Trafford’s Trading Club

The story of Zhao Ru was very simple, or one should say, common.

Going to work, going home. The days passed quickly with either smiles or silence.

If one color could be used to describe her life, it would be the color of walls that were decades old.

Of course, she was a really optimistic girl.

There were many exquisite details in this ten-square-meter rented room. Such as the new wall-coverings, the old but spotless floor and also the rusty but noiseless iron window.

One could imagine the small pits and flaws on the old walls. However, they were covered up with some simple decorations.

Now, she was cooking in a small corner in the room. That was her”kitchen”.

Zhao Ru heard someone knocking at the door while she was cutting the vegetables. She had no idea that who would want to visit her during the lunch hour.

“Are you…Mr. Ma?”

She was pretty astonished when she saw one of the students standing out of her house. Actually, she found out the real identity of Mr. Ma a few days ago.

It was the time when he led a team to search the cram school, she realized he was a policeman.

“Oh, Maybe I should call you Officer Ma.” Zhao Ru opened the door and said, “What’s the matter?”

Obviously, she was not going to let him in if the policeman didn’t ask for.

“Well, it’s like this. Would you please help us answer some questions for further investigation?” Ma Houde said to her with a smile.

As a seasoned police, he had perceived her hesitation and resistance.

He shot a glance inside the small room and saw an opened suitcase lying in a corner.

Ma Houde asked calmly, “Did I disturb you?”

“No… it’s alright.” Zhao Ru nodded and stroked her necklace subconsciously.

That was a black crystal pendant which seemed simple and rough.

Seeing this, Ma Houde became a little absent-minded. He felt tired and pinched his eyebrows lightly.

Zhao Ru added, “Is there anything I can help, Sir? I remembered that I have answered your questions as much as I could last time. Is there anything that we missed?”

“May I come in, please?” Ma Houde asked.

“Please wait for a moment, I need some time to tidy the place.”

“Understood, I can wait.” Ma Houde nodded. He guessed that the small room must be filled with all kinds of daily supplies of this single woman.

So it was better to avoid going in for the moment.

After a while, Zhao Ru re-opened the door, and asked Mr. Ma to come in with shoes off. She was a person that preferred cleanliness.

Ma Houde noticed that the suitcase was not placed next to the wall anymore but instead, lying on the ground.

“Miss. Zhao, may I know that how long have you been living alone?”

“Officer Ma, Am I obliged to answer this kind of questions?”

“That’ OK, you can ignore my question if you don’t want to answer it.” Ma Houde said with a shrug and then continued. “Well, Miss. Zhao, you know we have placed Dai Youcai on the wanted list. I wonder if he contacted you during the past two days or have you heard anything about him? We are not going suspecting you but just informing you about it. After all, you are an acquaintance of his.”

Zhao Ru was stunned. She loosened the pendant which had been in her hands all the time, and thought for a moment. “You mean our boss, Mr. Dai? I know nothing. And I am not familiar with him. Besides that, I’m just a receptionist, how can I be familiar with the big boss?”

Ma Houde nodded. “Eh, it was just to notify you. Miss. Zhao, should you have any other information, please call the police in the first instance. ”

Zhao Ru smiled, “Yes, sir. Oh my God, I forget to pour you some tea.”

“It doesn’t matter. Ma Houde responded. “I am going to leave now. I was just passing by and visiting you was on the way. Sorry to bother you.”

“See you.” Zhao Ru nodded with a smile.

…

Ma Houde got on his car immediately after going downstairs.

The young officer asked Ma Houde in the driving seat, “Sir, any progress?”

Ma Houde frowned. “Before I came in, I saw that her suitcase was open. But when I entered her house, the suitcase has been placed at a corner next to the wall. Her house was very clean, so there was no nothing to tidy up. Um… Zhao Ru may want to leave. Call back our office to check all the records for both railway stations and airports.”

“Yes, sir.”

After glancing at the left rear-view mirror, Ma Houde pointed to the front, “Drive around and then come back. Because the woman is watching us. Later, we need to ask those who know Zhao Ru in the neighborhood.

“The woman is so cautious. Looks like there is a problem.” The young police officer added with a glance in the rear-view mirror.

Officer Ma pinched his eyebrows and shook his head.

“Are you tired, sir?” The young man joked, “Perhaps you worked too much today.”

He knew that Ma Houde must have some plans when he opened the curtains of office. This was due to the many years of experience being with Ma Houde.

“Stop talking and drive the car.” Ma Houde rubbed his eyes and said impatiently.

The young officer started the topic again when the car was not far away, “Eh, sir, is that the son of Mr. Luo?”

Ma Houde saw Luo Qiu, who was carrying a bag and sitting at a bus stop on the street.

“Wait for me.” Ma Houde said and then got off the car.

…

Luo Qiu took off his headphone and turned around with a surprised look when he felt someone slapping his back, “Uncle Ma, what are you doing here?”

“Oh…I was just passing by because of a case. I saw you sitting here while I was in my car.” Ma Houde said with a smile, “How about you? Why are you here, no class today?”

“Yes.” Luo Qiu added, “I am going to buy some durian as I’m told that the fruits in this supermarket are pretty good.”

Ma Houde sat next to him and laughed. “No wonder I can smell a faint fragrance of durian. Well, Ziling likes eating durian very much. You are so affectionate.”

“So do you, don’t you?”

Luo Qiu picked up a piece of durian which had been peeled and packaged. And said, “Have you eaten anything? It is already so late, please eat some durian to get some strength back.”

“Oh, then I won’t refuse!”

Ma Houde received the fruit happily and took a bite. “Wow, sweet! I’ll buy some later.”

Showing a content look, Office Ma stretched himself and said, “I was a little dizzy from hunger just now. But I’m feeling much better. Thank you, Luo Qiu.”

The feeling of sickness and fatigue had gone right away. He felt as if he had just taken a bath.

“Really? That’s good.”

Luo Qiu stood up and then said, “The bus is here, it’s time to go.”

“Alright. Go to my house when you are free, I will ask your aunt to cook your favorite dish!”

Luo Qiu nodded before stepping onto the bus.

…

…

“Mr. Ma, the landlady told us that Zhao Ru has very little friends, not even a boyfriend. She rarely goes out except to work.”

“And we have also asked the other receptionist Little Liu. She said that Zhao Ru was really hard-working but revealed nothing about her personal details.”

“As per our investigation, we found that Zhao Ru went out on the evening of 2nd, 6th, 17th and 20th last month. The surveillance video around her apartment showed that she didn’t come back until midnight.”

Hearing this, Ma Houde was startled and said, “On the evening of 2nd, 6th, 17th, and 20th.”

“Yeah, if I’m right, the dates were consistent with the time those students died.”

In the meantime, the other policeman rushed in quickly and said to Ma Houde, “Sir, Zhao Ru did buy a ticket to YN city. But it is strange because she was not born in YN and have no other relatives there.”

“When did she buy the ticket?”

“Three days ago.”

“Was that the day when we searched for cram school?” Ma Houde frowned and asked, “When will the train depart?”

“On five o’clock this evening, we have 70 minutes.” The younger policeman frowned, “Sir, what should we do next?”

Ma Houde stood up immediately, “We must find an excuse to stop her first! It will be troublesome if she escapes. This woman is really suspicious. I’m afraid she has done something or she wouldn’t buy the ticket so fast.”

Ma Houde felt energetic ever since eating the durian from noon till now.

The police team all prepared to leave except Wang Yuechuan, who was sitting alone in the meeting room.

He stuck a lot of pictures on a blackboard, and drew many intricate lines under pictures. He was in deep thought.

…

Ma Houde called his wife secretly before leaving.

“Darling, I don’t go home for dinner tonight… you cooked the soup? I’ll come back later and promise to drink it! Oh, you can go to Xinfeng Road if you are free. I heard that there is a wholesale fruit market there and the durian there is good… I have to go now, bye.”

Then, Mr. Ma happily got onto the car… and drove away.