Chapter 41

Li Qingyao supported her hands on the bathroom countertop and took a deep breath. She felt that she had been impulsive just now, but she had done it and she didn't regret it, no matter what others thought.

After washing her face, she stared at herself in the mirror. She was bare-faced, thin, and her eyes were slightly red. She smiled at herself and walked out of the bathroom.

The restroom on this floor was in the middle of the corridor, dimly lit, with private rooms on both sides. The 2015 where they were meeting was on the right, and on the left, separated by seven or eight private rooms, was the staircase and the small hall. Li Qingyao glanced to the left inadvertently and saw a man and a woman standing in the small hall, talking.

It was Luo Huaizheng and Xiang Siling.

Luo Huaizheng had his back to her, one hand in his trouser pocket, as if silent. From the back, he was much taller and stronger than he was seven years ago, probably because he did a lot of manual labor. A part of his neck was exposed outside his collar, and his skin was darker.

Xiang Siling hugged herself with her arms and looked up at him. This posture made her look slimmer and more charming. She was smiling all the time and saying something. It was unknown whether she noticed Li Qingyao or not, as she never looked over here.

Li Qingyao sneered in her heart, is it true that time can smooth out everything? These two people can stand together and talk affectionately. She turned and entered the private room.

Li Qingyao didn't know that the conversation between the two was not pleasant. Luo Huaizheng left the room first, and Xiang Siling followed him out.

Xiang Siling said, "I came here today for no other reason than to apologize to you for what happened back then. You did this for me... No matter what others think, I feel like I owe you too much in this life. If there's anything I can help you with in the future, just let me know."

Luo Huaizheng replied: "If I knew you would come today, I would never come. Xiang Siling, I don't want to see you again in my life, and I don't need you to make up for anything. I don't owe anyone anything anymore."

-

The wine was almost finished, and the three people who had left the table returned to the table one after another. Soon, the dinner was over. Ma Junhong paid the bill, and everyone went to the door of the restaurant, some took a taxi, and some called a taxi.

Xiang Siling pressed the car key, and the lights of a blue Porsche came on. Some classmates were shocked, but they knew from previous conversations that Xiang Siling is now the vice president of a company and lives in a big villa, so it is not surprising that he owns a Porsche. Xiang Siling still walked to the car gracefully, waved goodbye to everyone, stepped on the accelerator, and left first.

Li Qingyao basically didn't look at Xiang Siling tonight. After leaving the hotel, she said hello to everyone, and didn't look at Luo Huaizheng, and went to the roadside to wait for the car she called. The car came quickly, and she turned around and got in without looking over here.

The classmates were almost all gone in twos and threes. Ma Junhong lived nearby, so his wife drove to pick him up. Ma Junhong had drunk a little too much, so he held Luo Huaizheng's hand and said with a thick tongue, "Brother, I'll take you there."

Luo Huaizheng smiled and said, "No, I live far away, in the industrial park, and it's very convenient to take the subway. It's already late, so don't bother you."

Ma Junhong refused and tried to persuade him a few more times. Luo Huaizheng simply stopped talking to him, pushed the man into his wife's hands, and walked quickly towards the subway station.

Ma Junhong was thrown into the car by his wife in a daze. Looking at the figure of Luo Huaizheng walking alone towards the subway station on the road ahead, his nose suddenly felt sore and he lowered his head and covered his eyes.

His wife asked, "What's wrong? How much did you drink? Why are you crying?"

Ma Junhong looked up, pointed in the direction that Li Qingyao took a taxi, and said, "That was the girl that Luo Huaizheng loved to death back then. Now she's a police officer and has a boyfriend who's a police officer. She doesn't even look at Brother Zheng anymore." He then pointed behind him in the direction where Si Ling drove away, "That was the girl who harmed Brother Zheng back then. Now she lives in a big villa and drives a Porsche. She's so comfortable. Wife, each of us has a happy and bright future as described in the textbooks, except Luo Huaizheng. He was so awesome back then. He was the only one in the school who was recommended to Tsinghua University. Everyone thought that he would have a brilliant life and live better than any of us. But now, who is Brother Zheng? He's a labor camp prisoner! What kind of life does he lead? He has to risk his life to survive in such a small, broken company. I can't even imagine how miserable Brother Zheng is. Wife, it hurts to see him like that. It's really too painful."

Ma Junhong naturally told his wife about what happened back then. His wife hesitated for a long time and said, "But...didn't Luo Huaizheng plead guilty to murder in court back then..."

Ma Junhong wiped away his tears vigorously, his expression stiff and gloomy, and he remained silent.

-

After sending Li Qingyao off, Chen Pu drove directly home.

He packed all the paper materials related to Li Jincheng into a big box. As soon as he got home, he dragged out the box and soon found a photo.

Even though it had been seven years since the photo was taken, and the person in the photo had become yellow and brittle, and looked young, Chen Pu had recognized the person at the first sight in the restaurant just now.

Luo Huaizheng, the criminal in that murder case.

Chen Pu has a complete set of photocopied files in his hand, which clearly records the course of the case.

On Thursday evening, April 2017, 4, Luo Huaizheng went to visit Xiang Siling's home as instructed by his class teacher.

According to Xiang's mother, Xiang Siling was not feeling well that day and did not go to class. She was busy with the business in the store and forgot to ask for leave and did not bring her cell phone with her.

Luo Huaizheng claimed that when he arrived at Xiang's house, he found the door ajar and the lights off. He heard Xiang Siling crying and she was pressed on the sofa by a man who intended to rape her. In a panic, Luo Huaizheng went forward and fought with the man. The man was drunk and attacked Luo Huaizheng to death. Luo Huaizheng claimed that he was forced to defend himself. While the two were fighting, Xiang Siling hid in the room. Luo Huaizheng picked up the iron candlestick on the coffee table and hit the man's head several times, and the man fell in a pool of blood. But Luo Huaizheng was also knocked unconscious by the man with a heavy ashtray.

When Luo Huaizheng woke up, the man had already died. Xiang's mother, who had just returned home, saw this and immediately called the police.

Because the dead man was Xiang Siling's father.

Xiang's mother firmly denied Luo Huaizheng's claim that "father raped daughter" and accused Luo Huaizheng of taking advantage of her daughter's illness and sleep with the intention of raping her. The thief cried "stop thief" and her husband died in the fight with him.

Xiang Siling was so frightened that she kept crying for a long time, like a frightened bird, and was unable to speak.

The case involved two high school students who had just reached adulthood, one of whom was an outstanding student who had been recommended for admission to Tsinghua University. The impact was very serious, and the police immediately conducted an intensive and detailed investigation.

The survey concluded that:

First, there is insufficient evidence of "father raping daughter" and insufficient evidence of Luo Huaizheng's self-defense. No semen or DNA of Xiang Wei, the father, was found in Xiang Siling's vagina or underwear. And the most powerful evidence is that Xiang Siling underwent a physical examination and she was still a virgin. And according to the results of the neighborhood survey, Xiang Wei has always treated Xiang Siling as a normal father and daughter, loving her quite a lot, and has not had any abnormal behavior for many years. Xiang Wei himself also has a relatively regular private life and has no extramarital affairs.

Second, there is insufficient evidence that Luo Huaizheng intended to rape Xiang Siling. For the same reason, there was no physical evidence at the scene to show that Luo Huaizheng had any sexual behavior or intention towards Xiang Siling.

Third, there is sufficient evidence of Luo Huaizheng's manslaughter. Luo Huaizheng's DNA was found in Xiang Wei's skin and wounds, and the fingerprints on his neck matched Luo Huaizheng's fingerprints. On the candlestick, the murder weapon, there were only Luo Huaizheng's fingerprints and the blood of the two of them. In addition, there were a lot of signs of struggle at the scene, and the identification personnel could almost replicate the entire struggle process. Luo Huaizheng himself was also seriously injured in the head, but he was the one who did not die.

In addition, there was no surveillance camera installed downstairs in that building, so it was impossible to prove whether anyone else entered Xiang's home during the time of the crime. Xiang's mother was managing the clothing store at the entrance of the community that afternoon and took a nap. She did not go out. The two salesmen and the surveillance camera in the store can prove this. She did not have the time and motive to kill. Xiang Wei was a lazy and idle man, but he had no enemies or creditors.

Later, Xiang Siling spoke up. According to her, her father wanted to beat her because her grades had dropped, but Luo Huaizheng came in and misunderstood, and her father was drunk, so the two of them started fighting. It was all an accident.

However, the court still found Luo Huaizheng guilty of manslaughter. Luo Huaizheng confessed to hitting Wei with a candlestick and strangling him, causing him to have difficulty breathing. In the end, Luo Huaizheng was sentenced to five years in prison, and Tsinghua University soon revoked his admission qualification.

……

Strictly speaking, Li Jincheng did not disappear during the investigation of the Xiang Wei case. At that time, Li Jincheng was just a rookie who had just graduated. Although he participated in the case, he was just playing a supporting role and running errands.

The case was basically concluded within half a month. At that time, the focus of the criminal police team where Li Jincheng worked had shifted to new cases.

The reason why Chen Pu judged that Li Jincheng might still be investigating the case was that, first, Li Jincheng had mentioned it to two colleagues that year and he wanted to investigate further; second, Li Jincheng always had the habit of carrying a notebook when investigating cases. On the night he disappeared, after taking a shower, he left the notebook at home and happened to not bring it with him. A lot of information about the Xiang Wei case was written on it.

Chen Pu also repeatedly read the case files of Xiang Wei. Regardless of whether Luo Huaizheng was kind or had a misunderstanding, there was solid evidence that he accidentally killed Xiang Wei. So Chen Pu couldn't understand what Li Jincheng was doubting about. Was there any other hidden story in this case?
He even wondered, was Li Jincheng really still investigating this case when he disappeared? Was he missing for something else and had nothing to do with the Xiang Wei case?
Chen Pu knew that Luo Huaizheng and Li Qingyao graduated from the same high school, but he had never connected the two together, nor did he know that they had been in the same class.

Li Qingyao never mentioned it either.

But today, looking at the two people's behavior and eyes, Chen Pu saw for the first time a look of distraught on Li Qingyao, the crazy woman. Luo Huaizheng was not much better, his eyes were fixed.

If they hadn't been having an affair before, Chen Pu would have gouged out his own detective eyes.

It turns out that she is not heartless and reckless, she just judges people by their appearance - this thought flashed through Chen Pu's mind.

He sat cross-legged on the ground with his arms on his thighs. He sat there in a daze for a long time, and finally cursed "fuck" under his breath.

He thought again, if this happened to someone else, a woman who had such a vague and obscure relationship with the Li Jincheng case, he would definitely investigate her thoroughly and never let her go easily.

But she happened to be Li Jincheng's biological sister. She even gave up her comfortable and smooth life for Li Jincheng, and came to the front line to follow him, an old criminal policeman, and lived a hard and dangerous life from then on.

Chen Pu suddenly realized something.

In the more than one month they had known each other, he made a mistake towards Li Qingyao that an old criminal policeman should never have made.

It must be because she is Li Jincheng's sister, and he loves her so much that he always tells himself that Li Qingyao is like this, and Li Qingyao is like that. No matter what she does, he automatically finds reasons and explanations for her.

But in fact, he didn't know what kind of person she was in the past, and what she was thinking now.

Chen Pu said, if I don’t show up soon, you will all be climbing over the wall.