Chapter 124: Simple Meals and Quiet Stories

2022-05-20

After hearing Old Lady Wang’s story, all of us couldn’t help but sigh. Maybe everyone you rush past in life has their own hidden story. Maybe every ordinary face has been through things we can’t begin to imagine. Sometimes, trying to guess at someone’s life just never gets you close to the truth.

There was a brief silence before Gu Chen finally spoke up. “Even though Old Lady Wang is deaf, it happened later in life. She may not speak, but we could still write questions to her about the killer. If we can get even a single clue, we might be able to turn this investigation around.”

His reasoning made sense. I chimed in, “Exactly. If we look at the timeline, it stands to reason she saw something.”

The old Village Chief nodded, replying, “I’m not saying you’re off the mark here, it’s just… even if you find her, I doubt it’ll make much difference. She’s lived on her own since she was fourteen. After turning forty, she went over twenty years without really talking to anyone. Even if you want to write, you still have to know how, right?”

Right then, Li Danan cut in. “Exactly. She’s like a ghost in our village. Never talks to anyone, always popping in and out of sight. Until I heard her story today from Village Chief Wei, I honestly thought she wasn’t right in the head.”

The old Village Chief shot him a glare, then sighed. “It’s a shame, really. When they found Wang Meizhi, the old woman who took her in was already quite elderly. If she’d had more years with her, maybe Wang Meizhi would’ve grown up more… well, normal, you know? Sometimes fate just deals you a hand and there’s no changing it. This is the life she was given.”

“As it stands,” the Village Chief added, “the only thing she can write is her own name. Nothing else.”

Guan Zengbin looked a little anxious. She said, “But she must have some kind of contact with people, right? You can’t go a whole life without any. How does she survive, buy rice, buy flour? She must know some sign language. I’m not an expert, but I know a little—I might be able to talk with her.”

The Village Chief waved her off gently. “Here’s the thing: the old woman who raised her had no family left. When she passed, she left everything she owned to Wang Meizhi. Not that it was much, but she inherited her shop. She does some sewing and mending and just takes whatever payment people offer.”

“The farthest she ever goes is to the small supermarket by the highway to get thread or some groceries,” he continued. “You don’t need to talk to buy things there—she just puts her stuff on the counter, the cashier shows her the price with their fingers, and she pays.”

He sighed again. “But any conversation more complicated than that? She’s just not capable of it.”

I gave the Village Chief a reassuring pat. “No matter what, right now Old Lady Wang is our best bet for a lead. Even if we turn up nothing, we’ve come all this way. We can’t just give up without at least talking to her, right?”

Seeing I wasn’t backing down, the Village Chief didn’t argue further. Instead, he turned to Li Danan. “Li Danan, go fetch Old Lady Wang.”

Halfway through saying it, he waved his hand. “No, wait. If you go, she’ll never come with you. I’ll go myself. Back when we were kids, Wang Meizhi and I were practically inseparable. In this village, I’m probably the only one she’ll tolerate even a little conversation with.”

He glanced at us as if reassuring himself as much as us. “We’ve known each other for over fifty years. I was just a kid when I used to follow ten-year-old her around.”

And with that, the old Village Chief started wheeling himself out the door.

I hurried to stop him. “Village Chief, it’s windy outside and there’s snow everywhere. You’re not young anymore, don’t wear yourself out. How about Gu Chen pushes your wheelchair, and we all go together to Old Lady Wang’s place?”

Captain Zhou stood up and offered, “He’s right, Village Chief Wei. Let’s just go together.”

The Village Chief nodded. “Alright. Let’s go. Li Danan, you stay here. If anyone comes looking for me, just tell them I’m at Old Lady Wang’s place, got it?”

Li Danan nodded. “Got it, Chief.”

We set off toward Old Lady Wang’s home.

We’d entered the village from the west gate. The Village Committee sits in the center, Old Lady Wang’s place is toward the east, and the site where the body was found is on an eastern side lane. Right at the far east end is the small supermarket and the highway.

Gu Chen pushed the Village Chief ahead, with Captain Zhou and Guan Zengbin chatting by their side.

I hung back on my own, replaying the conversation in my mind.

From what I’d gathered, there’s a highway that runs right past the village’s eastern lane. If that’s the case, we can’t be sure the killer is from Tougouzi Village. Plenty of vehicles pass by every day, and any number of drivers familiar with the area could have had an opportunity.

Which means our list of suspects just got a lot longer. I might need to add a new category to my profiling. But even though I have my suspicions, I’m not ready to dive too deep into guesses just yet.

There’s one thing I can’t quite wrap my head around. From what Captain Zhou and the Village Chief said, Tougouzi Village has supposedly been a ‘disabled village’ for years. But logically, people here would marry each other—there’s no reason all the children born here would have disabilities, right?

So here’s the question: this village can’t possibly be made up entirely of people with disabilities. Is Captain Zhou and the Chief’s description an exaggeration, or is there more to the story?

For some reason, I can’t shake the feeling that this place isn’t as simple as it seems.

But now’s not the time to dwell on that. The killer is still our top priority.

After about ten minutes, we arrived at Old Lady Wang’s doorstep.

The Village Chief rolled himself up to the door and gave a tug on the rope hanging outside.

He explained as he pulled, “This rope is connected to an iron weight inside the house. If Old Lady Wang sees it move, she knows someone’s here. All her old customers know this, and so do all the villagers.”

He pulled a few times, and then we heard the door creak open. Standing before us was a woman in her sixties. Her wrinkles were actually fewer than the Village Chief’s, and if I didn’t know he was ten years younger, I’d think Old Lady Wang looked younger than him.

Then again, it makes sense. She can still walk an hour to the highway for groceries and then trek another hour home. Clearly, she’s in decent shape. Meanwhile, the Village Chief is stuck in his wheelchair all day, not much chance for exercise, so of course his health isn’t what it could be.

That’s when we got to see their so-called ‘tiny bit’ of communication.

The Village Chief gestured wildly and shouted, as if the louder he yelled, the more likely Old Lady Wang would understand him. She only frowned, keeping a wary eye on us, making no move to let us in.

Captain Zhou took out his badge and pantomimed handcuffs for her to see.

For a while, Old Lady Wang just stared. Then, finally, the realization dawned and she gave us a salute. Only after that did she let us inside.

In contrast to what Li Danan described, Old Lady Wang didn’t seem unfriendly at all. Maybe it’s just that communication’s always been a challenge between them. Now, watching her smile and invite us in, she actually seems quite warm. Maybe when people get older, deep down, they do hope for a bit of company.

Inside, there was a small stove going. Old Lady Wang was making noodles, served with a simple stew of potatoes and cabbage—nothing fancy, just a normal lunch. Captain Zhou quickly took over cooking, joking, “Let me do it! Back in my youth, I made my own meals all the time—nothing tasted better than what you made yourself.”

“You guys,” Captain Zhou said, stirring the noodles, “better try and ask your questions now. This might take a while, and by the time lunch is ready, I doubt you’ll have gotten any new info out of her.”

So we went at it, one after the other. I tried drawing pictures for her—total flop. She had no idea what I was drawing. Next was Guan Zengbin, who tried using sign language, but that didn’t work either.

The two of us spent a whole hour trying every method we could think of, while Captain Zhou got the noodles and stew ready and set a bowl in front of Old Lady Wang. She watched us struggle, almost amused, then turned her attention back to her food. She even motioned for us to join her—there was plenty to go around.

The last to try was Gu Chen, who just stood before Old Lady Wang for a long time, at a loss. In the end he gave up. “It’s no use. There’s just no way to communicate. Honestly, it’s past noon and I’m honestly pretty hungry.”

The Village Chief finally stepped in. “Enough, let’s stop beating our heads against the wall. It’s lunchtime anyway. I told my wife to make a bigger meal, so head over to my place for lunch.”

I shook my head, glancing at Old Lady Wang. “Thanks, Village Chief, but I think I’ll have to turn you down this time. Please tell your wife not to wait—we’ll eat here instead. I’ve been in Dongxing City for so long, I honestly miss these kinds of simple home-cooked meals.”

Despite his repeated insistence, none of us changed our minds. The Village Chief finally just called home to let his wife know not to expect us.

There was plenty of food, and it was delicious.

Even though Old Lady Wang couldn’t hear our conversation, and we had no idea what she was thinking, happiness still seemed to pass between us. Seeing her smile, even without uncovering any clues here, I felt a strange sense of peace settle in my chest.

“Something’s happened!” Li Danan’s voice suddenly rang from outside the door. “Village Chief Wei, something’s wrong—come quick!”