Reservoir Dogs chapter 34
The Nanny
In a resettlement area of the city, two children were giggling and playing in the grass downstairs. Xiao Zhou went upstairs. It was lunchtime, and the aroma of food wafted from every household. He knocked on the door, and someone inside called out, “Come in directly, the door isn’t locked, hurry up and bring the soy sauce.”
Pushing the door open, the sizzling sound of stir-frying meat filled the air.
A hand extended from the kitchen, “Hurry up, where’s the soy sauce? Did you go abroad to buy it?”
Xiao Zhou looked around at the simple and cozy decor, a typical home.
Clearing his throat, he decided to use Sun Xu’s name, “Hello, Ms. Wang, I’m a lawyer from Hongsheng Law Firm.”
The extended hand froze, then retracted. After a while, the sound of stir-frying stopped, and a plainly dressed woman came out of the kitchen. She was a typical rural woman, with rough skin, a broad figure, and a round face yellowed by kitchen smoke. Her small, cautious eyes looked over warily.
She wiped her hands on her apron, “Why are you here again? Isn’t it all over?”
Xiao Zhou had an idea, “The police have obtained new evidence. I want to verify something with you.”
“New evidence?” The woman frowned in confusion, “I’ve already said everything I know. I don’t get involved in their family matters. Don’t bother me anymore.”
Xiao Zhou’s expression turned serious, “This is not about bothering you. Let’s put it this way, given the new physical evidence, we suspect you provided false testimony in the previous police investigation.”
The woman’s face turned red, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
“All these transactions were handled by Zhou Jun himself.” Xiao Zhou handed over a stack of documents, “Medical records show that Xu Juan had a habit of inhaling laughing gas. You’ve been in their house for so long, you couldn’t have been unaware. Laughing gas is a controlled substance, and inducing, abetting, or deceiving others to inhale or inject drugs can lead to three to seven years of imprisonment if the circumstances are severe. If you don’t tell the truth, the police might think you and Zhou Jun conspired to get Xu Juan addicted, ultimately leading to her death.”
In reality, the regulation on laughing gas hadn’t reached this level. The law didn’t categorize laughing gas as a drug. Xiao Zhou was bluffing.
But it was enough to scare the woman. She trembled and waved her hand to shoo Xiao Zhou away, “Leave, you can’t scare me with that. I don’t understand all this talk about drugs. I’m not educated, don’t try to frighten me. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“You might fool me, but can you fool the police?” Xiao Zhou pressed on, grabbing her wrist and glaring sharply, “Listen, I’m Zhou Jun’s lawyer. I’m on your side. I’m here to help you. If you can’t even trust me and tell the truth, you’ll regret it when the police come! From the previous case, you can see that since I’ve taken the money, our goal is the same. Do you think I’d harm you?”
The woman’s expression froze, her face pale and fragile like a wax mask. Under Xiao Zhou’s intense and intimidating onslaught, she finally collapsed, leaning on the table, “Are you really Zhou Jun’s person? Will you help me?”
Xiao Zhou nodded, “Our firm has contacted you before.”
Her face turned gloomy, tears welling up in her eyes, “Oh, what a mess Zhou Jun has created. I thought it would be over after the trial, but there are still so many problems.”
Xiao Zhou said, “Zhou Jun has been arrested. He can’t say much now. The police will definitely come to you next. I hope to get as much information from you as possible so we can devise a plan.”
The woman hesitated, “But Ah Jun said we can’t tell anyone about this.”
“I am his lawyer. We’re on the same side. This is not only to help him but also to help you. If any flaws are found, you could be implicated too.”
The woman trembled with fear. Just then, the door opened, and two children who had been playing downstairs burst into the house like butterflies. “Mom, have you eaten yet?”
The woman’s expression softened instantly, but realizing that Xiao Zhou was there, she quickly stood up, hugged the two children, and led them into the master bedroom. “Be good, Mommy has something to discuss with Uncle. You stay in the room for a while, and I’ll call you when you can come out.”
“Why?” The little boy looked back at Xiao Zhou.
“It’s something important. If you are good, Mommy will buy you a toy later.”
After coaxing the two children into the room, the woman closed the door and returned to her seat.
With a sigh, she began to tell what she knew.
Everything was more or less as Xiao Zhou had anticipated.
Though in the woman’s words, Zhou Jun was not that villainous.
Giving Xu Juan nitrous oxide was indeed because Xu Juan had severe postpartum depression at the time. Her condition was terrible, and she often had hysterical outbursts. The woman, while working as a nanny, had been hit by Xu Juan several times. Any slight dissatisfaction from Xu Juan would turn the house into a mess.
Initially, the woman was not a live-in nanny, working from 7 AM to 5 PM. But after discovering Xu Juan couldn’t properly care for the child, one day, she found the child lying on the floor with a large bump on its forehead, crying to the point of almost passing out, while Xu Juan slept deeply nearby, completely unresponsive.
After bringing the child back from the hospital that day, the woman saw Xu Juan in the kitchen, crying while making formula and cutting her own arm with scissors. The woman realized Xu Juan’s mental state was seriously wrong, incapable of taking care of herself or the child. After that, she was employed as a live-in nanny to look after the child 24/7.
Zhou Jun took Xu Juan to the hospital for treatment, but it didn’t help much. Xu Juan refused to take the medication, claiming it made her too sleepy to look after the child. Later, Zhou Jun learned from a friend about nitrous oxide’s calming effect and brought some home for Xu Juan to try. Skeptically, Xu Juan tried it and felt happy, satisfied, and energized, though the emptiness returned after the effects wore off.
This self-destructive behavior only deepened the void inside her. Soon, Xu Juan became dependent on it, consuming hundreds of canisters in just a few days. The downsides of nitrous oxide began to manifest: insomnia, mental confusion, mood swings, uncontrollable laughter and crying, and even muscle numbness and loss of control. Xu Juan, slow as she was, realized it wasn’t something good.
She secretly sought help at a hospital and was admitted to a substance dependence ward. Upon returning home, she was emaciated, barely recognizable.
The woman clearly remembered one day when the long-depressed Xu Juan suddenly cleaned herself up, put on makeup, wore a red dress, and cooked a large meal. By the time the candles had melted, the soup had congealed with a white layer of fat, and the lobster had gone cold, the clock had struck midnight, and Zhou Jun still hadn’t come home.
Xu Juan finally snapped, overturning the table in fury, shattering dishes, and setting the tablecloth on fire with the candles. The woman rushed out of the bedroom to extinguish the flames and pulled Xu Juan out of the fire. Disheveled, she tended to Xu Juan’s burns. While applying iodine, she accidentally peeled off a piece of skin, but Xu Juan, lost in her daze, didn’t even flinch. Once bandaged, Xu Juan sat on the floor, leaning against the cupboard, staring blankly at the soot-stained wall and said, “Today is our wedding anniversary.”
The woman stood helplessly by as Xu Juan turned her gaze towards her with a mocking smile and said, “He always knew what that stuff was, but he still gave it to me. He did it on purpose.”
There is no greater grief than a broken heart. Xu Juan’s eyes held no tears, only a ruined life.
It was the burned tablecloth, the cold, rotting food, the greasy soup, the betrayal and manipulation of her lover, the incessant cries of her child, the empty metal canisters, and the sweet, crazy smell in the air.
After learning the truth, Xu Juan seemed to have no will to live.
Her child, exposed to nitrous oxide, showed signs of addiction and irreversible nervous system damage. Perhaps feeling that this child would only suffer in this cruel world, Xu Juan took him with her.
Half a month later, when news of their fall came, the woman was not surprised. The signs were always there. A grand building doesn’t collapse in a day; its supporting pillars had long been hollowed out by ants, ready to topple with the slightest push.
Xu Juan’s neglect and guilt as a mother finally killed her.
This was the whole truth.
Zhou Jun wasn’t the one wielding the knife; he merely handed it to someone else and watched as the blade sank into flesh.
Xiao Zhou listened to everything. The woman was sobbing uncontrollably by the end of her story. Her heart was still soft, unable to bear the tragedies of the world, and seeing lives so easily squandered. Despite being weak and choosing to observe from the sidelines without intervening, she still felt some sympathy and pity.
“Are you willing to be a witness and testify against Zhou Jun?” Xiao Zhou asked.
The woman looked up in surprise, her face still streaked with tears. “W-what?”
Xiao Zhou said, “Give yourself and your children an explanation.” He turned his head to look at the closed door. “She was also a mother like you. When she died holding her child, she must have been very desperate.”
“But aren’t you… Zhou Jun’s lawyer? Why do you want to testify against him?”
“Yes,” Xiao Zhou’s eyes hesitated for a moment, focusing on an empty point, “I don’t know why he had those things either.”