Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The boss shouted at his wife, “You know that my dad’s memory is bad, so why didn’t you remind him? It was murder! It’s not a joke!”
“You blame me for that?” The boss’s wife got anxious. “Your dad is so hot tempered! Would I dare to contradict him? Plus, you were in a fight with your dad and had left the house. You left me here in the restaurant alone! I was still angry about that!”
“Yes, but, you could’ve have still told the police in secret!” The boss got even more angry. “Great. See this? The police came here again now to bother us!”
The boss’s wife defended herself angrily, “Didn’t you know my brother was imprisoned back then? Ever since was locked up, anytime I deal with the police, it causes violent nausea!”
Police officers causing nausea?
Zhao Yu was embarrassed, as that was the first time he had heard of this. Plus, the way the boss’s wife was speaking was illogical.
“Are you trying to go against me?” The boss rolled up his sleeve in a semi-threatening way, jeering and lurching at his wife.
“Alright, alright!” Zhao Yu pulled them apart, then pointed at Lan Shuping’s photo to ask the boss’s wife, “Let me ask you, how long was the person gone for, between his visits that night?”
“At most, six or seven minutes, and definitely not more than ten. He returned very quickly!” The boss’s wife replied clearly.
Zhao Yu then showed Guan Jun’s photo and asked her, “Was this the other person who came to drink?”
“That’s right! Even though it has been ten years, I could recognize him with one glance!” The boss’s wife nodded.
“The h*ll?! You were saying you were angry!” The boss replied fiercely. “You money squanderer! So, you’re quite good at remembering men, eh?!”
“Hey, you shut up!” Zhao Yu roared, frightened the boss, who quickly shut his mouth.
Zhao Yu then asked the boss’s wife again, “When the man came back again, are you certain that the two of them didn’t leave again, in between?”
“Yes!” The boss’s wife was also frightened by Zhao Yu’s violent rage, so quickly answered. “Back then, the toilet was just a shed made with bricks. It was within our view. Although they went to the toilet, they came straight back, and very quickly!”
“Ridiculous!” The boss couldn’t help but interrupt again. “You even peeped when people went to the toilet… Ah…”
Zhao Yu kicked swiftly, knocking the boss onto the door.
Ah?!
Looking at him holding onto his stomach, curling up into a ball, even Zhao Ziyue was frightened, let alone the boss’s wife!
“Little twerp! Is it so difficult for you to keep your mouth shut?” Then, Zhao Yu raised his handphone and asked the boss’s wife, “Are you certain that there were only the two of them drinking? Were they really drunk?”
“They were definitely drunk!” the boss’s wife said. “They drank so much! I have been working in the restaurant for so many years, so I could tell who is really drunk and who isn’t! Police officer, I… I know I’m at fault. But, could you please be lenient, and not put me behind bars, please…”
Zhao Yu was simply at loss of words. After pondering this for a while, he asked her another question of the boss.
“Between half past nine to ten was the time of the crime. And, as that is the main entrance of the Second Franchise Flat, which is in direct line of sight from the bar,” Zhao Yu pointed the door and asked, “When the police car passed by, did you notice their reactions?”
“No… It wasn’t like that!” The boss’s wife replied. “The police car didn’t pass by here, because they went through the back door! Plus, there weren’t many customers that day, so we were in the kitchen doing busy work to catch up. So, we didn’t know what had happened. We only found out from our neighbors on our way home after we closed!”
Zhao Yu asked another question, “Okay, then. Were the two of them, after having drunk so much…were they behaving normally?”
“Quite normal, I guess?” The boss’s wife replied a bit awkwardly. “I think, the two of them were quite civilized. Although they drank a lot, they still spoke with manners, albeit a bit slurred! They didn’t shout or throw tantrums, unlike the other drunktards that have no standards!”
Oh…
Zhao Yu had to think about all of this carefully. At that very moment, there was a paradox in his mind.
This still cannot be right! Although Lan Shuping left around the time when Liu Jiao was killed, it still couldn’t explain the knife…
If Lan Shuping or Guan Jun had killed someone, how did they put the knife in Feng Kuo’s house? Plus, if the two of them had conducted the murder cooperatively, why would they opt to drink there calmly until middle of the night? The entire thing didn’t make sense, nor did it fit the conventional profile of a murder.
Back then, they were only young lads that were twenty years old. If they had really killed someone, they would be so nervous. Even if they drank at the bar to cover up and provide an alibi, their jitters would surely still be seen!
Could it be…
Liu Jiao’s death had nothing to do with Lan Shuping and Guan Jun? Was his investigation approach completely misled by Feng Lin?
But, why had Lan Shuping left the restaurant for a few minutes? In that few minutes, what did he do?
Hey?
Just a minute…
Suddenly, Zhao Yu recalled something. A few days ago, when Lan Shuping was forced to turn himself in at the police station, he once said that he went to confess his affection to Liu Jiao, but was scoffed at by her. Hence, he got angry and killed Liu Jiao by accident.
Tsk tsk…
Zhao Yu had a good think about what he had said. After a while, he relaxed his tightly knit eyebrows.
Oh…
It seemed that what Lan Shuping said wasn’t a fabricated story.…
Ten minutes later, Zhao Yu drove his car to a high class housing area in Qinshan and made a call to Lan Shuping. Lan Shuping walked out from the housing area very quickly and got into Zhao Yu’s car.
“Police officer Zhao…. Are you looking for me?” Lan Shuping asked. “What’s the matter? Why not just come into my house and take a seat?! We have yet to thank you! Mm…”
Zhao Yu didn’t even bother to reply, but only looked out of the window.
“Mm… Police officer Zhao?” Lan Shuping seemed to be less confident.
Zhao Yu still didn’t reply to him.
“Mm…” Then, Lan Shuping finally seemed to realize that something was not right. The smile on his face grew stiff.
Actually, Zhao Yu ignored him because he was using a psychological tactic. The more silent he was, the more Lan Shuping would feel guilty.
Finally, after a dozen more seconds, Zhao Yu turned around and said cooly, “Teacher Lan! Before Liu Jiao was killed, you had just been to her house! Tell me, what happened between the two of you?”
“Huh?!” Hearing that, Lan Shuping was shivering in fear and his face grew pale.
“Teacher Lan, you are a smart person,” Zhao Yu replied calmly. “If I am not confident, I wouldn’t have the time to joke around with you! I’m telling you, telling me the truth now is better than telling everyone later in the police station!”
Lan Shuping was so nervous that the corner of his lips were shivering, “Police Officer Zhao, where should I start?”
Zhao Yu stole a glance at him. “Lan, I am trying my best to help you!”
Lan Shuping creased his eyebrows and his facial features were contorted, as though he was fighting a mental war vigorously. Yet, he still remained silent.
Zhao Yu obviously didn’t want to give him any more time to devise a false story or scheme. He crossed over Lan Shuping and pushed open the car door. He then said lightly, “Forget about it, just get out of the car! Goodbye!”
“Don’t…Alright, okay…” Lan Shuping panted and swallowed his saliva to moisten his throat. Then, he said, “Yes, I admit it. Before Liu Jiao died, I did go and look for her! But, Officer Zhao, please believe in me. I really didn’t kill anyone!”
Chapter – Turn Around in a Circle
Zhao Yu had gotten it right. Lan Shuping did go to Liu Jiao’s place before she was killed. So, back then, when he confessed in Zhao Yu’s car, Lan Shuping had told the actual truth!
“That day, the production crew had wanted to film an extra scene,” Lan Shuping said. “According to the original script, there was an outstanding scene of mine. But, that scene was squeezed out by the first male lead! The first male lead was quite famous back then, so the director really had no choice. In the end, I didn’t even get to show my face. Also, with the deletion of my scene, the show was completely ahead of schedule.”
“You could imagine my distress. So, I wanted to look for a place to get some drinks!” Lan Shuping nodded and continued, “I admit, I intentionally went to the restaurant because it was near Liu Jiao’s flat!
“Yes, I was still hopeful. I was infatuated with Liu Jiao and imagined that she would change her mind one day! So, that was why, around nine that night, I went to look for her, with the aid of alcohol!”
Lan Shuping shook his head, as though he was trying to find a starting point in his memory. “I knew that Feng Kuo was still with the production team at that time, and that Liu Jiao was home alone. So, I went! In reality, I wanted to tell her something, in hopes that she would leave Feng Kuo and change her mind about him.”
“And???” Zhao Yu asked, impatient to hear more.
“Feng Kuo… he wasn’t honest…” Lan Shuping bit his lip as he spoke. “He was in a relationship with Liu Jiao, but he was still fooling around with another woman behind her back!”
“Oh? Another woman? Who?” Zhao Yu was curious.
“I don’t know her. She wasn’t from the production team, nor was she one of our classmates. She looked much younger than us, too. She might only have been a high schooler! But, she was quite pretty!” Lan Shuping said. “I discovered the affair when I saw them by chance. Feng Kuo was fetching her on a motorbike, and they looked quite close. I even asked Feng Kuo about it, but he didn’t admit anything! That dog!”
Then, Lan Shuping clenched his fists angrily. “When I saw that he had cheated on Liu Jiao, I… I felt very upset! So, that night, I went to look for Liu Jiao, because I wanted to tell her!”
“I never expected that, when I knocked on Liu Jiao’s door, she would not open the door. Instead, she lowered her voice and told me nervously that Feng Kuo was going to return anytime, and that my looking for her at that hour seemed inappropriate.”
As Lan Shuping recalled the event, the pain was etched in his face clearly. “That hurt me deeply! It was then that I finally realized that, no matter what I said, Liu Jiao would never like me in that way! So, I didn’t say anything, just turned around to leave!”
Once he finished speaking, Lan Shuping looked as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “After going downstairs, I was in a state of complete self-pity. So, I returned to the restaurant and continued drinking. I swear!”
“Then, my classmate Guan Jun got off work. He was staying at my place temporarily. As he didn’t have a key to open the door, he gave me a call. I told him to come over for a drink, too! How could we have known that, just when we were drinking, Liu Jiao was…”
Lan Shuping shook his head emotionally and sighed. “Sometimes, I regret everything. I have to wonder…If I had only stayed a little longer at Liu Jiao’s, would she be okay?”
Zhao Yu pondered what Lan Shuping had just said. This changed much in his mind.
Although Lan Shuping went to the scene, which was indeed suspicious, Zhao Yu didn’t think that he was the murderer. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have looked for Lan Shuping to talk about it so straightforwardly.
One main reason Zhao Yu thought he was innocent of the murder as that, the murderer that killed Liu Jiao had preplanned it, and it was done very quickly and brutally. But, it was so clear that Lan Shuping was bound by such deep affection towards Liu Jiao. If it was him, he definitely couldn’t have been so brutal and calculating.
“Police Officer Zhao!” Lan Shuping snapped him back to the present. “I was only about twenty years old back then. When I saw Feng Kuo being arrested, I dared not say anything! I was afraid that, if I were to say anything, the police would have treated me as the murderer!”
“Oh…” Zhao Yu murmured, then asked, “Then…if you are not the murderer, who else do you think it could be?”
“I really have no idea!” Lan Shuping said. “All these years, I thought it was Feng Kuo! I assumed that Liu Jiao found out about Feng Kuo’s cheating, and they had fought. Hence, Feng Kuo killed her by accident?!”
Lan Shuping continued. “But then, in order to remove suspicion, Feng Kuo escaped prison and kidnapped my Niuniu! If he was the real murderer, surely he wouldn’t be so crazy! So, my original thoughts and suspicions… seem unfounded!”
“Then… Do you think Guan Jun could have done it?” Zhao Yu suddenly asked.
“Guan Jun?” Lan Shuping was stunned and replied quickly. “Impossible! There was no reason for him to hurt her! I am very close with Guan Jun. Although he was also Liu Jiao’s classmate, they were not close at all. Plus, when Li Jiao was killed, Guan Jun was drinking with me! Before that, he was at work at the filming studio. The people there could prove that!”
True!
Zhao Yu nodded in silence. Although he had yet to see Guan Jun, since there were no real conflicts of interests, besides the ice radical, Guan Jun was not at a suspect anymore.
It is getting more and more interesting…and a bit confusing!
However, even though Zhao Yu was already confused, he asked, “Then… Could it be Feng Kuo’s sex partner? The woman that he was close to?”
“I really have no idea, I grew up with Feng Kuo since we were kids. We basically knew all of the same exact people, but I had never seen that woman before that one day!” Lan Shuping said.
“Then, ask around for me. Try to find out who the woman is, as she might be a new suspect!” Zhao Yu creased his eyebrows and ordered.
“Mm…” Lan Shuping said timidly. “Police Officer Zhao, I… I have something to ask!”
“What is it?”
“Feng Kuo is still alive, right?” Lan Shuping spoke carefully. “Then… why don’t you ask Feng Kuo yourself?”
Suddenly, Zhao Yu could hear crows cawing. That’s right! Feng Kuo wasn’t dead. I could just ask him directly…
“Alright! I’ll ask Feng Kuo then!” Zhao Yu shook his head and said, “Lan, about this, If you could temporarily keep it a secret! Also, there’s one more thing that I’d like to talk to you about…”
“I know, I know!” Lan Shuping nodded and said, “Police Officer Zhao, I already knew about Auntie Feng’s cancer, and I’m counseling my lover! I think, if you could reveal the truth to prove Feng Kuo is innocent, and prove that I’m clean, we will revoke the charges against Auntie Feng for kidnapping Niuniu. In the legal circle, I have many friends. So, I believe that, if we were to drop the charges and get them some help, Auntie Feng and her maidservant would be dealt with leniently and given only a light punishment!”
“Mm…” Actually, Zhao Yu originally only wanted to ask him about Lan Shuping’s wife’s situation, but Lan Shuping just kind of ran with it! He had definitely surprised Zhao Yu.
But, it was a kind gesture in his part, full of humanity. If they were to revoke their complaint, he could rehabilitate the wrongly accused Feng Kuo, making for an ending that was naturally what people would want to see.
But, there was a prerequisite for that to happen. He must solve the case of Liu Jiao!
The real murderer, who exactly was it?!
