After some comforting from Liu Qi and Maomao, Xiao finally calmed down. However, the atmosphere in the room had grown incredibly heavy.
"But fortunately, he didn’t succeed. When he pinned me against the table, I happened to grab a beer bottle.
"In my panic, I smashed the bottle over his head, and that was when he let go of me.
"My mind was completely blank. My clothes were torn. All I remember is hiding in a corner, crying while pointing a jagged shard of glass at my own neck, telling him that if he dared to come closer, I would kill myself right in front of him.
"He was probably afraid that if I really committed suicide, he wouldn’t be able to escape the blame, so he fell to his knees and claimed he had drank too much and had a moment of folly, begging for my forgiveness.
"Then he claimed he genuinely liked me and just couldn’t control himself in the heat of the moment.
"He even said he had a bad relationship with his wife and they had been separated for a long time. If I was willing, he could divorce her for me.
"He promised to buy me a car and a house, give me a proper status, and even make me the head nurse."
Hearing this, Zhou Yi rolled his eyes so hard they nearly reached the heavens. He thought, "Damn it, why is every middle-aged scumbag exactly the same? When they cheat and coax young girls, they always use the exact same rhetoric. Were they all taught by the same teacher? Or is this just a common flaw in human nature?"
"You can’t believe a word from that kind of person!" Maomao exclaimed.
Xiao wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and nodded. "I know. I didn’t believe him. I told him I was going to call the police. He then pulled out two thousand yuan from his bag, saying it was compensation for me."
"You didn’t take it, did you?" Zhou Yi quickly asked.
Xiao shook her head. If she had taken the money, things would have become hopelessly muddy. Even if she reported it to the police, she might have been counter-sued for extortion.
"Later, when the restaurant staff came in to clean up, I took the opportunity to run away," Xiao finished.
Wu Yongcheng asked with a solemn expression, "You didn’t call the police?"
"I... I didn’t dare to. If word got out, how could I ever show my face again? Besides, he’s a director. If he didn’t get locked up, my job would be completely ruined."
Wu Yongcheng didn’t say anything more. He knew very well that in a situation like this, without witnesses or physical evidence, and with the rape only at the attempted stage rather than actually occurring, reporting it to the police would likely fizzle out into nothing. The law relied on evidence, and justice had to be executed in accordance with the law; these were the rules of human society.
"Oh, no wonder you transferred to another department later," Liu Qi said.
"No, right after it happened, I hadn’t changed departments yet. The guy surnamed Zhu also laid low for a while.
"About a week later, he suddenly sought me out and handed me a bankbook with ten thousand yuan in it, telling me to be his mistress."
"Ugh, how shameless!" the two girls cursed, filled with righteous indignation.
"I cursed him out and chased him away. I thought the matter would end there, but from that day on, I was targeted in every possible way at work. He would find any excuse to yell at me at the drop of a hat, and he turned the entire department against me, completely ostracizing me.
"During that time, going to work every day felt like torture. I honestly just wanted to die."
Zhou Yi said, "Isn’t that just psychological manipulation combined with workplace bullying? By deliberately belittling and suppressing your personality and self-esteem, he aimed to achieve mental control over you."
A lingering fear washed over Xiao’s face as she said, "During my most difficult time, I was lucky that the head nurse of my current department lent me a helping hand. She said they happened to be short-staffed, so I was transferred over. Otherwise, I really don’t know what I would have done."
Zhou Yi looked at their surroundings. They lived in an old, state-owned apartment building, likely a renovated work-unit dormitory from the early years, carrying a heavy sense of time and weathering. It couldn’t compare to the environment of Zhang Xinli’s home at all. Obviously, these girls came from ordinary backgrounds and were working hard just to make a living. Furthermore, from a man’s aesthetic perspective, Xiao was significantly better-looking and appeared much younger than Zhang Xinli. The fact that she hadn’t lost herself to the temptations of money and power made her worthy of respect.
"Do you know if Zhu Xuejun has harassed anyone else besides you?" Zhou Yi asked.
"I heard later that many newcomers to the Department of Digestive Surgery were harassed by him. Rumor has it that our former head nurse was having an affair with him and that he was the one who promoted her to that position."
"Ah, I just thought of something!" Maomao suddenly cried out.
"What is it?"
"When Du Xiaolin was rotating previously, she spent three months in the Digestive Surgery ward. She even bragged about how the department was both physically easy and paid high bonuses."
The so-called rotation was a shifting system for nurses. While they didn’t have to work in every single department, they generally had to spend time in at least three or four to improve their professional skills.
"How was Du Xiaolin’s usual work performance? Did she ever have any issues?" Zhou Yi asked.
"Just talking about it pisses me off! Being put on shift with her was the worst luck. Either she got complaints for her bad attitude, or she mixed up patients’ medications. She ended up getting our bonuses docked along with hers."
Zhou Yi immediately recalled his one and only interaction with Du Xiaolin; her attitude really hadn’t been that great. "Was she always like this?"
"I don’t think so. She used to be quite normal."
"Since when did she change?"
"Let me think. I really can’t remember exactly when it started, but it’s definitely been within the last few months."
"Was it before or after Du Xiaolin went to rotate in Digestive Surgery?"
"After," Maomao answered immediately. "Because her rotation ended over three months ago."
Zhou Yi and Wu Yongcheng instantly exchanged a glance. It seemed the deceased and Zhu Xuejun definitely had interactions, and the shift in Du Xiaolin’s work attitude had started precisely after that point.
"Do you happen to know if Zhang Xinli ever had any experience working in Digestive Surgery?" Zhou Yi asked.
The young nurses looked at each other in dismay. "Sister Zhang? I don’t think so. When we arrived, Sister Zhang was already in the Emergency Department. At the very least, she definitely hasn’t been there since."
In truth, whatever the answer was wouldn’t make much of a difference, because the fifty thousand yuan Chen Yan had tracked down was the best proof. The timeline and logic of the whole situation seemed to have become very clear.
Zhu Xuejun had used his authority and wealth to coerce and bribe his way into toying with female nurses. Zhang Xinli was his mistress and had received significant financial benefits. As for the exact extent of the relationship between Du Xiaolin and Zhu Xuejun, that was temporarily unknown. However, based on the incident Maomao had stumbled upon, Du Xiaolin had likely already become Zhu Xuejun’s mistress. Moreover, it was highly probable that Zhu Xuejun had abandoned the aging and fading Zhang Xinli in favor of the young and beautiful Du Xiaolin. Harboring a deep grudge from this, Zhang Xinli ultimately planned and executed the murder of Du Xiaolin to vent her anger.
The two men drove away. It appeared that Zhu Xuejun was the key figure in this case.
On the way, however, Zhou Yi was mulling over one particular point: this Zhu Xuejun was probably going to be very difficult to deal with. Otherwise, how could there be absolutely no information related to this man in the 316 cold case files? He believed that Wu Yongcheng and the other investigators back then must have thoroughly investigated Du Xiaolin’s social connections. The fact that they hadn’t uncovered Zhu Xuejun meant that his interactions with Du Xiaolin were incredibly cautious, leaving no traces behind.
Yet, he had transferred fifty thousand yuan to Zhang Xinli, leaving behind such an obvious piece of leverage. Could there be some hidden secret behind all of this?
"Captain Wu, I think it would be best to bring Zhu Xuejun back to the station for interrogation. This guy is likely the key to the entire case."
Wu Yongcheng, a cigarette dangling from his lips, nodded. His face was solemn as he said, "Yeah. Whether or not you can be transferred over to work as my temp will all depend on whether we can get a breakthrough from this guy surnamed Zhu."
Zhou Yi was instantly stunned. He thought, "Hey, how did this suddenly become my problem?"