CM | Chapter 70

Xu Shuo and Gu Yao drove straight toward the South District Sub-bureau. All the way there, Gu Yao’s mind never stopped spinning. She kept staring out the window, pondering this sudden turn of events.

Xu Shuo was not exactly fully focused on driving either. He kept glancing at her. Seeing her fingers laced tightly together on her knees, refusing to loosen even now, with her whole body taut, he finally could not help but sigh midway through the drive.

“You can’t keep doing this. You’re too anxious.”

Gu Yao paused and instinctively looked at Xu Shuo. “I’m not anxious. I’m just thinking.”

Xu Shuo asked, “Oh? Then are you thinking about Zhang Rui’s ‘accident,’ or are you thinking about Xiao Yunxia’s murder?”

Gu Yao answered honestly, “Xiao Yunxia.”

Xu Shuo understood almost instantly. “Thinking about her cause of death? That’s the police’s job. If you figure it all out, what is Deputy Team Leader Xia supposed to investigate?”

Gu Yao understood the logic, but people were always creatures who could talk the talk and not walk the walk.

She asked, “When you were working on the Lian Qiyun case, did you find out if his family had any enemies?”

Sigh…

Xu Shuo pursed his lips and, as if conceding, said, “The ones who hated Lian Qiyun were all women, you know that already. There wasn’t much on Xiao Yunxia’s side either. She stayed home taking care of the child all the time and didn’t really have the chance to make enemies outside.”

“So besides Tian Fang and Zhang Lichun, there weren’t any other possibilities…” Gu Yao mentally ran through the list, but when Tian Fang and Zhang Lichun’s faces appeared in her mind, those two possibilities were instantly overturned.

Gu Yao said, “Tian Fang is still in detention waiting for sentencing. She couldn’t possibly get out and commit the murder.”

Xu Shuo said, “Sentencing is just a few days away.”

Gu Yao said, “Zhang Lichun doesn’t have the guts for it. If she were capable of killing Xiao Yunxia, she wouldn’t have been forced by her into going to court in the first place. Besides, the trial is already over. For Xiao Yunxia, Zhang Lichun is useless now too. The two of them didn’t need to keep entangling each other at all.”

Xu Shuo didn’t respond.

Gu Yao waited a moment, then turned her gaze toward him. Xu Shuo was still quietly driving, watching the road, looking utterly detached from the world.

If this had been before, Gu Yao would definitely have snapped at him a couple of times. But at this moment, she only felt that no matter what thorny issue she ran into during this period, as long as she was with this person, her thoughts somehow stayed clear all the way through, and some corner of her heart felt steady too.

Most importantly, she didn’t even need to guess what he was thinking. She didn’t need to guess at all.

So when Xu Shuo stayed silent, Gu Yao did not press him either.

It was not until the car stopped at a red light that Xu Shuo finally spoke. “I’ve handled so many cases. Situations like Xiao Yunxia’s, where there seems to be no enemy in sight but the person is killed anyway, usually boil down to two possibilities. One, the killer was looking for trouble. Two, she brought it on herself.”

Gu Yao nodded. “Given Xiao Yunxia’s personality and her earlier behavior, it’s obvious she had become somewhat mentally unstable because of Lian Qiyun’s case, maybe even severely anxious. So it’s very possible she was the one who actively picked fights with people in a fit of impulse. But this time she ran into someone even more ruthless, and that person took her life.”

Xu Shuo said, “Killing someone is not easy. Either you’re extremely stupid, or extremely smart.”

“Stupid people kill in a moment of impulse, but after killing, they don’t know what to do. Most of them flee. Smart people, like Feng Zhenghui, think several steps ahead. He would never kill aimlessly. Everyone who died at his hands was carefully selected.”

“With Xiao Yunxia’s ability, she shouldn’t have been able to provoke someone like Feng Zhenghui.”

Gu Yao suddenly went silent.

Xu Shuo started the car again. They were only two blocks away from the South District Sub-bureau. He stole another glance at Gu Yao. Her hands were no longer clenched together, and she seemed a little more relaxed, but she was still looking out the window, her brows furrowed as if they could not be smoothed out.

Xu Shuo let out another silent sigh.

Gu Yao did not notice these small movements. In those eyes fixed on the window, some of her emotions were gradually sinking too, like stones falling into a lake. The stones pierced through the undercurrent and sank to the bottom, but the ripples and bubbles stirred by them kept surging up in layers.

Some incredible ideas and suspicions, just like those ripples and bubbles, surfaced in Gu Yao’s mind too.

She didn’t even know what she was thinking. It was absurd, pure fantasy, yet she actually ended up somehow connecting Xiao Yunxia’s murder to Zhu Shengxi…

The moment she thought of that, Gu Yao felt a chill run through her whole body.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to drive away those baseless thoughts, but what surged up instantly were two images.

– That day at the courthouse entrance, Xiao Yunxia was goaded by Xu Shuo into going after Zhu Shengxi. Although she rushed over, there was fear in her eyes.

– Last night after leaving the South District Sub-bureau, Zhu Shengxi said this in the car: “If because of him you get dragged into other trouble again, next time I won’t just have someone teach him a lesson.”

But these were clearly two completely unrelated things. Gu Yao had no idea what was wrong with her, that she could actually connect them.

With Zhu Shengxi’s way of doing things, if money could settle it, he would not make a big fuss. For example, when dealing with Xiao Yunxia, he could just pay her off and be done with it. But with Xu Shuo, Xu Shuo was not short of money at all, and Zhu Shengxi knew money would be useless on him, so he found people to “warn” him instead.

Then what about Xiao Yunxia? She was capable of making a scene in the street, clawing and fighting like a shrew, so clearly she was not someone to mess with. After Lian Qiyun died, she had no source of income. Money would run out eventually. Not to mention she had promised Zhang Lichun she would give her a sum of money to testify falsely. In the end, Xiao Yunxia was going to become a bottomless pit too. So when she hit rock bottom, the first cash machine she would think of would naturally still be Zhu Shengxi.

But… would Zhu Shengxi really resort to murder over a little money?

Her train of thought suddenly broke off there. Gu Yao took a breath and instantly rejected the hypothesis. Impossible.

She instinctively believed Zhu Shengxi was not the kind of person who would use such an extreme method. And he certainly was not the kind to sacrifice his career and future for a shrew like Xiao Yunxia.

That killer had to be a hundred times more “shrewish” than Xiao Yunxia.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived at the South District Sub-bureau.

The hallway of the criminal investigation team was thick with smoke. Everyone here had stayed up all night, and by now it was nearly noon, the sleepiest time of the day.

Xia Ming sat in a chair, leaning his head back and letting out a huge yawn at the ceiling. Tears sprayed from the corners of his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw Gu Yao and Xu Shuo being led in by an officer.

Xia Ming immediately perked up. He made himself another cup of coffee and waved to the others, then called three people over to take their statements separately from them.

This time, it was still Xia Ming who interviewed Gu Yao.

As soon as the interrogation room door closed, Xia Ming handed Gu Yao a glass of water and sat down. “Please don’t mind us. Two homicide cases happened one after the other last night, and both of them had something to do with you. This is the first time we’ve run into something like this too.”

Gu Yao took the cup, smiled, and said, “I don’t mind. Ask me anything you need, Officer Xia. I’ll cooperate as much as I can.”

Xia Ming nodded at the criminal investigator responsible for taking notes, and the questioning began quickly. The process took two minutes, after which Xia Ming brought the discussion back on track.

“I heard you had a conflict with Xiao Yunxia. When exactly was it, what was it about, and where did it happen?”

Gu Yao thought for a moment and said, “It was before the hearing for the Lian Qiyun case. Xiao Yunxia spent money trying to bribe a witness named Zhang Lichun. That day, Xiao Yunxia came looking for Zhang Lichun again, and I happened to be at Zhang Lichun’s house, where I ran into her.”

Xia Ming asked in confusion, “Why were you at Zhang Lichun’s house?”

“She’s my patient. I was about to give her psychological counseling when Xiao Yunxia showed up.”

“And then? What happened?”

“Then Xiao Yunxia concealed her identity from me, but I exposed her. I told her to leave, or else I would tell the judge about her attempt to bribe a witness…”

Gu Yao spoke at an even pace, her expression also very flat. Without waiting for Xia Ming to ask, she recounted the events of that day from start to finish, word for word.

Only when Gu Yao finished speaking did Xia Ming ask, “After that, did you see Xiao Yunxia again?”

Gu Yao said, “Yes, on the day of the hearing at the courthouse entrance.”

Xia Ming nodded without revealing anything. “That day at the courthouse entrance, what did Xu Shuo and Xiao Yunxia say, and then Xiao Yunxia charged at that group of media reporters?”

Gu Yao paused, somewhat surprised by Xia Ming’s source of information. “I don’t know what they said. I was some distance away from them at the time.”

Xia Ming suddenly smiled. “You didn’t even guess? At that time, those reporters were interviewing Zhu Shengxi from ‘Jiangcheng Gene.’ Isn’t he your boyfriend? When you saw Xiao Yunxia rush over, you didn’t ask him?”

A brief silence settled in the interrogation room.

Only when Gu Yao finally spoke did she say, “Lian Qiyun had once been one of the senior executives at ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ while he was alive, but his work conduct was problematic and he had already been fired. Zhu Shengxi has also already submitted his termination letter to the court. However, because Lian Qiyun had once made contributions to the company, after he died, ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ did pay Xiao Yunxia a severance allowance. The reason Xiao Yunxia rushed over in front of so many people was pure showmanship. She just wanted to let the reporters see how pitiful she and her son were as a mother and child. But to save face for her, Zhu Shengxi did not publicly mention that the severance allowance had already been given.”

He had already given her severance money, which was indeed consistent with Xia Ming’s judgment.

Xia Ming asked, “Then after that day, did you see Xiao Yunxia again?”

Gu Yao said, “No.”

Xia Ming said, “What about the night of June 3rd, where were you?”

Gu Yao thought back. The night of June 3rd was just a few days ago.

“I was in the hospital. I was admitted in the evening and didn’t leave until the next morning.” Gu Yao answered truthfully. After a two-second pause, she asked Xia Ming in return, “Officer Xia, I’m here just to cooperate with your investigation and tell you everything I know to the best of my ability, to help the police solve the case as soon as possible. But I’m not a suspect. Are you asking me this now because you suspect me?”

Xia Ming smiled. “Before Xiao Yunxia was murdered, she only had conflicts with two people, one was you, and the other was Xu Shuo. I’m asking this in the hope of clearing you two as quickly as possible.”

Gu Yao raised a hand and rubbed her forehead. “I have a hospitalization record. You can check it. Xiao Yunxia did have a conflict with me, but not enough for me to kill her.”

Xia Ming did not continue dwelling on this topic. Instead, he changed direction and asked, “And Zhang Lichun? From what you’ve said, Zhang Lichun seemed to have been under financial threat from Xiao Yunxia all along. Did she ever reveal her true inner thoughts to you?”

Gu Yao answered, “For the past few years, Zhang Lichun had been taking money from Xiao Yunxia mainly because Xiao Yunxia didn’t want her to talk about Lian Qiyun’s private matters, and Zhang Lichun kept her mouth shut. Their relationship basically broke down after Lian Qiyun died. Although Xiao Yunxia tried to get Zhang Lichun to commit perjury, Zhang Lichun’s testimony was already invalid in court. For Zhang Lichun, Xiao Yunxia was the one supporting her. Even if she couldn’t get the later payments, it still wouldn’t be enough to make her kill someone.”

Xia Ming smiled again. “After all this, it’s all about money. Your boyfriend Zhu Shengxi also gave Xiao Yunxia severance money. Do you think if Xiao Yunxia spent all the money in her hands, she would go back and ask him for a second payment?”

“So after going around in such a big circle, Deputy Team Leader Xia was really trying to ask about Zhu Shengxi.”

Gu Yao took a breath, feeling a little unhappy at once. But then she thought about it and realized that even she had subconsciously connected Xiao Yunxia’s murder with Zhu Shengxi. Not to mention the police. After all, Xiao Yunxia’s web of relationships was this simple, and all of them were tied to money.

Thinking of that, Gu Yao said, “On the night of June 3rd, Zhu Shengxi came to the hospital to see me. After that, he should have gone back to the company, probably with his driver taking him there. If you want to know his schedule, you can check ‘Jiangcheng Gene’s’ internal surveillance footage. Also, he manages such a huge company. From the company’s standpoint, they have already shown their sincerity to Xiao Yunxia. If Xiao Yunxia thought the money was not enough and wanted more later, whether Zhu Shengxi gave it or not would be from the company’s standpoint, not a personal grievance. ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ could absolutely refuse to give severance again. If Xiao Yunxia kept pestering them, ‘Jiangcheng Gene’ could even call the police. And whether it’s Zhu Shengxi or ‘Jiangcheng Gene,’ neither of them is short of this little bit of money, let alone willing to kill over it.”

Actually, after a full morning of investigation, Xia Ming already had a basic grasp of Xiao Yunxia’s financial dealings. Her money in and out went through only a few accounts. The ones most frequently involved were Zhang Lichun’s and Lian Qiyun’s accounts. But now one was dead and one had gone out of contact, while there was another account that only had one transaction, with a large amount transferred in. That was the corporate account of ‘Jiangcheng Gene.’

Apart from the fluctuations in money, Xiao Yunxia’s life was as clean as a blank sheet of paper. Other than taking care of the child every day, buying groceries, cooking, and occasionally quarreling and throwing tantrums with people on the street over some small misunderstanding, there was nothing else unusual about her.

But if someone were killed over a minor dispute, that would count as a crime of impulse. Most of the time, the killer would pick up something at the scene to use as a weapon.

Yet Xiao Yunxia had clearly been pushed down from a high place. After being pushed, her body was stuffed into a burlap sack and thrown into a wastewater ditch. That was absolutely not a crime of impulse, but a premeditated murder.

After killing her, the murderer was extremely calm, used a practiced method, and even prepared transportation for moving the body.

So the question was, what exactly had Xiao Yunxia done to provoke such a deadly disaster? Or rather, what kind of ability did Xiao Yunxia have that would make the killer go to such lengths?

In fact, by the time they got this far, Xia Ming’s team had basically ruled out Zhang Lichun as a suspect. Bringing Gu Yao and Xu Shuo back to assist with the investigation was only in the hope of finding some clue from their leads that might help solve the case.

Xu Shuo and Gu Yao were not their objects of suspicion either.

Xia Ming’s instinct ultimately settled on the line connected to ‘Jiangcheng Gene,’ because by this month, Xiao Yunxia’s account was already in the red, and she still owed several outside debts. If no other income came in, the bank would soon begin to collect.

So at a time like this, who would Xiao Yunxia go to for help?

Also, Xiao Yunxia had a son named Xiao Yun. After the incident, the child disappeared. Where had he gone? Had Xiao Yunxia sent him away, or had he also already…

Naturally, Gu Yao knew nothing about any of Xia Ming’s investigations.

When Gu Yao finished giving her statement and came out, she only felt a dull headache. It was probably because she had not been resting well for days, and her nerves were stretched so tight that her body had started protesting.

Seeing Gu Yao rubbing her temples, Xu Shuo stepped forward and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Yao shook her head. She still felt a little dizzy. “I’m fine.”

But as she spoke, her body swayed a little.

Xu Shuo instinctively supported her by the elbow, his gaze focused. Once Gu Yao steadied herself, he let out a soft breath of relief. Who knew that when he looked up again, he would meet Xia Ming’s eyes just then.

Xia Ming had somehow been standing behind them the whole time, silently watching everything.

The two men’s gazes met, and suddenly everything became clear.

Xu Shuo slid both hands into his trouser pockets and raised an eyebrow at Xia Ming, looking completely open and unconcerned.

Xia Ming also curled one corner of his lips without showing much expression, stepped forward, and said, “Thank you both very much for your cooperation. If we need your help with anything later on, we’ll contact you again.”

Xu Shuo replied lightly, “You’re welcome, Deputy Team Leader Xia.”

Gu Yao also nodded at Xia Ming, then said to Xu Shuo, “I’ll go to the restroom first.”

Gu Yao was gone for five minutes. She washed her face and only came out after the dizziness in her head faded.

Xu Shuo was standing in the corridor outside. Seeing Gu Yao come out, he asked, “How is it, better?”

Gu Yao walked toward the exit. “I’m fine.”

Xu Shuo followed after her. “Getting dizzy twice in such a short time, you really should find time for a checkup.”

Gu Yao looked at him inexplicably. “When did I get dizzy twice?”

Xu Shuo was extremely serious. “Last time on the street, and today.”

Gu Yao said, “I didn’t get dizzy today.”

Xu Shuo choked for a moment. “Then it’s almost the same. Do you have low blood sugar?”

Gu Yao simply ignored him.

The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment. Neither of them said a word until they walked out of the sub-bureau building.

Only after they were outside the entrance did Gu Yao suddenly stop in her tracks.

Xu Shuo stopped too and asked, “Are you dizzy again? Look at you…”

But the next second, Gu Yao shushed him.

Xu Shuo choked again. Just as he was about to defend his good intentions, his peripheral vision caught a man and woman standing outside the building.

The man was Xia Ming. Standing in the sunlight, he looked even more tired than he had inside, his expression also serious, even impatient. From his body language, it was not hard to tell that the woman had come to him on her own, not that they had arranged to meet. He was very unwilling, but still had to come out and deal with it.

And the woman standing across from Xia Ming was… Du Tong?!