Chapter 306: Chapter 304: Tian Ming’s Home

Su Miaoyi stared at the small cut in the mask, then fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Where did Tian Liu go to find her husband?"

Lu Zhishen thought for a moment. "Yue City."

"That’s so far," Su Miaoyi said.

"Why the sudden question about her? Did something come to mind?"

Su Miaoyi shook her head and looked back at the mahjong tile on the table.

"This is too new. It must have been bought recently." Su Miaoyi took it out of the evidence bag and sniffed it.

All she could smell was the scent of blood.

Throughout the morning, besides waiting for news from the police, they sorted through clues and waited for Tian Ming’s two sons to return.

They heard no good news all morning.

Screening suspects across more than twenty villages took time. Some villages were large, some small; some were far, some near.

In the few villages they had finished screening, no suspects were found.

As for the news about the mahjong tile...

They had visited all the places they’d heard about last night where people played mahjong. After counting the sets on-site, none of them were missing any tiles.

They had also checked with households in nearby villages that owned mahjong sets, but none were reported missing.

Besides, most people’s sets were relatively old.

A few families had bought new sets recently, but none of those were missing tiles either.

They checked with some shops that sold mahjong sets, reviewed their surveillance footage, and tracked down the buyers based on the recordings.

None of them had lost any tiles.

The search extended to several neighboring towns, but they still couldn’t determine where this Five of Circles tile had come from.

"What if it wasn’t bought nearby, but from somewhere farther away?" Chu Xingrou suggested.

"You mean the killer came from out of town? And bought it there?" Lu Zhishen said, then added, "It’s not impossible. If they bought a set and only brought this one tile in their pocket, no one would notice."

Su Miaoyi sat to the side, gazing out the window without a word.

A short while later, someone from the substation came to tell them that Tian Ming’s two sons were back.

The three of them got up and went to Tian Min’s house.

They reached her front door.

White lanterns were now hanging by the entrance.

The door was open, and they could hear Yue Hong’s cries from inside.

"After what Yue Hong said last night, I really thought she didn’t care whether Tian Ming lived or died," Chu Xingrou commented.

"Sigh, that’s just talk. No matter what Tian Ming was like, he was still a person coming and going. They spent half their lives together. With him suddenly gone, Yue Hong is bound to be upset," Zhao Yongliang said.

The four of them stood at the entrance for a moment before entering the courtyard.

Tian Min was standing in the courtyard. She walked over when she saw them.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was terribly pale.

Su Miaoyi gently patted her on the arm in a small gesture of comfort.

Tian Min lowered her head.

The group entered the room and saw Yue Hong’s two sons.

The two looked very much alike and seemed to be only a few years apart in age.

They had reviewed the two’s files before coming.

One was Tian Shi, twenty-two years old.

The other was Tian Xuan, nineteen.

"What are you here for again?!" Yue Hong shrieked. She was propped up in bed, her hair a mess, eyes swollen, and voice hoarse. She was in a terrible state. "You can’t do anything! He’s already dead, so what are you doing here? What’s the point of coming back!"

Tian Min walked to the bedside and began to sign to her.

"Just because you can’t talk, you won’t let me talk either? Am I wrong? On what grounds are you telling me to shut up?" Yue Hong screamed. "It wasn’t their family who died, so of course they think it’s no big deal. You come back again and again, but you never solve a thing! The first case was three years ago, and you still have no results, and the killer is still out there! Are you just going to wait until everyone in this village is dead so you can finally stop investigating?"

Tian Min continued to sign at Yue Hong.

"Get lost! You’re a waste of money! Almost thirty and still no one wants you! Other people’s daughters all get married early, start supporting their families, helping their brothers. But you? Just a good-for-nothing money pit! Unwanted, and all you know how to do is take the side of outsiders!"

"Mom! That’s enough! We have our own hands and feet; we can earn our own money to support ourselves. What does it have to do with my sister?" Tian Xuan scowled, his tone aggressive. "If my sister wants to get married, she’ll get married. If she doesn’t, I’ll support her for the rest of her life."

Yue Hong snatched a bowl from the nightstand and hurled it at Tian Xuan.

It still had some leftover noodles in it.

Tian Min instinctively moved to shield Tian Xuan, turning and lunging toward him.

Lu Zhishen yanked Tian Xuan aside.

Su Miaoyi pulled Tian Min to her side.

The bowl flew past Tian Xuan’s head and shattered on the floor.

"You ungrateful brat! Did I go through all the trouble of giving birth to you just so you could talk to me like this?!" Yue Hong screamed, now grabbing a pillow to throw at him. "Who am I doing all this for? It’s for you! Without money, how are you going to get married? Am I your mother, or is she?"

Tian Shi quickly checked to see if Tian Min was hurt.

Tian Min shook her head.

"You’re our mother, but besides giving birth to us, when have you ever taken care of us?" Tian Xuan stared at her. "If it weren’t for my sister, I would have starved to death long ago."

"Mom. We came back because you gave birth to us. We will always remember that debt, and we’ll be here if something happens. We will also give you money to support you," Tian Shi said. "But if you’re expecting us to talk about any mother-son bond, there isn’t one."

"And don’t even think about comparing yourself to our sister," Tian Xuan added. "No one can ever take her place in our hearts."

Tian Min tried to stop them both, signaling for them not to say any more.

Yue Hong burst into tears, wailing about her miserable fate.

Tian Min cried too.

Tian Shi and Tian Xuan comforted her.

Su Miaoyi and the others didn’t rush to ask questions. They waited until everyone’s emotions had settled down a bit, then took Tian Shi and Tian Xuan to the outer room to talk.

"Are you two not in school anymore?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"Nope." Tian Shi rubbed his buzz cut, speaking frankly. "What’s the point of staying in school when I scored a zero in middle school math? It was just embarrassing. There was a dummy in our class who could get a twenty just by guessing randomly on the multiple-choice section, but when I answered seriously, I managed to avoid every single correct option."

Chu Xingrou blinked. That was some seriously bad luck.

"I quit too," Tian Xuan said. "I’m just not cut out for school."

"Working in Chang City?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Yeah," Tian Shi said. "My aunt has a dried fruit shop in Chang City; she’s had it for years. After we moved there, our aunt helped us open a butcher shop not far from her place."

"Your sister works at your aunt’s place, so you’re all pretty close by," Chu Xingrou said.

"That’s right," Tian Xuan said. "The three of us rent a place together. We live together and eat together."

"Does your aunt know what happened to your father?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"She knows," Tian Shi replied. "She had something to deal with on her husband’s side of the family, so we came back first. Our aunt will be here this afternoon."

"What kind of meat do you sell at the butcher shop?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Pork and beef."

"Do you have to debone it yourselves?" Su Miaoyi asked again.

"Yes," Tian Xuan said. "The pork is delivered in half-carcasses. We have to debone the ribs, leg bones, and everything ourselves."

Both Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen raised their eyebrows slightly.

Tian Shi was about 175 centimeters tall and weighed around 65 kilograms.

Tian Xuan was a bit taller.

Su Miaoyi then asked, "Do you know Wan Shuang?"

"Yeah, we know her." Both of them nodded.

"What’s she like as a person?" Su Miaoyi asked, looking at the two brothers.

When asked what she was like, Tian Xuan just snorted and didn’t want to talk.

Tian Shi also paused for a moment before saying, "Not great."

...

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