June 7, 2016, three minutes to eight o'clock in the evening.
The storm continues and is getting worse.
Zhang Liangcheng had been sitting in the car in the parking lot of Xishan Tea House for almost twenty minutes. He wanted to call Zhang Xueyi several times, but in the end he held back.
In the wind and rain, the lantern at the entrance of Xishan Tea House kept swaying, the dim light was fragile yet strong.
After Zhang Liangcheng stared at the glimmer of light for a while, he took a deep breath, opened the door and got out of the car. The torrential rain came all of a sudden. Zhang Liangcheng closed the car door without hesitation and ran to the gate of the tea house not far away despite the heavy rain.
When the waiter guarding the door saw it, he immediately came out with an umbrella. Despite this, by the time Zhang Liangcheng entered the room, the white shirt he was wearing was almost soaked. After the waiter gave him a towel, he led him to the reserved box.
Xu Mingzhi hadn't arrived yet. After Zhang Liangcheng sat down on the sofa in the private room, he didn't rush to order tea or wipe the rain off his body. He just dismissed the waiter.
Within a moment, footsteps were heard outside the box. Zhang Liangcheng picked up the towel and rubbed it on his head casually. At this time, there was a knock on the door, and then the door was pushed open, and Xu Mingzhi, who was also wet, stepped in.
"Sorry, it's raining and there's a traffic jam. Can you wait for a while?" Xu Mingzhi said while rudely rubbing a towel on himself, and then sat down opposite Zhang Liangcheng.
"I just arrived." Zhang Liangcheng put down his towel and said, "What would you like to drink? The Dianhong and cooked Pu here are good, and the white tea is also okay."
Xu Mingzhi grinned and said, "I don't know much about tea. Just order it. Whatever I drink will be the same."
Zhang Liangcheng was not polite when he heard this. After taking the tea list and looking at it twice, he said to the waiting waiter standing by: "Then let's have a pot of cooked Pu'er and a pot of cinnamon. Let's have eight kinds of tea. Another fruit plate.”
The waiter noted it down and left.
As soon as the door closed, Zhang Liangcheng looked at Xu Mingzhi and said, "You are so anxious to come out to me. Is there any progress in the case?"
Xu Mingzhi did not answer the question in a hurry. He just took out a pack of cigarettes. After another pause, he raised his head and asked him, "Can I smoke?"
Zhang Liangcheng nodded: "Okay."
Seeing this, Xu Mingzhi smiled and said, "I'm so addicted, I'm sorry."
Zhang Liangcheng shook his head and said, "I understand. Not only is your job hard, but you are also under great psychological pressure. You must find a way to relieve yourself."
"It's okay to work hard, but the pressure is really great." Xu Mingzhi took a breath and followed his words: "This is not your family's case. It has not been solved for so many days. I can't even sleep at night. Not good. Look, the dark circles under my eyes are hanging on the ground." As he said, he also raised his finger to point to his lower eyelids, where the dark circles were really heavy.
Zhang Liangcheng followed his fingers across his eyes, his heart was slightly shaken, and he asked thoughtfully: "Does the murderer have no clue yet?"
Xu Mingzhi suddenly raised his eyes and stared at him. That cold, solemn and firm gaze with an inquiring meaning made Zhang Liangcheng's heart jump again.
"There are some clues, but the case is getting bigger and bigger now, which makes people afraid to investigate further." Xu Mingzhi said.
Zhang Liangcheng frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"
Xu Mingzhi seemed to have not heard his question and said to himself: "You know about Luzhuang Reservoir, right?"
Zhang Liangcheng was stunned, looked at Xu Mingzhi with confusion, nodded and said: "I know."
"A few days ago, during the flood discharge, a body washed down and washed into the Lushui River. Someone saw it on the shallows of the river last night. At first, they thought it was a dead pig thrown away by a nearby pig farm. When they pulled it out, they found it was a dead pig. The corpse almost scared people to death." Xu Mingzhi stared at him, as if sighing or complaining. However, the look in his eyes was not as casual and ordinary as his voice.
Zhang Liangcheng is a smart man, so he can naturally understand that Xu Mingzhi suddenly mentioned this in front of him, not just to complain or express emotion to him.
He looked at Xu Mingzhi, clenching and relaxing his hands on his knees. Just when he was hesitating how to answer this question, there was a knock on the door outside the box.
The waiter came in and the conversation stopped.
When the waiters finished serving the tea and snacks and fruit plates, Zhang Liangcheng, who was already feeling like the storm outside, couldn't bear it any longer and asked: "You just mentioned the Luchui River incident, do you want to talk about these two cases?" Could it be the same person?"
Xu Mingzhi reached for a forkful of fruit and put it into his mouth. After chewing it slowly and swallowing, he said, "I have this suspicion."
No matter how calm Zhang Liangcheng was, there was a clear look of surprise and panic on his face at this moment.
And Xu Mingzhi happened to have a panoramic view of all this.
Taking advantage of Zhang Liangcheng's unstable mood, he suddenly said: "Did you go back to Miaoshan Village on the night of the 1st?"
Zhang Liangcheng, who had not yet recovered from the news, suddenly heard the question and nodded subconsciously. When he came to his senses, his face turned pale.
After forcibly calming down, he explained: "My father said that he was feeling a little unwell that day. He was the only one at home now. I was worried, so I went back to take a look. Is there anything wrong?"
Xu Mingzhi didn't care about his question at all, and asked closely: "Who is Liu Jinye?"
Zhang Liangcheng looked confused, and it didn't look like he was faking: "I don't know him."
"Since you don't know him, how come you have his car? That black Volkswagen." Xu Mingzhi reminded.
Zhang Liangcheng was caught off guard again. He suddenly realized that in this conversation, he had been at a disadvantage since he received Xu Mingzhi's call.
After understanding this, he suddenly relaxed. His originally straight back was slightly bent due to relaxation. He leaned forward, resting his left elbow on his knees. He reached out with his right hand, took the pot of cinnamon, and poured the golden tea soup in the glass pot. He took the fair cup, then took two small cups and filled them seven to eight points full respectively.
"This is rock tea and cinnamon, try it." Zhang Liangcheng pushed one of the cups toward Xu Mingzhi, then took the other cup, took a small taste first, and then drank it all.
Xu Mingzhi glanced at it but didn't move.
He was not in a hurry, and just watched quietly as Zhang Liangcheng drank a glass and then gave himself another glass.
Finally, after the second cup of tea was finished, Zhang Liangcheng put down the cup and leaned back into the sofa.
Under the dim light in the box, Xu Mingzhi sat there with a confident look, which made him unable to think of any resistance.
It's not that he didn't notice some things, he just...
"My car broke down in the past few days, so I borrowed the car from my brother. I didn't know that the car didn't belong to him." Zhang Liangcheng, who had already made up his mind, was obviously much calmer when he answered. .
