HH Chapter 40

“Why didn’t you deal with it at the time?” Cheng Ye asked.

Gu Qiaolan was taken aback for a moment and asked, “At that time?” She continued, “You all don’t know. Although my Yuxin is usually obedient, she can be quite stubborn sometimes. Back then, she wouldn’t even do her homework when she came home. She just lay on the bed all day. Whenever I asked what was wrong, she wouldn’t tell me.”

“Later, after I repeatedly pressed her, she finally told me about this matter.” Gu Qiaolan frowned slightly. “It’s a simple principle: if others don’t mess with us, we won’t mess with them. Anyone would understand that. I told Yuxin several times not to provoke others, but at first, she wouldn’t listen. It took time for her to finally heed my advice.”

After saying this, Gu Qiaolan started wiping her tears with a tissue. Cheng Ye and Pei Qinghuai exchanged a glance but didn’t say anything. However, Pei Qinghuai seemed to have thought of something and asked a question.

“Did Chen Yuxin often ask you for money?”

Gu Qiaolan was taken aback and looked at Pei Qinghuai, “How did you know?”

She said, “Just recently, she called home almost every day, saying she had no money for food. I clearly gave her enough for a week. I kept thinking about it, and the only reasons could be that she was either spending it recklessly or had a boyfriend. Then I asked her teacher for her grades, and they had dropped significantly! It was obvious she had a boyfriend.”

“But… but now, Yuxin is gone. She must have been angry at me for blaming her, and that’s why she doesn’t visit me in my dreams.” Gu Qiaolan cried, “I scolded her because I was worried she would go astray. My daughter, please come back and see your mom…”

Seeing Gu Qiaolan crying even more sorrowfully, Cheng Ye quickly handed her a few tissues. “Auntie, we’ll leave for now. Please don’t be too sad.”

Cheng Ye stood up and spoke. Pei Qinghuai looked at the wall filled with photos of Chen Yuxin and was lost in thought for a moment.

“Pei Qinghuai,” Cheng Ye called out, “let’s go.”

Pei Qinghuai responded with a nod, looked down at Gu Qiaolan, and spoke softly, “As long as people are alive, there is hope. When they’re gone, everything is lost.”

Gu Qiaolan, with her red, swollen eyes, stared blankly at Pei Qinghuai without saying a word. Next to Pei Qinghuai’s ear was a photo of Chen Yuxin with her backpack on, standing with friends. It was the only photo where she was holding Gu Qiaolan’s hand, smiling brightly. At that time, Chen Yuxin had many friends around her.

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Love that is often in the middle—neither too heavy nor too light, not too painful nor too gentle—is the most painful. It’s a struggle with no clear direction, and even when a direction is found, the results are often unsatisfactory.

What is called concern or self-assumed love can inadvertently cause a certain degree of harm to the other person.

Neglect from school and family also contributed to Chen Yuxin’s closed-off personality. Cheng Ye and Pei Qinghuai didn’t tell Gu Qiaolan about Li He, perhaps wanting to leave her with a somewhat positive impression.

Indifference is the original sin of all violence.

We cannot prevent the harm caused by indifference, but we can at least do our best.

The two sat in the car in silence, watching the traffic lights change. As the car started, a call from Zhang Yibao came in.

“Captain Cheng, Teacher Pei, the data analysis is complete. Sixteen people in this city have visited the hospital for sexual dysfunction.” Zhang Yibao began, flipping through the documents, “Among them, there’s someone named Zhang Baoshun who caught my eye, so I looked into it. Guess what?”

Zhang Yibao sounded excited. Cheng Ye and Pei Qinghuai’s eyelids twitched. “What is it?” Cheng Ye asked.

“Zhang Baoshun has a cousin, and this cousin is Zhang Pingshun, the current principal of our affiliated high school,” Zhang Yibao revealed.

“We’re on our way back now,” Cheng Ye said, his eyes brightening as he pressed the gas pedal harder.

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Upon returning to the station, Yan Ya came running out, excitedly gesturing to Cheng Ye.

“Captain Cheng, I’ve figured out how the struggle marks on Chen Yuxin’s body came about,” Yan Ya said.

She continued, “The snack street should be considered the first crime scene, because Chen Yuxin went in that night and wasn’t dead when Li He left.”

Yan Ya’s words drew everyone’s attention. She went on, “Although it sounds incredible, this is probably what happened.”

“When Chen Yuxin met Li He, the injuries on her body were fresh. She left Li He’s sight because of a stomachache and was found behind the snack street. It was around three or four in the morning when there weren’t many people around.”

“She stopped in front of a trash bin and, due to some external force, fell into it. The trash bin wasn’t very high; you could see the bottom by looking down. But because she had been physically and mentally abused, she struggled inside.”

Yan Ya demonstrated, “The more you struggle in a trash bin like that, the deeper you get stuck, which is why she couldn’t get out, leading to further injuries and ultimately death. This misled people into thinking it was a dump site.”

Jiang Fei, listening to this bizarre cause of death, raised an eyebrow, “So it was an accident?”

“No,” Yan Ya replied, “The injuries on her body confirm it was an indirect murder.”

Cheng Ye smiled and patted Yan Ya on the shoulder, “Thanks, Forensic Expert Yan.”

“You’re welcome, just doing my job,” Yan Ya shrugged.

Cheng Ye sat down and looked at Zhang Yibao, “Tell us about Zhang Pingshun.”

Zhang Yibao stood up, took a marker, and walked to the front.

“Zhang Pingshun, who is Zhang Baoshun’s cousin.” Zhang Yibao wrote their names on the board and continued, “I discovered that Zhang Baoshun went to the hospital for sexual dysfunction three years ago, but there’s something suspicious.”

Zhang Yibao pointed at Zhang Baoshun’s name with the marker, “I found out that Zhang Baoshun is married and has a daughter, so he couldn’t have sexual dysfunction.”

Yan Ya looked at the names on the board and then at Zhang Yibao, “You suspect Zhang Pingshun used Zhang Baoshun’s identity to go to the hospital?”

Zhang Yibao nodded, “Boldly hypothesizing, boldly hypothesizing.”

He continued, “I also found out that Zhang Pingshun rented a house near the school in the past year.”

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, then looked up, “We need to investigate to confirm. Erbao, contact Zhang Pingshun.”

Zhang Yibao closed the marker cap and nodded, “Got it, Captain!”

Half an hour later, Cheng Ye and his team were waiting outside a house. About twenty minutes later, Zhang Pingshun hurriedly arrived.

“Officer, what’s the matter?” Zhang Pingshun asked, panting.

“We found that a case is related to you, and we need to check it out,” Cheng Ye said, turning to Zhang Pingshun, “Can we come in?”

Zhang Pingshun seemed cooperative and quickly opened the door, “Yes, of course. Please come in.”