sinovels Chapter 1679 Tai Chi Bear Paw, Where is Tai Chi?
Chapter 1679 Tai Chi Bear Paw, Where is Tai Chi?
Chapter 1679 Tai Chi Bear Paw, Where is Tai Chi?
Zhao Jun himself didn't realize that after being named an outstanding individual by the county leaders this year, he had already become famous in the workplace circles of Shanhe County.
The Director Sun standing in front of him was named Sun Xueshan, the deputy director of the Shanhe County Public Security Bureau, who was in charge of major and serious cases.
Wang Jiusheng was hacked to death with a hammer in his shack. The murderer's brutality was appalling. Chen Weiyi and Zhou Chunming both reported the incident to the authorities. Chu Anmin made a special trip to the GA to bring in Sun Xueshan.
When Wang Qiang arrived home and called the local police station, Sun Xueshan was still investigating the scene at Wang Jiusheng's shack.
The police officer on duty hung up the phone and hurriedly rode the sidecar motorcycle that the forest farm had temporarily lent them to him to the 54th forest section.
That's why they were delayed for so long. Luckily, the police officers on duty ran into Sun Xueshan and Chen Weiyi on their way back, otherwise they wouldn't have reached the Third Work Section by now.
Sun Xueshan, who had just come down from Wang Jiusheng's shack, was troubled by the case. Their investigation had yielded unsatisfactory results; Sun Xueshan felt that with the existing clues, it was practically the same as having none, and solving the case was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Upon hearing that another murder had occurred in the shacks above, Sun Xueshan hurriedly led his men up the mountain. Led by Chen Weiyi, they arrived at the Third Work Section and met up with Zhao Jun.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhao Jun asked Li Baoyu to drive, Chen Weiyi to sit in the passenger seat, and he and Sun Xueshan to sit in the back. The four of them rode in the same car in front, with the county GA Bureau's car and the resident police station's car following behind.
Along the way, Zhao Jun told Sun Xueshan and Chen Weiyi about his dealings with Xu Changming the day before.
After he finished speaking, the jeep drove up to the shack where the two old men, Xu and Song, lived.
As darkness fell, Sun Xueshan, Chen Weiyi, and the others were prepared and got out of the car with flashlights in hand.
Because Xu and Song had been living together for many years, their shack was relatively large, but still not that big.
After exchanging a few words with Chen Weiyi, Sun Xueshan led two police officers into the shack, while Chen Weiyi and the others searched the area around the shack for any useful clues.
As laymen, Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu didn't go forward. But seeing that everyone else was busy, and not wanting to stay in the car, they wandered around the perimeter.
About half an hour later, Sun Xueshan led his men out of the shack. Chen Weiyi had also finished his work, and Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hurried over to join them.
"Old Chen," Sun Xueshan asked Chen Weiyi with a serious expression, "what have you discovered?"
"No," Chen Weiyi shook his head and said, "Nothing at all."
Hearing Chen Weiyi say this, Sun Xueshan turned to Zhao Jun and asked, "Team Leader Zhao, yesterday was your first time meeting Xu Changming, right?"
"Yeah," Zhao Jun replied, then Sun Xueshan pressed on, "Did you go into this shack yesterday?"
“No,” Zhao Jun said. “It was quite late when we came down from upstairs yesterday. I was in a hurry to get home, so I just dropped him off here. After that, I didn’t go into the shack; I just left.”
Sun Xueshan nodded slightly and asked Zhao Jun, "Team Leader Zhao, to your knowledge, are there any family members, relatives, or friends of these two people familiar with the situation in their shack?"
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, and then he heard Sun Xueshan explain, "We didn't see any valuables in this shack, and there were signs that the jars and pots in his shack had been disturbed."
“Director Sun,” Zhao Jun said, “these two old men have a No. 16 rifle.”
“No.” Sun Xueshan shook his head, turned to signal the accompanying police officer to take notes, and then asked Zhao Jun, “Team Leader Zhao, I roughly understand what you meant when we came here. You mean there shouldn’t have been any sable fur in his shack last night, right?”
“Hmm!” Zhao Jun nodded and said, “Anyway, yesterday in my car, I said I would come this afternoon, and Master Xu said that he would get up this morning and go to pick up his big leather goods so that it would be in time.”
After repeating Xu Changming's original words, Zhao Jun added, "But these old men who can build shacks and makeshift shelters in the mountains are all stubborn. They come up with whatever comes to mind, and maybe he even brought Da Pi back last night."
“Well, we can’t be sure.” Sun Xueshan agreed with Zhao Jun’s words and then nodded, “First of all, the thug who committed the crime in this shack is the same person who killed Wang Jiusheng before.”
After saying this, Sun Xueshan paused slightly and added, "Because the murder weapons were the same; they were all killed with hammers."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun's heart skipped a beat. This person was too terrifying; if they were being targeted by him, how frightening would that be?
At this point, Sun Xueshan continued, "Personally, I think this thug must have gotten something from Wang Jiusheng."
As he spoke, Sun Xueshan glanced at the people around him and then explained, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have killed Wang Jiusheng, right?"
Zhao Jun noticed that Sun Xueshan liked to ask questions with preconceived answers. Not to mention the time on the way there in the jeep, he had already asked "right?" three times since leaving the shack.
Seeing everyone nod, Sun Xueshan continued, "So far, we can confirm that this criminal is a local, or at least someone who knows these three victims. I don't think he would kill someone for a hunting rifle."
After saying this, Sun Xueshan explained his reasoning, saying, "These old hunting rifles often have unique marks due to wear and tear and parts replacement. They are easily recognized by people who have handled them, so it's a troublesome matter whether he uses them himself or sells them."
"Director Sun," Li Baoyu couldn't help but interject, "What if he sells the guns to Lingnan?"
As he spoke, Li Baoyu raised his hand and pointed to Zhang Guangcai Ridge above.
“That doesn’t matter.” Sun Xueshan said decisively, “This person doesn’t seem like someone who always spends the night in the mountains.”
As he spoke, Sun Xueshan looked at Zhao Jun and said, "Team Leader Zhao, I've heard of you. I know you're an expert hunter. As for me, although I don't hunt, I've done my research. See if I'm right?"
Then, before Zhao Jun could respond, Sun Xueshan continued, "These people who hunt bears, wild boars, and large livestock. If they want to live in the mountains for an extended period, there's only one possibility: they're working in the forest."
“That’s right!” Zhao Jun nodded upon hearing this. People like them who hunted in large-scale forests rarely lived in the mountains. Those who did live in the mountains were usually working in the forest farms. To be precise, they were foremen who came from outside the Yong’an forest area to contract out forest farms.
These people are rich and have plenty of free time, so they take guns into the mountains to hunt when they have nothing else to do.
Immediately afterwards, Sun Xueshan added, "Before I came here, I asked Director Chu, and he said that the winter production season had ended, and all the sheds in the mountains had been evacuated, so these people should have been evacuated as well."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun was secretly delighted. Sun Xueshan was a sensible man, which undoubtedly increased the chances of solving the case.
“Those who are still living in shacks in the mountains at this time are usually trappers,” Sun Xueshan said. “No matter what they trap, they are not short of money right after winter.”
He wasn't wrong. Winter had just ended, and if they sold the furs, they would definitely have money. If they hadn't sold the furs, then selling them would have given them money.
“There is another type of person who lives a life of complete isolation,” Sun Xueshan added. “But such people don’t have a great need for money, and I don’t think they would do such a thing.”
The kind of people Sun Xueshan was referring to were Xing San's gang. People like Xing San usually had no family and were afraid of being wiped out in the village, so they simply went into the mountains to live alone.
Zhao Jun agreed with Sun Xueshan. People like that might stab someone over a verbal dispute, but they wouldn't kill someone for money.
“That’s why I said this person doesn’t live in the mountains permanently,” Sun Xueshan continued, elaborating on his point of view. “But he still has to be from the surrounding villages, so…”
As he spoke, Sun Xueshan glanced at Chen Weiyi, then looked at Zhao Jun and said, "Team Leader Zhao, have our security guards cooperate with our stationed police station to conduct a door-to-door search in the neighborhood and ask who hasn't been home these past few days."
At this point, Sun Xueshan raised his hand and said, "Especially the relatives and friends of these three victims, we must conduct a thorough investigation! Because the two victims in this shack were beaten to death before they went to sleep!"
His words confirmed Li Baoyu's deduction.
As for Sun Xueshan's suggestion of cooperation between the two sides, Zhao Jun readily agreed without hesitation. Then Zhao Jun glanced at Li Baoyu, who nodded slightly in agreement.
“We’ll have more professionals come tomorrow to do a thorough check,” Sun Xueshan said. “Then the family can take the person back.”
Zhao Jun nodded upon hearing this and said, "Neither Master Xu nor Uncle Song's family knows about this yet."
"If we don't know, we shouldn't tell them yet," Sun Xueshan said. "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
"Director Sun," Chen Weiyi asked Sun Xueshan, "what should we do with this shack? It's like that one, should we nail it shut first?"
“Okay!” Sun Xueshan said, “It’s nailed down. We’ll talk about it again tomorrow when someone comes.”
The two old men had gathered a lot of firewood, including many long and short sticks. Chen Weiyi and his men worked hard to seal the shack completely.
Only after they had finished their work did Zhao Jun part ways with Li Baoyu, Sun Xueshan, and the others.
As they drove back in the jeep, Zhao Jun remained deep in thought the entire way.
"Brother," Li Baoyu suddenly asked Zhao Jun, "Can't we still give Ru Hai the spoils?"
"Not yet," Zhao Jun said. "Let them investigate first."
"Huh?" Li Baoyu was taken aback upon hearing this, and then asked Zhao Jun, "Brother, aren't we going to investigate along with them?"
“If we’re not needed, we’ll try not to get involved,” Zhao Jun said. “We’re forest rangers; we have our own jobs to do.”
"Brother," Li Baoyu asked again, "why do you look so worried?"
Zhao Jun was silent for two seconds before speaking, "Baoyu, I always feel uneasy."
"It's alright, brother," Li Baoyu comforted Zhao Jun. "We have dogs and guns. If they come, we'll take them down."
"We can't let them get away with this this time!" Zhao Jun said, turning his face to the window. "If we can avoid going forward, we should try our best not to, so... well..."
Zhao Jun wanted to say an idiom, but couldn't remember how.
“Brother, I understand what you mean.” Li Baoyu replied, knowing that Zhao Jun didn’t want to provoke that person.
But then Zhao Jun sighed and said, "If what Director Sun said is true, this guy is one of our cronies, so what are we going to do about the leather goods he stole?"
Hearing Zhao Jun's words, Li Baoyu smiled bitterly and said, "Sell us then."
"Damn it!" Zhao Jun cursed, "They sold our family because they saw how rich we were..."
“Brother, no way!” Li Baoyu said, “Didn’t Director Sun say that this guy isn’t a shack maker or someone in this line of work? If someone like that comes to sell furs, can’t we tell at a glance?”
"Hmm!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun's eyes lit up, and he said, "If he were sharp, he wouldn't have sold it to our family."
Not long after Zhao Jun finished speaking, the jeep left the mountain area. But they didn't rush to Yong'an Village; instead, they headed straight for Liu Jinyong's house in Yongli.
When they arrived at Liu Jinyong's house, they took Liu Jinyong's hand and then went together to Yan Shugang's house.
After finding the security chief, Zhao Jun reported everything that had happened that day to his superiors, causing Yan Shugang and Liu Jinyong to frown deeply.
The emergence of such a person in the forest area has given them a headache.
"Oh!" Yan Shugang suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun, you've been busy all day and haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll have your aunt make you some noodles, eat them here before you go back."
"This is incredible, Manager Zhao Jun said with a smile, "Baoyu and I finished eating at the Third Work Section before we went up the mountain."
With that, Zhao Jun stood up and said, "Director, if there's nothing else, we'll head back."
"Go back, go back and rest." Yan Shugang stood up to see him off, saying, "Come to your unit tomorrow, and then we'll go to the local police station to see how to cooperate with them."
"Okay, manager, I'll go first thing tomorrow morning." Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Zhao Jun had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.
After leaving Yan Shugang's house, they first took Liu Jinyong home, and then Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu returned to Yong'an Village.
By the time the two returned to the Zhao family compound, it was already past eight o'clock. But even at this time, the Zhao family's diners had not yet left.
The men and children were watching television in the west hut, while the women were dividing up the bear oil in the outer room.
The two brown bears that survived the winter would have weighed a combined 600 pounds before they died. The meat harvested would yield approximately 300 pounds.
Hibernation consumes a lot of fat, but bears still have more fat and less lean meat on their bodies.
Wang Meilan set aside some meat and gave it to her in-laws and a few close relatives in the village. The rest of the lean meat was boiled and braised, and the fat was rendered into oil.
Bear meat has a high oil yield; the remaining fat was used to make a little over 100 jin (50 kg) of bear oil.
The jar that we used to store frozen goods happened to be empty, so we put all the oil in it.
Hearing the dogs barking outside, Wang Meilan hurriedly went out to greet them. When she asked if Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu had eaten yet, Wang Meilan immediately ran back inside.
After entering the house, Wang Meilan started making pancakes for the two children.
After frying the oil today, Wang Meilan led people to make pancakes and scrambled eggs, and the whole family ate until they were covered in oil.
Bear meat is just like that; some people, after eating it, will have oil secreting from their bodies. Some people's collars will be stained with grease after eating bear meat. This is especially noticeable on people wearing white tank tops.
You should eat fried dough sticks when they're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside; otherwise, they're not good because they're all soft inside and out.
Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu didn't come back. Wang Meilan left some noodles in the refrigerator. Hearing that the two hadn't eaten, Wang Meilan pulled out the cutting board and took out the noodle bowl to prepare to make pancakes for them.
While Wang Meilan was rolling out the dough, Jin Xiaomei, Zhao Ling, and Xu Chunyan busied themselves heating up the dishes.
As a large platter of bear paws was served, Jin Xiaomei said with a smile, "You two brothers should try this."
"Isn't this just braised bear paw? Don't we eat it all the time?" Li Baoyu asked. Jin Xiaomei replied, "This is your uncle's Tai Chi Bear Paw."
"Tai Chi Bear Paw?" Zhao Jun examined it carefully for a moment, then asked Jin Xiaomei, "Auntie, where's the Tai Chi?"
(End of this chapter)