know if he had hidden a second helper on board.

Zhou Yanling could only take the cellphone even if all the evidence had been collected. Liu Qin was handcuffed and set aside for Zhao Xintao and his people to take care of. As he was taken away, he began to struggle with all his might, and the aisle was full of him shouting, begging for forgiveness. Soon Wu Fengrong’s name became well-known to all and sundry. Thinking quickly, Zhao Xintao took off one of his shoes, then peeled off a sock which he stuffed into Liu Qin’s 6 mouth. He carried his shoes as the man was dragged away, and only then was peace restored.

Wu Fengrong looked tired and he drew his coat a little closer around himself. The clouds were a white chaotic congee-like mass. The sunshine filtered through these clouds resembled two duck eggs floating in chili oil. Inside the train, the temperature dropped. Wu Fengrong’s face was half illuminated, half shadowed, and gradually the shadows consumed the light. Zhou Yanling brought Wu Fengrong’s 7 head to rest on his own shoulder and immediately saw his eyes close and his head tilt in rest. The sun, too, rested, pillowed at the foot of the mountain.

Inside the train, the evening lights blinked on one-by-one as, outside, true dark descended. The ground was wholly covered in the fluttering shadows of the trees 8 . Alternately gathering and dispersing, they crawled up the trains’ windows until they were covered with dense shadows which crept through the cracks and fell upon peoples’ faces. The train rushed through a world woven of shadows.

Zhou Yanling took Wu Fengrong’s hand in his own, pulling it towards his own body. How long will this kind of hectic life continue? First he was constantly on the move, fighting in all parts of the country. Later, he ran about with clients and cases, always thinking about the next one. Nothing was constant. There was no stability. And at every turn, he never thought about the long-term. Wu Fengrong’s life was also always on the go. Did he think about the long-term? Had there ever had a moment where, even if for only a second, Wu Fengrong’s heart softened, and he thought about stopping and staying, staying with each other forever?

T/N:

水落石出 : as the water recedes, the rocks appear 吃里扒外的 : metaphor meaning that the eater is not loyal to the group and instead helps outsiders 英雄还为五斗米折腰 ; a deliberate misquote of ‘ 吾不能为五斗米折腰 ‘ meaning ‘I can’t bow down for five bowls of rice’. Taken from 《晋书 · 陶潜传》 when an official virtuously refused to accept bribes, showing his strength of character and lack of greed. Explanation here . Zhou Chi says 树活皮 , short for ‘ 人活脸，树活皮 ‘, which literally reads as ‘people want to save face and trees want bark’. Means that a person needs face to have self-respect and continue being a person similar to how a tree needs bark to live. Explanation here. This is referring to train bogies. Read more about them here and here. The one they’re talking about is probably this one . The bogies are a type of Jacob’s boogie, one at each end of the car. They’re less noisy and safer, especially for articulated trains like the one in this story. Description of the 1997 patent here . added for clarity added for clarity The ‘Tong ( 桐 )’ part in Tongzhou refers to a type of tree; I’m pretty sure this section is meant to be symbolic.