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The group split into two teams, with Old Shao taking Xu Yiman back to the City Bureau to examine the body and also to retrieve Zhang Beibei's diary. In Zhang Beibei's diary, Jiang He learned the full story: Liao Fanmeng wanted to divorce Zhang Haitao, but Zhang Haitao refused. After a heated argument, Zhang Haitao accidentally killed Liao Fanmeng.
Although it was Zhang Haitao who killed Liao Fanmeng, he could not accept the outcome. He bought a large freezer and placed Liao Fanmeng's body inside. He removed her entrails, hoping to revive his wife. When he realized it was futile, he chose instead to dig into the entrails of a living person.
Jiang He had not witnessed the argument between them, but he already had a mental image: after a fierce quarrel, Liao Fanmeng did not waver; instead, she became more determined to go through with the divorce. Despite Zhang Haitao's desperate pleas, they were in vain. Anger surged within him, and in a fit of rage, he picked up a nearby glass tank and smashed it over Liao Fanmeng's head.
Liao Fanmeng could no longer argue with Zhang Haitao.
Old Shao sat in the car and gently closed the diary.
"One cannot love too humbly; if one sinks into the dirt, it will bloom into an extreme flower that no one can escape from. Zhang Haitao truly loved Liao Fanmeng, but it was a twisted and perverse kind of love. Yet Liao Fanmeng is dead now, and so is Zhang Haitao. Zhang Beibei must continue to live."
"I wonder where Zhang Beibei has gone," Xu Yiman said while driving. "She is only about seven or eight years old; where could she possibly go? Maybe she is staying with relatives, but if that were the case, wouldn't they ask where Zhang Haitao and Liao Fanmeng have gone?"
"No," Old Shao replied, raising the diary in his hand. "Zhang Beibei went out with her father. From the diary, it's clear that she was assisting her father in handling the body. She is still just a child and doesn't understand much; she simply doesn't want to lose her father and mother."
Xu Yiman nodded. "So where did she go?"
Old Shao looked at Xu Yiman and said, "Do you remember what Yang Zhi Kui told us? He saw a girl who gave him a piece of candy. When Yang Zhi Kui was holding Zhu Liang, the girl pointed at Zhu Liang's belly and said it looked like her mother's."
"Zhu Liang's belly had a huge hole in it; that was definitely Zhang Haitao's doing. And that girl must be Zhang Beibei. However, for Zhang Beibei, many questions of life and death are still unknown to her. Although I don't know where she has gone, Jiang He does; Zhang Beibei must be at the crematorium; otherwise Jiang He wouldn't have gone there."
Xu Yiman fell silent for a moment before saying to Old Shao, "I have a feeling that Jiang He is different now. His mind seems much slower, but he has learned to think like an ordinary person. I don't know if that's good or bad; once he fully regains his memory, his keen observation skills may disappear."
"For the police, this is certainly a significant loss; however, for Jiang He, it is great happiness," Old Shao said softly. "Outstanding police officers emerge every year. The mistakes I made in my forties—I don't want to repeat them at sixty. Everyone has the right to pursue their own happiness; I truly hope for that for him. He may no longer be an excellent detective, but he must be a happy person."
"Being excellent is easy," Old Shao expressed with sentiments Xu Yiman couldn't yet comprehend. "But being happy is difficult."
Xu Yiman remained silent as images of her first encounter with Jiang He flashed through her mind. At that time, Jiang He was sharper than he was now; he was reckless and could glean so much information from just one glance at her. Back then, he often complained of headaches; now he rarely experiences that anymore—this meant he was on his way to recovery.
Xu Yiman did not know whether it was happier to be an ordinary person with emotions or to be a patient with Hyperthymesia, devoid of feelings. At least at that moment, Jiang He would not feel lost or melancholic, but isn’t that the most basic human emotion?
"What is Jiang He doing now?" Xu Yiman wondered.
"Achoo." Jiang He sneezed and wrapped his coat tighter around himself. Autumn was quickly fading, and winter was approaching. The air was chillingly cold; even at noon, the brisk autumn wind made one shiver.
"Are you catching a cold?" Yuan Jun asked from beside him.
Jiang He shook his head. "I'm fine."
Yuan Jun turned back, closed the car door, and walked directly with Jiang He toward the Guardhouse of the crematorium.
"What do you need Old Wei for?" Yuan Jun looked at Jiang He.
Jiang He replied, "I used to think there was something off about Old Wei, but before that piece of the puzzle appeared, I didn’t want to raise any alarms; otherwise, he might run away. But now, all the evidence has been gathered."
As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the Guardhouse. Big White, the curtain of the Guardhouse, was still drawn, obscuring whatever was inside and whether anyone was present. Yuan Jun knocked on the door, but no one responded from within.
Yuan Jun turned to Jiang He and said, "It seems like no one is inside."
Jiang He shook his head and told Yuan Jun, "He must be here; he’s probably just sleeping inside. He once told us that he goes to bed early every night because he’s actually anxious. His dark circles under his eyes show that he often stays up late. That night when he didn’t see us, his back was fine; but when he saw us, he pretended to have a bad back. It’s clear now that he was putting on an act, and now I finally understand what he was pretending about."
"What is it?" Yuan Jun asked as he kicked the wooden door of the Guardhouse.
With a powerful kick, Yuan Jun broke open the wooden door.
As the door swung open, sunlight flooded into the room, illuminating it instantly. At that moment, Jiang He and Yuan Jun saw Old Wei kneeling on the ground.
Old Wei was facing away from everyone, his shoulders shaking, but it was unclear what he was doing.
"What are you doing?" Jiang He asked Old Wei.
Old Wei ignored Jiang He, remaining on his knees, his shoulders still twitching. His hands were clasped in front of his chest, seemingly unaware of what was happening around him. He acted like a deaf-mute, completely disregarding both Jiang He and Yuan Jun. Despite being Big White, Old Wei's behavior made the two feel uneasy.
Jiang He and Yuan Jun exchanged glances. Jiang He took a few steps forward and approached Old Wei. He gently patted Old Wei on the shoulder, and at that moment, Old Wei finally turned his head. The two noticed that Old Wei was holding something that looked like strips of meat in his hands, devouring it as if it were the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.
Suddenly, Jiang He realized something. He turned to look at the Coal Stove in the middle of the room and saw that strips of some kind of meat were roasting on it.
Old Wei turned his head, revealing his bright yellow teeth, and suddenly laughed, "This is it! This is it!"
Yuan Jun asked Old Wei, "What are you doing?"
Old Wei remained silent, continuing to gnaw on his food.
Seeing that Old Wei seemed to be in a trance, Jiang He said to Yuan Jun, "Don't mind him for now. Check under the bed for any candy wrappers or something similar."
Old Wei appeared almost delirious but showed no signs of aggression. Yuan Jun glanced at Old Wei and gently bent down to look under the bed. After a short while, he pulled out a few candy wrappers from beneath Old Wei's bed. Dusting off his hands, Yuan Jun turned to Jiang He and said, "Is this it?"
Jiang He nodded. Looking at the candy wrappers in Yuan Jun's hand, he reached into his own pocket.
In the next moment, Jiang He pulled out a candy wrapper from his pocket. The wrapper he held looked identical to the ones Yuan Jun had found. It was a type of candy that came from Zhang Beibei's jar of Fruit Hard Candy. This meant that Old Wei had seen Zhang Beibei before and that she had given him some Fruit Hard Candy.
"Now tell me immediately where Zhang Beibei is!" Jiang He demanded as he looked at Old Wei.
Old Wei remained on the ground like a starving ghost, focused solely on eating the meat with no other movements; he resembled a zombie from a movie, mechanically consuming his food.
"Old Wei," Jiang He said as he approached the old man. He crouched down beside him and asked, "Where exactly is Zhang Beibei?"
Old Wei remained unresponsive, prompting Yuan Jun to grab him by the collar and lift him up. "Stop pretending to be clueless! Haven't you been telling stories endlessly? Why are you suddenly playing deaf and mute? Did Big White knock your brains out?"
Seeing that Old Wei was ignoring him, Yuan Jun slapped the meat stick out of Old Wei's hand, sending it crashing to the ground. Instantly, Old Wei reacted as if he had lost something precious, bending down to pick it up. However, restrained by Yuan Jun, he couldn't bend over and was unable to retrieve it.
At that moment, Old Wei seemed to go wild, flailing about desperately.
"I want it! I want it!" Old Wei mumbled.
"You finally decided to speak," Yuan Jun remarked.
"If you give me that, I'll tell you everything," Old Wei said.
Only then did Yuan Jun release his grip. Old Wei immediately dropped to the ground like a dog, eagerly gnawing at the meat stick. Once he finished eating, he sat back on the ground, looking satisfied.
Tears streamed from his murky eyes as he spoke to Jiang He and Yuan Jun. "This is the taste I've been missing for decades. I finally got to eat it again; this is the taste."
With that, Old Wei broke down in tears.
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