Just when Jiang Zhengkai was about to give up, his desk telephone rang again. "Jiang, it's Zhang," said Zhang Nan over the phone. "I have a new lead here. This morning, the post office delivered a letter to Zhu Yuping's residence. It was sent from Sichuan Province. The letter has already been intercepted by our colleagues patrolling the neighborhood."
"Really? A letter from Sichuan?" Jiang Zhengkai repeated. He didn't think it was that strange for Zhu Yuping to have a friend or relative in Sichuan.
"Correct, except the letter wasn't directly addressed to Zhu Yuping," Zhang Nan continued. "The envelope was addressed to Lu Xiaomei, care of Zhu Yuping."
"Lu Xiaomei?" The importance of that name soon dawned on him. "Wait, is that the female victim in the first case, Xiaomei?" That's right, Sichuan! Xiaomei was Sichuanese! A-Jiao had told him that. Furthermore, he recalled seeing the name Lu Xiaomei in Xiaomei's case file.
"That's right, Jiang," Zhang Nan replied. "I've already read the letter. It's just an ordinary letter from her family. However, there was one thing in the letter that I found interesting. The letter said that her mother's health had significantly improved and that her older brother was going to graduate this year, so Xiaomei could stop sending her monthly remittances home. It also said that Xiaomei sent home too much money last month, that her family had no need for that much money. Oh, and the letter ended by telling her to take care of herself or something along those lines."
"Someone sent money to Xiaomei's family after she died?" an astonished Jiang Zhengkai asked. Xiaomei had died more than two months ago, so she obviously couldn't have sent the money. But if it wasn't her, then who could it have been? Just then, a familiar voice echoed in his mind…
"Can you take me to the post office?"
"I'm going to wire my parents some money. They're waiting to use it."
"No peeping while I type in my PIN!"
A-Jiao? Xiaomei? Could it be that A-Jiao was Xiaomei? Or did A-Jiao send money on behalf of Xiaomei? If Jiang Zhengkai had to choose, he naturally would have chosen to believe the latter, but common sense dictated that he chose the former. After all, A-Jiao was a prostitute, a woman who sold her body for money. Was it possible that her sentimentality outweighed her greed, so much so that she sent her hard-earned money to another woman's family? No, it didn't make sense. Then did that mean that the first victim was in fact A-Jiao as opposed to Xiaomei?
"Zhang, what about A-Jiao? Do you have any more documents on her?" Jiang Zhengkai paused his train of thought to ask Zhang Nan.
"A-Jiao?" Zhang Nan asked before falling silent for a moment. "Wasn't she the witness to the first two cases? To tell you the truth, I really don't know that much about her. She's not a regular who works everyday."
"Oh? There are part-timers even in that profession?" Jiang Zhengkai chuckled. Were there prostitutes who only worked Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and took off Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays?
"About that, yeah, there actually are," Zhang Nan laughingly replied. "In any case, I'll go back and get some more information from A-Shun."
"Alright. After you've obtained more information, call me immediately," Jiang Zhengkai said before hanging up the phone. However, he suddenly felt A-Jiao standing right in front of him, hands on her hips, indignantly saying, "I'll work whenever I feel like working! You don't control me, you damn cop!"
"Inspector Jiang, did you need me to do anything over by Ju'an Road tonight?" Wei Xin popped in and asked. She was wearing civilian attire, since according to the duty roster, it was her turn to stand watch in the alley tonight.
"Oh, no, thank you," Jiang Zhengkai shook his head. He added, "Oh, but one more thing. If you see A-Shun tonight, remember to ask him if he knows where A-Jiao is. Also, it'll be cold tonight, so make sure to wear some more clothes." Jiang Zhengkai took a look at what Wei Xin was wearing, which wasn't a whole lot. Since she was playing the part of a prostitute, it made sense that she was dressed for the part. You wouldn't expect her to walk the streets in her police uniform, would you?
"Do I look pretty?" Wei Xin asked. She took no heed of what Jiang Zhengkai had said to her, and was instead worried about her overall appearance.
"Yeah, not bad," Jiang Zhengkai helplessly answered.
"Good! Next time I take you out to dinner, I'll make sure to dress like this," teased Wei Xin before she whipped her head around and ran out of the room. "Don't stay too late, Inspector Jiang!"
Jiang Zhengkai sat there and sighed. He understood what Wei Xin was trying to get at, but there was no place in his heart for Wei Xin. If there were only two women left in this world, and he had to choose between Wei Xin and A-Jiao, then he would choose the latter, not because A-Jiao was better than Wei Xin, but rather because every soul had scars hidden deep within it.
As night descended, Jiang Zhengkai parked his car near the vicinity of Uncle Cai's noodle shop. He walked into the noodle shop, found himself a table, and hollered, "Uncle Cai! One large bowl of hand-cut noodles! And make sure to give me some extra paste, too!"
"You got it!" Uncle Cai hollered in response as he walked over to wipe down the table. "How come you've been coming by yourself recently? Where did that girl A-Jiao go?"
"She's traveling," Jiang Zhengkai responded vaguely. Except for those days when he had to work overtime, he had been coming to Uncle Cai's every night since A-Jiao had been discharged from the hospital. Sometimes it was to eat a bowl of noodles; other times it was to exchange some chit-chat with Uncle Cai. It was a routine that he had settled into, just like how he would park his car in front of Ju'an Estates and smoke a cigarette before going home for the night. There, he waited hopefully for the light in A-Jiao's home to suddenly turn on. Here, he desperately yearned for a woman to walk in and yell, "Uncle Cai! A bowl of hand-cut noodles!"
After leaving Uncle Cai's, he drove his car to Ju'an Estates as usual. However, he stayed there for a very long time this night, because his work during the day irritated him greatly. Right before he'd left the office, he had notified his colleagues at External Affairs to go to the post office and track down the recipient of A-Jiao's wire transfer. He hoped that by tracking down the wire transfer's destination, he would be able to find out more information about A-Jiao or Xiaomei.
However, he didn't care if the woman who lived here was really called A-Jiao or Xiaomei. All he knew was that couldn't let go of that woman, even though she was a prostitute.
The next morning, Jiang Zhengkai didn't go to work at the sub-bureau. He first drove to the alley, where he picked up the pimp A-Tie and brought him to the Ju'an Road Police Station for questioning.
Inside the interrogation room, Jiang Zhengkai asked him, "A-Tie, where did A-Shun go these last couple of days?"
"Oh! Yeah, he took a couple of days off. His kid's sick," A-Tie replied.
"Then what about A-Jiao? What do you know about her?" Jiang Zhengkai continued his questioning.
"A-Jiao? She hasn't been around for a while now," A-Tie answered. "She's not a bad person, but she does have a bad temper and likes to beat people. Other than that, I've got nothing."
"Bad temper and likes to beat people, huh?" Considering his interactions with A-Jiao, Jiang Zhengkai was inclined to agree. "Then, what about Xiaomei?"
"She was a clever kid," A-Tie sighed at Jiang Zhengkai's mention of Xiaomei. "She came out to work on the streets because her family needed money. Of all the women in the alley, she was the most hardworking one."
"Then let me ask you, what was her relationship with Zhu Yuping?"
"I don't think they had a relationship," A-Tie candidly replied. "What would the two of them have had to do with one another anyway? Oh, I remember now! Xiaomei often asked Zhu Yuping to help her write letters home because she was functionally illiterate."
"And what about A-Jiao?" Jiang Zhengkai changed the subject.
"A-Jiao? She's beautiful, liked to surf the internet, seemed like she was well-educated. She didn't really hang out with the other girls when she wasn't working," described A-Tie before pausing for a moment. "She had a pretty good relationship with Xiaomei, actually. Mostly because she didn't bully Xiaomei."
"Was Xiaomei was frequently bullied by others?" Jiang Zhengkai asked, focusing all of his attention on A-Tie's eyes.
"Yeah, she was young, and she was small. Even though she had been working in the alley for two or three years, the other women still liked to take their anger out on her. I mean, these women are treated like sex toys by men on a daily basis, so of course there's a lot of pent-up anger and frustration," A-Tie said matter-of-factly. "Half a year ago, A-Jiao took Xiaomei under her wing, and the other girls in the alley stopped bullying her, because whoever picked on Xiaomei would be paid back with interest by A-Jiao."
"Paid back?" Jiang Zhengkai gently tapped the table. "How would she pay them back?"
"Hehe, normally A-Jiao's a pretty nice person, but if you fucked with her, she could turn into a real nasty bitch. Plus, she has backup, so no one in the alley wanted to mess with her," A-Tie responded with a smile on his face. "We're obviously not going to pay anyone back by calling the police."
"Then who was it that died in the first murder?" Jiang Zhengkai suddenly asked with feigned casualness. He already knew what A-Tie meant by "backup"; A-Jiao must have had ties to the Triads.
"Xiaomei, wasn't it?" A-Tie answered in astonishment. "Wait, are you saying it wasn't her?"
"What was Xiaomei's real name?" Jiang Zhengkai asked, ignoring A-Tie's question.
"Real name? Nobody cares what your real name is in our line of profession," A-Tie scratched his head. "I think Xiaomei was Sichuanese and had the last name Lu. I think I remember A-Shun mentioning it once."
"And how often did A-Jiao work?" Jiang Zhengkai asked his last question.
"Her? She worked when she felt like it," A-Tie replied. "She didn't actually care all that much about money, which made her different from the other women in the alley. After Xiaomei died, she worked harder for a while, but look at how she just up and disappeared for more than a month now."
Wei Xin arrived at the police sub-bureau only after lunch. She saw Jiang Zhengkai in his office, so she walked over and knocked on the door, "Inspector Jiang, can I come in?"
Jiang Zhengkai opened his eyes after hearing someone knock on the door. When he saw it was Wei Xin, he warmly welcomed her in, "Hey! What's up, Wei? Come on in! You probably worked all night. Why are you here so early?"
"Inspector Jiang, I wasn't sleeping-in this morning, you know!" said Wei Xin as she covered a yawn, "I went to the hospital this morning. When I tried to find A-Shun last night, residents in the alley said that his child is sick, so I went to the hospital to try and find him first thing in the morning."
"Really? I had no idea you had such a kind heart," Jiang Zhengkai teased Wei Xin after hearing her explain where she was in the morning, "So, any progress?"
"Progress? Of course! But I'll only tell you if you agree to take me out to dinner," Wei Xin coyly replied. My shift hasn't officially started anyway, so what if I play around with you for a bit. You're not technically my boss since I'm off the clock right now.
"Deal! Give me what you got, so I know how expensive of a dinner to buy you," said Jiang Zhengkai as he leaned back into his chair and looked at Wei Xin. He had somewhat of a resting funny face, so Wei Xin and her colleagues all liked to joke around with him during off-work hours.
"According to A-Shun, A-Jiao is a native of this city. She was originally introduced to the alley by A-Xiu," said Wei Xin.
"A-Jiao is from here?" Jiang Zhengkai sat up in his chair as soon as the words left Wei Xin's mouth.
"Yup! According to A-Shun's recollection, A-Xiu brought A-Jiao to the alley around two years ago. A-Jiao seemed to have mentioned at the time that she was a native, although she never brought this topic up again afterwards. As for her real name, A-Shun doesn't know either. He said A-Jiao was pretty reticent when it came to answering these types of questions," Wei Xin seriously explained.
After hearing Wei Xin's report, Jiang Zhengkai plopped back in his chair. "Well, it looks like I owe you a nice dinner tonight. What are you in the mood for? Just don't tell me Taiwanese ramen!"
"I know of a nice Fujianese noodle shop nearby," Wei Xin toyed with Jiang Zhengkai by purposely suggesting the closest thing to a Taiwanese noodle shop.
"Ok, let me rephrase: no more noodles! How about… hot pot?" Jiang Zhengkai paused mid-sentence as the thought of hot pot made him think of A-Jiao again.
Figuring out A-Jiao's true identity was the key to cracking this case, but where to find her became the $64,000 question. As of right now, A-Jiao's "part-time" status created somewhat of an awkward situation. Since she had never been caught in a vice sweep, she had no criminal record, which meant the police didn't have her mugshot, fingerprints, or any other personally identifiable information. If the Chinese could be a bit more progressive, say like the Dutch, and hand out government-issued licenses to prostitutes, then dealing with A-Jiao's situation would be a piece of cake.
Seeing no alternative, Jiang Zhengkai once again made a call to external affairs. "Li Weidong, I need you help with something. Could you go to the Housing Bureau and find the records to Ju'an Estates' Building #5, Unit 302?"
"You got it, Inspector Jiang," Li Weidong politely agreed over the phone, "Shouldn't be a problem. Oh, that's right, that business with the post office you told me about yesterday, I've already talked to them. The minute something comes up, I'll contact you."
"Thank you, buddy. I really appreciate it," Jiang Zhengkai finished speaking and hung up the phone. Division of labor was a wonderful thing. On the one hand, Jiang Zhengkai and his team didn't have to run around everywhere doing the tedious business of collecting paper evidence. On the other hand, having specialized personnel who had existing relationships with the various governmental entities in the city gather paper evidence was less likely to alert suspects of the fact that the authorities were on to them.
Since he had agreed to go on a date with Wei Xin, Jiang Zhengkai knew full well he couldn't back out. The two of them ended up going to the same Hot Pot City that Jiang Zhengkai and A-Jiao had gone to before. As luck would have it, Wei Xin chose to sit down at the same table that A-Jiao had last time. Soon after they sat down, a waiter came over to take their order.
Jiang Zhengkai flipped through the menu and then plainly asked Wei Xin, "What do you feel like eating?" His memory wasn't great, but it was good enough to remember most of what was in the menu from the last time he was here.
"Oh, let's get the split spicy-mild pot! I can't really handle spicy food. How about you?" Wei Xin solicited Jiang Zhengkai's opinion after looking through the menu.
"I can eat a little bit of spicy food. Let's go ahead and get the split pot then," Jiang Zhengkai replied.
"Ok, and let's get a plate of beef, a plate of lamb, and a mixed seafood platter…" said Wei Xin as she ordered a whole pile of food for the hot pot, "Did you want anything else, Inspector Jiang?"
"No, I'm good. As long as you're happy," Jiang Zhengkai smiled at Wei Xin. He wasn't so old that he didn't know how to make a girl happy, so he very well what to say to a girl and when to say it. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but think that A-Jiao would have liked everything Wei Xin just ordered.
"Inspector Jiang, do my clothes look pretty tonight?" Wei Xin longingly asked Jiang Zhengkai after the waiter had left.
"Yeah, not bad!" Jiang Zhengkai replied as he shifted his attention from the window back to Wei Xin. To be honest, he didn't think Wei Xin was as fashionable as A-Jiao, but then again that was completely understandable. A policewoman who wore a uniform to work everyday could hardly be blamed for being less fashion-conscious than a woman whose line of work consisted primarily of attracting men.
"Really?" Wei Xin was overjoyed at Jiang Zhengkai's modest compliment. She then went on to tell Jiang Zhengkai stories of her days as a student. Jiang Zhengkai pretended to listen attentively, but his mind started wandering a long time ago. Only if A-Jiao had talked more about her past, then perhaps he would've made much more progress on the case.
Once the waiter had brought out all of the dishes, Jiang Zhengkai proceeded to do most of the work cooking the food in the hot pot. In that regard, he took care of Wei Xin the way he took care of A-Jiao. The way Jiang Zhengkai saw it, this was something a man should do for a woman. It didn't feel right to him for a woman to care of a man when the two went out to eat. It was downright ungentlemanly, and unless a man was fabulously wealthy, then being ungentlemanly was a surefire way of staying single forever. Plus, Wei Xin was also a beautiful woman, not at all a "flatboard" as A-Jiao liked to call her, although her bust-waist-hip ratio… Bang! As this thought entered his mind, Jiang Zhengkai suddenly slapped himself upside the head. Damn that A-Jiao for corrupting my mind!
"You got a headache, Inspector Jiang?" a startled Wei Xin asked. She then reached out her hand to rub Jiang Zhengkai's head.
"No, it was just a mosquito." Jiang Zhengkai cleverly leaned his body back into his chair in order to keep out of the reach of Wei Xin's hand. He then turned his head towards the window and said, "What a beautiful night!"
"Yeah!" Wei Xin replied as she pulled back her hand. Even though she was a little disappointed, Jiang Zhengkai's smooth moves made the situation less awkward than it could've been.
"Hard to believe such a beautiful night could kill," said Jiang Zhengkai as he turned his head back towards the table and gulped the entire glass of water in front of him.
"Don't worry, Inspector Jiang, we will definitely crack that case," Wei Xin very seriously said to Jiang Zhengkai.
"Hehe, alright, enough talk about work. Let's eat! Looks like the shrimp is already done." Jiang Zhengkai didn't respond to what Wei Xin had said. In his eyes, Wei Xin was a very nice girl, but she was too stiff, not at all like the carefree A-Jiao. Thus, as a colleague, Wei Xin was great, but as a life partner, then A-Jiao… Wait, why am I thinking like this? Jiang Zhengkai shook his head to clear his mind of these thoughts. Was it possible that he has really fallen in love with a prostitute?
After dinner, Jiang Zhengka fell back into his routine. After dropping Wei Xin off at the police barracks, he drove to Ju'an Estates to smoke a cigarette before going home for the night.
"Honey, I'm home," Jiang Zhengkai said as he entered the apartment. He headed straight to the bathroom without turning on the lights. He knew exactly where everything was in this apartment, so there was no need to turn on the lights. Besides, he was afraid of what he might find in his apartment should he actually turn on the lights. In any case, he was already used to moving around in the dark when he came home at night.
After brushing his teeth, he came out of the bathroom and sat on the living room couch. He faced the living room wall and murmured, "Honey, I'm in love with another woman, a woman I'm not supposed to fall in love with. Tell me, what should I do?" He zoned out for a while sitting on the couch before standing up and said, "Forget about it! I'm going to sleep now. Good night, Honey!" He then walked into one of the two bedrooms in the apartment and went to bed.
That night, Wei Xin was suffering from a bout of insomnia as well, but unlike Jiang Zhengkai, hers was caused by a sense of excitement. She said so many things to Jiang Zhengkai, and this was also the first time she wore such revealing clothes while on a date with him. It looked like Jiang Zhengkai rather liked the way she dressed. She thought to herself, the next time I stand watch in the alley, I'll make sure to pay attention to what all the women there are wearing. As she lost herself in her fantasies, Wei Xin unknowingly fell asleep while clutching her teddy bear.
Just when Jiang Zhengkai was about to give up, his desk telephone rang again. "Jiang, it's Zhang," said Zhang Nan over the phone. "I have a new lead here. This morning, the post office delivered a letter to Zhu Yuping's residence. It was sent from Sichuan Province. The letter has already been intercepted by our colleagues patrolling the neighborhood."
"Really? A letter from Sichuan?" Jiang Zhengkai repeated. He didn't think it was that strange for Zhu Yuping to have a friend or relative in Sichuan.
"Correct, except the letter wasn't directly addressed to Zhu Yuping," Zhang Nan continued. "The envelope was addressed to Lu Xiaomei, care of Zhu Yuping."
"Lu Xiaomei?" The importance of that name soon dawned on him. "Wait, is that the female victim in the first case, Xiaomei?" That's right, Sichuan! Xiaomei was Sichuanese! A-Jiao had told him that. Furthermore, he recalled seeing the name Lu Xiaomei in Xiaomei's case file.
"That's right, Jiang," Zhang Nan replied. "I've already read the letter. It's just an ordinary letter from her family. However, there was one thing in the letter that I found interesting. The letter said that her mother's health had significantly improved and that her older brother was going to graduate this year, so Xiaomei could stop sending her monthly remittances home. It also said that Xiaomei sent home too much money last month, that her family had no need for that much money. Oh, and the letter ended by telling her to take care of herself or something along those lines."
"Someone sent money to Xiaomei's family after she died?" an astonished Jiang Zhengkai asked. Xiaomei had died more than two months ago, so she obviously couldn't have sent the money. But if it wasn't her, then who could it have been? Just then, a familiar voice echoed in his mind…
"Can you take me to the post office?"
"I'm going to wire my parents some money. They're waiting to use it."
"No peeping while I type in my PIN!"
A-Jiao? Xiaomei? Could it be that A-Jiao was Xiaomei? Or did A-Jiao send money on behalf of Xiaomei? If Jiang Zhengkai had to choose, he naturally would have chosen to believe the latter, but common sense dictated that he chose the former. After all, A-Jiao was a prostitute, a woman who sold her body for money. Was it possible that her sentimentality outweighed her greed, so much so that she sent her hard-earned money to another woman's family? No, it didn't make sense. Then did that mean that the first victim was in fact A-Jiao as opposed to Xiaomei?
"Zhang, what about A-Jiao? Do you have any more documents on her?" Jiang Zhengkai paused his train of thought to ask Zhang Nan.
"A-Jiao?" Zhang Nan asked before falling silent for a moment. "Wasn't she the witness to the first two cases? To tell you the truth, I really don't know that much about her. She's not a regular who works everyday."
"Oh? There are part-timers even in that profession?" Jiang Zhengkai chuckled. Were there prostitutes who only worked Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and took off Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays?
"About that, yeah, there actually are," Zhang Nan laughingly replied. "In any case, I'll go back and get some more information from A-Shun."
"Alright. After you've obtained more information, call me immediately," Jiang Zhengkai said before hanging up the phone. However, he suddenly felt A-Jiao standing right in front of him, hands on her hips, indignantly saying, "I'll work whenever I feel like working! You don't control me, you damn cop!"
"Inspector Jiang, did you need me to do anything over by Ju'an Road tonight?" Wei Xin popped in and asked. She was wearing civilian attire, since according to the duty roster, it was her turn to stand watch in the alley tonight.
"Oh, no, thank you," Jiang Zhengkai shook his head. He added, "Oh, but one more thing. If you see A-Shun tonight, remember to ask him if he knows where A-Jiao is. Also, it'll be cold tonight, so make sure to wear some more clothes." Jiang Zhengkai took a look at what Wei Xin was wearing, which wasn't a whole lot. Since she was playing the part of a prostitute, it made sense that she was dressed for the part. You wouldn't expect her to walk the streets in her police uniform, would you?
"Do I look pretty?" Wei Xin asked. She took no heed of what Jiang Zhengkai had said to her, and was instead worried about her overall appearance.
"Yeah, not bad," Jiang Zhengkai helplessly answered.
"Good! Next time I take you out to dinner, I'll make sure to dress like this," teased Wei Xin before she whipped her head around and ran out of the room. "Don't stay too late, Inspector Jiang!"
Jiang Zhengkai sat there and sighed. He understood what Wei Xin was trying to get at, but there was no place in his heart for Wei Xin. If there were only two women left in this world, and he had to choose between Wei Xin and A-Jiao, then he would choose the latter, not because A-Jiao was better than Wei Xin, but rather because every soul had scars hidden deep within it.
As night descended, Jiang Zhengkai parked his car near the vicinity of Uncle Cai's noodle shop. He walked into the noodle shop, found himself a table, and hollered, "Uncle Cai! One large bowl of hand-cut noodles! And make sure to give me some extra paste, too!"
"You got it!" Uncle Cai hollered in response as he walked over to wipe down the table. "How come you've been coming by yourself recently? Where did that girl A-Jiao go?"
"She's traveling," Jiang Zhengkai responded vaguely. Except for those days when he had to work overtime, he had been coming to Uncle Cai's every night since A-Jiao had been discharged from the hospital. Sometimes it was to eat a bowl of noodles; other times it was to exchange some chit-chat with Uncle Cai. It was a routine that he had settled into, just like how he would park his car in front of Ju'an Estates and smoke a cigarette before going home for the night. There, he waited hopefully for the light in A-Jiao's home to suddenly turn on. Here, he desperately yearned for a woman to walk in and yell, "Uncle Cai! A bowl of hand-cut noodles!"
After leaving Uncle Cai's, he drove his car to Ju'an Estates as usual. However, he stayed there for a very long time this night, because his work during the day irritated him greatly. Right before he'd left the office, he had notified his colleagues at External Affairs to go to the post office and track down the recipient of A-Jiao's wire transfer. He hoped that by tracking down the wire transfer's destination, he would be able to find out more information about A-Jiao or Xiaomei.
However, he didn't care if the woman who lived here was really called A-Jiao or Xiaomei. All he knew was that couldn't let go of that woman, even though she was a prostitute.
The next morning, Jiang Zhengkai didn't go to work at the sub-bureau. He first drove to the alley, where he picked up the pimp A-Tie and brought him to the Ju'an Road Police Station for questioning.
Inside the interrogation room, Jiang Zhengkai asked him, "A-Tie, where did A-Shun go these last couple of days?"
"Oh! Yeah, he took a couple of days off. His kid's sick," A-Tie replied.
"Then what about A-Jiao? What do you know about her?" Jiang Zhengkai continued his questioning.
"A-Jiao? She hasn't been around for a while now," A-Tie answered. "She's not a bad person, but she does have a bad temper and likes to beat people. Other than that, I've got nothing."
"Bad temper and likes to beat people, huh?" Considering his interactions with A-Jiao, Jiang Zhengkai was inclined to agree. "Then, what about Xiaomei?"
"She was a clever kid," A-Tie sighed at Jiang Zhengkai's mention of Xiaomei. "She came out to work on the streets because her family needed money. Of all the women in the alley, she was the most hardworking one."
"Then let me ask you, what was her relationship with Zhu Yuping?"
"I don't think they had a relationship," A-Tie candidly replied. "What would the two of them have had to do with one another anyway? Oh, I remember now! Xiaomei often asked Zhu Yuping to help her write letters home because she was functionally illiterate."
"And what about A-Jiao?" Jiang Zhengkai changed the subject.
"A-Jiao? She's beautiful, liked to surf the internet, seemed like she was well-educated. She didn't really hang out with the other girls when she wasn't working," described A-Tie before pausing for a moment. "She had a pretty good relationship with Xiaomei, actually. Mostly because she didn't bully Xiaomei."
"Was Xiaomei was frequently bullied by others?" Jiang Zhengkai asked, focusing all of his attention on A-Tie's eyes.
"Yeah, she was young, and she was small. Even though she had been working in the alley for two or three years, the other women still liked to take their anger out on her. I mean, these women are treated like sex toys by men on a daily basis, so of course there's a lot of pent-up anger and frustration," A-Tie said matter-of-factly. "Half a year ago, A-Jiao took Xiaomei under her wing, and the other girls in the alley stopped bullying her, because whoever picked on Xiaomei would be paid back with interest by A-Jiao."
"Paid back?" Jiang Zhengkai gently tapped the table. "How would she pay them back?"
"Hehe, normally A-Jiao's a pretty nice person, but if you fucked with her, she could turn into a real nasty bitch. Plus, she has backup, so no one in the alley wanted to mess with her," A-Tie responded with a smile on his face. "We're obviously not going to pay anyone back by calling the police."
"Then who was it that died in the first murder?" Jiang Zhengkai suddenly asked with feigned casualness. He already knew what A-Tie meant by "backup"; A-Jiao must have had ties to the Triads.
"Xiaomei, wasn't it?" A-Tie answered in astonishment. "Wait, are you saying it wasn't her?"
"What was Xiaomei's real name?" Jiang Zhengkai asked, ignoring A-Tie's question.
"Real name? Nobody cares what your real name is in our line of profession," A-Tie scratched his head. "I think Xiaomei was Sichuanese and had the last name Lu. I think I remember A-Shun mentioning it once."
"And how often did A-Jiao work?" Jiang Zhengkai asked his last question.
"Her? She worked when she felt like it," A-Tie replied. "She didn't actually care all that much about money, which made her different from the other women in the alley. After Xiaomei died, she worked harder for a while, but look at how she just up and disappeared for more than a month now."
Wei Xin arrived at the police sub-bureau only after lunch. She saw Jiang Zhengkai in his office, so she walked over and knocked on the door, "Inspector Jiang, can I come in?"
Jiang Zhengkai opened his eyes after hearing someone knock on the door. When he saw it was Wei Xin, he warmly welcomed her in, "Hey! What's up, Wei? Come on in! You probably worked all night. Why are you here so early?"
"Inspector Jiang, I wasn't sleeping-in this morning, you know!" said Wei Xin as she covered a yawn, "I went to the hospital this morning. When I tried to find A-Shun last night, residents in the alley said that his child is sick, so I went to the hospital to try and find him first thing in the morning."
"Really? I had no idea you had such a kind heart," Jiang Zhengkai teased Wei Xin after hearing her explain where she was in the morning, "So, any progress?"
"Progress? Of course! But I'll only tell you if you agree to take me out to dinner," Wei Xin coyly replied. My shift hasn't officially started anyway, so what if I play around with you for a bit. You're not technically my boss since I'm off the clock right now.
"Deal! Give me what you got, so I know how expensive of a dinner to buy you," said Jiang Zhengkai as he leaned back into his chair and looked at Wei Xin. He had somewhat of a resting funny face, so Wei Xin and her colleagues all liked to joke around with him during off-work hours.
"According to A-Shun, A-Jiao is a native of this city. She was originally introduced to the alley by A-Xiu," said Wei Xin.
"A-Jiao is from here?" Jiang Zhengkai sat up in his chair as soon as the words left Wei Xin's mouth.
"Yup! According to A-Shun's recollection, A-Xiu brought A-Jiao to the alley around two years ago. A-Jiao seemed to have mentioned at the time that she was a native, although she never brought this topic up again afterwards. As for her real name, A-Shun doesn't know either. He said A-Jiao was pretty reticent when it came to answering these types of questions," Wei Xin seriously explained.
After hearing Wei Xin's report, Jiang Zhengkai plopped back in his chair. "Well, it looks like I owe you a nice dinner tonight. What are you in the mood for? Just don't tell me Taiwanese ramen!"
"I know of a nice Fujianese noodle shop nearby," Wei Xin toyed with Jiang Zhengkai by purposely suggesting the closest thing to a Taiwanese noodle shop.
"Ok, let me rephrase: no more noodles! How about… hot pot?" Jiang Zhengkai paused mid-sentence as the thought of hot pot made him think of A-Jiao again.
Figuring out A-Jiao's true identity was the key to cracking this case, but where to find her became the $64,000 question. As of right now, A-Jiao's "part-time" status created somewhat of an awkward situation. Since she had never been caught in a vice sweep, she had no criminal record, which meant the police didn't have her mugshot, fingerprints, or any other personally identifiable information. If the Chinese could be a bit more progressive, say like the Dutch, and hand out government-issued licenses to prostitutes, then dealing with A-Jiao's situation would be a piece of cake.
Seeing no alternative, Jiang Zhengkai once again made a call to external affairs. "Li Weidong, I need you help with something. Could you go to the Housing Bureau and find the records to Ju'an Estates' Building #5, Unit 302?"
"You got it, Inspector Jiang," Li Weidong politely agreed over the phone, "Shouldn't be a problem. Oh, that's right, that business with the post office you told me about yesterday, I've already talked to them. The minute something comes up, I'll contact you."
"Thank you, buddy. I really appreciate it," Jiang Zhengkai finished speaking and hung up the phone. Division of labor was a wonderful thing. On the one hand, Jiang Zhengkai and his team didn't have to run around everywhere doing the tedious business of collecting paper evidence. On the other hand, having specialized personnel who had existing relationships with the various governmental entities in the city gather paper evidence was less likely to alert suspects of the fact that the authorities were on to them.
Since he had agreed to go on a date with Wei Xin, Jiang Zhengkai knew full well he couldn't back out. The two of them ended up going to the same Hot Pot City that Jiang Zhengkai and A-Jiao had gone to before. As luck would have it, Wei Xin chose to sit down at the same table that A-Jiao had last time. Soon after they sat down, a waiter came over to take their order.
Jiang Zhengkai flipped through the menu and then plainly asked Wei Xin, "What do you feel like eating?" His memory wasn't great, but it was good enough to remember most of what was in the menu from the last time he was here.
"Oh, let's get the split spicy-mild pot! I can't really handle spicy food. How about you?" Wei Xin solicited Jiang Zhengkai's opinion after looking through the menu.
"I can eat a little bit of spicy food. Let's go ahead and get the split pot then," Jiang Zhengkai replied.
"Ok, and let's get a plate of beef, a plate of lamb, and a mixed seafood platter…" said Wei Xin as she ordered a whole pile of food for the hot pot, "Did you want anything else, Inspector Jiang?"
"No, I'm good. As long as you're happy," Jiang Zhengkai smiled at Wei Xin. He wasn't so old that he didn't know how to make a girl happy, so he very well what to say to a girl and when to say it. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but think that A-Jiao would have liked everything Wei Xin just ordered.
"Inspector Jiang, do my clothes look pretty tonight?" Wei Xin longingly asked Jiang Zhengkai after the waiter had left.
"Yeah, not bad!" Jiang Zhengkai replied as he shifted his attention from the window back to Wei Xin. To be honest, he didn't think Wei Xin was as fashionable as A-Jiao, but then again that was completely understandable. A policewoman who wore a uniform to work everyday could hardly be blamed for being less fashion-conscious than a woman whose line of work consisted primarily of attracting men.
"Really?" Wei Xin was overjoyed at Jiang Zhengkai's modest compliment. She then went on to tell Jiang Zhengkai stories of her days as a student. Jiang Zhengkai pretended to listen attentively, but his mind started wandering a long time ago. Only if A-Jiao had talked more about her past, then perhaps he would've made much more progress on the case.
Once the waiter had brought out all of the dishes, Jiang Zhengkai proceeded to do most of the work cooking the food in the hot pot. In that regard, he took care of Wei Xin the way he took care of A-Jiao. The way Jiang Zhengkai saw it, this was something a man should do for a woman. It didn't feel right to him for a woman to care of a man when the two went out to eat. It was downright ungentlemanly, and unless a man was fabulously wealthy, then being ungentlemanly was a surefire way of staying single forever. Plus, Wei Xin was also a beautiful woman, not at all a "flatboard" as A-Jiao liked to call her, although her bust-waist-hip ratio… Bang! As this thought entered his mind, Jiang Zhengkai suddenly slapped himself upside the head. Damn that A-Jiao for corrupting my mind!
"You got a headache, Inspector Jiang?" a startled Wei Xin asked. She then reached out her hand to rub Jiang Zhengkai's head.
"No, it was just a mosquito." Jiang Zhengkai cleverly leaned his body back into his chair in order to keep out of the reach of Wei Xin's hand. He then turned his head towards the window and said, "What a beautiful night!"
"Yeah!" Wei Xin replied as she pulled back her hand. Even though she was a little disappointed, Jiang Zhengkai's smooth moves made the situation less awkward than it could've been.
"Hard to believe such a beautiful night could kill," said Jiang Zhengkai as he turned his head back towards the table and gulped the entire glass of water in front of him.
"Don't worry, Inspector Jiang, we will definitely crack that case," Wei Xin very seriously said to Jiang Zhengkai.
"Hehe, alright, enough talk about work. Let's eat! Looks like the shrimp is already done." Jiang Zhengkai didn't respond to what Wei Xin had said. In his eyes, Wei Xin was a very nice girl, but she was too stiff, not at all like the carefree A-Jiao. Thus, as a colleague, Wei Xin was great, but as a life partner, then A-Jiao… Wait, why am I thinking like this? Jiang Zhengkai shook his head to clear his mind of these thoughts. Was it possible that he has really fallen in love with a prostitute?
After dinner, Jiang Zhengka fell back into his routine. After dropping Wei Xin off at the police barracks, he drove to Ju'an Estates to smoke a cigarette before going home for the night.
"Honey, I'm home," Jiang Zhengkai said as he entered the apartment. He headed straight to the bathroom without turning on the lights. He knew exactly where everything was in this apartment, so there was no need to turn on the lights. Besides, he was afraid of what he might find in his apartment should he actually turn on the lights. In any case, he was already used to moving around in the dark when he came home at night.
After brushing his teeth, he came out of the bathroom and sat on the living room couch. He faced the living room wall and murmured, "Honey, I'm in love with another woman, a woman I'm not supposed to fall in love with. Tell me, what should I do?" He zoned out for a while sitting on the couch before standing up and said, "Forget about it! I'm going to sleep now. Good night, Honey!" He then walked into one of the two bedrooms in the apartment and went to bed.
That night, Wei Xin was suffering from a bout of insomnia as well, but unlike Jiang Zhengkai, hers was caused by a sense of excitement. She said so many things to Jiang Zhengkai, and this was also the first time she wore such revealing clothes while on a date with him. It looked like Jiang Zhengkai rather liked the way she dressed. She thought to herself, the next time I stand watch in the alley, I'll make sure to pay attention to what all the women there are wearing. As she lost herself in her fantasies, Wei Xin unknowingly fell asleep while clutching her teddy bear.
