Lin Shuyue, Su Lin and Wang Lan just stood there, watching as Jiang's mother was grabbed by the hair and beaten to the ground by Zhu's mother who rushed out.
Two sisters who had known each other for decades, their friendship was completely severed because one of them was mentally retarded. Zhu Xiangjun sighed and began to feel lucky that she hadn't discovered this after marrying Jiang Yele. If she had found out after marriage, she would have been disgusted for years. If they had a child, it would have been even more terrible. She would have been arguing with the Jiang family for years.
Su Lin watched this scene, feeling incredibly relieved. Her parents came downstairs, and after seeing this and hearing Zhu's mother scolding Jiang's mother, they wanted to rush over and help Zhu's mother kick mother Jiang's ass. Where the hell did this idiot come from? So, you think your son is the one who can't suffer any loss? Then, after hearing that Jiang's mother was the one who stirred up trouble, Su's mother understood.
She shouted to her daughter, "Linlin, don't listen to the nonsense those mentally ill people say. And don't listen to that little girl either. Some people just live in a cesspool and want to drag other women into it with them."
Su's mother was from Shanghai. Her tone was the unique soft Wu dialect, but the words she said were like knives, piercing into Jiang's mother's most shameful heart.
She fought back fiercely against Zhu's mother, now no longer pretending. "Liu Yunzhen, we grew up together in the same village. How did you get to marry such a good man and have such wonderful children? Why should I marry a second-rate man, live as a widow for years, and have to watch your family thrive, and your son and daughter become successful?"
"Don't you love your daughter? Then let her marry my son. She has to go through all the sufferings that I have endured. This is fair." At this moment, the look in Jiang's mother's eyes when she looked at Zhu's mother was no longer filled with pretended closeness, but with deep and unbreakable hatred.
Mother Zhu sighed, clearly furious. "That's funny. My mother-in-law was the one who came to your house to propose marriage. You were the one who disliked him because he spent all day in the ditch and was so dirty. I didn't mind his dirtiness, and I married him. Didn't you brag about marrying into the Jiang family, both openly and covertly, at that time? Now it's not good anymore?"
Zhu's mother's words crushed the little self-esteem that Jiang's mother had to the ground. Jiang's mother was beaten so hard that her whole body was in pain. She looked up at Zhu's father. The man who almost became her man was standing there, looking at her with a cold face. After him, his man, Jiang Yele's father, had been standing there for who knows how long.
Mother Jiang's face turned pale. Mother Zhu also saw it. In the past, she would have protected Mother Jiang, but now she didn't want to care. She stood up, adjusted her clothes, combed her hair, and went over to talk to Su Lin's parents.
They were all family members of the victims. Su Lin's parents also chatted with Zhu's parents. After a few words, they decided to go out for dinner together. They invited Lin Shuyue. Lin Shuyue and her boyfriend were the heroes who discovered Jiang Yele and Yao Hongyi's affair so early. If they hadn't discovered their affair, they would have worked together to kill Cheng Mao today. Who knows if they would conspire to kill their daughter in the future?
Lin Shuyue declined. She waved her phone at them and said, "I won't go with you. My boyfriend is waiting for me to have a late meal with him."
It was almost afternoon and they hadn't eaten their meal yet.
Su Lin and Zhu Xiangjun looked at each other and said, "Then we'll treat you to dinner another day."
"No problem." Lin Shuyue waved at them and left. On the way down from Yuanbao Mountain, Lin Shuyue had already exchanged contact information with them and said that she would report the matter. Su Lin and Zhu Xiangjun had no objections.
They wish that the names of Jiang Yele and Yao Hongyi would become more famous. As for whether they are afraid of being looked at strangely, they are not afraid. They are victims, not perpetrators. Those shameless perpetrators are not afraid, so why should they, the innocent people, be afraid?
Lin Shuyue drove directly to the gate of the Public Security Bureau. After a while, Hang Jiabai came out and the two chose the nearest tea restaurant to have dinner.
They ordered half a roast goose. The roast goose had just been taken out of the hanging oven, and the skin was still crispy. The fat under the skin had melted into the goose meat, making it fat but not greasy, fragrant but not woody. If you dip it in a little plum sauce, the taste would be even better.
The two of them ate half a roast goose without leaving a single drop. After the meal, Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai made an appointment to go to the park together after get off work in the evening. Then Hang Jiabai went back to work, and Lin Shuyue returned to Xijiang Apartment to write a report.
After writing the report on anti-campus violence and sending it to Huang Qiang, she created a new blank document and wrote about the case of the college student rolling down a cliff and sent it to him.
After that, no matter what Huang Qiang thought, she changed into pajamas, got into bed, and slept soundly.
She slept until five in the afternoon. When she got up, she looked at the bedside and saw a newspaper.
The first article that caught her eye was "Adoptive Parents Murdered: Was He the Murderer?" Lin Shuyue read further and found the second article was "College Student Falls Off Cliff."
As Lin Shuyue picked up the newspaper and read it, she felt that the current newspaper headlines were becoming more and more straightforward.
The adoptive parents case tells the story of Mengmeng's parents being mysteriously murdered at home. While the police were still investigating the social relations of the murdered, the body of Mengmeng's grandmother Zhang Guangfen appeared at the door of Zuo Musheng's house. The police immediately focused their attention on Geng Liqun, but when they found Geng Liqun's home, Geng Liqun was standing by the Shenlong Lake. The police ran over and he jumped in. At the place where he jumped into the water, there was a radio with the reason why Geng Liqun killed people recorded on it.
The entire case was sealed with Geng Liqun's death. Later, when someone compiled information about major cases from around the country, they compiled this information. Someone even interviewed Zuo Musheng. At the time, Zuo Musheng was raising Mengmeng, and the two lived a comfortable life. Mengmeng was also very promising, with excellent grades and even admission to a prestigious university.
Lin Shuyue thought of Mengmeng, who had been sent back to the orphanage by Zuo Musheng, and sighed. She decided to visit the orphanage more often and pay more attention to them. If Mengmeng needed help, she would help him. This was just compensation for changing Mengmeng's original life trajectory.
The second report is much more interesting. It comes from a newspaper published twenty years later, in 2024. By then, Zhu Xiangjun and Su Lin had died. They both died of illness. Their children also had their own health issues.
Zhu Xiangjun's parents and brothers also met with accidents within three years, and Jiang Yele spent twenty years scheming to seize the Zhu family's fortune. Yao Hongyi's situation was no less tragic, with the Su family of three and Su Lin's child also dead.
Cheng Mao, who first discovered their affair, died at the end of 2024. Huang Xiaomi, also an insider, survived until Jiang Yele and Yao Hongyi's crimes were exposed, but her life was not easy. Because of her admiration and understanding for that group, she was passed around by various men with ulterior motives, coaxed into bearing several children with sweet talk. Now in her forties and fifties, without a stable family or a job, she bore children for others, yet couldn't even afford to eat.
Moreover, because she had been with so many men and had so many children, she was considered a fickle woman. A newspaper interviewed her, and by then, she no longer had the love and admiration she once had for that group, only endless resentment.
Her experience, however, was far from sympathetic, especially when she revealed that Su Lin and Yao Hongyi were together, and that she had been the matchmaker. The report was released, and she was reviled by everyone, to the point where people pelted her with rotten vegetable leaves whenever she walked out. Some even called her the "Venerable Saint of the World."
Lin Shuyue muttered to herself, "Serves her right!" and continued reading. She finally saw how Jiang Yele and Yao Hongyi were discovered. Surprisingly, they were reported by someone, Wang Lan. After the mysterious deaths of three members of the Su family and Su Lin's child, she sensed something was amiss and spent two years tracking Yao Hongyi, searching for evidence of his crimes. During that time, the tail end of a typhoon swept over Jiang Yele.
After reading the report, the phone rang. Lin Shuyue let go of the newspaper and let it float in the air. Then she picked up the phone and walked down the stairs. Hang Jiabai was waiting for her downstairs.
Lin Shuyue got in the car and fastened her seat belt: "Are you not busy now?"
Lin Shuyue would chat with Wu Dongyan and Ye Xueyu from time to time. They have been very busy recently, mostly because they are re-examining the cases that were suppressed when Yang Baozong was in power twenty years ago.
"I'm not busy anymore. The tasks assigned to our team are almost completed. Our team members can handle the remaining problems by themselves." It was precisely because he had free time during this period and they were going to the capital together that Hang Jiabai decided to confess to Lin Shuyue.
It takes time to fall in love. Before, they were too busy and had to squeeze in time for eating and sleeping. Under such circumstances, falling in love was not just falling in love, but an experience of love, the kind that could not last a week.
Hang Jiabai dragged Lin Shuyue toward the park. It was almost dark, but the park was getting more and more crowded. Children were roller-skating, their wheels lighting up as they moved. There were many food stalls along the roadside. Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai had eaten a full lunch, so neither was particularly hungry. However, Hang Jiabai bought Lin Shuyue a sweet potato.
The sweet potato was very big, as thick as her arm. It had been roasted for a long time, and the skin was soft and could be peeled off without much effort. The flesh inside was roasted until it looked like honey. If you were not careful, it would ooze out all over your hand, and it was sticky and extremely uncomfortable.
Hang Jiabai had anticipated this situation and had already prepared mineral water. After Lin Shuyue finished eating, the two washed their hands on the grass by the roadside. Along the way, countless people passed by them, including elderly people who came out for a walk to digest their food, and people who were out strolling with their children.
The two chatted about everything under the dim lights on the roadside. After washing their hands, they held hands tightly. In the middle of the conversation, Lin Shuyue received a call from Lou Fengqin, who asked when she would be back.
The 24th was the day to go to the capital, and Lou Fengqin was already helping Lin Shuyue pack. This was the first time Lin Shuyue had gone so far away, and Lou Fengqin wanted to bring her entire family with her.
Today is the 21st, but Lin Shuyue is not in a hurry.
After walking around the park and reaching the place where the cremated body was found, the two of them returned to a place with a toilet, and Lin Shuyue went to use it.
As soon as she squatted down in the cubicle, Lin Shuyue smelled a strong smell of blood. She initially thought it was the blood on the sanitary napkin in the cubicle's trash can, but she quickly rejected that idea. Women's blood do smell during menstruation, but it's not that strong.
She came out of the cubicle and washed her hands when her eyes fell on the black bag in the corner of the toilet. The toilet light was dim. She walked over and kicked the bulging garbage bag with her foot. It felt soft, just like the time when Lin Shuyue accidentally kicked the pork her grandmother had bought. Because she moved, red liquid flowed out from the bottom, and soon the sewage in the corner turned it orange-red.
In an instant, a chill ran up from the soles of her feet to her scalp. Lin Shuyue turned and walked outside. Hang Jiabai was waiting for her under the street light outside, with his hands in his pockets. The street light stretched his shadow very long.
Seeing Lin Shuyue walking quickly towards him, he immediately went up to her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Shuyue stood in front of him: "There is a bag of something in the corner of the bathroom. It has a strong fishy smell, feels soft, and has red liquid flowing out."
Lin Shuyue didn't think anyone would leave meat in the toilet. Hang Jiabai didn't think so either. He called the bureau. The two stood there, their hearts heavy, silent. They stared intently at the toilet door, afraid someone would take the bag.
A woman ran into the toilet, glanced at the two of them when she went in, and glanced at them again when she came out. She called them perverts in Cantonese dialect and rolled her eyes. Not long after she left, Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai heard her telling her companions that there were two perverts standing at the toilet door watching people use the toilet.
Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai exchanged a glance and couldn't help laughing. Lin Shuyue leaned towards him and said, "Ah Bai, if that's really what's in there, how perverted must someone be to throw it in the toilet?"
Normally, bodies that have been cut into pieces are dumped in remote, sparsely populated areas. This park has a lot of foot traffic; even after a body was found burned there a while ago, the park still hasn't seen a drop in visitors.
Lin Shuyue really couldn't understand it.
Hang Jiabai rubbed his brows. "Perverted ideas are often different from others. They may have grown tired of doing things secretly, so they want to put these things out in the open, in places where there are many people. If they can cause panic among the people, they will be even more proud."
Hang Jiabai's voice was very cold, as if it had been tempered by ice.
Lin Shuyue nodded, and the scene fell into silence again. Hang Jiabai took her hand and asked her softly, "Are you scared?"
Lin Shuyue smiled, nodded, and shook her head: "No."
Since she regained consciousness, she has seen many corpses, so she is not really afraid anymore.
Hang Jiabai had wanted to ask this before, and today he asked it out loud, as if he had let go of some obsession. But he still held Lin Shuyue's hand and don't want to let it go. In this slightly cold summer, holding hands was actually quite warm, and Lin Shuyue didn't reject it.
It was not until the arrival of the police and the forensic doctor that the two of them let go of each other's hands naturally. At this moment, Ye Xueyu, Jiang Zhou and others looked at them with meaningful eyes.
Being in love is not something shameful, and Lin Shuyue even smiled at them.
Originally, Ye Xueyu and the others looked at Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai with teasing eyes because they wanted to see their shy expressions, but when they saw that Lin Shuyue and Hang Jiabai were acting more frankly than the other, they felt it was boring.
The forensic doctor, fully armed, went into the restroom. Not long after, a forensic doctor came out and said to Hang Jiabai and the others, "It's definitely body parts."
This sentence made the scene serious again. Hang Jiabai calmly gave the order: "You guys, go check all the public toilets around here."
A person is so big that a garbage bag cannot hold it all. Hang Jiabai is sure that there must be other human tissues around.
There are three public restrooms in the park: "There are also trash cans in the woods, by the river, and nearby. Don't miss them."
"Yes." As soon as Hang Jiabai said this, everyone took action. The forensic doctor returned to the toilet, checked the bag of corpses again, packed the things, and asked his colleagues to take it out.
The forensic doctor came over and spoke to Lin Shuyue: "The preliminary conclusion is that there are more than two people."
As soon as these words came out, Hang Jiabai's expression became three times more serious than before. He took out his intercom and said, "Expand the search area. Search all the public toilets nearby, and don't miss any trash cans."
After the forensic doctor explained the situation, two of them took the body parts back to the bureau, while another forensic doctor waited beside Hang Jiabai.
Their arrival had already attracted the attention of people playing in the park. Some of them had already gathered around. After knowing that there was a body hidden in the toilet, those who knew them and those who didn't knew them all started discussing it spontaneously.
Lin Shuyue turned on the good and evil identification system and looked at the people around watching the excitement. No one's good and evil value was higher than 20%.
Lin Shuyue saw the middle-aged woman who had just called her and Hang Jiabai perverts in the crowd. At this moment, she was dancing and telling people that she had just gone into the toilet and saw the black plastic bag.
She attracted a lot of people's attention. Everyone asked what the bag looked like and what she felt at the time. The middle-aged woman did not seem afraid at all and talked a lot.
Lin Shuyue was speechless. The old lady seemed to be not afraid at all. Another car of police came. They drew yellow lines in the public toilet and asked the people around with notebooks about the situation.
The park ranger and cleaner showed up. The park's public restrooms are cleaned once a day, always in the early morning. Both the ranger and cleaner were men, and they had no idea there was a bag of black stuff in the women's restroom. They looked bewildered when the police asked them questions.
•••••
It was already past eight o'clock, and Hang Jiabai asked Lin Shuyue: "Do you want to go back?"
"Waiting for you." Lin Shuyue replied to him. After receiving Lin Shuyue's reply, Hang Jiabai went to the monitoring room of the park. But before leaving, he told Lin Shuyue to let him know if she was leaving.
Just two steps after Hang Jiabai left, Lin Shuyue heard a voice coming from his intercom: "Body parts were found in the public toilet in the southwest corner of the park... and also in the public toilet in the northeast corner."
Hang Jiabai turned around and headed towards these two places. Lin Shuyue followed him. Hang Jiabai glanced at her and pulled her forward.
The medical examiner walked past them quickly.
From 8:00 to 11:30, in more than three hours, the police found a total of ten plastic bags. After forensic identification, it was found that the plastic bags were all filled with human tissue.
Lin Shuyue's good and evil system was always on. She ran to each location one by one, but there was no one with a high good and evil value.
During this period, Hang Jiabai received a call from the forensic doctor, who said that after preliminary assembly of the bodies, there were about three, one of whom was a female, aged between 20 and 30, and the other two were males, aged between 25 and 35.
They were all young and middle-aged men. However, no fingerprints were detected in the plastic bag.
The deceased's information had been preliminarily confirmed, but the severity of the case had doubled. Lin Shuyue stood with her colleagues, watching the leaders in white shirts arrive one after another.
This kind of case of murder, dismemberment and dumping the body in a busy city has never happened in Pengcheng before!
At one o'clock in the morning, Lin Shuyue returned to Xijiang Apartment. Without even taking a shower, she turned on the computer to look at the forum.
The forum was in an uproar because of this incident. The posts changed their positions every time they were refreshed. She clicked on them one by one, trying to find clues.
After reading a post, Lin Shuyue got up, made herself a cup of instant coffee, and continued reading. She read from 1:10 to 3:10, and finally saw a message in a post.
Lin Shuyue perked up, took out her cell phone and called Hang Jiabai, and at the same time took a screenshot of the page and sent it to Hang Jiabai.
When Hang Jiabai received Lin Shuyue's call, he was checking the surveillance footage and staring at the electronic screen for a long time without blinking. His eyes were full of red bloodshot and stubble gradually emerged from his chin.
"Ah Bai, I saw someone on the forum say they couldn't sleep last night. Around 5 a.m., they saw someone dumping things into the garbage dump on Xinmin Road. They were dressed warmly, wearing gloves and a hat. They didn't empty the tricycle's garbage all at once, but instead put one bag in each trash can. It was very strange."
There's a road next to the park called Xinmin Road. Seventy percent of the plastic bags they found tonight were found in trash cans on Xinmin Road.
The garbage disposal station in Pengcheng usually finishes processing the previous day's garbage before four in the morning, and it is dark at five o'clock.
Following Lin Shuyue's words, Hang Jiabai checked the surveillance cameras closest to Xinmin Road at four in the morning. However, after watching for half an hour, he still didn't see anyone riding a tricycle passing by. After eight o'clock, more people began to ride tricycles.
Each one behaved normally.
It was dark. Hang Jiabai lit a cigarette, logged into his email, saw the picture sent by Lin Shuyue, and looked at it carefully three times.
As soon as the sky began to brighten, Hang Jiabai and his team got busy, conducting visits and investigations near Xinmin Road.
At ten o'clock in the morning, they hadn't found much. Lin Shuyue also followed them outside to visit.
She bought a bottle of ice water and drank it on the roadside. Hang Jiabai's phone rang: "What? Human tissue was found on Xingfu Road again?"