pjbooks Chapter 1 Is it still not too late for everything?
Chapter 1 Is it still not too late for everything?
"Hey, Zhou Yang, what's wrong with you?!"
The sound seemed to travel through a layer of water, muffled and gradually reaching Zhou Yang's ears.
Who's calling me?
Since coming to the provincial department, very few people have addressed me by my full name anymore. Apart from the occasional "Section Chief Zhou," I am more often called "Zhou the Pen Master."
Before he could think further, the voice exploded again, louder and closer than before, like a thunderclap piercing through the chaos: "Zhou Yang!"
He suddenly opened his eyes, and then coughed violently like a drowning person, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Hey, you little brat, I just lit it and you're already putting on an act?" The dark-skinned man next to him laughed and cursed, his right hand, which was holding a cigarette, subconsciously shrank back into his chest.
That voice, that tone? Zhou Yang looked up in disbelief: "Master...Master? Master!"
Upon hearing the shout, the dark-skinned man's hand holding the cigarette trembled, and ash fell onto his faded olive-green trousers. He quickly blew on them and patted the trousers with his palm.
"You're so scared just from bringing up a criminal?"
Zhou Yang seemed not to hear, his gaze fixed on his hand—the dark blue, laminated ID he had pulled from his shirt pocket.
On the left is a black-and-white photo of him without a hat. The young man in the photo has a youthful face, but his eyes have a maturity beyond his years. The official seal of the Ning'an City Public Security Bureau is clearly stamped on the photo.
The handwritten message is clearly visible in the black and white photograph:
Name: Zhou Yang
Sex: Male
Born: June 1975, 8
Place of origin: Xiangjiang Subdistrict, Ning'an City
Work Unit: Criminal Investigation Detachment, Ning'an Municipal Public Security Bureau
Position: Investigator
Tucked inside his ID was a pair of shoulder patches with the rank of "one bar and three stars". Zhou Yang remembered that his mentor, Liu Chengyu, had given them to him on the first day of the police rank reform. That afternoon, he carefully pinned them to his police uniform.
The tactile sensation transmitted through your fingertips constantly reminds you that this is real.
Is this a return to July 1, 1995?
"They should be on their way to prison now," Zhou Yang tentatively called out to the person in front, "Chaozi?"
"Hey! You have no manners! Your master calls me Chaozi, and you call me that too? Call me Brother Chao!" A muttered complaint came from ahead.
Before I could hear what was said next, the wheels suddenly rolled over a ditch, and the whole car jolted violently.
Liu Chengyu grabbed the front seat and chuckled, scolding, "Chaozi, you're being a bit stingy! The child cries out, and you're planning to throw us both out!"
Zhou Yang smiled too. He looked at his young face on the ID card and the smooth hand holding the card, and couldn't help but clench his fist.
Now that he has a second chance, he will never allow the regrets and tragedies of his past life to happen again.
He clearly remembered that the noose of fate first tightened around his master's neck not long after he was officially appointed to his position.
The two consecutive "accidents" not only cost their master Liu Chengyu his life, but also rewrote their own and Wang Chao's fates.
During a routine arrest operation, Zhou Yang was absent due to unforeseen circumstances. His substitute mentor negligently caused someone's death and was given a major demerit. Just three months later, Zhou Yang was involved in a car accident on the way. His mentor went to investigate in his place but failed to uncover the lurking crisis, leading to the tragic murder of a family of three. Ultimately, Zhou Yang left the job he had dedicated his life to.
Zhou Yang knew perfectly well that this was no coincidence, but a meticulously planned scheme against him, and he believed that Liu Chengyu, who had been a criminal police officer for over twenty years, must also know this.
Another six months passed, and Master Liu Chengyu—the captain of the Ning'an City Criminal Investigation Detachment who had been tough his whole life—passed away in depression at the age of forty-six.
On his deathbed, he could only barely grasp Zhou Yang's hand, weakly pleading, "Yang Yang, leave here... you can't win..."
Only after seeing him nod heavily did his master's eyes, which had never fully closed, slowly lose their last luster, and he breathed his last.
Throughout the entire process, Master Liu Chengyu never complained even once, in any situation.
Zhou Yang personally ruined his own future by voluntarily applying for a lateral transfer to the provincial department. From then on, he left the front line and buried himself in endless meetings and paperwork, all in exchange for an opportunity to have a comprehensive view of the overall situation and make horizontal comparisons.
After nearly a thousand days and nights, when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, he finally found irrefutable evidence to break the deadlock.
He dedicated his entire career as a criminal investigator to the honor of his mentor, but the departed will never return.
With a sigh, he shifted his gaze forward.
The driver at this moment is named Wang Chao. In his previous life, he had traveled around with Wang Chao to collect evidence. However, as Wang Chao got married and had children, and Wang Chao went to work at the provincial department, their contact gradually faded.
The next time we heard news of him, it was because he had heroically sacrificed his life in a manhunt and was posthumously awarded the title of First-Class Hero and Model Worker and posthumously awarded a First-Class Merit.
He felt incredibly guilty at the time. He thought that distancing himself would not implicate the other person, but he did not expect the outcome to be even more tragic. He still remembers that when he went to visit the other person with his leader, the boy named Wang Chengqing kept asking him where his father was.
The moment Zhou Yang heard that name, he realized he was wrong. He was not the only one who cared about his master and had a strong sense of justice.
Later, Wang Chengqing graduated from the Public Security University and followed the same path as his father. Zhou Yang, who was already in the provincial department, kept a close eye on him, but in the end, that police number was permanently sealed.
This was a huge blow to Zhou Yang. He had personally witnessed too many of his colleagues become depressed, leave, or harden their hearts under immense pressure.
He eventually pulled through.
Instead of taking any of those paths, they transformed their sorrow into a heavy responsibility.
He did something that seemed unrelated to himself: he systematically sorted out all the unsolved cases and typical wrongful convictions in the province, compiled them into a book, and made it available for reference by his colleagues throughout the province.
His colleagues all thought he wanted to crack a long-standing case, but only he knew that he was turning his master's tragedy into the most painful bone stuck in his throat among all the cases.
He hoped that what would serve as a warning to those who came after him were these weighty case files, rather than using each fresh life lost to repeatedly verify those avoidable mistakes.
However, now, this deliberate act from his past life will inevitably become his confidence and reliance in this second life!
Beep—beep—beep—
A faint voice sounded in the car, interrupting Zhou Yang's thoughts. Liu Chengyu's smile faded, and he took a black pager from his belt.
In those days, digital pagers with Chinese characters were considered high-end and luxury items. Most people were equipped with these digital pagers to receive codes and phone numbers.
Zhou Yang glanced at it and saw several numbers displayed on the faint green light: 6210-119.
A chill ran down his spine: Something's not right!
6210 is the team's switchboard number, and the suffix '119' is the highest level emergency call code, meaning you must drop everything and call back immediately. It's highly likely to be a murder case!
"Chaozi! Find the phone!" Liu Chengyu's face suddenly darkened.
"Understood!" Wang Chao replied without hesitation, sharply turning the steering wheel with his right hand, causing the car to turn around at high speed, the tires screeching as they rubbed against the ground.
The prison is in the suburbs; to find a phone, you have to rush back to the city.
Zhou Yang gripped the overhead ring tightly with his right hand, sorting through his memories of his past life amidst the jolts. There shouldn't have been any murders on this day in his previous life.
wrong!
There was one in the Second Brigade.
A man attempted to kill his wife, but she regained consciousness and identified him. The man's crime was exposed, and he left a suicide note before taking his own life.
This was the first time he had encountered a murder case since he entered the profession. Although he did not participate in the investigation, he remembered it very clearly.
But that's a matter for tomorrow. People don't die today. I hope I'm just overthinking it!
Just then, he saw Liu Chengyu rushing towards him from the public phone booth. Before he arrived, his voice preceded him: "South of the north gate of Fengdu Garden, murder case!"
Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat, and his clenched fist suddenly loosened.
Everything's in chaos!
He's sure!
On this day in my previous life, July 1, 1995, no murder occurred. I, my master, and Wang Chao brought people back to the station, and I even tried on police uniforms in the afternoon.
The world has changed because of its rebirth!
Is the case file that exists in my memory and that I wanted to rely on still of any use?
But then, Zhou Yang sensed something was wrong. His master had mentioned Fengdu Garden.
He remembered that in the previous case, the victim also lived in this place. Could it be that...
......
The streets of Ning'an City have not yet been filled with future traffic. Vehicles are sparse, bicycles are the main mode of transportation, and tractors, donkey carts, and handcarts are occasionally seen.
A boxy-looking Jeep, model 212 from Beijing, braked not far from the crowd, but the jarring noise didn't attract much attention.
"Liu Da!" Wang Chao whispered a reminder.
Zhou Yang jumped out of the car right after Liu Chengyu. The moment his feet touched the ground, he saw his master's brows suddenly furrow.
Around the scene, several police station colleagues and joint defense team members joined hands to form a human wall, barely separating the bustling crowd.
"Go find a rope! And set up another safety barrier! The onlookers are practically trampling into the area!"
Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Yang immediately turned around and rummaged through the trunk of the car to find a roll of special yellow and black warning tape, which was a new piece of equipment that their criminal investigation team had just been issued.
He skillfully tied one end to the lamppost and secured it, then pulled the strap open. Wang Chao took the strap and strode towards the opposite tree trunk: "Things are really advanced now. Back in the day, when we were on the scene, we relied entirely on our loud voices and peaked caps to shout people away."
Zhou Yang smiled but didn't say anything. He steadied his breathing and turned his gaze to the crime scene.
"wrong!"
"What's wrong?" Liu Chengyu turned his head and looked at him in confusion.