Night had fallen, and the air was still sweltering. Shi Hua’s fingers were still tapping away at the keyboard. He shifted his gaze slightly; it was already eight in the evening, just the time when everyone was resting after work, playing on their computers and phones.
The moon was quite round tonight. With the final tap, he let out a long breath. Then, with a “click,” a faint wisp of smoke rose from the driver’s seat. After the smoke cleared, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked up and saw a woman appear at the entrance of the Criminal Investigation Unit. She seemed to notice him as well, and walked straight toward the car.
“What, still not home? Waiting for me?” Mo Wenli walked to the car, snatched the half-smoked cigarette from Shi Hua’s left hand resting on the car window, and took a puff herself. Unexpectedly, she coughed twice. “When did you start smoking? I remember you used to be so well-behaved.”
“Get in the car.” Facing Mo Wenli’s teasing, Shi Hua just glanced at her without answering her question.
Mo Wenli threw the cigarette butt away, extinguished the flame, and sat directly in the passenger seat. “Did you tell them about Li Shuxuan?” Mo Wenli asked.
Shi Hua put the laptop in the back seat, raised the car window, and started the vehicle. “Yes, that woman also knows the situation. The police went to investigate her, maybe they can find something out. But I don’t have high hopes.”
“In the end, we still have to do this ourselves. It’s just that Meng Yue said Li Shuxuan has something we need.” Shi Hua drove the car, glancing inadvertently at the passenger seat. “What did they ask you today? Are you okay?” Shi Hua asked.
“I’m fine.”
Mo Wenli talked to Shi Hua about the interrogation. It was basically what Shi Hua had expected. They couldn’t possibly convict Mo Wenli. But he didn’t expect them to release her after only an afternoon. He thought he wouldn’t see her tonight. After all, detaining her for a few days wasn’t impossible.
[You see this text, please exit the reading mode, or go to the “source webpage” to read normally]
[Please go to the source webpage to read, the following content is anti-collection automatic replacement] you – me, big – small, more – less, up – down, left – right….
“Since they didn’t detain me and let me out, it seems they aren’t completely sure. Or maybe they’re playing the long game.”
“Some people are okay, but some are just unreasonable.” Mo Wenli said dismissively.
Shi Hua remained silent. Irresponsible people were everywhere, not just in the police station, he knew there were plenty outside the newspaper office too. It was good that Mo Wenli was out. He wasn’t afraid that Mo Wenli would be forcibly convicted of murder, because he had a video proving Meng Yue was still alive. As long as the police didn’t do anything absurd, his video would be kept. This was also why Mo Wenli was willing to help. They had also considered the best case scenario: if the police did something terrible to quickly resolve the case and appease public opinion, he would naturally release the truth.
What he had to do now was guide the police investigation, shifting the focus from Meng Yue to Chen Xuelin. From his brief exchange with Li Zhong today, he seemed like a good police officer. Li Zhong had only been promoted to captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit a few years ago. To fulfill Meng Yue’s last wish, he might need his help. After all, it was a bit difficult to collect evidence on his own. Most importantly, without the identity of a police officer, getting the truth from the victims wasn’t easy. Even if he got the testimony, it would need the police’s approval…
“We’re here, get in the car, otherwise I’m still…” Shi Hua hadn’t finished speaking when he turned his head and realized that Mo Wenli had already fallen asleep. The words he wanted to say didn’t come out.
Speaking of Mo Wenli, Shi Hua’s feelings for her were very complicated. This woman had also endured a lot. She was just one of Chen Xuelin’s victims, and even went to prison for a few years for no reason. It was also the direct cause of her break with Meng Yue. Even that she would help Meng Yue in the end, Shi Hua hadn’t expected.
“Hey.” Shi Hua finally couldn’t help but gently pat her shoulder, and she woke up.
“I’m hungry.” She pointed to her stomach.
“Then I’ll get out first, you go buy something to eat.” Shi Hua sighed.
“Okay.”
Mo Wenli watched Shi Hua’s back as he walked downstairs, only to remember that the key to the apartment was still on him…
At the Criminal Investigation Unit, Li Zhong came to the forensic doctor Chang Yi’s side. He was there to look at the autopsy report. Meng Yue’s autopsy had already been completed.
“Her cause of death is the same as the on-site judgment, shock caused by excessive blood loss. There are three stab wounds in the abdomen, one of which hit the inferior vena cava, and another injured the liver. The three wounds are densely concentrated, but there is one strange point.” Chang Yi pointed to the table.
“Where’s the doubt?”
“The direction the knife came from. Analyzing from the wounds, the angles of the three stabs are different. The knife seems to be gradually tilted upwards. That’s one suspicious point. Secondly, there are no other injuries on her body, which means she had almost no preparation, or rather, no resistance, before she was killed. That makes sense, but it’s not very logical. If someone suddenly stabs me with a knife, I might not have time to react, but I should at least try to defend myself. But her situation is like she didn’t even try to defend herself. Either the killer’s three stabs were too fast for her to react, and the killer ran away after stabbing, or she didn’t plan to resist at all. Do you understand what I mean?”
“As for the murder weapon, it’s this knife. You can buy it in supermarkets and convenience stores. Judging from the wear and tear, it’s been used for some time. This is very common. It’s probably useless to investigate through this. Moreover, there are no fingerprints on it. The terrain of the scene is not good, and no footprints were left.”
“Analyzing from the scene, it’s very likely that she was stabbed. There are also people who can testify to this. But… I still feel something is… I’ll give you a copy after the report is written. Then we can analyze it further.”
Chang Yi was a forensic doctor with more than ten years of experience, and his feeling was usually quite accurate. Li Zhong nodded when he heard this. He could also feel that this matter was unusual. The location of the incident alone was very special. There was a lot of traffic there. Committing murder here was either impulsive or a blatant provocation.
After getting off work, Li Zhong reported the relevant matters to the leader. Now, the speed at which this matter was fermenting in Jianghe City seemed very fast. The higher-ups were very concerned and hoped that Li Zhong could investigate it as soon as possible.
Li Zhong pondered the case and returned home. He opened the door, and his wife was sitting on the sofa in the living room. She was lying there, and turned her head when she heard the sound. Their eyes met. “You’re back.” Li Zhong smiled slightly.
His wife put on her shoes and went over to give him a hug. “Why aren’t you surprised at all?” Li Zhong changed his slippers. Feeling his wife’s embrace, he felt much relaxed. After all, home was still warm, and he was very happy to have such a good family.
His wife was a doctor in the hospital. Recently, she had been taking time off due to shift work. She had brought the child to her parents’ house a few days ago. The house suddenly felt less lively with two fewer people. When he went home after work, he couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.
Although freedom was also great, he always felt that something was missing.
“Boring.” She patted his shoulder. This woman was always so observant, but always lacking in a bit of romance. However, that made him feel quite at ease.
At night, Li Zhong lay in bed reading a book. It was his habit. His wife was watching her phone next to him.
“You’ve been coming back so late these past few days, haven’t you.”
“How did you know? That’s right, what’s wrong?”
“I saw it. A young man was stabbed to death in the street. It turns out he was a charity donor, donating nearly a million in a year. That guy was too charitable!”
“What a pity! Did you catch the killer?”
“Huh?” Li Zhong was stunned by his wife’s words. “What did you say?” he asked.
“Well… she was a graduate student at Jianghe University, worked as a high school teacher after graduation, and resigned before starting to do charity work at the beginning of the year. She donated to several schools and was a good person.” She swiped her finger on her phone, summarizing the contents. “Didn’t you investigate clearly? People here are saying it clearly.” She handed her phone to Li Zhong.
It was another article, titled “Deceased’s Identity Revealed, Life’s Actions Make People Feel Silent.” The content introduced in detail the man who died at sunset last night, from her time as a graduate student to graduation, then working as a teacher, and finally resigning to start doing public welfare. The most outrageous thing was that her donations within a year reached one million yuan! She donated almost all the money she earned.
What a concept! Donating nearly a million in charitable donations. Many people can’t do that in their entire lives. The comments section was moved, and they were praising the deceased teacher. At the same time, another voice was questioning the case, and some were questioning why the police still couldn’t solve the case, even though she had left other people’s names.
The content introduced Meng Yue’s identity in great detail. Even Li Zhong felt shocked. They hadn’t even had time to find out that Meng Yue had done private charity work during her lifetime. The end of the article also had several links, all about Meng Yue’s donations to schools. From photos to text, the dates were all from the past six months. And the report came from Jianghe Daily’s official media. The person who published this article wasn’t an individual, but Jianghe Daily, reporter Shi Hua.
“It’s that person again.” Li Zhong fell into silence looking at these two words.
His article was extraordinary. The masses in the comments section were excited, and as an official media, they had quite a bit of influence in Jianghe. If this continued to ferment, there might be many cameras at the entrance of the police team tomorrow.
Meng Yue had changed from an ordinary person to a good person who gave back to society, and was maliciously stabbed to death on the street. This matter was not easy to handle.
The public wouldn’t care if our police’s evidence was sufficient. What they wanted was retribution.
“What’s wrong? Your brows are furrowed. Is the case difficult? Didn’t she leave a person’s name?” Li Zhong’s wife turned her head and asked curiously.
“It’s not that simple. We’ve checked all the people related to these three words.”
“But I have some impression of this Chen Xuelin. I remember he was also on the news. This person seems very powerful. Didn’t you find him?”
Li Zhong rarely brought cases home. Even if he did, he would only say a few words perfunctorily. Considering that this case didn’t have much progress, he replied, “The Chen Xuelin you mentioned, he’s probably already dead.”
“Ah? When did he die?”
Seeing his wife’s surprised expression, he immediately got out of bed and went to his desk to turn on the computer. He started to search for reports about “Chen Xuelin.” Soon, several old reports appeared. After all, this person was well-known in Jianghe.
However, as a dead person, and the dead cannot commit crimes, no one thought of him, but now it seems that the deceased must not escape this case.
His wife read some reports and vaguely remembered the woman.
Li Zhong turned off the lights, but he couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Meng Yue, Shi Hua, Mo Wenli, these three people were interconnected, and Chen Xuelin, was from the same school as them, and worked there as the youngest associate professor.
Shi Hua and Mo Wenli had both said, “Living people can also kill people.” Looking at the back of this sentence, there was another deep meaning, and the words of the two people were not coincidences, probably intentional. Meng Yue’s body, I’m afraid, still has secrets, or, Chen Xuelin’s body.
…
At Shi Hua’s home, he stood on the balcony looking down at the dim yellow streetlights. “Okay, I understand, don’t worry, I won’t report it randomly. All my information is fake, and there are also pictures and texts. These reports were all done before. I didn’t expect to be able to use them now, it’s just a coincidence, is there pressure on your side?”
Shi Hua said a few “uh-huhs” into the phone, and then hung up. Mo Wenli’s voice came from behind, “What’s wrong?”
“The newspaper called.”
“Did it work?”
“Of course, after all, now, she is no longer dust.”
It was ridiculous. It took almost a year, from silent dust to a small stone. Now it landed, finally making a sound.
That money, just to leave her voice in the report, stacking up the reports, after death, began to erupt, began to have someone willing to listen to her cry, to speak for her.
Her efforts were not in vain, because there was a response.
Her efforts were also completely blacklisted, because she was already dead.
“How is the report doing? Just with you, an 18th-tier reporter, even if you publish an article, what’s the point? Not many people will read it. Back then, I called to the heavens, but no one cared about me.” Mo Wenli snorted coldly. Her dismissive voice seemed to say that she had already seen the ending.
“Times are different. Smart phones weren’t popular back then, and the impact of paper reports was ultimately limited. Now it’s different. Everyone has a phone in their hand, and they’re all online when they’re bored. She spent a full year preparing, it won’t be wasted.” Shi Hua looked resolute.
“Oh my, it’s amazing. I’ve only been in for a few years, and you’ve all kept up with the times. How many people are watching your lousy article?”
“Over ten thousand.”
“So many!” Mo Wenli was shocked. She stood up and walked to Shi Hua’s side. “To be honest, I didn’t think you could do it at first, but…” Mo Wenli hesitated.
“I don’t believe you, then why would I be willing to cooperate? I’m not afraid that you’ll sell me out, take the video and not say anything, and if the police insist that I killed someone, can I handle it?”
Hearing this, Mo Wenli snorted coldly. “I see through it. Anyway, there’s no home for me here. I’ll just go back in. It’s even free food. And I don’t think you’ll lie to me, right? After all, you used to like me. Even if we broke up later, you wouldn’t be so cruel, right? I’m still quite relieved about you.”
“By the way, back then, did I win her over?”
Here, Shi Hua certainly knew that Mo Wenli was talking about Meng Yue.
“No.”
“I thought you two were together. So you didn’t win her over. Then why can you do this for her? What do you like about her?” Gossip seemed to be a woman’s nature, and Mo Wenli was no exception. And in terms of age, Mo Wenli was only about thirty years old.
Seeing Shi Hua silent, Mo Wenli pressed, “Beautiful?” “Ugly?” “Good body?”
“Am I that superficial?” Shi Hua was speechless, his mouth twitched, looking at Mo Wenli.
“Otherwise, what did I like about you back then?”
“Okay, you’re right.” Shi Hua didn’t want to discuss this issue with her.