As the saying goes, it is cold before frost and cold after snow. After a heavy snowfall for two days, the temperature in Liancheng suddenly dropped to minus 20 degrees.
Lu Wuchuan and Duanmo braved the severe cold to find Lu Zhixin's home on the outskirts of the city.
This is a bungalow that is almost extinct in Liancheng. Lu Zhixin's family lives in a relatively outside location. It is a small courtyard with three main rooms and a simple room on the east side, which is probably used to store sundries.
He was at home alone. He opened the door with a crutch and let the two of them into the house.
There is a heated kang in the house, and you can feel the heat as soon as you enter. The temperature is higher than that of ordinary centrally heated houses.
There was a gray cat curled up on the kang. Hearing the movement, he lazily opened his eyes and took a look, then turned his head and continued to sleep.
The white poodle, which had been following Lu Zhixin's feet, jumped up onto the kang and nudged the gray cat's body with its head.
The gray cat impatiently stretched out its paws and patted it randomly, trying to drive it away. The cat and the dog started making trouble on the kang, paying no attention to the guests at home.
Duan Mo looked amused and said with a smile: "These two little guys are so funny."
"I keep them both for companionship, and because they are warm. When my legs hurt, holding them and warming them can relieve some pain, just like applying dog skin plaster." Lu Zhixin separated the cat and the dog, casually.
He took a rag and wiped it on the head of the kang a few times. "Come, sit on the head of the kang to keep warm."
"You should sit here, we can just sit on the chairs." Lu Wuchuan supported him and asked him to sit down.
There was a folding table under the kang, and a few old wooden chairs were placed under the table. He took two and sat down with Duanmo.
Lu Zhixin pointed to the cabinet against the wall: "Little girl...oh no, officer, there are paper cups there, you take two. I just made this tea, it's just right to drink it now. It's just a glass sliding door, as soon as you open it,
I can watch it.”
"My surname is Duan, you can just call me Xiao Duan." Duan Mo was not polite to him. He stood up and opened the sliding door, took out the whole pack of disposable paper cups, took out two, put them on the Kang table, and picked up the ones above
The teapot was filled with two cups, and a glass next to it was also filled.
Lu Wuchuan took the tea handed to him by Duan Mo, simmered it in his hand, and said, "Mr. Lu, our next conversation may involve your condition, so please don't mind."
When he called before, he had already said that he wanted to know about Zhang Qiang's condition. The two of them were fellow patients, so it was inevitable that they would talk about their illnesses. This was undoubtedly a topic that people who had been ill for a long time did not want to bring up, so it was necessary to talk about it first.
Apologize.
"I don't have so many taboos." Lu Zhixin waved his hand nonchalantly, pulled the lamb-like dog over, wiped its four little hooves, and put it on his lap, "
After so many years, I have long since looked away from it. It’s just a disease. If you take it seriously, it is a problem. If you don’t care about it, then it is nothing.”
"You are right, an optimistic attitude is more important for the treatment of the disease than medicine." Lu Wuchuan agreed, "It would be great if Zhang Qiang had the same attitude as you."
Lu Zhixin sighed: "I always tried to persuade him at first, but he still..."
"He is very lucky to have a friend like you." Lu Wuchuan said, "After all, not everyone is willing to help with the funeral arrangements."
"We are all fellow patients. As we all have sympathy for each other, if you can help, it won't be a big deal." Lu Zhixin picked up the tea cup and blew the floating tea on it with his eyes lowered.
After finishing the polite words, Lu Wuchuan went directly to the topic: "Mr. Lu, who else is in Zhang Qiang's family?"
Lu Zhixin took a sip of tea and put down the cup: "There is no one else, otherwise you can't let me help with the funeral arrangements, right?"
"It's not like we don't have any relatives at all, right?" Duan Mo asked. It's impossible for people to live in this world without relatives, it's just that they are far and near.
"I have known him for quite a long time. Even when he was hospitalized, no one came to see him." Lu Zhixin replied.
Duanmo still refused to give up and asked, "Have you ever heard him mention his family?"
"I mentioned it before, his wife. But every time I mention it, he feels so guilty." Lu Zhixin shook his head and sighed, "His wife died because of him. Anyone else would have to feel guilty for the rest of his life."
"Where are the children? How many children does he have?" Duanmo asked again.
"I didn't mention it. It should be because I don't have children." Lu Zhixin answered directly.
Duan Mo naturally didn't believe this, so she blurted out: "How can you not have children!"
"Why is it impossible?" Lu Zhixin smiled, "The law does not stipulate that you must have children to get married, right? Some people may be unable to have children even if they want to because of this disease or other illness. These people are gone, let's study other people's families.
There’s no point in having privacy, right?”
His attitude was very clear, he just didn't want to continue this topic. In this case, there was no point in asking anymore. Lu Wuchuan simply changed the subject and asked: "Mr. Lu, how did Zhang Qiang get the disease?"
"When you're on a business trip, you accidentally get into trouble." Lu Zhixin said.
Lu Wuchuan asked again: "What's the specific situation?"
"Then I really haven't asked." Lu Zhixin's answer was very perfunctory.
Lu Wuchuan changed the topic again: "I heard that you asked the landlord not to rent out the house where Zhang Qiang lived for the time being. Why is this?"
Lu Zhixin was slightly startled and said: "His house has not expired yet, so I have to leave some time to pack his things. But then I informed the landlord in advance to take over the house."
"How did you deal with his things?" Lu Wuchuan looked at him and asked.
Lu Zhixin said: "What else can I do with it? Either throw it away or burn it."
"Okay, then we have no problem. Let's say goodbye first and have a good rest."
Duan Mo was surprised that he was about to leave suddenly, but in front of Lu Zhixin, he couldn't say anything, so he said a few polite words and left with Lu Wuchuan.
When they got outside and walked some distance away, before she could ask, Lu Wuchuan said: "He is hiding something."
"I also think his expression is wrong, especially when talking about children, his eyes are erratic, and there are also loopholes in his words," Duanmo said.
Lu Wuchuan nodded: "It is impossible for people who are familiar with each other not to talk about family. Zhang Qiang mentioned his wife to him. According to common sense, the next topic is children. It may not be mentioned, but it will not be mentioned at all."
"Then he must know something, let's not ask anymore?" Duan Mo was still not willing to give up. There were clues, but the other party refused to tell. However, Lu Zhixin was still in the same situation, and he could not be brought back to the bureau for questioning.
Lu Wuchuan didn't seem to be in a hurry: "From the beginning to the end, he never asked us why we were looking for him. He had obviously made up his mind not to say anything. Asking was in vain."
"What should we do now?" Duan Mo asked.
Lu Wuchuan looked at the time and said, "Go back to the bureau first. Dong Ming and Mu Yang should be back soon."