Chapter Seventy-One: Revealing Oneself

As soon as she asked, the shopkeeper's expression changed instantly. He reached out toward Qin Ruonan, demanding, "Give it here! I'm not selling to you anymore!"

"Hey, boss, how can you turn away customers when business comes to your door?" An Changpu feigned surprise, blocking the shopkeeper from snatching back the rat poison from Qin Ruonan, and pressed him with a question.

"I sell rat poison to kill rats, not people! If you're planning any shady business, don't come to me. Go wherever you like, but I don't want to get tangled up in a lawsuit!" The shopkeeper was adamant, determined to reclaim the packet of rat poison from Qin Ruonan.

An Changpu reached into his pocket, pulled out his police badge, and handed it over. The shopkeeper paused, took it, and looked it over with a bewildered expression.

"So—so the police want to use rat poison on people now?" Although still confused, he no longer insisted on taking back the rat poison.

His guess made An Changpu chuckle. He quickly shook his head, asked Qin Ruonan for Lu Anmei's photo, and handed it over. "Let’s be straightforward—today we’re not here to buy rat poison. We're investigating someone. Take a look and see if you recognize her, or if she's bought anything from you."

The shopkeeper took the photo, studied it carefully, and a look of realization dawned on his face. He clutched the photo, asking An Changpu, "Did this young lady commit a crime, or did she die by suicide?"

"Why do you ask? Do you know something?"

"Not exactly," the shopkeeper hesitated. "She came here to buy something. I remember her well. After she left, I told my wife about her visit, and my wife scolded me, said I only cared about making sales and didn't use my head!"

"Did she do anything unusual? Why would selling her rat poison get you scolded by your wife?" Qin Ruonan sensed that Lu Anmei must have acted strangely.

"Just like you! She came to buy rat poison and asked me if it was potent. I said it was, and she asked how potent—could it knock out people? I said it couldn't. She left, saying she was afraid I was lying, that maybe it wouldn't even kill a mouse! I insisted it could, that with enough, it could knock out anything. Rats aren’t that big, and even if it were used on people, it would do the job!"

"Which of your two stories is true?"

"The first one, of course! I only changed my answer later because I wanted to make the sale!" the shopkeeper explained hastily.

"You’d lie just for a packet of rat poison? It's not worth much at all," An Changpu questioned the shopkeeper’s honesty.

"Oh, you must believe me! I hadn't made a single sale for days. I don't know why, but not even one packet sold, and I was anxious. I just wanted someone to come by so I could sell one—just one, to get things started, for luck! Otherwise, with no customers, I felt uneasy. Then, as luck would have it, that young lady showed up. I was desperate to make the sale, so I went along with her questions," the shopkeeper said, dejected. "When I got home, my wife scolded me, said if someone died—whether the girl herself or someone else—I’d be in trouble. I argued, saying it was impossible! My family has made rat poison for three generations; it’s never killed anyone! But now, with you here, I’m not so sure anymore."

He looked anxiously at An Changpu, terrified his rat poison might truly cause harm.

"What are the ingredients in your rat poison?" An Changpu asked, probing.

The shopkeeper, now thoroughly intimidated, rattled off the main ingredients without hesitation, even mentioning the scents used to attract mice. Clearly, he was genuinely frightened.

"You’re sure it was her?" Qin Ruonan confirmed once more.

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, even took up the photo again for another look, then quickly returned it to Qin Ruonan as if afraid of bad luck.

"Can we take this packet for reference?" An Changpu asked. The shopkeeper agreed without hesitation.

Before leaving, An Changpu and Qin Ruonan confirmed the details of the rat poison packaging. The shopkeeper explained that they ordered custom packaging from the factory, so each rat poison workshop had slightly different bags. The empty bags were brought home, filled and sealed by each workshop, with packaging differing for identification and competition.

Insisting further, the shopkeeper urged An Changpu and Qin Ruonan to take more rat poison, hoping to prove his shop’s product was consistent and safe. He even pleaded for them to take cockroach and ant poison for inspection as well, but An Changpu declined.

Leaving the narrow street, this time An Changpu took the wheel. He already had a clear idea of the route, driving smoothly without a single detour. Qin Ruonan sat quietly in the passenger seat, occasionally glancing at the packet of rat poison in her hand and sighing softly.

An Changpu drove into a desolate area. When the car left the highway, the dirt road was scattered with stones and the vehicle bounced violently.

"Where are we now? Why is it so deserted?" Qin Ruonan asked, her voice trembling from the bumps.

An Changpu stopped beside a row of weathered brick walls and invited Qin Ruonan to get out. He pointed beyond the courtyard wall. "This is the exclusive site for those bricks! Production stopped years ago."

"How did you find this place?" Qin Ruonan asked in surprise.

"By studying the soil distribution, I found this area and got in touch with the former owner of the brick kiln. He told me they haven’t fired bricks for two or three years. The kiln is abandoned, waiting to be sold for a new business, but no buyers yet," An Changpu explained. He walked forward a few steps, picked up half a broken brick, and showed Qin Ruonan the red exterior and blue-green interior. "Look, discarded bricks from the shut-down kilns are everywhere here. They're easy to find."

"Let’s take one back for comparison," Qin Ruonan suggested, noticing broken bricks scattered all around. She stooped to pick one up.

"Exactly. I’ve already checked with the kiln owner, but just to be safe, we need to test one ourselves. That’s why I came here. Also, can you figure out our location from here?" An Changpu asked.

Qin Ruonan looked around, using the highway’s direction to roughly determine her bearings. She nodded to An Changpu.

"Then think about the distance from here to the Lu family home, and from the rat poison shop to the Lu family home."

Qin Ruonan pictured it in her mind, feeling a weight settle in her chest.

She was about to speak when An Changpu’s phone rang abruptly, cutting her off.

An Changpu glanced at the caller—it was the number for the Major Crimes Unit office. He quickly answered, exchanged a few words, then urged Qin Ruonan to get in the car and hurry back.

"What’s happened?" Qin Ruonan asked as she climbed in, watching An Changpu start the engine.

"We have a visitor," An Changpu said, his expression grave. "Lu Anmei has come to the station!"

[Due to being offline for travel tomorrow and the day after, updates will resume as normal on the sixth day of the new year. Thank you for your understanding!]