Chapter 118 Is the motive for murder so outrageous?

Around 1 a.m., Guan Xia was staring intently at the computer screen, sipping coffee from time to time to stay awake, when she suddenly heard Pang Le excitedly shout, "Come and see, is this guy Chen Yuanwei? I think he looks a bit like him."

As Pang Le finished speaking, everyone moved their chairs and stood up.

Guan Xia was closest to Pang Le. She slid the chair to Pang Le's side with a tip of her toes and looked carefully at the figure she was pointing at.

There was only one side view of that figure, in the lower right corner of the surveillance video, mixed in with a crowd of onlookers. Apart from his height standing out from the crowd, he was not noticeable.

Guan Xia couldn't help but feel curious. "In such a corner, and with him facing the side, how did you find him?"

Pang Le's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked excitedly, "So, this person is really Chen Yuanwei?"

Guan Xia had the intuition given by the system to cheat, and after watching countless surveillance videos for two consecutive nights, she came over and confirmed with just a glance that the figure was indeed Chen Yuanwei.

Guan Xia smiled and nodded, "You're not mistaken, it's him."

Pang Le breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Is this perhaps a case of things getting better with time? Although I lost two hundred dollars tonight, I gained the Fiery Eyes for a short time, so it's still quite worthwhile."

Pang Le chuckled twice before he calmed down and explained seriously, "Actually, I didn't notice him at first. I noticed something peculiar about this surveillance video. I played it over and over again, and then I accidentally glanced at the half-face in the corner and thought it looked familiar."

Guan Xia was about to ask further when Wang Yu asked curiously, "What's the special method?"

Pang Le moved to the side to make it easier for everyone to see the screen, and then he said while operating the computer: "You will know when you take a look."

As the surveillance video played again, everyone fell silent, carefully observing every move of everyone on the screen.

Guan Xia subconsciously glanced at the place where Chen Yuanwei appeared, and seeing that he had not yet appeared in the crowd, he shifted his attention elsewhere.

Pang Le pulled the progress bar back at the right time. Guan Xia didn't see Chen Yuanwei, nor did she see the other four deceased persons related to the case. Just as she was about to start to feel doubtful, she saw the picture suddenly change.

Traffic was flowing normally when suddenly a rider on an electric bike seemed to faint while crossing the intersection. The vehicle then deviated from the normal straight line uncontrollably and crashed directly into a luxury car that was driving normally next to it.

With a bang, the attention of both passing vehicles and pedestrians on both sides of the road was attracted. Many people slowed down, and a considerable number of people simply stopped and began to stand on the side of the road to watch.

After the rider hit the luxury car, he didn't know whether he was scared awake or his dizziness symptoms were relieved. He was so panicked that he didn't care about the possible injury. He was very nervous and kept looking at the place where the two cars collided.

Guan Xia vaguely realized something, and sure enough, the next second the driver's door opened, and a familiar-looking person came out.

Zhong Xiaoyu was the first to say in surprise: "It's my uncle."

After just two glances at his face, everyone recognized that the owner of the luxury car hit by the electric car was one of the four victims in the Chen Yuanwei case, Zhong Xiaoyu's uncle Zhong Chenghong.

Guan Xia thought of something almost the moment she recognized Zhong Chenghong, and quickly shifted her gaze to the lower right corner of the video where Chen Yuanwei, whom she had seen before, appeared.

Sure enough, when they focused all their attention on the vehicle accident, Chen Yuanwei passed by at some point, stopped to watch, and appeared in the surveillance video.

Xu Nian's reaction was also very quick. The second before Guan Xia was about to speak, he suddenly said, "Rewind the surveillance video a little and confirm the time when Chen Yuanwei appeared in the surveillance video."

Pang Le quickly grabbed the mouse and clicked twice. After the video was played again, Guan Xia stared at the lower right corner of the video without blinking.

Just a few seconds later, Chen Yuanwei passed by with his hands in his pockets and a bag of apples in his hand, expressionless. He turned his head subconsciously when he heard the sound of the vehicle collision. Then a somewhat gloating expression appeared on his face. He took a few steps back and walked to the side of the road, starting to watch the excitement.

"So Chen Yuanwei had already seen my uncle at this time," Zhong Xiaoyu glanced at the upper left corner of the surveillance video and said in disbelief, "December 9th, 2019, and my uncle died on December 27th. There's a difference of more than half a month. Could it be that Chen Yuanwei targeted my uncle because of this accident? But why? Just because my uncle drives a luxury car?"

Zhong Xiaoyu's expression was full of absurdity.

Pang Le said, "There's more to it than that. Keep reading. Chen Yuanwei's expression is interesting. I've watched it several times before, and I suspect this accident might be Chen Yuanwei's motive for killing your uncle."

Zhong Xiaoyu suppressed her emotions and continued reading.

Although there was only one surveillance video playing on the computer screen, Guan Xia had to watch the accident happening in the middle of the video while also paying attention to Chen Yuanwei's expression in the lower right corner. She was so busy that her eyes were almost blurry from moving around so much.

No wonder Pang Le watched it several times. Guan Xia even took the time to mutter something in his heart.

In the video, as Zhong Chenghong got off the car, the rider became more and more panicked. It seemed that Zhong Chenghong had just approached and didn't even have time to say a word. His mouth didn't even move, but the rider was about to collapse. He held the phone tightly in his hand and said something with his mouth changing rapidly.

Zhong Chenghong ignored him at first. He walked to the side of the car to look at the damage at the location that was hit, then said something with a frown.

Then the rider seemed to have suffered a major blow, tears instantly flowed down his face, and after muttering a few words, he simply knelt on the ground. Zhong Chenghong's face suddenly turned dark.

Because the surveillance video has no sound, these images are like a silent movie, and everyone can only guess what the two people said based on their reactions.

As the rider knelt down, people around him began to point and talk. The traffic police also arrived and tried to help the rider up while saying something.

But the rider refused to get up and was still swiping his phone in a panic. A few seconds later, Zhong Chenghong said something helplessly, and the rider suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, a traffic policeman supported him and prevented him from falling to the ground.

The people around started pointing and whispering again. Zhong Chenghong also bent down and reached out to help, but the rider suddenly broke free from the traffic police's hand and kowtowed twice in front of Zhong Chenghong. Zhong Chenghong was so scared that he jumped to the side, bent his knees suddenly and knelt on one knee.

The rider was frightened again and jumped up to help. It was unknown what the two people said to each other before they finally got on the bike and left, and traffic returned to normal.

During the incident, Chen Yuanwei's expression changed from gloating at the beginning, to excitement, to anger, and finally he seemed to be burning with rage. He tightly grasped the plastic bag containing apples in his right hand. Finally, perhaps to vent his emotions, he suddenly threw the bag to the ground, and then glanced coldly at Zhong Chenghong who was getting into the car to leave. Then he didn't even pick up the apples that rolled to the ground, and left without looking back.

Naturally, the onlookers looked at his back in surprise. A few of them seemed to be calling out to him through their mouth shapes and gestures, but when he ignored them, a few elderly people quickly divided up the apples on the ground.

Pang Le pressed the pause button at this moment.

"How is it? Isn't it very special?" Pang Le said: "Did you notice Chen Yuanwei's expression? It's really wonderful. Anyway, I can't figure out why he is angry, but looking at his expression, it is obvious that he hates Zhong Chenghong. I think this is very likely his motive for murder."

Wang Yu frowned and said, "Judging from the physical interactions between Zhong Chenghong and the rider just now, I can guess that they had a little… not quite an argument, but judging by the outcome, Zhong Chenghong must have been kind enough to waive the rider's compensation. But what does this have to do with Chen Yuanwei? Why is he angry? Is he angry at Zhong Chenghong's kindness? Or is it because he's reminded of his past self and is jealous of his current wealth?"

Guan Xia pondered for a moment and shook her head. "Chen Yuanwei's mental state has become very abnormal due to the disparity in his life over the years. I find it difficult to infer his thoughts based on normal logic. However, what Pang Le said makes sense. Let's look for the surveillance footage of the other three deceased people to see if there are any similar scenes."

Zhong Xiaoyu suddenly said, "I think Chen Yuanwei's mood swings might be related to what my uncle said. It's a pity that this surveillance video doesn't have a recording. It would be great if we knew what they were talking about."

Guan Xia remembered something and seemed lost in thought when Jiang Yingyao suddenly said, "I remember... Guan Xia knows lip reading."

Following Jiang Yingyao's words, everyone immediately turned their attention to Guan Xia.

Guan Xia couldn't help but be stunned, then she remembered the previous case involving the Judgment Angel Organization. It seemed that the system had given her a character who could lip-read.

When Guan Xia finally reacted, she met everyone's expectant gazes and felt her scalp tingling.

Pang Le had already diligently started to rewind the progress bar, and while doing so he said happily, "Yes, yes, I also remembered that Guan Xia does have such a skill. Then I will play the video again."

Wang Yu also said, "Enlarge the video and slow down the speed so that Guan Xia can watch it more easily."

Guan Xia had never felt that Pang Le's operation was so fast. In just a few seconds, he completed the settings according to what Wang Yu said. Then he diligently moved to the side and gave Guan Xia the position in the center closest to the computer screen.

Things developed to this point in just a few seconds. Guan Xia couldn't deny it, so she could only move her chair stiffly and watch the surveillance video again with her head held high.

Fortunately, the system was a plug-in after all, and it never failed at critical moments. After the surveillance video finished playing, Wang Yu asked, "How was it? Was the speed just now appropriate? Did you see it clearly? Do you need to adjust it again?"

The system interface popped up in a flash. I don’t know if it was Guan Xia’s illusion, but it seemed that the speed at which the words appeared was also faster, and several lines of words appeared in a flash.

You were questioned by the police, and you suddenly remembered that at 01:27 on the morning of July 18, while watching the surveillance video related to the case, you keenly realized that the criminal suspect Chen Yuanwei's motive for murder was related to an accidental traffic accident involving the deceased Zhong Chenghong. You watched the incident several times over and finally restored the entire process of the accidental traffic accident through lip syncing, and you decided to tell the police.

After the handwriting stayed for a few seconds, a familiar interface flashed and a video appeared. However, unlike the previous ones, this time the video not only had obvious red frames around the heads of the deceased Zhong Chenghong and the suspect Chen Yuanwei, but also lines of words appeared at the bottom of the video like subtitles. Guan Xia quickly realized that this was the conversation between Zhong Chenghong and the rider after the traffic accident.

When Guan Xia saw this scene, she immediately calmed down. She simply directed Pang Le to rewind the video and replayed it like a dubbing artist, while referring to the subtitles to narrate the conversation between the two people in full.

Rider: I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I just felt dizzy and everything went black. I didn't mean to hit you. I'm so sorry. Can I give you my entire savings? I have a total of 4,322.75 yuan. I'll give it all to you, okay? That's all I have.

Zhong Chenghong: I don’t want to make things difficult for you, but this car is a new one my wife bought me yesterday. I haven’t even driven it for 24 hours and it got crashed. I feel like it’s unlucky.

Rider: I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but this is all I have. Can I borrow some more and make up 10,000 to compensate you? My friends are not well-off either, so this is all I can borrow. Please, can I just compensate you 10,000?

Zhong Chenghong: Hey, don’t kneel. What’s the point of kneeling? People who don’t know would think I’m bullying you.

Rider: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I really can only give you 10,000.

Traffic police: Young man, please stand up first. We will talk about the compensation slowly. It is not right to kneel down.

Rider: This is really all I can offer. I don’t want to beg anyone, but besides money, I…

Zhong Chenghong: Hey, hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you getting more and more outrageous? Why did you even kowtow? Forget it, forget it. Just consider it my bad luck. You don't have to pay 10,000 yuan. Just give me 2,000 yuan as a token of your gratitude. I hope I had insurance when I picked up the car yesterday.

Rider: Thank you, thank you. You are such a good person. I hope you will live a long life and grow old with your lover.

The video ended here. After Guan Xia said the last word, he stayed for a few seconds and then disappeared.

In contrast to the heated discussion before, after Guan Xia dubbed the video according to the subtitles, everyone was silent for a while. Ji An then said, "I have a somewhat outrageous guess. I suspect Chen Yuanwei's sudden hatred may be related to the onlookers."

Pang Le asked doubtfully, "Didn't we speculate before that Chen Yuanwei's hatred was related to the communication between Zhong Chenghong and the rider? Why did it suddenly jump to the onlookers?"

Xu Nian suddenly said, "I have the same theory. I just observed that the traffic accident occurred in the right lane of the three-lane road running from east to west. It was the middle lane. Plus, there were so many people watching, the discussion must have been very noisy. Chen Yuanwei was standing on the roadside in the opposite lane. At such a distance and with the interference of the people around him, he couldn't hear the conversation between the two people at the center of the accident. All he could hear was the discussion of the onlookers around him."

Jiang Yingyao easily followed their thoughts. "I noticed Chen Yuanwei's jealous expression appeared about ten seconds after the rider knelt and Zhong Chenghong jumped away and offered to compensate him with two thousand words. I suspect Zhong Chenghong's behavior did indeed arouse Chen Yuanwei's jealousy, but the discussions of the onlookers also played a role in fueling the flames."

Guan Xia understood what he had said and said hesitantly, "You're saying that Zhong Chenghong's behavior drew praise from the onlookers, who said things like, 'He drives such a nice car, he's a kind person, he deserves it,' and that made Chen Yuanwei think of him and want to kill him?"

Zhong Xiaoyu frowned. "Is the motive for murder so outrageous? Just because someone praised my uncle, Chen Yuanwei wants to kill my uncle?"

Pang Le touched his chin and nodded. "This guess is indeed a bit outrageous, but after thinking about it, I think it's very likely. With Chen Yuanwei's perverted way of thinking, he might associate these compliments with himself. Zhong Chenghong is a kind person, so he deserves to drive a luxury car. Then he himself is not kind, so he deserves to go bankrupt and suffer."

After hearing Pang Le's speculation, Zhong Xiaoyu fell silent, and no one else spoke for a while.

Guan Xia didn't know whether this guess was close to the truth, but if it was, she just thought it was ridiculous.

As expected, a murderer is a murderer, and his motives for murder are always so unexpected and unbelievable.