Chapter 82: A Woman Called A (2/2)

“Really?” asked Lu Xiaoqiang before he laughed noncommittally at what A-Ping said, “Looks like life’s hard wherever you go.”

“Ai!  Only after the two of us came here from the provincial capital did we realize that this city is haunted!” A-Ping said slowly as she lowered her had and stared at the floor, “Besides this alley, other places are being cracked down harder than any place in the provincial capital!”

“Haunted?”  Lu Xiaoqiang thought what A-Ping said was kind of funny.  Although he came from a poor rural family, Lu Xiaoqiang wasn’t someone who believed in ghosts and superst.i.tion.

“That’s right!  How else did all of these people die and you cops haven’t been able to find the killer?” A-Ping said with a wry laugh as she looked at Lu Xiaoqiang.  This woman was obviously not afraid of Lu Xiaoqiang on account of him being a cop.  Actually, she was right.  This cop was a man, too, and she has seen plenty of men over the course of her career.  Underneath their clothes, there were all the same, and they all came to her to satisfy their primal urges.  However, Lu Xiaoqiang was perhaps the first man she has met after becoming a prost.i.tute who came to her for emotional support.

“Fine, you have a point there,” acquiesced Lu Xiaoqiang as he knew there was no way he could argue with her.  If he were to insist that it was a human being who killed all those prost.i.tutes, then it would be as if he admitted that he was worthless as a police officer.  Even the most worthless of men did not easily admit they were worthless, much less a man like Lu Xiaoqiang, who did not at all believed he was worthless.

“Both A-Di and I are from Guangxi,” A-Ping continued when she saw Lu Xiaoqiang wasn’t going to rebt what she said, “My home village is very poor.  It’s close to the border with Vietnam.  When we first came here from our village, we first started out as waitresses, but we just weren’t making enough money to support ourselves, so… we eventually decided to change jobs.”

“Really?” asked Lu Xiaoqiang as he heard A-Ping’s endless complaints.  He kenw she wasn’t making things up because she wouldn’t have included all the fine details of her life if she were making up this story.  The problem was what she said was wholly unrelated to A-Di’s death and the case in general.

“Yes, really!  What, you think we were born to do this job?”  At this point, a hint of anger flitted across her face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, and her expression returned to its former serene self.  “Alright, what else do you want to know?”  Clearly, chatting with Lu Xiaoqiang just now greatly relaxed her state of mind.

“Then did you and A-Di go directly to the provincial capital, or did you come by here first?” Lu Xiaoqiang asked bluntly.

“We went straight to the provincial capital,” A-Ping answered without hesitation, although she did pause for a second after she spoke, “You asked if we had ever come to this city of yours, right?”

“Yes,” Lu Xiaoqiang nodded.

“I haven’t been here before,” said A-Ping.  She then bit her lips and thought hard, “But… I think A-Di might have been here around two or three years ago.”

“She might have?”  Hearing what A-Ping just said caused Lu Xiaoqiang’s heart to skip a beat, but he hoped A-Ping could tell him some more.

“Yup!” A-Ping nodded in response, “Based on what I remember, I think she mentioned this place to me before.  Also, she seemed like she didn’t want to come here this time around.”

“Really?  How many of you came together?” Lu Xiaoqiang continued asking.

“About five or six,” A-Pig replied, “But after A-Di died, all of the other girls left this place.  The rest of them all came together, and I came with A-Di, so I decided to stay.”

“What do you mean by ‘together?'”  Lu Xiaoqiang was a bit confused.  Didn’t they all come together?

“Oh, they were from one village, and the two of us were from another village,” A-Ping laughed as she responded to Lu Xiaoqiang’s question, “When we’re out here, those of us from the same village have to stick together and take care of each other.  If I had known that she would die here, I never would’ve talked her into coming with me.”  At this point, A-Ping’s eyes began to get teary as she gently rubbed her face.

Lu Xiaoqiang understood why A-Ping felt the way she did, so he changed the subject, “Do you know why A-Di didn’t want to come here?”

“No, I don’t,” A-Ping shook her head in response, “How would I know?  She never told me, but I think I heard her say once that she had a sister here.”

“Alright, thank you!”  Lu Xiaoqiang asked everything he wanted to ask and thus concluded with the questioning.  He stood up and was about to big A-Ping farewell when she stood up as well and asked, “The money…”

“It’s yours!” said Lu Xiaoqiang with laughter.  He turned around and was about to leave the room when A-Ping suddenly ran up and gave him a back hug.  “Could… could you hold me for a while?”