Chapter 31
The corpse-catching man
This is the unique tranquility of the snowy night. There is no wind, only snowflakes float silently. The sky is vast, and the snow on the tiles of the village has accumulated very thickly, and a row of footprints lead to the riverside. The snowflakes in the sky are scattered, and then roll in, and the whole world is covered with silver. The weeping willows on the embankment are like jade branches and jade trees, with white branches shiny and furry, hanging towards the river that has not yet been frozen. A willow tree has grown crookedly, and seven corpses are tied to the trunk close to the river surface.
The seven corpses were in different positions, all soaked in the water, and each corpse was tied to the trunk with a rope. The rope was stretched straight, and the corpse was pulled to avoid drifting with the waves. The river water slowly flowed and poured down the eastward. The heavy snow in the sky seemed to be dancing wildly with feathers.
A very small iron-shelled boat slowly approached, and when it reached the shore, the motor stopped.
Someone stood at the bow of the boat, bent down and tied a rope to the tree by the river. A woven bag tied to the other end of the rope. Through the gaps in the woven bag, you can see a corpse inside. The man tied the eighth corpse and jumped off the boat and went onto the shore. He hummed a song and disappeared on the white snowy night.
Another man was hiding behind the haystack and stared at the scene in front of him with a thrilling look. He took out his cell phone and called the police in fear.
The 110 Command Center fed back the information to the water police station in its jurisdiction. Director Lu was furious and slapped the table and said angrily: "Who reported the case? Why are you so ignorant? We are just a small police station. Can we manage so many things? Do we have that great ability?"
A policeman said: "The locals will definitely not report the case, the person who reported the case was a foreigner."
The foreigner is named Batoldi, a reporter from National Geographic magazine. He and his colleagues came to China to inspect the pollution status of the Yellow River. They visited Lanzhou all the way downstream. When passing through the Yellow River Kutiao Bay Hydropower Station, they accidentally witnessed a corpse tied on the tree by the river and reported the case.
Director Lu explained to Bartoldi, who reported the case, that these corpses were floated from the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Puff Bay is also called Dead Man Bay, and a large number of corpses accumulate here every year. Since the 1960s, at least 10,000 floating corpses have floated in this area. Moreover, today, it still increases by more than 200 to 300 per year. Among floating corpses, the proportion of suicide is the highest, followed by accidental falls into the water, and fewer have obvious scars on their bodies.
Batoldi could speak fluent Chinese, and he asked, "Who is that man tied his body to a tree?"
Director Lu lit a cigarette and said, "The person who caught the corpse is a nearby villager. You understand how to support your family and make money?"
Bartoldi said: "I don't understand, how to make money?"
Director Lu said: "Those who jumped into the Yellow River to commit suicide, and those who died accidentally fell into the water. The villagers took out their bodies and tied them to the riverside. When the family members of the deceased come to claim it, they can ask for money."
"There is a body in a bag. If it was suicide, it would be impossible for the dead to put themselves in a bag," said Bartoldi.
Director Lu said: "Even if it is a murder, I can't control it. Our police force is limited, and the body may have been drifted from Qinghai.
The person who came here may also be Sichuan, our water police station, how can we manage affairs in other provinces?"
Bartoldi said: "What are you going to do?"
Director Lu said: "This is not easy to deal with. Why don't the person who caught the corpse cut the rope and let the corpse float downstream?"
Bartoldi said: "The lower reaches of the Yellow River, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong? Isn't the water quality polluted?"
Director Lu said: "What should you do if you ask me? Can you stop making things difficult for me? Also, I don't understand, you are an American journalist, why are you going to China for us? I want to check your ID."
Batoldi put his passport and reporter's ID on the table, as well as a list of photography equipment issued by the customs.
Director Lu looked at the camera and asked vigilantly: "These photos... you have recorded videos, who have you sent them to?"
Bartoldi spread his hands and answered that he originally wanted to upload it to Twitter (a world-renowned social networking website) and you     tube (the world's largest video website), but he couldn't log in, so he had to give up.
Director Lu breathed a sigh of relief.
The water police station deleted the photos and images of the floating corpse of the Yellow River taken by the foreign reporter. Batoldi sighed regretfully. He felt that this was a good news material. The photos of the floating corpse of the Yellow River under heavy snow were enough to win the Pulitzer Prize. After Batoldi left the water police station, he was unwilling to accept it. He came to the river with the body tied, took the photo again, and then braved the heavy snow to walk into the village, found the person who salvaged the body, interviewed him and gave a special report.
A few days later, a famous foreign news media website published an interview report by reporter Bartoldi on the Yellow River corpse fisherman. This incident had an international impact and attracted the attention of the local government. The leaders severely criticized Director Lu.
Director Lu contradicted the leader and said, "I still said the same thing, I can't control this."
The leader said earnestly: "Xiao Lu, we need to study how to properly solve this matter."
Director Lu said: "Don't the Ministry of Public Security have a special case team? Let them take care of it. Anyway, I don't have such great ability."
The special case team received a request from the local government to assist, and the four rushed to the Kutcha Bay Water Police Station. The case was much more difficult than imagined. In this area of ​​dozens of kilometers of Yellow River, more than 200 floating corpses are found every year. Local public security, civil affairs, and environmental protection departments are shirking each other and no one is responsible. Every year, so many corpses flow downstream, and the villagers along the river are already familiar with this. They move stools during the day and sit at the door of their homes for dinner. They can inadvertently catch a glimpse of the dead people down the river. The downstream of Kutcha Bay is a hydropower station. Due to the slowdown of the water flow and the terrain, the corpses in the upper reaches of the Yellow River are piled up in this water. Therefore, a new profession was created: a corpse fisherman. Director Lu pretended to go forward and shook hands and said to the special case team: "Thank you so much. Nearly 300 corpses were found this year. Which one do you plan to investigate first? I have someone bring the case file."
Su Mei said: "Oh my God, we are so tired that we can't be busy."
Hualong said: "We only take over the murder case."
Bao Zhan said: "How did these people die?"
Director Lu said: "Most of them committed suicide. Those who had no money to see a doctor jumped into the river, those who had broken heart jumped into the river, those who failed the college entrance examination jumped into the river, those who had quarreled and jumped into the river, and those who couldn't find a job jumped into the river. There are all kinds of situations. Anyway, the Yellow River has no cover, so anyone who wants to jump."
Professor Liang said: "We read the reports from foreign media websites. According to the reporter's description, one of the bodies was put in a woven bag. This is likely to be a murder case. We investigated this one, where is the corpse fisherman who found the deceased?"
Director Lu said: "We are planning to detain him in public security."
The person who caught the corpse was a father and son, one was called Lao Wei and the other was called Xiao Wei.
The special case team found them and asked the father and son to lead the special case team to the place where the body was found.
Before boarding the ship, the old guard hesitated and said, "Is it okay to give some fuel money?"
Hualong said: "You don't know how big a mistake you have made. Director Lu is trying to detain you. You are still in the mood to ask us for money for gas."
After boarding the ship, he walked slowly and saw a sea of ​​garbage. Lao Wei said that he was fishing in the Yellow River at first, but the garbage in the upstream was piled up here, the water quality was seriously polluted and the fish were sparse. Lao Wei and his son started to pick up garbage. He drove an iron-shelled boat and picked up plastic bottles, wood, and iron sheets in the "sea of ​​garbage". The most valuable thing was the human corpse. After discovering the corpse, he fished it up and searched it first to see if there was a mobile phone, ID card, phone book, etc. on his body.
Xiaowei said: "The mobile phone is usually broken. Remove the card and wipe it clean and put it on my phone. Contact the family to recognize the body."
Su Mei said: "How much money can a corpse make?"
Lao Wei said: "Give more to your family, and give less to your family if you are poor. If you really can't, give them some at will. We also look at people. The day before yesterday, I only gave 500 yuan. There are still many poor people. If you have money, you won't jump into the river."
Professor Liang said: "What should I do if the nameless body of my family cannot be found?"
Lao Wei said: "They are tied to trees by the river. Some families will take the initiative to look for us. We are both famous. I will take them to the river to see them by myself. The families can always recognize the birthmarks based on their clothes and their bodies. If there is really no one claiming the body, we will cut the rope and let it continue to float."
Hualong said: "You are making money, can you live up to your conscience?"
Xiaowei said: "We also serve the people. Everyone feels sorry for their deaths. We help find it, so we should ask for some money."
The boat sailed for a while and stopped. There was a hydropower station in front of it. A large amount of garbage gathered here, with a thickness of 1 meter. There must be undiscovered floating corpses under the garbage, which rotted and disintegrated year after year, and finally dissolved in the Yellow River. When the gate was opened and water was released, some of the corpses were broken by the turbine, and the remaining limbs and broken arms were mixed with the garbage and drifted downstream.
Xiaowei said: "The people downstream saw broken hands and feet floating in the river, but they didn't report the case."
Lao Wei said: "There are too many corpses, no one can take care of them."
Chapter completed!