November 5, 3020. At 4 o’clock in the morning, Wang Lei returned to the grocery store and relayed what happened at the police station to Ling Huaan. Without waiting for Ling Huaan’s response, Jiang Changping’s cold, ghostly voice rang.
“I know where the head is.”
Ling Huaan immediately stood up on his feet and asked, “Do you remember everything?”
Jiang Changping was encased in a momentary silence before he faintly responded.
Ling Huaan sighed and said, “Sowing causes and reaping consequences, I think you should understand that well.”
“Master, after this matter is over, I would like to see Kong Fang.”
“Your gay lover?” Hearing Jiang Changping answer, Ling Huaan then nodded his head.
Half an hour later, Yan Yu drove to the grocery store. He helped Ling Huaan close the store, and the two drove together to Mount Xihua in the eastern suburbs of Huacheng.
At the bottom of Mount Xihua, Yan Yu took the lead and got out of the car. He turned to the passenger side and opened the door, then assisted Ling Huaan out. Ling Huaan looked up in the direction of Mount Xihua. The stars flickered with fluorescent light, outlining the entire mountain. In Yan Yu’s vision, in this moonless night, the mountain was dark and nothing could be seen.
Ling Huaan asked indifferently, “Where is it?”
Yan Yu didn’t answer Ling Huaan’s endless questions and just stood quietly. He had spent three years with Ling Huaan. He was used to such a situation.
Jiang Changping’s chilly, eerie voice rang in his ears and said, “It’s halfway up the east mountain.”
Ling Huaan slightly knitted his brows. Although the mountain wasn’t high, he has mobility problems. If he wanted to climb to the east mountain, it would waste a lot of time. I’m afraid that the police department couldn’t wait.
Ling Huaan pondered for a while, took out a yellow talisman from his pocket, and mouthed a silent incantation. The yellow talisman spontaneously combusted out of thin air, and when it burned out, a man wearing a lab coat appeared in front of him. The man had an eight-shaped mustache. Although his eyes were small, they were sharp, and very shrewd at first glance.
The man smiled broadly, “Mr. Ling, long time no see. How come you have time to invite me up?”
Ling Huaan looked at the man and said indifferently, “Mr. Hu, there’s something I need to trouble you with.”
“Good talk, good talk. As long as the price is in place, anything is fine.”
The man was named Hu Si. He’s an underworld agent, working under the hands of the Ox Head and Horse Face, occasionally out to earn extra income. He’s notorious for asking for money. But relatively, as long as the price was negotiated, he never reneged. He would certainly do things properly, and was also one of the few people Ling Huaan would often turn to.
Ling Huaan took out the bell in his pocket, handed it to Hu Si and said, “This mountain is a tourist attraction, there should be tourists camping. I’ll have to bother Mr. Hu to help him find his head and then guide the tourists to call the police.”
Hu Si took the bell, shook it gently, and said in amazement, “This man died miserably, but there’s no resentment in his body. Mr. Ling is really a good medium.”
“It has nothing to do with me, it was his own epiphany.” Ling Huaan paused and then added, “Then I’ll trouble Mr. Hu.”
“It’s easy, but the price is…”
“The price wIll be set by Mr. Hu.”
“Hehe, I recently scoured the Moments and found that GOJO has come out with a new product, or a limited edition, but it is not very expensive, that is, tens of thousands of dollars, so…”
GOLO was an internationally well-known sports brand. Although Hu Si often wears a coat, he loves collecting shoes. Whenever new products come out of GOLO, he would definitely buy them.
“Okay, I’ll buy it tomorrow and burn it for Mr. Hu.” Ling Huaan readily agreed.
“Mr. Ling is straightforward. Leave this to me, I’ll make sure it’s done properly for you.”
“Then I’ll trouble Mr. Hu to come back to the store after he’s done.”
“No problem, no problem. See you later, Mr. Ling.” With that, Hu Si took the bell and walked toward the east mountain. Only a few steps and they already had gone a long way.
Ling Huaan then turned to look at Yan Yu and said, “Let’s go. Back to the store.”
Interrogation Room No. 1 of the Criminal Investigation Team. Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min were interrogating Li Qiuran.
“Li Qiuran, Yao Jiang did this for you. Don’t you want to say something?”
Li Qiuran’s eyes were slightly red, and she said incredulously, “I didn’t expect him to be Changping’s murderer. If I had known that things would turn out like this, I shouldn’t have had sex with him in the first place.”
Yao Min was outright exasperated, leaning closer to Jiang Chengyan and muttering in a low voice, “Captain, I want to curse! Drat, this woman is too good at acting. I’m almost sick of her.”
“Why did you give him the car keys? Didn’t you say you broke off contact with him since you had sex with him?”
“There was really no contact before.”
Li Qiuran wiped the corner of her eyes, then said, “After Changping left that night, he didn’t come back. In the morning, he sent a message saying that he would be delayed for two days. Although I was uncomfortable internally, I couldn’t do anything about it. Later, I received another text message, saying that he lost his car keys. I wanted to take another set to send over and did not think twice about sending down, who knew that I would actually meet Yao Jiang. He said that he and Changping are friends now. It’s inconvenient for Changping to come and get them, and went to get it for him. We all know each other, so I gave him the car keys.”
Jiang Chengyan was really speechless. He did not expect Li Qiuran to be so difficult to deal with.
“Officer Yao, listen to yourself. Yao Jiang killed my husband and destroyed my family, do I still have to be grateful to him?” A faInt mockery flashed through Li Qiuran’s eyes as she continued, “Jiang dui, Officer Yao, I know you’ve had continuous high-intensity work and were already tired. I don’t blame you for being confused, but don’t try to throw dirty water on me. ”
“You!” Yao Min’s face burned crimson with anger.
Knock knock. The door was pushed open after the knock. Li Tong probed in, glanced at Li Qiuran, then said, “Captain, come out for a moment.”
Jiang Chengyan nodded, gathered the things on the table and said, “Come on, let’s go outside.”
“Jiang dui, the murderer already confessed. You no longer have a reason to detain me…”
Jiang Chengyan glanced expressionlessly at Li Qiuran, “Li Qiuran, I am very stubborn; I will do everything whatever I decide to do. The case is the same, so don’t be happy too soon. I will be watching you until death!”
Li Qiuran was shocked by Jiang Chengyan’s eyes and watched in silence as the two walked out of the interrogation room.
Yao Min gave a thumbs up and said, “Captain is so powerful. Don’t be too relieved!”
Jiang Chengyan ignored Yao Min and asked Li Tong, “What is it?”
Li Tong said excitedly: “Captain, just now the police center received a report that a human head was found in Mount Xihua.”
“A human head?” Jiang Chengyan’s eyes lit up and he also followed the excitement, “What are you still waiting for?! Hurry up, ah.”
“Go go go.” The crowd followed behind with gusto, their feet flying out of the office.
When Jiang Chengyan reached the car, he suddenly paused and asked, “Did you contact Su Ke?”
“I called Su Ke as soon as I received the news, and he should be on his way to the scene now as well.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
When passing the entrance of the grocery store, Jiang Chengyan subconsciously looked at the glass window and found that in addition to Ling Huaan, Yan Yu was also there. His heart couldn’t help feeling a little sour, but soon adjusted his mind and drove in the direction of Mount Xihua.
1 p.m. The criminal investigation team members were busy all day and night, each sporting panda eyes, but they couldn’t hide their excitement. Jiang Chengyan swept a glance at the crowd and said with a smile, “All right, take advantage of this moment to take a nap. Don’t stay up here.”
Liu Ran suddenly said, “Captain, Yao Min has been in trial with you all night. Let her rest. I’ll go in with you.”
Yao Min hurriedly shook her head and said, “No, no, no, I’m not tired at all. I’m so excited that I have the urge to scream just imagining Li Qiuran’s expression later.”
“Then you should be careful not to ruin the image of our police force.”
“How can I? Captain, you’re underestimating me too much.”
Jiang Chengyan shook his head and walked straight to the interrogation room with a smirk, while Yao Min followed closely behind.
After staying in the police station for more than 40 hours continuously, not only resting badly, but also having a battle of wits with Jiang Chengyan, Li Qiuran’s spirit was already exhausted. Her previously calm disposition soon turned irritable.
She looked up at the clock on the wall, forced down the irritation in her heart, and quietly waited for the 48 hours to come. Just when there was half an hour left on the clock, the door that hadn’t been opened for seven or eight hours was pushed open and Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min walked in.
“Jiang dui, 48 hours are coming up. Shouldn’t you let me out now?” Li Qiuran’s tone carried impatience, as well as a vague sense of smugness.
Jiang Chengyan sat back down and said with a smile, “Li Qiuran, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get out.”
Li Qiuran was stunned and said with an ugly face, “What do you mean by that, Jiang dui? Yao Jiang has already confessed, why do you still hold on to me? Where exactly have I offended you to let you wrong me like this?”
With a cataclysmic individual √.
Jiang Chengyan didn’t have the patience to talk nonsense with her anymore. “Just eight hours ago, we went to Mount Xihua and found the head belonging to Jiang Changping, which was buried halfway up in the middle of the mountain.”
Li Qiuran’s face changed and said with forced composure, “Then congratulations, Changping’s corpse is now whole.”
“Li Qiuran, your ear seems to be hurt. How was it injured?”
Li Qiuran pupils shrink as both her fists subconsciously clenched. She explained: “Han Han was naughty. The other day when I was playing with him, he accidentally pulled my earrings, injuring me.”
“Do you see this earring?” Jiang Changping picked up an evidence bag from the table and walked to Li Qiuran.
“No, this isn’t mine. I don’t have this style of earrings.” Li Qiuran clenched her fist tightly, and looked at Jiang Chengyan with her eyes widened.
“I suppose you’re wondering where this earring was found.” Jiang Chengyan paused for a moment and then said, “This earring was found in Jiang Changping’s mouth. Fortunately, the temperature is now low and it’s on the mountain, so the decay of the corpse was relatively much slower and this key evidence can still be intact.”
Li Qiuran’s eyes kept turning, and it was obvious that her brain was running at high speed.
“There is residual blood on this earring, and your DNA has been detected, which can be used as direct evidence. Li Qiuran, it’s no longer useful for you to try to deny it this time.”
Li Qiuran lowered her head, her fingers digging into her palm. After a long silence, she said, “Why won’t you guys just leave me alone?”
“It’s our responsibility to pursue the truth of the case. Li Qiuran, it’s not that we won’t let you go, it’s that you were doomed for today’s outcome when you chose to kill.”
“Why you just won’t leave me alone, why!” Li Qiuran raised her head to look at Jiang Chengyan, her gaze was full of resentment.
“Then why do you refuse to let go of Jiang Changping?” Jiang Chengyan calmly locked eyes with her.
“Why?” Li Qiuran said with a grimace, “Because he deserved to die! He’s obviously gay, but still wants to marry me. It’s a sham marriage, sham marriage you know? If he cheats, I can tolerate it even if there are more women outside, but… But he’s lying under other men like a woman. I can’t accept it, I can’t! ”
“You should’ve known he was gay a long time ago. Why didn’t you do something about it first thing in the morning?”
“Why?” Li Qiuran murmured repeatedly. She lowered her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks into her collar as her mouth curled up in a miserable smile, “Because I loved him.”
“I don’t know when I started to fall in love with this gentle and considerate man. I hardly needed to say anything since he would immediately know what I wanted. He would inquire about my well-being and deeply took care of me in every possible way. I was like a treasure in his hand, which made me think that I was married to love. Although Yao Jiang loved me, I never felt that kind of love from him, so I had loved Jiang Changping wholeheartedly.”
“Since you love him so much, what about Jiang Xiaohan?” Yao Min couldn’t help but ask out.
“Do you think I’m dirty?”
Li Qiuran looked at Yao Min, who opened her mouth, but said nothing. Li Qiuran’s mouth curled up into a bitter smile and said, “I am indeed dirty. I was dirty as early as when I was first molested by my own father. I get dirty when I’m profaned.”
Yao Min said shocked, “How?”
“You guys didn’t check it out? I thought you guys were omnipotent.” The bitter smile on the corner of Li Qiuran’s mouth tinged with mockery. “Yes, ah. Such a scandal, How could that woman say that she would not hesitate to leave me behind to live a good life, and leave me struggling in the mire? I’m afraid I should’ve been dead a long time ago, bah.”
“I’ve been ruined in the hands of that beast all my life. It’s worse than pigs and dogs.”
Li Qiuran’s eyes were filled with complex emotions, such as fear, resentment, disgust and other negative emotions that slowly drowned her. Her eyes were wide open and she was clutching her collar with a death grip, gasping for air like a dying fish.
Yao Min hurriedly held her hands and hugged her tightly, saying soothingly, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid, it’s okay, it’s okay..”
Li Qiuran clutched Yao Min’s clothes, gasping for breath. Tears smashed on the ground, and slowed down after a long time passed.
“Since we established our relationship, our sex life has been pathetic. I thought he was pitying me because of my childhood shadows. I loved him more in my heart and desperately wanted to give him a child.
However, his sperm survival rate was very low and it was almost impossible for me to get pregnant, so I decided to get artificially inseminated, partly to stabilize our relationship and partly to cope with his parents. But I worked hard for half a year and suffered a lot, but I still couldn’t get pregnant. His parents were even more critical of me, and even said that if I couldn’t have children within a year, they would let him divorce me.
Although he repeatedly assured me that he wouldn’t divorce me, I was still afraid, upset, and even scared. Desperate, I met Yao Jiang, and the two of us had sex. And more ironically, I actually got pregnant.”
“From pregnancy to delivery, he took great care of me and treated me so well that I thought the child in my belly was his, and the apprehension in my heart slowly became a matter of course. At that time, I felt I was the happiest woman in the world.”
“But that was all broken three years ago by a man. Yao Jiang came to my door with a pile of photos, in which Jiang Changping and Kong Fang were intimate, with a smile at the corners of his mouth that I had never seen before. That’s when I realized that his tenderness and meticulous attention to me all stemmed from the guilt of cheating on our marriage.”
Jiang Chengyan asked in a loud voice, “When did you get the urge to kill him?”
“Some time ago, I found a divorce agreement in my study drawer. If it’s just two or three days every month, I can put up with it. I’ve endured it for so long, but he wants to leave me forever. I won’t allow it, absolutely not! I didn’t want to kill him, he made me do it!”
“Li Qiuran, do you know why Jiang Changping went out that time but came back early?”
Li Qiuran glanced at Jiang Chengyan. A bad feeling welled up in her heart, and she asked, “Why?”
“Jiang Changping went out that time in order to break up with Kong Fang. He couldn’t stand the guilt he felt inside and planned to return to his family.”
Li Qiuran stared at Jiang Chengyan blankly. Tears unconsciously diffused out of her eyes as she murmured, “What do you mean by that?”
Jiang Chengyan sighed and said, “Between Kong Fang and his family, he chose his family.”
“Impossible, absolutely impossible. I saw the divorce agreement with my own eyes.” Li Qiuran desperately shook her head.
Looking at the fear in Li Qiuran’s eyes, Jiang Chengyan’s heart was a bit intolerant, but still said truthfully, “This is what Kong Fang told me. Perhaps he had been entangled between his family and love before, but in the end he and Kong Fang broke up and he chose to return to his family. ”
“How? How is that possible?” Li Qiuran looked helplessly at Jiang Chengyan and cried, “Why didn’t he say anything, why didn’t he say anything?”
“He must’ve not known that you’ve found out his secret, so he plans to keep this matter rotten in his heart forever. It’s just a pity that you didn’t give him the chance to make up for it.”
“How did this happen? It shouldn’t be like this…” Li Qiuran broke down and grabbed Yao Min’s clothes. She looked at Yao Min almost pleadingly and said, “He’s lying to me, he must be lying to me. Say it ah, say he’s lying to me…”
Yao Min opened her mouth against her conscience, but didn’t know what to say.
“No way…no way… You’re all lying to me…”
Li Qiuran’s spirit completely collapsed, lying on the chair wailing…
After that, Jiang Chengyan interrogated Yao Jiang, and also understood the whole story. In the beginning, Li Qiuran did only use Jiang Changping to escape Li Jian/Guo, but later was impressed by Jiang Changping’s tenderness and thoughtfulness, and fell deeply in love with Jiang Changping.
Yao Jiang has never given up on Li Qiuran, living incognito around her. When Li Qiuran was bewildered and helpless, he took advantage of the situation and made Li Qiuran pregnant with his child. He thought that he could continue to be with Li Qiuran in this way, but he did not expect that Li Qiuran was just using him.
By chance, Yao Jiang bumped into Jiang Changping and Kong Fang on a date and learned the fact that Jiang Changping was gay, so he applied for a job at the bar in order to spy on Jiang Changping. He showed Li Qiuran the photos he had taken, in which the latter had chose to hold her tongue instead.
He was furious and sneaked into Li Qiuran’s house and put the divorce agreement into the drawer of Jiang Changping’s study, which led to such a tragedy.
Yao Min couldn’t help but sigh and say, “Before, I still felt aggrieved for Yao Jiang. Now that I know the whole story, my heart is torn.”
“This is called 'those who are pitiful must have a cause for having sunk to their lows'.” Liu Ran also couldn’t help but sigh.
“In the final analysis, it’s about the tolerance of society regarding homosexuality. Discrimination, ostracism and abuse made them dare to not even fall in love openly, but only secretly.”
Jiang Chengyan smiled and said, “What you said are external factors. If Jiang Changping could only be as brave as Kong Fang, the result must not be like this.”
Yao Min nodded, and looked at Jiang Chengyan with an ambiguous smile: “So if you have someone you like, you must boldly chase after them. Don’t let them slip and then regret it.”
Everyone looked at each other. Li Tong chuckle, “What the, listening to Yao Min, is our captain a blossoming iron tree?”
“Captain, who is that person, ah? Is she pretty? When will we meet her?” The case was already closed, so the crowd was much more relaxed.
Jiang Chengyan’s face was hot. He then said in humourlessly, “A group of octogenarians. All right, all right, all right, hurry up and go back to leave work early today. When the follow-up of the case is finished tomorrow, I’ll apply to the director of the Bureau for a three-day leave and you’ll arrange your own vacation.”
“Yes!” The crowd couldn’t help but cheer. Half a month of intense work in a row had exhausted all their energy, and they desperately wanted a vacation.
Jiang Chengyan shook his head and turned back to the office. Although the case was finished here, there were still many documents to be done. He would have to get busy for a day or two.
Ring ring ring. When the alarm suddenly rang, Jiang Chengyan, who was burying his head in writing documents, glanced at his phone and casually turned off the alarm after writing the last few words. After getting up and moving around, Jiang Chengyan picked up his jacket and walked out of the office.
It was already dark outside, and he was the only one left. The office was submerged into silence. He walked to the window and looked out. The light of the grocery store was on and Ling Huaan was sitting in front of the cashier, bustling about. Jiang Chengyan smiled, turned off the lights in his office, turned around and left the police station.
Ling Huaan was doing a checkout when the door of the store was suddenly pushed open and a bell sounded.
Sun Ming greeted him with a smile and said, “Jiang dui, you’re here.”
Jiang Chengyan softly responded, but his gaze landed on Ling Huaan.
Ling Huaan was stunned, and after scanning the last item into the code, he said, “45 yuan in total.”
After the customer scanned the code and paid, Sun Ming put the things he bought into a shopping bag and said with a smile, “Here you go, thank you for your patronage.”
The customer walked out of the store with his purchase, followed by another pleasant sound of bells.
“Isn’t the case solved? How come Jiang dui is still working overtime today?” Ling Huaan pointed to the table in front of the glass window and groped his way out from behind the cashier.
Jiang Chengyan hurriedly went forward and held Ling Huaan’s arm, explaining, “There is still a lot of work to follow, so it’ll be busy for a day or two.”
The two sat down in front of the glass window, and Ling Huaan casually asked, “So the Jiang dui hasn’t eaten yet?”
“Not yet. I came over for a bowl of noodles.”
“Then go get it. It just so happens that I bought a baking pan to fry eggs in for a change today.”
“Huaan, what did you buy the baking pan for?” Jiang Chengyan looked at Ling Huaan expectantly.
Ling Huaan’s eyes flashed a smile as he seemingly replied casually, “Got a baking pan so when the police force comes over for noodles, they can make some other snacks.”
“Oh.” Jiang Chengyan responded with some disappointment and said, “Then I’ll go see if it’ll work.”
Although Jiang Chengyan lives alone, he seldom cooks. At most, he would use the microwave oven to heat things. He has seen but never used baking pans. Fortunately, Sun Ming was there. Although he was bustling about, he fried two eggs smoothly.
Jiang Chengyan carried the noodles and fried eggs, came to sit in front of the glass window and said, “Huaan, I fried two eggs. Do you want to try them?”
“Did you put salt in it?”
Jiang Chengyan froze, and then said sarcastically, “No, I only put the oil in it. That.. Forget it. Don’t eat it. I’ll make it for you next time. ”
“When the case is over, Jiang dui should have a vacation.”
“There should be, why?”
“Aren’t you going to cook for me? Whenever you are free, you can come to my house.”
Jiang Chengyan froze. The eggs he just picked up fell back into the bowl as he stammered, “Go…to your house?”
November 5, 3020. At 4 o’clock in the morning, Wang Lei returned to the grocery store and relayed what happened at the police station to Ling Huaan. Without waiting for Ling Huaan’s response, Jiang Changping’s cold, ghostly voice rang.
“I know where the head is.”
Ling Huaan immediately stood up on his feet and asked, “Do you remember everything?”
Jiang Changping was encased in a momentary silence before he faintly responded.
Ling Huaan sighed and said, “Sowing causes and reaping consequences, I think you should understand that well.”
“Master, after this matter is over, I would like to see Kong Fang.”
“Your gay lover?” Hearing Jiang Changping answer, Ling Huaan then nodded his head.
Half an hour later, Yan Yu drove to the grocery store. He helped Ling Huaan close the store, and the two drove together to Mount Xihua in the eastern suburbs of Huacheng.
At the bottom of Mount Xihua, Yan Yu took the lead and got out of the car. He turned to the passenger side and opened the door, then assisted Ling Huaan out. Ling Huaan looked up in the direction of Mount Xihua. The stars flickered with fluorescent light, outlining the entire mountain. In Yan Yu’s vision, in this moonless night, the mountain was dark and nothing could be seen.
Ling Huaan asked indifferently, “Where is it?”
Yan Yu didn’t answer Ling Huaan’s endless questions and just stood quietly. He had spent three years with Ling Huaan. He was used to such a situation.
Jiang Changping’s chilly, eerie voice rang in his ears and said, “It’s halfway up the east mountain.”
Ling Huaan slightly knitted his brows. Although the mountain wasn’t high, he has mobility problems. If he wanted to climb to the east mountain, it would waste a lot of time. I’m afraid that the police department couldn’t wait.
Ling Huaan pondered for a while, took out a yellow talisman from his pocket, and mouthed a silent incantation. The yellow talisman spontaneously combusted out of thin air, and when it burned out, a man wearing a lab coat appeared in front of him. The man had an eight-shaped mustache. Although his eyes were small, they were sharp, and very shrewd at first glance.
The man smiled broadly, “Mr. Ling, long time no see. How come you have time to invite me up?”
Ling Huaan looked at the man and said indifferently, “Mr. Hu, there’s something I need to trouble you with.”
“Good talk, good talk. As long as the price is in place, anything is fine.”
The man was named Hu Si. He’s an underworld agent, working under the hands of the Ox Head and Horse Face, occasionally out to earn extra income. He’s notorious for asking for money. But relatively, as long as the price was negotiated, he never reneged. He would certainly do things properly, and was also one of the few people Ling Huaan would often turn to.
Ling Huaan took out the bell in his pocket, handed it to Hu Si and said, “This mountain is a tourist attraction, there should be tourists camping. I’ll have to bother Mr. Hu to help him find his head and then guide the tourists to call the police.”
Hu Si took the bell, shook it gently, and said in amazement, “This man died miserably, but there’s no resentment in his body. Mr. Ling is really a good medium.”
“It has nothing to do with me, it was his own epiphany.” Ling Huaan paused and then added, “Then I’ll trouble Mr. Hu.”
“It’s easy, but the price is…”
“The price wIll be set by Mr. Hu.”
“Hehe, I recently scoured the Moments and found that GOJO has come out with a new product, or a limited edition, but it is not very expensive, that is, tens of thousands of dollars, so…”
GOLO was an internationally well-known sports brand. Although Hu Si often wears a coat, he loves collecting shoes. Whenever new products come out of GOLO, he would definitely buy them.
“Okay, I’ll buy it tomorrow and burn it for Mr. Hu.” Ling Huaan readily agreed.
“Mr. Ling is straightforward. Leave this to me, I’ll make sure it’s done properly for you.”
“Then I’ll trouble Mr. Hu to come back to the store after he’s done.”
“No problem, no problem. See you later, Mr. Ling.” With that, Hu Si took the bell and walked toward the east mountain. Only a few steps and they already had gone a long way.
Ling Huaan then turned to look at Yan Yu and said, “Let’s go. Back to the store.”
Interrogation Room No. 1 of the Criminal Investigation Team. Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min were interrogating Li Qiuran.
“Li Qiuran, Yao Jiang did this for you. Don’t you want to say something?”
Li Qiuran’s eyes were slightly red, and she said incredulously, “I didn’t expect him to be Changping’s murderer. If I had known that things would turn out like this, I shouldn’t have had sex with him in the first place.”
Yao Min was outright exasperated, leaning closer to Jiang Chengyan and muttering in a low voice, “Captain, I want to curse! Drat, this woman is too good at acting. I’m almost sick of her.”
“Why did you give him the car keys? Didn’t you say you broke off contact with him since you had sex with him?”
“There was really no contact before.”
Li Qiuran wiped the corner of her eyes, then said, “After Changping left that night, he didn’t come back. In the morning, he sent a message saying that he would be delayed for two days. Although I was uncomfortable internally, I couldn’t do anything about it. Later, I received another text message, saying that he lost his car keys. I wanted to take another set to send over and did not think twice about sending down, who knew that I would actually meet Yao Jiang. He said that he and Changping are friends now. It’s inconvenient for Changping to come and get them, and went to get it for him. We all know each other, so I gave him the car keys.”
Jiang Chengyan was really speechless. He did not expect Li Qiuran to be so difficult to deal with.
“Officer Yao, listen to yourself. Yao Jiang killed my husband and destroyed my family, do I still have to be grateful to him?” A faInt mockery flashed through Li Qiuran’s eyes as she continued, “Jiang dui, Officer Yao, I know you’ve had continuous high-intensity work and were already tired. I don’t blame you for being confused, but don’t try to throw dirty water on me. ”
“You!” Yao Min’s face burned crimson with anger.
Knock knock. The door was pushed open after the knock. Li Tong probed in, glanced at Li Qiuran, then said, “Captain, come out for a moment.”
Jiang Chengyan nodded, gathered the things on the table and said, “Come on, let’s go outside.”
“Jiang dui, the murderer already confessed. You no longer have a reason to detain me…”
Jiang Chengyan glanced expressionlessly at Li Qiuran, “Li Qiuran, I am very stubborn; I will do everything whatever I decide to do. The case is the same, so don’t be happy too soon. I will be watching you until death!”
Li Qiuran was shocked by Jiang Chengyan’s eyes and watched in silence as the two walked out of the interrogation room.
Yao Min gave a thumbs up and said, “Captain is so powerful. Don’t be too relieved!”
Jiang Chengyan ignored Yao Min and asked Li Tong, “What is it?”
Li Tong said excitedly: “Captain, just now the police center received a report that a human head was found in Mount Xihua.”
“A human head?” Jiang Chengyan’s eyes lit up and he also followed the excitement, “What are you still waiting for?! Hurry up, ah.”
“Go go go.” The crowd followed behind with gusto, their feet flying out of the office.
When Jiang Chengyan reached the car, he suddenly paused and asked, “Did you contact Su Ke?”
“I called Su Ke as soon as I received the news, and he should be on his way to the scene now as well.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
When passing the entrance of the grocery store, Jiang Chengyan subconsciously looked at the glass window and found that in addition to Ling Huaan, Yan Yu was also there. His heart couldn’t help feeling a little sour, but soon adjusted his mind and drove in the direction of Mount Xihua.
1 p.m. The criminal investigation team members were busy all day and night, each sporting panda eyes, but they couldn’t hide their excitement. Jiang Chengyan swept a glance at the crowd and said with a smile, “All right, take advantage of this moment to take a nap. Don’t stay up here.”
Liu Ran suddenly said, “Captain, Yao Min has been in trial with you all night. Let her rest. I’ll go in with you.”
Yao Min hurriedly shook her head and said, “No, no, no, I’m not tired at all. I’m so excited that I have the urge to scream just imagining Li Qiuran’s expression later.”
“Then you should be careful not to ruin the image of our police force.”
“How can I? Captain, you’re underestimating me too much.”
Jiang Chengyan shook his head and walked straight to the interrogation room with a smirk, while Yao Min followed closely behind.
After staying in the police station for more than 40 hours continuously, not only resting badly, but also having a battle of wits with Jiang Chengyan, Li Qiuran’s spirit was already exhausted. Her previously calm disposition soon turned irritable.
She looked up at the clock on the wall, forced down the irritation in her heart, and quietly waited for the 48 hours to come. Just when there was half an hour left on the clock, the door that hadn’t been opened for seven or eight hours was pushed open and Jiang Chengyan and Yao Min walked in.
“Jiang dui, 48 hours are coming up. Shouldn’t you let me out now?” Li Qiuran’s tone carried impatience, as well as a vague sense of smugness.
Jiang Chengyan sat back down and said with a smile, “Li Qiuran, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get out.”
Li Qiuran was stunned and said with an ugly face, “What do you mean by that, Jiang dui? Yao Jiang has already confessed, why do you still hold on to me? Where exactly have I offended you to let you wrong me like this?”
With a cataclysmic individual √.
Jiang Chengyan didn’t have the patience to talk nonsense with her anymore. “Just eight hours ago, we went to Mount Xihua and found the head belonging to Jiang Changping, which was buried halfway up in the middle of the mountain.”
Li Qiuran’s face changed and said with forced composure, “Then congratulations, Changping’s corpse is now whole.”
“Li Qiuran, your ear seems to be hurt. How was it injured?”
Li Qiuran pupils shrink as both her fists subconsciously clenched. She explained: “Han Han was naughty. The other day when I was playing with him, he accidentally pulled my earrings, injuring me.”
“Do you see this earring?” Jiang Changping picked up an evidence bag from the table and walked to Li Qiuran.
“No, this isn’t mine. I don’t have this style of earrings.” Li Qiuran clenched her fist tightly, and looked at Jiang Chengyan with her eyes widened.
“I suppose you’re wondering where this earring was found.” Jiang Chengyan paused for a moment and then said, “This earring was found in Jiang Changping’s mouth. Fortunately, the temperature is now low and it’s on the mountain, so the decay of the corpse was relatively much slower and this key evidence can still be intact.”
Li Qiuran’s eyes kept turning, and it was obvious that her brain was running at high speed.
“There is residual blood on this earring, and your DNA has been detected, which can be used as direct evidence. Li Qiuran, it’s no longer useful for you to try to deny it this time.”
Li Qiuran lowered her head, her fingers digging into her palm. After a long silence, she said, “Why won’t you guys just leave me alone?”
“It’s our responsibility to pursue the truth of the case. Li Qiuran, it’s not that we won’t let you go, it’s that you were doomed for today’s outcome when you chose to kill.”
“Why you just won’t leave me alone, why!” Li Qiuran raised her head to look at Jiang Chengyan, her gaze was full of resentment.
“Then why do you refuse to let go of Jiang Changping?” Jiang Chengyan calmly locked eyes with her.
“Why?” Li Qiuran said with a grimace, “Because he deserved to die! He’s obviously gay, but still wants to marry me. It’s a sham marriage, sham marriage you know? If he cheats, I can tolerate it even if there are more women outside, but… But he’s lying under other men like a woman. I can’t accept it, I can’t! ”
“You should’ve known he was gay a long time ago. Why didn’t you do something about it first thing in the morning?”
“Why?” Li Qiuran murmured repeatedly. She lowered her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks into her collar as her mouth curled up in a miserable smile, “Because I loved him.”
“I don’t know when I started to fall in love with this gentle and considerate man. I hardly needed to say anything since he would immediately know what I wanted. He would inquire about my well-being and deeply took care of me in every possible way. I was like a treasure in his hand, which made me think that I was married to love. Although Yao Jiang loved me, I never felt that kind of love from him, so I had loved Jiang Changping wholeheartedly.”
“Since you love him so much, what about Jiang Xiaohan?” Yao Min couldn’t help but ask out.
“Do you think I’m dirty?”
Li Qiuran looked at Yao Min, who opened her mouth, but said nothing. Li Qiuran’s mouth curled up into a bitter smile and said, “I am indeed dirty. I was dirty as early as when I was first molested by my own father. I get dirty when I’m profaned.”
Yao Min said shocked, “How?”
“You guys didn’t check it out? I thought you guys were omnipotent.” The bitter smile on the corner of Li Qiuran’s mouth tinged with mockery. “Yes, ah. Such a scandal, How could that woman say that she would not hesitate to leave me behind to live a good life, and leave me struggling in the mire? I’m afraid I should’ve been dead a long time ago, bah.”
“I’ve been ruined in the hands of that beast all my life. It’s worse than pigs and dogs.”
Li Qiuran’s eyes were filled with complex emotions, such as fear, resentment, disgust and other negative emotions that slowly drowned her. Her eyes were wide open and she was clutching her collar with a death grip, gasping for air like a dying fish.
Yao Min hurriedly held her hands and hugged her tightly, saying soothingly, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid, it’s okay, it’s okay..”
Li Qiuran clutched Yao Min’s clothes, gasping for breath. Tears smashed on the ground, and slowed down after a long time passed.
“Since we established our relationship, our sex life has been pathetic. I thought he was pitying me because of my childhood shadows. I loved him more in my heart and desperately wanted to give him a child.
However, his sperm survival rate was very low and it was almost impossible for me to get pregnant, so I decided to get artificially inseminated, partly to stabilize our relationship and partly to cope with his parents. But I worked hard for half a year and suffered a lot, but I still couldn’t get pregnant. His parents were even more critical of me, and even said that if I couldn’t have children within a year, they would let him divorce me.
Although he repeatedly assured me that he wouldn’t divorce me, I was still afraid, upset, and even scared. Desperate, I met Yao Jiang, and the two of us had sex. And more ironically, I actually got pregnant.”
“From pregnancy to delivery, he took great care of me and treated me so well that I thought the child in my belly was his, and the apprehension in my heart slowly became a matter of course. At that time, I felt I was the happiest woman in the world.”
“But that was all broken three years ago by a man. Yao Jiang came to my door with a pile of photos, in which Jiang Changping and Kong Fang were intimate, with a smile at the corners of his mouth that I had never seen before. That’s when I realized that his tenderness and meticulous attention to me all stemmed from the guilt of cheating on our marriage.”
Jiang Chengyan asked in a loud voice, “When did you get the urge to kill him?”
“Some time ago, I found a divorce agreement in my study drawer. If it’s just two or three days every month, I can put up with it. I’ve endured it for so long, but he wants to leave me forever. I won’t allow it, absolutely not! I didn’t want to kill him, he made me do it!”
“Li Qiuran, do you know why Jiang Changping went out that time but came back early?”
Li Qiuran glanced at Jiang Chengyan. A bad feeling welled up in her heart, and she asked, “Why?”
“Jiang Changping went out that time in order to break up with Kong Fang. He couldn’t stand the guilt he felt inside and planned to return to his family.”
Li Qiuran stared at Jiang Chengyan blankly. Tears unconsciously diffused out of her eyes as she murmured, “What do you mean by that?”
Jiang Chengyan sighed and said, “Between Kong Fang and his family, he chose his family.”
“Impossible, absolutely impossible. I saw the divorce agreement with my own eyes.” Li Qiuran desperately shook her head.
Looking at the fear in Li Qiuran’s eyes, Jiang Chengyan’s heart was a bit intolerant, but still said truthfully, “This is what Kong Fang told me. Perhaps he had been entangled between his family and love before, but in the end he and Kong Fang broke up and he chose to return to his family. ”
“How? How is that possible?” Li Qiuran looked helplessly at Jiang Chengyan and cried, “Why didn’t he say anything, why didn’t he say anything?”
“He must’ve not known that you’ve found out his secret, so he plans to keep this matter rotten in his heart forever. It’s just a pity that you didn’t give him the chance to make up for it.”
“How did this happen? It shouldn’t be like this…” Li Qiuran broke down and grabbed Yao Min’s clothes. She looked at Yao Min almost pleadingly and said, “He’s lying to me, he must be lying to me. Say it ah, say he’s lying to me…”
Yao Min opened her mouth against her conscience, but didn’t know what to say.
“No way…no way… You’re all lying to me…”
Li Qiuran’s spirit completely collapsed, lying on the chair wailing…
After that, Jiang Chengyan interrogated Yao Jiang, and also understood the whole story. In the beginning, Li Qiuran did only use Jiang Changping to escape Li Jian/Guo, but later was impressed by Jiang Changping’s tenderness and thoughtfulness, and fell deeply in love with Jiang Changping.
Yao Jiang has never given up on Li Qiuran, living incognito around her. When Li Qiuran was bewildered and helpless, he took advantage of the situation and made Li Qiuran pregnant with his child. He thought that he could continue to be with Li Qiuran in this way, but he did not expect that Li Qiuran was just using him.
By chance, Yao Jiang bumped into Jiang Changping and Kong Fang on a date and learned the fact that Jiang Changping was gay, so he applied for a job at the bar in order to spy on Jiang Changping. He showed Li Qiuran the photos he had taken, in which the latter had chose to hold her tongue instead.
He was furious and sneaked into Li Qiuran’s house and put the divorce agreement into the drawer of Jiang Changping’s study, which led to such a tragedy.
Yao Min couldn’t help but sigh and say, “Before, I still felt aggrieved for Yao Jiang. Now that I know the whole story, my heart is torn.”
“This is called 'those who are pitiful must have a cause for having sunk to their lows'.” Liu Ran also couldn’t help but sigh.
“In the final analysis, it’s about the tolerance of society regarding homosexuality. Discrimination, ostracism and abuse made them dare to not even fall in love openly, but only secretly.”
Jiang Chengyan smiled and said, “What you said are external factors. If Jiang Changping could only be as brave as Kong Fang, the result must not be like this.”
Yao Min nodded, and looked at Jiang Chengyan with an ambiguous smile: “So if you have someone you like, you must boldly chase after them. Don’t let them slip and then regret it.”
Everyone looked at each other. Li Tong chuckle, “What the, listening to Yao Min, is our captain a blossoming iron tree?”
“Captain, who is that person, ah? Is she pretty? When will we meet her?” The case was already closed, so the crowd was much more relaxed.
Jiang Chengyan’s face was hot. He then said in humourlessly, “A group of octogenarians. All right, all right, all right, hurry up and go back to leave work early today. When the follow-up of the case is finished tomorrow, I’ll apply to the director of the Bureau for a three-day leave and you’ll arrange your own vacation.”
“Yes!” The crowd couldn’t help but cheer. Half a month of intense work in a row had exhausted all their energy, and they desperately wanted a vacation.
Jiang Chengyan shook his head and turned back to the office. Although the case was finished here, there were still many documents to be done. He would have to get busy for a day or two.
Ring ring ring. When the alarm suddenly rang, Jiang Chengyan, who was burying his head in writing documents, glanced at his phone and casually turned off the alarm after writing the last few words. After getting up and moving around, Jiang Chengyan picked up his jacket and walked out of the office.
It was already dark outside, and he was the only one left. The office was submerged into silence. He walked to the window and looked out. The light of the grocery store was on and Ling Huaan was sitting in front of the cashier, bustling about. Jiang Chengyan smiled, turned off the lights in his office, turned around and left the police station.
Ling Huaan was doing a checkout when the door of the store was suddenly pushed open and a bell sounded.
Sun Ming greeted him with a smile and said, “Jiang dui, you’re here.”
Jiang Chengyan softly responded, but his gaze landed on Ling Huaan.
Ling Huaan was stunned, and after scanning the last item into the code, he said, “45 yuan in total.”
After the customer scanned the code and paid, Sun Ming put the things he bought into a shopping bag and said with a smile, “Here you go, thank you for your patronage.”
The customer walked out of the store with his purchase, followed by another pleasant sound of bells.
“Isn’t the case solved? How come Jiang dui is still working overtime today?” Ling Huaan pointed to the table in front of the glass window and groped his way out from behind the cashier.
Jiang Chengyan hurriedly went forward and held Ling Huaan’s arm, explaining, “There is still a lot of work to follow, so it’ll be busy for a day or two.”
The two sat down in front of the glass window, and Ling Huaan casually asked, “So the Jiang dui hasn’t eaten yet?”
“Not yet. I came over for a bowl of noodles.”
“Then go get it. It just so happens that I bought a baking pan to fry eggs in for a change today.”
“Huaan, what did you buy the baking pan for?” Jiang Chengyan looked at Ling Huaan expectantly.
Ling Huaan’s eyes flashed a smile as he seemingly replied casually, “Got a baking pan so when the police force comes over for noodles, they can make some other snacks.”
“Oh.” Jiang Chengyan responded with some disappointment and said, “Then I’ll go see if it’ll work.”
Although Jiang Chengyan lives alone, he seldom cooks. At most, he would use the microwave oven to heat things. He has seen but never used baking pans. Fortunately, Sun Ming was there. Although he was bustling about, he fried two eggs smoothly.
Jiang Chengyan carried the noodles and fried eggs, came to sit in front of the glass window and said, “Huaan, I fried two eggs. Do you want to try them?”
“Did you put salt in it?”
Jiang Chengyan froze, and then said sarcastically, “No, I only put the oil in it. That.. Forget it. Don’t eat it. I’ll make it for you next time. ”
“When the case is over, Jiang dui should have a vacation.”
“There should be, why?”
“Aren’t you going to cook for me? Whenever you are free, you can come to my house.”
Jiang Chengyan froze. The eggs he just picked up fell back into the bowl as he stammered, “Go…to your house?”
