Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 370 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (81)

"Aunt Xia, what do you mean by this?" Jin Shuhe stopped washing the dishes and looked over.

Aunt Xia sensed his seriousness, coughed lightly, and seemed a little flustered.

"It's...it's about that matter."

“Aunt Xia messaged me that day, and I called to ask you, didn’t I? Then I told Aunt Xia that you had told me,” Lu Liruan interjected.

For some reason, Lu Liruan felt the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Aunt Xia, perhaps sensing something as well, quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, the police came to ask me about what happened back then."

"How did you answer?"

"Well, let's just say it the same way!"

Aunt Xia sighed deeply: "Your Uncle Zhao told me that we shouldn't cause you any trouble, right?"

"Uncle Zhao? What did Uncle Zhao say?" Jin Shuhe was a little confused.

"The police went to see your Uncle Zhao first. As soon as they left, your Uncle Zhao called me and said that he would definitely come looking for me, and that I should just say what I said back then..."

"Don't talk too much, and don't act on a whim. If what you say isn't true, it will only cause trouble for you and all your fellow police officers. You won't be able to get away with this at work..." Aunt Xia rubbed her hands together.

Looking at Jin Shuhe's serious expression, she tentatively asked, "Xiaohe, Auntie... I haven't caused you any trouble, have I?"

"No, Auntie, we didn't cause any trouble. But we're investigating because we hope to find something that wasn't discovered back then. You don't need to worry about anything. Just tell us anything you can think of, and we'll verify whether it's true or not."

Jin Shuhe spoke to her earnestly and gently: "This is not causing trouble, it is cooperating with our work. The more you think and the more you say, the better it is for us."

"Ah... I see. We... we don't know either." Aunt Xia nodded, looking quite embarrassed.

“It’s alright. When Sister Li Ruan asked me, I didn’t explain it to you through her either.” Jin Shuhe shook his head, making Aunt Xia feel more at ease.

"Did you and Uncle Zhao remember anything?"

"No...no, really. Oh dear, I can't forget what happened back then, even if I wanted to. I still remember exactly what I said back then!"

"I don't know about your Uncle Zhao. I panicked at that time. He's brave. You even tried to run back into the house, do you remember?"

Since she had already said it, Aunt Xia stopped hesitating.

"..." Jin Shuhe shook his head.

"When you were about to go in, your Uncle Zhao was much braver than me. When he couldn't find you, he went into the house and carried you out... I don't know if he was looking at anything inside. I was standing at the door peeking in and I was completely confused."

Aunt Xia touched her chest; even now, thinking back to that terrifying scene, she felt breathless.

"Aunt Xia, no matter when, if you think of anything, you must tell me immediately, day or night," Jin Shuhe said solemnly.

"Now that you put it that way, I understand... Oh dear, I hope there will be a result soon." Aunt Xia patted Jin Shuhe's hand affectionately.

Although she wasn't good at saying nice things and didn't have much ability, she genuinely felt sorry for and pitied Jin Shuhe.

After Aunt Xia left, Lu Liruan thought for a moment: "Could Uncle Zhao have remembered something, but felt it was too long ago and was not sure, afraid of causing you trouble, and thought that if he said something wrong, it would make things difficult for you at work, so he didn't say anything, which is why he gave Aunt Xia those instructions?"

Jin Shuhe hugged a cushion, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and slowly nodded. Sister Li Ruan made a good point.

"Let me ask Aunt Chen. I don't know if Uncle Zhao is sober yet. If he is, I'll ask her to ask him." Lu Liruan picked up her phone from the coffee table.

"Hmm?" Jin Shuhe pulled himself out of his thoughts: "Sister Li Ruan, when did you add Aunt Chen's contact information?"

“When I was cooking, she said she would bring back some local specialties from her hometown and mail them to you next time she goes back.” Lu Liruan stretched, unaware of Jin Shuhe’s slightly puzzled expression.

“Aunt Chen said… she knows your mother.” Lu Liruan asked tentatively, “Did you know Aunt Chen before?”

"do not know."

"I heard from Uncle Zhao that Aunt Chen is from the same village as my mother, but her family and our family are not very familiar with each other and live quite far away. When my mother left there... Aunt Chen must have been very young. I have never heard my mother mention her."

"Oh."

Lu Liruan felt that this relationship was a complete mess.

"I'll ask her." Lu Liruan remembered what she was about to do.

"No need, Sister Liruan. I'll ask Uncle Zhao tomorrow. Aunt Chen probably doesn't know anything about what happened back then. I'll ask him myself to find out more clearly."

“Okay, Uncle Zhao isn’t very talkative and seems quite wary, but he’s doing this for your own good…” Lu Liruan didn’t take it to heart.

"Oh, right, Sister Li Ruan, tomorrow..." Jin Shuhe's voice gradually faded away in Lu Li Ruan's sight.

"Hmm? How about tomorrow?" Lu Liruan narrowed her eyes and stared at him.

"Tch—" After noticing that Jin Shuhe had looked away, Lu Liruan chuckled triumphantly: "I know, go ahead, I think you're almost better."

As long as his physical condition allows, Lu Liruan will not stop him from doing what he wants to do.

The next day, Jin Shuhe appeared in the office filled with the smell of smoke and instant noodles, like a savior, carrying a bag full of breakfast made by Lu Liruan.

The cleaning lady is moving around the office, emptying the trash cans next to everyone.

When he saw Wu Qidong, whose collar buttons were all buttoned up wrong and who was yawning, he complained, "Over the years, your Major Crimes Unit has been the dirtiest. You clean and tidy up every day!"

Before Wu Qidong could react, the aunt had already left with steady steps.

This lady is a veteran of the Municipal Public Security Bureau; she's served even longer than Captain Xie...

He and the director of the logistics department are usually referred to as the two unsung heroes of the municipal bureau.

After the aunt left and everyone, who had been silently burying themselves in front of the computer, turned around with disheveled hair and a dirty face.

"Wow! You look so shiny and smooth!" Qin Wen only returned to the Municipal Bureau late last night. His clothes are all wrinkled, his hair is a mess, and he has stubble that he hasn't had time to shave.

He kept muttering to himself, but Jin Shuhe could tell he was in pretty good spirits.

They ate the buns in two bites each, enjoying them immensely.

"Where's Sister Lü?" Jin Shuhe glanced around.

"She went to wash up, saying she slept half the night in the car and can't be seen now." Qin Wen took another tea egg and went back to the computer.

Jin Shuhe: ...

When you work for a long time, sometimes you will naturally notice things that you don't need to notice or don't want to notice.

He's sick. Judging from Qin Wen's appearance, he and Sister Lü must have gone on a business trip.

He said he drove for half the night, and Sister Lü slept for half the night in the car, which meant that he drove back alone...

In situations like these, everyone works like animals, regardless of gender, and the workload is shared equally.

Sister Lü has never been afraid of hardship or fatigue at work; that's what Qin Wen is willing to do and takes the initiative for.

Then Sister Lü agreed...

Something's not right, there's definitely something fishy about them!

Jin Shuhe ate and slept well yesterday, and his mind was clear and smooth. He almost reflexively came to a conclusion in a second.

Then he said nothing, went back to his seat, and turned on his computer.

A short while later, Lü Chun walked in from outside while tying her hair up.

"How are you feeling?" She picked up the bag of soy milk and patted Jin Shuhe on the shoulder.

"It's all right."

Jin Shuhe glanced at her without saying a word, then looked away.

Lü Chun may have misunderstood his meaning: "Let me eat something first, and I'll tell you after I finish eating. I'm starving. I've been driving on the highway all night and haven't had a single bite to eat."

It takes about four hours to drive one way to the place where Zheng Qingping taught.

I originally wanted to buy a high-speed rail ticket, but after calling to ask, I found out that the area is still a poverty-stricken county, and the villages below it are even worse.

There are no direct high-speed trains or regular trains; you have to get off and transfer, which is a hassle. It's much more convenient to just drive there.

The local police station hadn't had any major cases for years, but when they heard about the serial murder case and needed their cooperation, they were very helpful and said they would immediately help them make contact.

I originally thought I would stay there for two days, but when I got there, I did find the school where Zheng Qingping taught back then, and I also found the teacher who knew Zheng Qingping.

But when Zheng Qingping was teaching in the rural area, he taught elementary, middle and high school classes because there was only one school there, and every grade from elementary to high school was short of teachers.

But now only the primary school remains, because there are hardly any children left. Even if there are children, they usually go to study in other places with their parents after primary school.

After Lü Chun and Qin Wen arrived, they first asked some villagers who had seen Zheng Qingping back then.

"Oh, that Ms. Zheng from back then? Oh my, she was so beautiful! There was also a male teacher surnamed Chen who taught the children with her, and he was very caring towards her!"

"Yes..."

"The old bachelor in our village used to keep sneaking peeks at Teacher Zheng!"

……

After asking for a long time without getting anything out of her, Lü Chun was still a bit angry.

"When Zheng Qingping came to teach in the rural area, he was already married. What nonsense are they talking about?"

“There’s absolutely no basis for this. I told them the truth, but they’re just spreading rumors. And this old bachelor… Bah!” Lu Chun walked on the dirt road, his steps uneven.

"You're not young anymore, why are you arguing with them?" Qin Wen walked to her side to shield her from the wind.

“I just think Zheng Qingping was a good person and a good teacher. After he died, he was treated so frivolously…” Lu Chun’s expression was not good.

"Hey! I have to criticize you for this. We can't let our emotions get into the investigation."

"I know, I know." Lü Chun sighed. "Go ask the people from the school back then."

"Alright, don't be angry anymore. When we get back, I'll treat you to mutton soup at the place in front of our workplace, and a steamer of shumai too!"

As they talked, they arrived at the school, where they were informed by the police station that the old principal was waiting for them.

“We’ve had many batches of volunteer teachers come here, but I have a deep impression of Xiao Zheng.” The old principal thought for a moment.

“She is very good to the children. You know, the children in this kind of place... don't take studying seriously. They don't even know what studying means. Many volunteer teachers come and after a few days, they feel that these children are hopeless and don't want to take care of them anymore. They just wait for their time to come and then leave.”

“Xiao Zheng was different. She took care of the children’s studies, their meals, and even their fights… She treated the obedient and the disobedient children equally. The children here… although they didn’t like studying, they weren’t incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. Back then, all those children liked Xiao Zheng.”

As the old principal spoke, he rummaged through the room. There wasn't even an archive room; instead, several large boxes were placed in a corner of an old classroom.

Several notebooks were found according to the dates. After the old principal looked through them, he dusted them off and handed them to Lü Chun.

“Xiao Zheng and her classmates stayed here for two semesters. The students she taught were reluctant to part with her. They took photos and printed two copies. Each student wrote their name on the back of the photo, saying that they didn’t want Teacher Zheng to forget them. This is the copy that was kept.”

Lu Chun and Qin Wen had already seen the faded group photo, which showed about forty children of all ages. Young Zheng Qingping sat in the middle with a gentle and cheerful smile on his face.

Most of the handwriting at the end was very childish, and Zheng Qingping also wrote his own name.

"Are any of these children still living here?" Qin Wen asked.

"There are a few; they'll be here in a bit."

There were only four or five people who came, the youngest of whom was over thirty. They each pointed to which one of them was in the photo.

After asking around for a while, they had basically finished their investigation and there was no point in staying in the village any longer, so they decided to drive back that very night.

“Teacher Zheng was so kind. Back then, we thought she was even better than our mothers…” A woman said with a smile, “Actually, most of the children in the village had parents who worked away from home, and they could only see their parents during the New Year.”

"But everyone hopes that their mother is like Teacher Zheng, so we all call her 'Mother Zheng'."

Lü Chun was stunned.

"You call her Mom?"

"Hahaha, I was so ignorant when I was little." The woman laughed awkwardly a few times, then suddenly started wiping away tears.

A man standing nearby, who no longer resembled his childhood self, secretly sniffed, "Teacher Zheng is a good person, so why doesn't he get a good reward?"

“We wrote a commemorative album for Teacher Zheng to take back, and later we also wrote letters to Teacher Zheng together, and Teacher Zheng replied to us. And then... we grew up.”

As she got into the car, Lü Chun looked at the several old, unmailed letters in her hand and sighed for a long time.

When Jian Jinshuhe heard her repeatedly mention the word "mother," he turned around and looked at her. The tacit understanding they had developed working together allowed them to understand each other's thoughts.

In cases where occurrences are too frequent, it is by no means accidental.

“I just called Mr. Wang, and he said that the commemorative album that the child wrote for her is still kept at home. Shuhe, could you go and get it later?”

“Yes, you go ahead. If we keep driving, we might cause an accident!” Qin Wen yawned. “I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Jin Shuhe drove off and successfully obtained the package; Mr. Wang had been discharged from the hospital in stable condition.

When he handed the items to Jin Shuhe, his expression was sorrowful and forlorn: "Remember to return them to me after you're done using them. These are my wife's treasured keepsakes..."

"Ah."

Jin Shuhe got into the car, opened the book and looked at it. When he saw a page, his pupils contracted.