"Did you get a clear look at the car's license plate?"
"I didn't notice the license plate, I just remember it was a red car."
The car that plunged into the pond was indeed red. Huo Jin had been here before and had seen Shu Yan and the child!
So, did she have an accident on her way back?
Susu asked again, "Do you remember the specific date?"
The old man thought for a moment, counting on his fingers, and stated the date.
Susu gasped. That was indeed the day Huo Jin had her accident. According to the police autopsy report, the time of death was precisely that night.
"Did the woman in the red car leave alone? Do outsiders often have accidents near the pond in your area?" Susu hoped the old man could provide more clues.
The old man was flustered by her rapid-fire questions. "What pond? There's no pond in our village. When they returned, I didn't see the car, but the child in the house was crying terribly, and I didn't hear the woman living in the house comforting the child. The child fussed until late at night, and our whole family didn't sleep well that night. The child finally stopped crying in the latter half of the night."
Susu thought that since the child was crying, Shu Yan wouldn't have left with Huo Jin. What mother would leave her crying child to go out?
So, did Huo Jin encounter trouble on her way back?
"That pond isn't in your village, it's not far from it. Walk west from here, and you'll reach the pond at the end," Susu said, pointing in the direction of the pond.
The old man's eyes immediately filled with fear. "The pond you're talking about is several miles from our village. It's been abandoned for many years. No one goes there, and no outsiders know about that place. After all these years, haven't there been any more incidents?"
Susu quickly asked, "Did something happen there before?"
"Yes, when I was young, Nan Fang's father dug a fish pond there and was the first to engage in aquaculture. He made a lot of money at first. One summer, two children from the village went to play in the fish pond and drowned. Nan Fang's father didn't tell the villagers after finding the bodies of the two children. He threw the bodies on a small hill not far from the fish pond, causing the children's parents to search for them everywhere and go blind from grief."
"Nan Fang?" Susu heard him mention Jia Nan Fang's father.
The old man said, "Nan Fang is Jia Nan Fang of the Jia family. She's a university student from our village. She went to study in the city, and after working, she married a rich man in the city, bringing wealth to the entire Jia family."
Susu understood. Jia Nan Fang's father had done something so unethical.
The old man continued, "However, some villagers discovered the bodies on the small hill and reported it to the police. After the truth was revealed, Nan Fang's father was arrested. The villagers were extremely resentful of his attempt to destroy the evidence, so they spontaneously destroyed the fish pond. After two years in prison, Nan Fang's father was cursed by the villagers and, unable to bear it, jumped into the fish pond and committed suicide. Later, the abandoned fish pond began to be haunted. Some people say they hear children crying there at night, and they also see the ghost of Nan Fang's father wandering around the fish pond..."
Susu didn't believe in ghosts and spirits. She interrupted him and asked, "Did you see anything at that fish pond?"
"Pah, pah, I haven't seen any of those dirty things, I've only heard these rumors," the old man said. "Anyway, the fish pond was completely abandoned later. The villagers never mentioned the events of that year, no one went there anymore, and they wouldn't let their children play there. But the younger generation doesn't know about these things."
Susu still had many questions, but the old man couldn't provide any valuable information.
It seemed the old man was afraid of his wife and didn't dare to ask her for a cigarette in front of her. It was unclear if what he had said could be considered witness testimony.
She handed the money for the cigarettes to the old man and drove away.
According to the navigation, she drove smoothly onto the highway all the way. There were no confusing small roads. If she had driven normally, she wouldn't have ended up in the desolate pond.
What exactly did Huo Jin encounter on her way back? It remained a mystery.
Once cars are on the highway, there are surveillance cameras. However, the gravel road from the village entrance to the highway had no surveillance cameras along the route. The culprit must have appeared on that stretch of road.
Susu thought about it repeatedly and could only reach this conclusion. But as for what happened and who harmed Huo Jin, there was still no clue.
She drove to the first service area on the highway. She thought that if Tianyi was rushing from Lancheng, he wouldn't be faster than her. She parked her car and ordered a drink and bread inside the service area, waiting for him.
After rushing for a whole day, she felt cold and exhausted. Drinking the hot coffee made her feel a bit better.
After waiting for about two hours, Susu looked up and saw Tianyi arriving at the service area. He was wearing a dark gray trench coat and walked straight towards her.
Susu couldn't imagine how fast he had been driving. Logically, he should have arrived several hours later than her. Was he risking his life driving at such a speed?
Qin Tianyi spotted her as soon as he entered the service area. He felt angry but looked at her helplessly, like looking at his own ribs; he couldn't express his anger.
Susu stood up and asked him anxiously, "Are you hungry after rushing over? I'll go buy you some bread and coffee."
Qin Tianyi gazed at her silently, without saying a word. He saw her messy hair and her tired expression.
Susu explained to him, "I retraced the route Huo Jin might have taken on the day of her accident, and I discovered some things. Huo Jin's death was truly not an accident..."
Before she could finish, Qin Tianyi hugged her tightly and murmured in complaint, "Susu, when will you ever change your habit of lying to me? You know I found out you didn't meet Qingchuan, and you don't know where you ran off to alone. I was so worried!"
"I didn't mean to, but Huo Jin's death is really suspicious. She helped me so much, and to die so inexplicably, I won't be at peace if I don't find out."
"Alright, alright, I understand. From now on, if you want to investigate this, let me investigate it with you. If you can't be at peace your whole life, how can I be at peace?" Qin Tianyi knew that no one could stop her once she set her mind on something.
He decided he could only accompany her. As long as she was safe, he wouldn't be afraid of anything.
No one had ever doted on her, cared for her, or indulged her like this... She still timidly asked, "Do you really agree to me investigating Huo Jin's matter? Will you not stop me again?"
Qin Tianyi released her, took her hand, and smiled helplessly, "Go buy me a cup of coffee, and then tell me properly why you came to this kind of place and what you discovered. This isn't something for you to investigate alone; it's for us to investigate and analyze together."
Susu smiled faintly at him, nodded vigorously, and immediately went to buy him coffee.
They sat in the service area, and Susu told Tianyi the whole story, her guilt, and the little clues she had discovered after a day of rushing around.