Red Bean Lives in the Republic of China - Chapter 9.2

Chapter 9.2

‘Wang Meiping? That Shaoxing girl who came to Shanghai to join her uncle three months ago? I remember that when I asked my brother a few days ago, he said that they had no news of this girl.’

Seeing her brother’s facial expressions look bad as if he were very frightened, Yu Hongdou had a bad feeling. “Brother… Is she alive?”

Yu Chongyi shook his head.

Yu Hongdou was startled. “Dead…”

Yu Chongyi didn’t know how to answer his little sister. He could still recall the horrific scene very vividly. That girl was nailed with wooden nails several feet long.

The younger sister, who didn’t get any answers, still wanted to hear her brother’s reply. “Murdered by someone? Suicide?”

Yu Chongyi didn’t answer her question; he just changed the subject by saying, “Anyway, the streets have not been peaceful recently, so don’t go out for a walk if you have nothing to do, especially at night.”

While they were talking, they had reached their house, so they stopped talking and opened the door.

As the brother and the sister entered the house, they smelled the aroma of food.

Mrs. Zhou was busy in the kitchen while their mother was sitting on the sofa knitting a fleece with a calm expression on her face.

As soon as the siblings arrived, the mother stopped knitting and began to talk. “You kids are full of energy, so go outside and play until it gets dark before you come back.”

Yu Hongdou put her schoolbag down and joined her mother, acting like nothing had happened, as her brother also didn’t speak about that incident.

After eating dinner, Yu Hongdou noticed that her brother didn’t want to go anywhere. So she took advantage of this rare chance, asked her brother to come to her room, and showed Peter Wang’s business card, saying, “Hey, look, it’s the famous Inspector Peter Wang.”

Yu Chongyi took the card and looked at it. “How did you get his business card?” He looked at her sister with a questioning look.

Yu Hongdou told the previous story, then squatted next to the bed and dragged out the old newspaper box. After flipping through for a while, she found the two newspapers and spread them out on the table.

One was Chen Baidie’s missing person notice, and the other was Wang Meiping’s missing person notice.

“Brother, is this Peter Wang reliable?”

Yu Chongyi tried to figure out what his sister was planning to do, and then he went over to the table. “I worked with him once, and I remembered that it was a bank robbery case. Because of his guidance, the robbers were quickly found. It can be seen that this person is really talented.”

“Ok.” Yu Hongdou nodded. “Wang Meiping is deceased, but Chen Baidie is still missing. If I ask Peter Wang to help find Chen Baidie, do you think he will agree?”

“But he hasn’t been involved in the police department’s business for a long time,” Yu Chongyi pondered. “What did he say to you then?”

“He said that, as long as it doesn’t involve a lot of money and doesn’t go against the current laws and rules.” Yu Hongdou said, “And there are many famous people at the tea party today. I don’t think he will break his word. But you just described that Peter Wang is not the type of person who is kind and interferes in other people’s business. Why does he suddenly want to play this game?”

Yu Chongyi pondered a while before answering. “Even though he acts strangely, he is not a bad person. Plus, there were many people present at the time, so if he wanted to harm you, he would have found another way.”

Yu Hongdou didn’t respond and started recalling the events of that time. After a while, she asked again, “By the way, brother, do you know anything about Chen Baidie? Is there any demand from the kidnapper? Since she is so famous, I assume the ransom will be high.”

Yu Chongyi shook his head slowly, saying, “No, I don’t have any information.”

From start to finish, the kidnapper had never called anyone.

Yu Hongdou asked with surprise, “Isn’t that the same as Wang Meiping?” ‘But now that Wang Meiping has died, will it be Chen Baidie’s turn next?’

After not speaking for a while, Yu Hongdou suddenly asked, “Brother, are you considering finding a new job because Chen Baidie’s case is too hard?”

Yu Chongyi looked at Yu Hongdou with surprise, and after a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and said, “Why do you always ask about Chen Baidie? It seems that you are concerned about your brother.”

“Why did you recently decide to switch jobs? Is this connected to Chen Baidie’s case?”

Yu Chongyi expressed frustration, saying, “These things are very difficult, and it will take me a while to explain them to you clearly.”

The brother didn’t completely say no to her idea. Yu Hongdou looked down and thought for a moment. She suggested going to Peter Wang’s detective agency to see if they could find any clues. She asked her brother if he could come with her on Sunday if he had free time.

Yu Chongyi thought for a moment and then agreed, saying, “It’s fine. He has had a disagreement with the police department. If he sees me and thinks I’m from the police department, he might not want to help. You can only go out and find him for yourself. I will go with you to that place tomorrow. After you go upstairs to find him, I will wait for you at the entrance.”

Yu Hongdou put the newspaper away and agreed with the plan.

At this time, Mrs. Peng downstairs shouted, “Mrs. Yu, is your young master at home? There is a call from the police station. It seems that they need to find him urgently.”

Yu Chongyi and his sister looked at each other, turned around, and ran outside. After answering the phone, he changed clothes and was about to go out.

Mrs. Yu checked the time; it was almost nine o’clock. She couldn’t help but feel distressed; she had to force her son to drink a bowl of warm milk before letting him go out.

Yu Hongdou sent his brother out and asked him, “What happened?”

Yu Chongyi was not comfortable and said, “Someone’s dead body was discovered at Jiangkou. I’m not sure if it’s Chen Baidie.”

“Oh.” Yu Hongdou stood there, surprised and unable to move.

…………….

Her brother didn’t come home last night and was still not at home.

Yu Hongdou wanted to go to Peter Wang by herself, but she was worried it wouldn’t be right. So she ended up staying at home, feeling bored.

Her brother didn’t come back in the evening, so she went downstairs to get some newspapers to read. However, there was no information about Chen Baidie. ‘I secretly thought that the female body found that night was not Chen Baidie, because if it was, the news in Shanghai would be all about it.’

………….

There was no school on Monday afternoon. Yu Hongdou returned home on the bicycle around midday. Before she arrived at home, she noticed a car parked at the beginning of the small road.

She climbed the stairs, and before opening the door, she heard someone crying inside her house. Panicked, she quickly opened the door and went inside to see her aunt.

lying on the sofa halfway and crying a lot. Her once stylish curly hair was messy, and her face was pale. The georgette cheongsam was also wrinkled, and the person looked like she had rolled in a dusty pile. She didn’t have her usual fancy style.

Yu Hongdou’s uncle walked back and forth in the hallway with a sad expression on his face, indicating that he was feeling down as well.

After hearing someone had come inside, the couple turned their heads, but they couldn’t conceal their sadness when they realised it was Hongdou.

Uncle still had a little bit of sense left, so he made a fake smile and said, “Hongdou has returned.”

Yu Hongdou thought that smiling was less pretty than crying, so she made a sad face and asked, “Uncle and aunt, what’s wrong?”

After Auntie heard this, both sides started crying even harder.

Yu Hongdou saw her aunt and was shocked. She noticed that her aunt’s eyes were very red and swollen. If she saw her aunt on the street, she wouldn’t be able to recognise her because of her appearance.

Her mother brought out the freshly cooked porridge from the kitchen and told her uncle and aunt, “You two haven’t had any food all day and night. Even if you don’t feel hungry, it’s important to eat a small amount. Don’t wait until Yuqi is found.”

Yu Hongdou was very surprised and shocked to hear that their cousin, Yuqi, was missing.

Have a nice day!

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