The time returned to the day Su Xia was pulled onto a three-wheeled vehicle by Ping An outside the school.
Su Tang, who had left school early, had already seen her father lurking outside to wait for her.
Clutching a hundred-yuan bill tightly in her hand, Su Tang knew with her toes that her father was out of money. So for the past two days, she had been carrying a hundred yuan with her, anticipating her unreliable father showing up to ask for money.
However, it seemed this money would be saved today, because her father had been dragged away by Ping An, a detective with no detective skills who pretended to be an expert.
To be honest, Su Tang didn't like Ping An.
Master of crosstalk, Mr. Guo Degang, once said with gritted teeth – rivals are enemies!
Although Su Tang was not a reporter.
She was a detective.
This girl, only 14 years old, inherited her mother's gentle side, but in her bones, she was a complete "tough guy." She rarely cried since she was sensible, and almost never cried after the age of 8. She was astonishingly sensible, always timing herself to deliberately make small mistakes, letting her parents have the satisfaction of educating their child.
There weren't many 14-year-old girls who dared to call themselves detectives. Su Tang dared to be so confident because, at the age of 9, she had helped her father find the criminal – of course, she had figured out who the criminal was early on, but she had to cautiously guide her father to "solve" the case. It was from then on that she became increasingly interested in solving cases, and began to secretly flip through the criminal investigation textbooks her father, a police academy graduate, had kept, and increasingly came into contact with stories of world-famous detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin.
Guessing the killer once, and reading a lot of detective novels, might seem like a child's luck and "dreams" to adults. The precocious Su Tang also thought so at first. But at the age of 12, she had a car accident and her leg was put in a cast, and she didn't go to school for three months. During these three months, she didn't study for a single day, and read detective novels with great relish. The week she returned to school after her injury healed, she realized she only had three days to review her studies for the exams.
That year was her secondary school entrance examination. In her district, there were two middle schools: one was an ordinary community school, and the other was a central school that required good "middle school entrance" results. Su Tang, who hadn't attended school for three months, was not expected by many to achieve good results. But in those three days, she managed to memorize all the texts and new words from the sixth-grade Chinese curriculum by rote learning. The over 200 English words in the elementary introductory level were also memorized backwards.
That year, she was admitted to the central school with full marks. The teachers all said that this girl had a good foundation and learned quickly, but only she herself knew that she had completed the "rote memorization" of four or five books in extreme panic. It was also from then on that she discovered that her mind had a rapid storage system, like Holmes' "memory palace."
She called it the "Memory Cube."
That year, she possessed one of the three most coveted treasures of detectives: the "documentary art," and the remaining two treasures were the "magic eye" and the "deductive method."
The great detectives, the famous detectives we know, all had common abilities, such as: sharper observation skills than ordinary people and the ability to discern truth from falsehood, which many detectives called the "magic eye"; richer knowledge reserves and photographic memory, also known as "documentary art"; and the imagination to draw inferences from one thing to another and the ability to connect various things, which are essential for novice detectives – the "deductive method."
In fact, with the continuous development of criminal investigation studies, and with more deliberate practice, the "magic eye" and the "deductive method" can be achieved through acquired efforts or accumulation of experience. Only the "documentary art" requires extremely high intelligence. According to an analysis by a research institution, only one in 85 million people meets the requirements. Moreover, because many people who meet the requirements have no opportunity to be triggered, they never know the "treasure" they possess in their lifetime.
Su Tang was lucky. Her father was a criminal police officer, and she was exposed to it from a young age. She also secretly studied the criminal investigation textbooks her father had kept, and now, with the awakening of her "memory palace" talent, she was almost destined to be a detective from birth.
Unfortunately, hobbies are just hobbies. Su Tang was precocious, and precocious children are very realistic. How much money can a police officer earn? They still rely on their sickly mother's business to subsidize them. Su Tang was a realistic child. Unless she had no choice, she would obediently go to school, get into Tsinghua or Peking University, earn money to change her life, marry a good husband, have a chubby baby, and live a happy life.
However, the series of cases that had occurred in Hechuan City recently were frightening to think about. Moreover, these bizarre cases had also implicated her father. Since her father suddenly came home with a hundred thousand yuan last time, the clever Su Tang had guessed that her father had "lost his guard." Everything that happened afterwards made Su Tang increasingly alarmed. It seemed her father was not just going to lose his job, but was in danger of losing his life this time.
Su Tang believed she had the ability to help her father, but objectively, as a 14-year-old middle school student, she couldn't change the situation at all. Just now, when she saw her father being pulled onto a dilapidated three-wheeled vehicle by Ping An with a flattering smile, she felt a lot more relieved – although this Ping An was unreliable, he was still a decent person, and might be able to help her father at a critical moment.
As mentioned earlier, Su Tang didn't like Ping An very much, but she had to admit that Ping An's novels, and the cases he had solved, could barely be considered half a "detective." And in this large Hechuan City, Su Tang only recognized "one and a half" detectives in her heart. Ping An was half of them, so who was the whole one?
He was about to appear, because Su Tang had officially made an appointment with this detective today.
A year ago, Su Tang accidentally saw people chatting about all sorts of messy cases in a detective group. When someone mentioned a certain problem in "Three Coffins," she "reached out and touched" and replied. Her reply successfully attracted the attention of the people in the group. A few bored individuals insisted on testing her further, and the questions they asked, she answered without hesitation, quickly and accurately.
After "showing off her skills" that day, Su Tang suddenly received a "friend request" message. The message accompanying the request was something she could hardly refuse – "Who else knows you have a memory palace?"
Out of curiosity, Su Tang accepted this friend request. For the past year, she found that this friend, like herself, was also a person with a "talent" for memory, so they talked about everything. Over time, she came to believe that this person was the only detective in this city with true formidable power.
After her father got into trouble, Su Tang, as a minor, couldn't help much, so she asked for help from this friend. After several appointments, they finally arranged to meet this evening. Of course, if Su Xia hadn't been called away by Ping An, Su Tang would have probably threatened her father to go with her to see this "savior." And Ping An, who happened to be passing by, would probably have pestered them to come along. At that time, Ping An would have met his father's mortal enemy gathered together!
Yes! Surprised? Su Tang's friend is Mr. Ke.
Watching her father leave, Su Tang sighed softly, flicked her waist-length braid, and walked in the opposite direction. The place they were meeting was a park, not far from here, just ahead.
Unconsciously, it was already late autumn.
A 14-year-old girl should be at an age where she understands beauty. Su Tang, who was tall and attractive, disliked these things. For daily school wear, she simply wore two sets of school uniforms. However, today, to meet the "savior" in her heart, she ritualistically and secretly applied lipstick... but quickly wiped it off...
There were very few people in the park, only an old man in a trench coat sitting in the pavilion smoking.
As Su Tang approached from afar, upon seeing this old man, she felt he perfectly matched her expectations of a highly respected person. Moreover, after she had eliminated the other four people in the park in just one minute, if Mr. Ke had not been late or stood her up, it must be him.
Walking into the pavilion, Su Tang exchanged a glance with the old man in front of her.
He was an old man who seemed very cultured, with kind eyes and a gentle face, looking like a scholar, and even more like a university professor.
"Mr. Ke?" Su Tang addressed him politely.
"Student Su?" The old man replied with grace.
"I am Su Tang, excuse me, are you Mr. Ke?" Su Tang continued to ask.
"If you say I am, then I am, hehe," the old man gestured for Su Tang to sit beside him.
"Your answer is very interesting. If you weren't Mr. Ke, how would you know me?" Su Tang replied playfully, but for some reason, she didn't sit down.
"Because you look so much like your father!" the old man said with a chuckle.
"Do people like you always start with such a pretense of mystery?" Su Tang asked without backing down.
"Then shall we get straight to the point?" the old man said nonchalantly.
"Can you help my father? The recent cases in Hechuan have also implicated my father," Su Tang asked seriously and devoutly.
"Those cases are not complicated. They can be solved in a few days," the old man shook his head and said. "I am meeting you today mainly to ask about the invitation to be my disciple last time. Have you considered it?"
"My family is in turmoil, and Su Tang doesn't have the time or energy to consider other things!" Su Tang thought for a moment and replied.
"I told you, the case is simple. Isn't that person named Ping An very close to your father?" the old man continued to ask.
"I don't trust him much. I think he solves cases purely by luck," Su Tang said.
"No, Ping An is very capable. He is the most capable detective I have ever met," the old man said. "I'm not lying to you, to this day, I still believe he is as capable as I am."
"You know Ping An?" Su Tang asked.
"Of course I know him, but we haven't met," the old man said. "In the past five years, he has given me many difficult problems, and several times, well, several times he almost killed me. I have also dealt with him several times, and almost killed him."
"Why would you risk your lives?" Su Tang was a little confused.
"Because I framed his father to death!" the old man maintained his amiable demeanor.
"..." The information in this sentence was too overwhelming, Su Tang didn't know how to respond.
"And this time, I just used a little bit of hatred, and through guidance, randomly created this series of cases. You could say I designed it all, or you could say it has nothing to do with me," the old man said, looking at Su Tang sympathetically. "Your father was incidentally involved, who told him he was related to Ping An."
"Are you a bad person?" Su Tang finally realized.
"Well, if you look at it from your perspective now, I am indeed a bad person, but if you become my disciple and look at it from my perspective, this is a revolution," the old man said.
"What do you want?" Su Tang suddenly became scared and involuntarily took two steps back.
"I want you to willingly become my disciple and a part of my great cause. I said it clearly from the beginning, your memory palace is a priceless treasure. If you accept my training, you will become the true king of crime. Imagine, whoever you want to die, will die, and naturally, without any flaws, the police will be helpless against you," the old man seemed lost in his own world.
"Why would you do this? You, aren't you a detective?" Su Tang said.
"Who told you detectives are always good people?" the old man said.
"Who exactly are you?" Su Tang was truly frightened.
"Let me tell you one last time. Become my disciple, willingly, and I will let your father go. After all, in my plan, he is destined to die," the old man said.
"You're threatening me!" Su Tang was angry.
"Darling, this is not a threat, it's an exchange!" the old man said. "A fair exchange. If you don't agree, I will find a way to make you agree. Well, that's all for today."
After saying this, the old man suddenly took out a piece of paper, carefully put on his glasses, and read it carefully, saying: "Little girl, I am not the person you are looking for. I am an actor. Someone paid me to meet you and go over lines!"
Su Tang was stunned and almost fell to the ground.
"If you're not him, why are you talking to me?" After a long time, Su Tang finally thought of a serious question.
"I told you, we are going over lines. Look for yourself, aren't these your lines?" the old man handed the paper to Su Tang.
"How is this possible!" Su Tang took the paper and saw that almost every word she had spoken was on this paper.
"Alright, the job is done, I'm leaving," the old man tidied up his belongings, walked to the edge of the pavilion, and shouted into the distance. Then, a cleaner walked over and took the old man's hand to leave.
"Child, my name is Chen Ning, I'm from a theater troupe. When we were rehearsing the lines just now, I felt your performance was flawless, almost as if you weren't acting," the old man said as he left.
Discarding the paper, Su Tang ran home like mad. She no longer cared whether the old man was Mr. Ke or not. A mere piece of paper, a mere psychological profile of herself, could predict the content of their conversation, without a single word more or less, accurate to the tone and speed as if meticulously rehearsed. This was inherently unscientific, something only a monster could do.
After returning home, Su Tang spontaneously developed a fever that night. The next morning, while her father was tracking Hao Gang with Ping An, she was in a semi-conscious state. It wasn't until the afternoon, when the fever finally subsided, that she spent six minutes recalling what had happened in the past 24 hours. After confirming that what had happened in the park the previous day was real, her first thought was to find her father.
She wanted to tell him in person that the investigation so far was a trap! All of this was a huge conspiracy!
Without time to make up a story for her mother, and taking advantage of her mother being busy at the shop, Su Tang secretly left home and ran all the way to the school entrance, the place where she had brushed past her father the day before.
No matter how intelligent a fourteen-year-old child is, they are still a fourteen-year-old child. Su Tang believed that the police would not believe her dream-like encounter, nor would they help her find her father. Moreover, since her father was with Ping An, the police would be even less likely to find them. Therefore, she could only rely on herself to search for her father.
The last scene of her father's appearance was him getting into a three-wheeled vehicle with Ping An.
What kind of three-wheeled vehicle was it?
Electric? Dilapidated? Half-drunk soy milk hanging on the handlebars? A driver wearing an old-fashioned security guard coat? Standing on the sidewalk opposite the school, Su Tang closed her eyes and opened her Memory Cube – her father's slightly gaunt face, Ping An's annoying smile, the electric bike rider was an old master with a beard. What was in the cargo box? Upright printed cardboard? A woven bag containing some broken rebar?
Wait! Woven bag? No, the mouth of the woven bag was sewn with a circle of cloth, which was common in rural areas, to make the bag last longer. What was on the bag? Oh, it was a fertilizer bag, yes, phosphate fertilizer! What crops use phosphate fertilizer? Tall crops! Corn! The places where corn is planted in Hechuan are Xihe Town, Niangniang Village, and Gaimeng Village!
Gaimeng Village! The first headless case in the series of cases occurred in Gaimeng Village! Wait, there was a consultation saying – Ping An and a young reporter from a融媒体 (rong mei ti - integrated media) investigated the Gaimeng murder scene at night – an innocent security guard implicated! Security guard! Security guard coat!
In Gaimeng Village?
Su Tang opened her eyes, walked to a shared bicycle, scanned the code, got on, and rode straight to Gaimeng Village.
Gaimeng Village was peaceful in autumn. This was originally a quiet small village. The recent headless corpse cases had made the security work in this village exceptionally good.
On the road at the village entrance, Su Tang rode her bicycle all the way to the small shop at the village entrance.
"Master, give me a bottle of water, and that chocolate, thank you!" After riding for over forty minutes, Su Tang, who hadn't eaten or drunk all day, clearly couldn't stand it.
"Master, do you sell soy milk in the morning?" Su Tang asked after receiving the water and chocolate.
"Yes, I do. My shop is the only one in the village," the master said. "But not right now!"
"Yesterday morning, did a master wearing a security guard uniform and riding a scrap-collecting three-wheeled vehicle buy a bag of soy milk from you?" Su Tang asked urgently.
"Why are you asking this?" the master asked.
"Don't mention it. At noon yesterday, he took away some of my review materials. After he left, I realized that a set of practice tests issued by the school was also taken away with the materials. I'm really anxious. At the time, I heard him say he was from Gaimeng Village, so I came to ask if I could get the tests back," Su Tang deliberately made herself look pitiful.
"Oh! That's simple. Let me tell you, the person you're talking about is Master Ga Da from our village. He used to be a security guard, and after an incident, he started collecting scrap. Actually, his family isn't short of money, and I don't know why..." the master said enthusiastically.
"Is he at home? Can you tell me his address?" Su Tang naturally didn't have time to listen to this.
"Ah, he hasn't returned since he went out yesterday. However, a master delivering vegetables just delivered a cart of vegetables to his house. He was cursing and saying that everyone there is sick, the freight is more than double the price of the vegetables, and they still insist on delivering, and also saying, serves them right for being beaten? I can't remember clearly," the master pointed to a two-story building and said. "Master Ga Da's house is right there, but no one is home now. His children are not around. See the cabbages piled up by the wall at the entrance? Those are from his house."
Su Tang quickly drank the water in her hand and then hurried over to knock on the door. As expected, no one was home. She reluctantly returned to the small shop.
"Master, do you have Master Ga Da's phone number?" Su Tang asked.
"Isn't anyone home? Wait a moment, let me find it. I actually have it!" The master enthusiastically took out his phone and gave Su Tang a number.
Su Tang immediately dialed it, but found that Ga Da's phone was turned off.
Phone turned off? Following Ping An, collecting scrap must be a cover! If they were solving a case together, communication would be essential! How could the phone be turned off? Unless, unless they were on a mission! What mission? Where were they executing it! Right, cabbages! Why deliver 2000 jin of cabbage to the house? Would people in the village lack cabbage to eat? Perhaps it was bought deliberately for the mission! Where was it bought?
Thinking of this, Su Tang returned to Ga Da's house. She picked up a cabbage and observed it carefully. She actually saw the characters "De He" on the green plastic rope used to tie the cabbage!
De He Market!
Su Tang looked up at the setting sun, gritted her teeth, and rode her bicycle towards the city.
At seven in the evening, the vegetable market was still bustling. People returning from work were discussing what to eat for dinner. Ironically, De He Vegetable Market was only three blocks away from Su Tang's house, and Su Tang often bought vegetables here. However, this time, she was here to save her father's life.
The advantage of being familiar with the vegetable market was knowing that large-scale vegetable transactions were actually carried out in the warehouses. So as soon as Su Tang entered the vegetable market, she headed straight for the warehouse.
Inside the spacious vegetable warehouse, Su Tang went from stall to stall, inquiring:
"Master, did you deliver a batch of cabbage to Gaimeng this afternoon?"
"No, no! Ask elsewhere!"
"Master, did you deliver a batch of cabbage to Gaimeng this afternoon?"
"Uh, yes, I did. What's wrong?"
"Who was the person delivering the vegetables?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"Please tell me, it's urgent, I'm looking for him! Something has happened at home!"
"Which one are you looking for? The old man or the woman?"
"Uh? No man?"
"No, just two people."
"Wasn't it delivered to Gaimeng Village?"
"It was delivered to Gaimeng Village!"
"That's not right! Did I make a mistake?"
Inside the warehouse, a group of people suddenly surrounded Su Tang.
"Girl, the person you are looking for is Officer Su, right?" a man with a forced smile patted Su Tang's shoulder and said.
"Uh, who are you?" Su Tang nodded subconsciously, and then asked suspiciously.
"Oh, me, it's easy to say, easy to say. So you are a friend of Officer Su who came to sell cabbage at noon!" the man said, pulling Su Tang to walk out. Su Tang, who had already sensed something was wrong, tried to break free, but a dagger was pressed against her back, so she had to follow the man.