Chapter 254: Watermelon Red

In the sultry midsummer, the humidity was so high that the fog on the car window windshield could not be removed no matter what. The clothing wholesale market back then had long since disappeared, demolished and rebuilt into a commercial complex. If that clothing market were still there, it would be nothing more than the dilapidated scene of the old market next to the Aiqinghai Bookstore in Baicheng.

With the rise of online shopping, most of those who operated clothing businesses here back then changed their professions. Now, only some shops on the street next to the mall were moved from the old market to continue doing small business.

"When contacting those old merchants by phone before, this person named Zhao Hongda was different from others. He asked if Li Yang'er was dead as soon as he came up. I told him it couldn't be determined yet, but he was very certain and said he knew Li Yang'er had an accident. But when asked how he knew, he refused to say," Wu Shanqiu said while looking for the house number. "Later I checked, he still opened a clothing store near the old market. It seems we have to ask in person. I don't know if we can ask for valuable clues."

As she was speaking, she led Qi Fei and a few others to stop in front of a small storefront. A plastic clothing model with missing arms and legs was scribbled with middle-aged and elderly style women's clothing placed at the door. A bald old man was lying in the corner with the sound of short videos playing, not getting up, and asked casually: "What do you want to buy?"

Wu Shanqiu walked to his front and showed her ID: "Hello, police, we are looking for Zhao Hongda."

The reclining chair made a "creaking" sound. The man sat up, took off his reading glasses, changed his relaxation just now, and looked at the few people who appeared in the store with anxiety: "I am Zhao Hongda." Immediately, he associated it without effort, "Are you here to ask about Zhao Yang'er?"

"I learned about the situation on the phone that day, it was me. You seem to know that Zhao Yang'er is already dead. Can you tell us what you know?" Wu Shanqiu said straight to the point.

Zhao Hongda's face squeezed out a stiff smile: "Ahe, this matter, I just said it like that. I told you that day that there was nothing, you don't need to run over in this hot weather."

"We synchronized and found others in the market to understand the situation. Except for you, everyone who knows Li Yang'er thinks she went abroad. Only your first reaction is that Li Yang'er is dead. You have to explain this to us," Qi Fei said, his tone much tougher than Wu Shanqiu's because he was anxious.

Zhao Hongda couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked in surprise: "Is this Li Yang'er really dead?"

"We are from the Criminal Police Brigade of Nancheng. What do you think?" Qi Fei asked back.

Zhao Hongda took a deep breath after hearing this and muttered: "I just said she was targeted by someone. This woman's courage is too big..."

"Targeted by whom?" Qi Fei hurried to ask. It seemed this Zhao Hongda had loosened his mouth.

Zhao Hongda raised his eyes to look at him and muttered: "It's been almost thirty years. I tell you, shouldn't I be caught?"

Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu looked at each other, then took out the notebook for recording: "Is Li Yang'er's death related to you?"

Zhao Hongda denied it: "I didn't do anything! I just..." He lowered his head in shame, "I had a bit of interest in her back then, followed her to the hotel..." He said the last few words, his voice was significantly smaller.

"Hmm? You stayed in a hotel together?" Wu Shanqiu was surprised.

"No, no, I 'followed' her..." He specifically emphasized the word "follow."

Wu Shanqiu suddenly realized: "Oh, you were stalking Li Yang'er?"

"Ahem, yes, this isn't against the law, right? I was also a hot-blooded young man back then. Li Yang'er did foreign trade, dressed very fashionably. She liked to wear men's clothes. The more she dressed in that neutral way, the more I was fascinated. Later, I couldn't help but secretly follow her several times. I didn't have any bad ideas! Don't misunderstand!" Li Hongda was anxious to clear himself.

"It seems you know that you are not the only one stalking Li Yang'er?" Wu Shanqiu said.

"Right, that time she stayed in Nancheng for several days. I knew which hotel she lived in, and I also knew which room she was in..." He said, stealing glances at the expressions of a few people from time to time, with a guilty look, "The last time I stalked Li Yang'er was that night. Li Yang'er had a regular schedule, what time to see clients, what time to eat, every day was about the same.

I wanted to squat near her room and see what she looked like when she came back at night... I know, this sounds very perverted... But I swear I just secretly watched her, I didn't do anything!"

"We are not interested in your strange habits. I just want to know how you discovered that someone else was stalking her?" Qi Fei said coldly.

"Because I happened to see someone sneak into her room that day.

There was a woman in the corridor, wandering at Li Yang'er's door. I thought it was Li Yang'er's friend, and for fear of being discovered by her, I hurriedly hid in the corner. After a while, the cleaner came to clean the room. The cleaner opened the door and she followed in.

I still remember that the woman just entered very naturally, as if she lived in this room.

Sure enough, the cleaner didn't suspect at all, cleaned it up and left.

At first, I believed it, thinking that Li Yang'er made an appointment with this woman to meet at the hotel.

It's just that when I stalked her before, Li Yang'er, who finished talking about business, was always alone and never privately made appointments with friends, which made me a bit suspicious.

Not long after, this woman came out of Li Yang'er's room and didn't appear again until Li Yang'er came back."

"Such an important discovery, you didn't tell Li Yang'er?!" Wu Shanqiu asked incredibly.

Zhao Hongda scratched his sparse hair: "If I told her, wouldn't I expose the fact that I was stalking her? Maybe that woman just went to the wrong room. I would really be caught as a hooligan!"

"Do you still remember what that woman looked like?" Qi Fei asked, frowning.

Zhao Hongda looked at the flashing fluorescent lamp, and the distant memory seemed very difficult to find: "If you want to say appearance, I really can't say it. In my impression, she was a fair and tender woman, about the same height as Li Yang'er, wearing a kind of red sweater."

"Red sweater? What kind of red?" Qi Fei was inexplicably concerned about this point.

"Oh, we who do clothing call this red watermelon red."

Qi Fei didn't ask any more. He only remembered that his mother, Xi Ziyun, had a sweater of the same color.

"Being targeted doesn't mean Li Yang'er is dead, right?" Zhong Kui, who hadn't spoken all the way, suddenly opened her mouth, her question sharp.

"Because... they all said Li Yang'er went abroad, only I knew she didn't go abroad." Zhao Hongda's eyes dodged, but his tone was very certain, "Li Yang'er is a shrewd and capable woman. She paid deposits for several orders here. It is impossible for her not to come back to pick up the goods."

"How do you know she didn't go abroad?" Zhong Kui immediately asked. ===== CHAPTER 255 =====