Chapter 46

The flower has been in bloom for five years. Face to face, there is still no evidence, so Yu Ai Ai naturally denies it.

But Chen He is not a policeman, and this is not an interrogation of a criminal. There is no need to obtain a confession, just need to know the truth.

She stared at Yu Aiai: "During my hospital stay, you also thought about killing me, didn't you?"

Yu Aiai's face turned pale and red. "You heartless person! I took care of you out of kindness because we're classmates, and you slander me like this?"

Chen He didn't insist and jumped directly to the next question: "You don't have the courage. Who ordered you to do that?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Yu Aiai refused to admit it.

"I heard it." Chen He said word by word, "I heard you talking to him on the phone. You didn't expect it, did you? I was already awake at that time."

Yu Aiai was speechless and her face turned pale.

"You're so inexplicable..." She grabbed her bag and started to leave.

Chen He stepped forward to stop her. Yu Aiai stepped back in fear, her waist leaning against the edge of the table. "What are you going to do?"

"You didn't attack me again. Were you scared, or didn't find the opportunity?"

"You're really weird today!"

Yu Aiai was furious and tried to push her away. Chen He didn't hold back and pushed Yu Aiai back onto the chair.

Although Chen He was almost disabled, he insisted on exercising to regain his strength. Although he is thin, he has muscles.

She looked down at Yu Aiai and said, "Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"

Yu Aiai avoided her gaze: "No one ordered me to do that!"

"Then you yourself will murder me."

“No…no!”

Yu Aiai was frightened, stood up and ran away.

On the table lay a half-written receipt.

Chen He watched the figure leave through the window, her eyes heavy. "Yu Aiai, you led Qiu Yue to a dead end, and nearly killed me too. It's not too much to let you experience karma in a comic, right?"

She leisurely tidied up the table and walked out of the side hall, just in time to see Song Zhou walking down the stairs.

"Hey? You're getting off work so early today?"

"I took a leave of absence and left work early." Song Zhou walked towards her.

"Why are you asking for leave? Are you not feeling well?"

Chen He raised her hand to touch his forehead, but he hugged her.

"No. I just missed you and wanted to come back soon."

Chen He smiled: "What a sweet little mouth."

Song Zhou didn't say anything, his face buried in her long hair. He slowly raised his eyes from an angle where she couldn't see, and his gaze followed the door with a cold look.

*

A week later.

Chang Ting believed that if he worked hard, he would be able to find the man in black. He visited several households on Chunzhi Street but found nothing.

Chang Ting leaned exhaustedly on the driver's seat of the police car, feeling like he had fallen into a mystery.

This couldn't go on any longer. He had to find a breakthrough from another angle. He closed his eyes, his fingers tracing circles and dots in the air, trying to figure things out.

"We should adjust our thinking and return to the beginning. On the surface, the murderer of Xu Candong was seeking revenge for Feng Xumei. But Qin Xiuzhu, the person with the greatest motive for revenge, has been ruled out."

Apart from Feng Xumei's relatives, who else wants Xu Candong to die?

He remembered a plot from Chen He's comic. At this point, he couldn't ignore any detail in the comic.

"Xu San" once said to Feng Xumei's "ghost": "Do you think I want to kill you? Who told you to meddle in other people's business? What does Qiu Yue have to do with you? You're courting death!"

This passage expresses that Feng Xumei once wanted to help Qiu Yue, but was killed by Xu Candong, so Qiu Yue could not be saved.

So, could it be that the person who killed Xu Candong was not only seeking revenge for Feng Xumei, but also for Qiu Yue?

Since the deaths of Feng Xumei and Xu Candong are both related to Qiu Yue’s murder, we should start with Qiu Yue’s social relations and investigate in detail to find out who else would kill for her!

However, when Qiu Yue disappeared five years ago, the police had already checked Qiu Yue's social relationships.

She had a brother who was four years older than her, but he died when he was a teenager. Her only immediate family members were her divorced parents who didn't care much for her.

There is even less contact with other collateral relatives, so what can be found out by investigating further?

Thinking of this, a question that existed five years ago but was ignored by him popped up in his mind again.

Tuition for the Zangmo Art Base is 60,000 yuan per session, which is not cheap. How could those two parents who don't care much about their daughter be willing to pay tuition?

Chang Ting had asked Qiu Yue's father about this question before, and he had sworn that he had paid for it. But after thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem quite right.

"The transaction records of the base account should be able to find the payer's information." Chang Ting muttered and picked up his mobile phone. He wanted to ask his colleagues to contact the bank to verify, but gave up.

It’s better to ask Zhu Zangmo directly.

Zhu Zangmo, from the time I met him, always gave me the feeling of being both actively cooperative and hypocritical, which was a bit strange. So I might as well use this as an excuse to get closer and observe him.

Chang Ting called Zhu Zangmo.

"Principal Zhu, I'm Chang Ting. I need to consult you about something."

Zhu Zangmo apologized on the phone: "I'm so sorry, I'm not at home today because of something."

"You're not at home? Where are you?"

"What a coincidence! I have an art exhibition today. How about another day..."

"Art exhibition? I've never been to such an elegant occasion. Where is it? I want to go and see it." Chang Ting said with interest.

"This..." Zhu Zangmo's tone sounded a little reluctant.

"What? You're not welcome?"

"How could that be?" Zhu Zangmo said hurriedly, "We are in the exhibition hall of Xingchang Art Store, waiting for your presence."

Chang Ting came to Xingchang Art Store according to the address sent by Zhu Zangmo.

The company is located in the core area of ​​the city's historical and cultural protection zone. Two century-old camphor trees in front of the door are like domes, filtering the sounds of traffic in the distance into fragmented background noise, creating a sense of tranquility in the midst of noise.

The building of the trading company was originally an old Western-style building from the last century. After being reconstructed by modern designers, it has both modern elements and traces of history everywhere. The granite walls seem to have been intertwined with hundreds of years.

Zhu Zangmo had already been standing under the camphor tree waiting for him.

"Officer Chang, welcome, welcome."

Chang Ting shook hands with him, looked up at the four-story old Western-style building, and exclaimed: "Wow, what an old house!"

Zhu Zangmo paused for a moment, then said politely, "That's right, it has a history of 120 years."

"Do you own this business?"

"No, no, I have a cooperative relationship with the boss of Xingchang. They represent some of my paintings. Occasionally they hold a small exhibition for me, which can be regarded as publicity."

"Oh, then I have to appreciate Principal Zhu's masterpiece."

"I dare not, please give me more advice."

The two walked into the gate, one in front and one behind, following the mottled shadows of the trees on the steps.

The first floor was the reception room of the old western-style building, which has been converted into an exhibition hall. On the wall hangs Zhu Zangmo's personal introduction and a few oil paintings.

Sunlight filtered in through the narrow windows and was cut into small grids by the colored glass. The overall lighting in the exhibition hall was dim, with only downlights above the paintings. The frames were enclosed in the light circles, as if floating in mid-air.

The guests who visited the exhibition were all well-dressed, polite and spoke in low voices.

Chang Ting, wearing a jacket and with his hands in his pockets, walked in, his long strides making the old wooden floor clatter loudly. He exclaimed like a country bumpkin, "Why are there only a few lights on? Can you see clearly?"

The guests turned around one after another. Zhu Zangmo was a little embarrassed and gave them an apologetic smile.

Chang Ting was completely unaware as he wandered from painting to painting. He then said straight to the point, "Hey, can you find out who paid for Qiu Yue's tuition?"

Zhu Zangmo was confused: "Why are you checking this? It should be...her parents who paid for it."

Chang Ting insisted, "Let's wait and see. Can we still check the account?"

"We can check, we can check." Zhu Zangmo agreed good-naturedly, "Although we are a private training institution, we are also operating legally. Although we have closed down, the account books and receipts are still there. They are all at home. If you are in a hurry, I will ask my wife to help check."

"Madam?" Chang Ting paused. "Is your wife in charge of the accounts?"

"Yes. I have a headache with numbers. When the base was still open, my wife helped me with the accounts."

"Madam is truly a good wife."

Zhu Zangmo smiled happily and said, "That's right. My wife and I have always been in perfect harmony."

"Then, did your wife also live in the base back then?" Chang Ting asked suddenly.