Chapter 6 - Gathering Evidence (2)
If she remembered correctly, she was in City Xi. Its geographical environment, language, and customs were fairly similar to where she used to be. That was the silver lining; she wouldn’t have to grapple with so much.
She was dumbfounded as soon as she walked outside of the house. There were no cellphones or internet during this era. How was she going to look for a PI?
Never mind the original owner, who was just a housewife. She, too, was just a commoner and had never been in contact with anyone like that before. She really had no idea where to start.
Shu Yan searched her memories desperately and suddenly she got something. The original owner’s big uncle’s young son was a street hooligan in City Xi. Words had it that he was now a regional lead. Last year, when big uncle was beaten up by someone, his son just brought a gang back with him and the incident was finally settled with the opposing party paying a lot of money to them.
Back in the village, anyone who didn’t have a real job would be gossiped about, especially someone as infamous as this cousin of hers. Nobody would say anything to his face, but they would say a lot behind his back. Long story short, Shu Yan’s parents had always told her and her siblings to not have anything to do with this cousin. The original owner had been to City Xi for over a year now and never been in contact with this cousin. That ought to tell you how distant their relationship was.
The original owner might feel that he was just a hooligan and not someone she wanted to be associated with, but Shu Yan begged to differ. As far as she could remember, this instant cousin of hers had always been protective of his siblings when he was a child. Anyone that dared to bully them at school had been beaten up by him before. Even now, whenever any of the relatives were bullied and asked for him, he’d always rushed back with a gang.
He also showed filial piety to his parents and grandparents. Last year, he took his grandparents to the hospital for a checkup. What other elders in the village had checkups in this era? Her grandparents were definitely the pioneers of that. All in all, he was much more reliable than the original owner’s own siblings.
There were, of course, certain risks for looking for him. She couldn’t afford to have the elders back home found out about the divorce.
Shu Yan walked around the city first. There were clothing stores, food stands, department stores, but no PIs. Not even an for them.
She saw a photography shop. After a little bit of hesitation, she went inside.
“Hi comrade, are you looking to have your pictures taken?” It was a man in his thirties with a goatee and long hair. He was definitely the artistic type.
“No, I am just looking around.” Shu Yan nodded, then she turned around and left. If she told him that she needed pictures of her husband and his lover taken, he just might feel that she was insulting his artistic talent. Sigh. She would just have to head to the next shop.
The man at the next shop didn’t look too artistic, but he was old enough to be her grandfather. Her original plan was to find some photographer and pay them a little extra to help her take a few pictures, but she was afraid she’d have to give up on that plan.
Seeing that the old man seemed well experienced and any local photographers in this era was already pretty upscale, she decided to see if she could get some information from him.
“Hi, mister. Do you know where I might be able to find a PI in City Xi?”