Chapter 127: Social Connections

“The missing person is Liu Cuiping, forty-one years old. She lives in Jingshan Village, Chenkou Town, Zhouying County. She went missing three days ago, on the afternoon of August 6. Based on interviews, there were no arguments or conflicts in her household on the day of the incident or in the days leading up to it. According to the villagers, the family gets along quite well. Financially, they’re doing fine too. Her husband drives long-haul routes, and she, along with her in-laws, leases a plot of land to grow citrus. The family earns over 200,000 yuan a year. Just last year, they bought an apartment in the Garden City residential complex in the county for their son’s future marriage. Reportedly, no one in the family is involved in gambling or similar activities.”

A police officer from Zhouying County stood beside the small blackboard at the front of the meeting room, summarizing the information gathered over the past few days. His briefing was primarily to rule out the possibility of a family member being involved in the case. After all, society today is complicated, and shocking, violent crimes often make the news. In many of those cases, the perpetrators turn out to be relatives. But this case was clearly different. On the day Liu Cuiping disappeared, all her family members had alibis. Her husband, in particular, wasn’t even in Jianghuai City at the time.

With no emotional entanglements or financial disputes, Liu Cuiping’s disappearance was all the more puzzling. However, there was still one other possibility.

“What kind of social relationships did Liu Cuiping have in the village?” Song Changfeng asked.

The officer giving the report nodded at him and said, “The Liu family is fairly well-regarded in the village. According to the surrounding villagers, they’re financially stable, and Liu Cuiping herself is known for being generous and straightforward. In all the years they’ve lived there, they’ve never had any major conflicts with anyone. If we really have to point out something, it would be that last year someone came to propose a marriage for Liu Cuiping’s eldest daughter, and they were thrown out of the house. People say they’d never seen Liu Cuiping that angry before.”

That detail caught the attention of the officers from the Municipal Bureau, who gestured for the county officer to continue.

“We followed up on that incident and found that the family who came to propose was surnamed Chen. They have two sons, and the older one is about the same age as Liu Cuiping’s eldest daughter. His mother, He Aihua, was hoping to arrange a marriage between the two families. But in her conversations, she kept emphasizing how well-off the Liu family was. Not only did she not want to offer a bride price¹, she even expected Liu Cuiping to chip in money to help them buy a house. Liu Cuiping was furious and kicked her out. After that, He Aihua went around telling people that Liu Cuiping was too snobbish and was trying to sell her daughter for a high bride price.”

“Because of that, we tracked down He Aihua and asked her about the incident. She openly admitted it happened but insisted she had nothing to do with Liu Cuiping’s disappearance. We asked why she wanted to arrange the marriage and whether the two kids were romantically involved, and she denied it. Then we asked why she made such unreasonable demands. She said it was because her son was a university graduate, while Liu Cuiping’s daughter hadn’t even finished high school, so of course the dowry² should be higher on their end.”

The officer cleared his throat, seemingly trying to suppress a laugh. Everyone else had strange expressions on their faces. Aofeng figured what they were all thinking was probably something along the lines of, “What an idiot.” Even if you don’t have a mirror at home, surely you’ve peed³ before, right? Just because your son went to college, someone else is supposed to pay you to marry him off? Dream on.

“Where was He Aihua on the day of the incident?” someone asked.

“According to her, she went back to her parents’ home that morning and spent the afternoon playing mahjong at a small shop nearby. The shop staff can vouch for her. We also checked the surveillance footage, and she was indeed sitting there all afternoon.”

That about covered Liu Cuiping’s social background. It was time to refocus on the case itself.

Song Changfeng glanced at the notes that had just been written down and asked, “Who was the first to report Liu Cuiping missing? Who said she went up the mountain, and is there any witness to confirm that? Did she have a phone or any communication device on her, and if so, what happens when you call it?”

The rapid-fire questions highlighted Song Changfeng’s professionalism. Just by listening, he could pinpoint the key issues. No wonder he was hailed as a rising star in the Anyang City police force.

The officer on stage flipped through the various reports in his hands, organized the information, and said, “We received the report at 5:35 p.m. on August 6. The caller was a woman from their village named Wang Qiulan. On the day of the incident, she and two other women went up the mountain with Liu Cuiping. They were supposedly going to pick wild amaranth. At first, they were all together, but they soon split up. They had agreed to meet back at 4 p.m., but when the time came, the other three returned, and only Liu Cuiping was missing. They waited a bit longer, but when she still didn’t show up, they searched the area together until around 5 p.m., but still couldn’t find her.”

“At that point, someone suggested that maybe Liu Cuiping had gone home on her own, so they hurried back down the mountain. But when they asked at the Liu household, it turned out she hadn’t returned at all. The group panicked and immediately called the police. Liu Cuiping didn’t have a phone on her. The clothes she wore that day weren’t suitable for carrying one, so she had only worn a watch to keep track of the time.”

Song Changfeng nodded thoughtfully and asked, “So, who was the one who suggested going up the mountain to pick wild amaranth?”

The officer flipped through the documents in his hand again, then pulled out a few chat logs and handed them over. The chat was from a small group of five people. Besides the four who had gone to pick wild vegetables, there was one more person named Zhao Guilan. According to the chat records, it was Liu Cuiping herself who brought up the idea of picking wild vegetables that morning. The others agreed when they heard, so they arranged to meet at the edge of the village at 12:30 p.m. But when the time came, Zhao Guilan never showed up. When they messaged her, she replied that her nephew had arrived that afternoon and she couldn’t leave. So the remaining four went into the mountains together.

“After Liu Cuiping went missing, how did the others react? Anything unusual?”

The officer shook his head. “They all reacted similarly—worried, scared, and nervous. Each of the three gave separate statements, and the details were mostly consistent. Even the part about splitting up in the mountains was something Liu Cuiping herself had suggested.”

Song Changfeng fell into deep thought, and Aofeng lowered his head, thinking carefully. If three people are questioned separately and their stories line up, there are two possibilities. The first is that it’s the truth, and they’re telling it as it happened. The second is that they coordinated their stories in advance. Judging by the attitude of the Zhouying County officers, the first possibility seems more likely. After all, Song Changfeng had gone through their chat history and found that their relationships seemed genuinely good. There was no sign of past conflict with Liu Cuiping in their conversations.

Still, until the truth is uncovered, anyone who had contact with Liu Cuiping is a suspect. And these three are the most suspicious of all.

However, before discussing whether they’re suspects, the top priority is to find Liu Cuiping. Once she’s found, everything else will fall into place.

After the meeting, the group drove to Jingshan Village in Chenkou Town. Thanks to the village officials’ efforts over the past few days, most of the outsiders who had gathered there had already left. The local villagers remained, gathered in small groups of three or five, all talking about the strange incident. When they saw the police car stop in the village square, they quickly scattered and went home, not wanting to get involved.

“Come on, let’s take you to Liu Cuiping’s house first. We need to find something with her scent on it.”

Song Changfeng, Aofeng, and two officers from the city followed the local officer, Wu Shuo, to Liu Cuiping’s home. Her house was one of a kind in the village—a countryside villa that stood out among the rows of three-story buildings, drawing attention instantly.

In stark contrast to the villa’s polished exterior was the devastated state of Liu Cuiping’s husband and his family. When they saw the officers, their eyes lit up and they stood up quickly. But when they noticed the lack of good news on the officers’ faces, they sighed and motioned for them to sit down.

Translator’s Notes