With the handcuffs on, Zhang Haiyang first went to the bathroom to check the body.
Then the two found a marriage certificate in the cabinet next to the TV stand. The man on the certificate was the scruffy-bearded man, just without the beard, and the woman was the one dead in the bathroom.
The scruffy-bearded man was named Gu Youguo, 42 years old, from Changshuihe Village, Ningjiang County; the woman was named Du Jiao, 40 years old, also from Changshuihe Village, Ningjiang County. Looking at the registration info on the marriage certificate, the two had been married for twenty years.
Immediately after, Zhang Haiyang called the police station.
"Chief Zhang has already brought people over. We'll just wait here for them," Zhang Haiyang said, sitting down on the chair opposite Gu Youguo.
Luo Fei took the opportunity to go out to the balcony. He had just seen that the door on this side was always closed, but when he was at Zhang Lan's home, he clearly smelled the stench wafting from the balcony, making him suspect there was something wrong out there.
Sure enough, as soon as Luo Fei opened the balcony door, the odor stronger than from the bathroom filled his mouth and nose, and he immediately covered his nose and mouth with his hand.
The stench was emanating from the flowerbed on the balcony, about two meters long and one meter wide, filled with a large cluster of gardenias, blooming beautifully in white.
If nothing unexpected happened, there should be another body beneath the flowerbed.
Luo Fei noticed the small shovel next to the flowerbed, picked it up, and gently dug into the soil on top of the flowerbed. Before long, a face crawling with maggots, decayed beyond recognition, terrifying and grotesque, was revealed.
Even though Luo Fei had mentally prepared himself, he was still startled.
Looking at the body, the face had decayed beyond recognition, but judging by the length of the hair it should be a man.
"Boss, come over here, there's another body," Luo Fei shouted towards the living room.
Upon hearing Luo Fei's shout, Zhang Haiyang hurried over.
"This should be a male corpse. One male, one female; there seems to be a hidden story here," Zhang Haiyang gazed at the flowerbed's body, pondered for a moment, then said to Luo Fei, "Don't move the body, wait for the criminal investigation team to come and handle it."
Luo Fei nodded upon hearing this; he knew that cases like this were always handled by the criminal investigation team, as the police station's level was inadequate.
The two returned to the living room.
Zhang Haiyang again sat in the chair opposite Gu Youguo and then took out a cigarette.
"Want a smoke?" Zhang Haiyang asked, looking at Gu Youguo.
Gu Youguo didn't speak, just nodded.
Thus, Zhang Haiyang lit a cigarette for Gu Youguo.
Gu Youguo took a deep drag and slowly exhaled the smoke from his mouth, the thick white smoke instantly enveloping his face.
After Gu Youguo finished smoking, Zhang Haiyang asked, "Tell us!"
Gu Youguo didn't answer immediately but took another harsh drag, then slowly and solemnly said, "You guys just saw the marriage certificate too. That's right, the woman in the bathroom is my wife. We were childhood sweethearts, grew up together, studied together, fell in love together, graduated from technical school together, got assigned to Ningjiang County together. I taught at the junior middle school, she taught at Songxi Middle School. We liked each other, loved each other deeply. When we reached marriageable age, it was only natural for us to get married."
"Hahaha, does this sound like a fairy tale romance from a novel?"
"Yes, it's a fairy tale romance in real life. I don't know how many people envied our love story after hearing it." As Gu Youguo spoke, he began to laugh, but soon his laughter turned to tears.
"I thought the love between Du Jiao and I would be like a fairy tale, beautiful and pure. Although we never had the fruition of our love, it never affected our feelings. I never doubted our love."
"Until this past New Year's Day, a colleague told me he saw Du Jiao watching a movie with a man in Songxin Town Cinema. When I heard this news, I didn't care because I trusted our love, I didn't believe Du Jiao would betray me, I assumed my colleague was mistaken."
"I didn't pay much attention to it, but over the next few months, I found some oddities. Du Jiao spent less and less time with me, the number of times she stayed late at school grading assignments increased, and though she was not much of a makeup person before, she started trying it out. But I still didn't think too much, always trusting her."
"But on the 10th of last month, that day I came home from school intending to prepare teaching materials. I had a habit of smoking while working, and that day was no exception. While I was about to put the cigarette butt into the ashtray, I found a Chinese cigarette butt in it.
I smoked but never Chinese cigarettes, and normally no one but me would come to this study."
"In that moment, my mind suddenly recalled what my colleague said and my wife's changes during this period. I was terrified; I loved my wife very much, afraid of this matter being true, afraid of losing her and my home. I couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it, but rationally, I knew Du Jiao truly was with another man. My heart hurt so much; I couldn't imagine Du Jiao betraying me, ever betraying this love."
"That afternoon, I told Du Jiao I was going on a business trip to Linzhou City and wouldn't be back for the next couple of days. After calling Du Jiao, I opened a hotel room and just sat on the bed all the way until nighttime."
"At eleven o'clock, I walked out of the hotel. Along the way, I imagined many possibilities and thought about what to do if Du Jiao was really with another man, how I could handle it. But when I quietly opened the home door and saw the pair of black leather shoes at the entrance, heard indecent sounds coming from the bedroom, I realized I had no choice left. There were no paths left for me."
"I grabbed a cleaver from the kitchen, pushed open the bedroom door, and saw the man lying on Du Jiao. At that moment, I blanked out, couldn't think of anything else. I had only one thought — to cut down this pair of people."
"I don't know how I managed to kill them both. I only remember wielding the knife madly, one cut after another. When reason returned, both Du Jiao and the man were dead, my face and hands stained with blood."
"I don't know how to describe my state of mind at that time; there was no fear, no regret, just numbness. Knowing I killed people, fleeing was no option, nor did I want to run. Betrayed by the one I loved most, I felt my heart was dead too; living seemed meaningless."
"Originally, I didn't want to dispose of the bodies, but I didn't know when you'd come knocking. Those two bodies in the bedroom were indeed annoying, especially the man's. And I had to sleep, so after giving it a thought, I dug up the gardenias in the flowerbed and buried the body. I just left Du Jiao's body in the bathtub."
Having said this, Gu Youguo slowly leaned back on the sofa, his cigarette already burnt out.
Luo Fei and Zhang Haiyang didn't speak, unsure of what to say.
The living room fell into a temporary silence.
"Wee-woo~~wee-woo~~"
The sound of sirens suddenly broke the silence.