Chapter 29 She has a family now.
Sometimes, Aunt Ping herself envies herself for having this job.
She usually gets up early, takes a car to take care of the young master, and when Zhu Qing gets off work, she can also go home. The hillside mansion is no longer inhabited, so it won't be too dirty. She only needs to do some simple cleaning and maintenance before she can go to sleep early. This kind of job couldn't be more comfortable.
But today, the young master came back. Aunt Ping was extremely sleepy, but the young master wouldn't sleep, so she had to stay by his side. This was a three-and-a-half-year-old child; he couldn't be out of an adult's sight for even a minute.
Outside, the wind and rain raged, banging against the windows. The serial murders that had captured the entire city's attention always occurred on rainy nights. Aunt Ping, worried about frightening the young master, quickly closed and locked the doors and windows. But when she turned around, the child showed no fear whatsoever; he was incredibly brave.
Sheng Fang said that he was an uncle from a family of police officers.
"Young master, do you know what 'family of police officers' means?"
"I know."
Shengfang was lying on the floor of the children's room. The air conditioning was cold, and the floor was cold too. Aunt Ping helped him pull his shirt up so his little belly wouldn't get cold.
The little tyrant is like a little tyrant. He's only been back for half a day, and the ground is covered with Lego bricks. He's focused on taking them apart and putting them back together, and he even tells Aunt Ping in a serious tone that he's the head of the Lego Kingdom.
Aunt Ping yawned and couldn't help but laugh.
I don't know what happened, but this child, who was so arrogant on the mountainside, became very obedient in front of his niece.
It was still windy and rainy outside, but the doors and windows were tightly closed, so they were very safe.
Aunt Ping was a little worried. She didn't know how Zhu Qing was doing. Being a police officer was too dangerous. If the young lady was conscious, she probably wouldn't allow her to do it...
Aunt Ping stood up, looked out through the bay window, and paced back and forth.
I don't know how much time passed, but when I turned around again, the young master was already asleep.
Poor Lego, it took so much effort to build it, and then its head crushed it.
...
Zeng Yongshan's father and older brother returned from their business trip around 9 p.m.
Shortly after they returned, the rain intensified. They were relieved that they had arrived home early, otherwise they would have been stranded on the road.
Three bowls of noodles were placed on the dining table, along with three pairs of chopsticks.
The Zeng family has a habit of eating late-night snacks. After their long and tidy journey, they have only just finished settling in. Zeng Yongxuan changed into his pajamas and sat down at the dining table: "Mommy, has it been raining all week?"
They were talking about the series of murders that had been happening recently.
Even though they weren't in Hong Kong, the father and son kept up with the news and called back to remind the mother and daughter to be careful. Every time this happened, Yi Dongmei would say they weren't the killer's target, while Zeng Yongshan would laugh and say, "She's a police officer, why would she be afraid of a killer?"
The noodles were steaming hot, and the family chatted and laughed.
Until suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Is it Yongshan who's back?" Father Zeng turned his head.
“I’ll go open the door.” Zeng Yongxuan stood up.
"No way, Yongshan said she had to work overtime tonight, why is she back so early?"
Yi Dongmei was still holding chopsticks when she heard the door open with a "click," but no one spoke.
Zeng Yongxuan asked, "Who are you—"
She looked over her son's shoulder and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Kang?"
Ah Kang is a security guard at the beauty academy.
Every lecturer and other staff member in the college had registered their address. Yi Dongmei guessed that A Kang must have come here for work-related matters, so she quickly put down her chopsticks and went over.
However, she hadn't taken more than a few steps when she suddenly heard a muffled groan, followed by the sound of a sharp knife slicing through her shirt.
Zeng Yongxuan squatted down, covering the wound on his arm, where blood gushed out from between his fingers.
Yi Dongmei froze on the spot, and when she came to her senses, she let out a scream. Then, A Kang nimbly slipped into the house.
When Zhu Qing and Dr. Cheng arrived, they heard screams.
The original female protagonist's family lived on the ground floor with a makeshift bed. The gate was open, and the sound of fleeing footsteps was chaotic and heavy. The eldest brother, Zeng Yongxuan, stood in front of his parents, while the father, Zeng Shaoping, pushed his wife and son aside. The security guard, A Kang, remained silent, brandishing a knife. Zhu Qing witnessed this deadly situation firsthand and could deeply feel their helplessness.
With a deafening roar, a gunshot rang out, like thunder piercing the sky.
Everyone's eardrums ached, and their tinnitus hadn't subsided when they heard Zhu Qing's stern shout.
"Hands up! Or we'll shoot!"
In the rain, Zhu Qing held her gun with her arms straight in a standard posture.
Lock onto A-Kang's direction and aim steadily at his brow.
Ah Kang was thin and small. His hands trembled as he held the back of his head and slowly squatted down, his back stiffening.
The sound of sirens grew louder as several police cars burst through the rain, their doors swung open, and officers from Major Crimes Unit B quickly got out.
More and more police officers drew their guns, loaded them, and aimed.
Dr. Cheng stood quietly beside Zhu Qing the whole time, and at this moment he opened a black umbrella.
He held the umbrella above her head, tilting it slightly.
"Stop! Police!"
"You are surrounded."
Surrender immediately!
When Zeng Yongshan arrived, she was so frightened that she almost lost her soul, and her face turned deathly pale.
Seeing the security guard reminded her of the teasing her colleague had given him that day. Xu Jiale, a talkative man, had mocked the beauty academy's security guard, saying he was too skinny and small to even consider a career in this field. Although security guards weren't thugs, a strong wind could easily blow him away; sitting in the guard booth, who could he possibly stop?
"Daddy, Mommy, Big Brother, are you hurt?"
"We're alright, don't cry... Let's check on your older brother first—"
The reality is not exactly the same as the original story.
In the original storyline, Zeng Yongshan's family was murdered in their sleep, with the killer giving them almost no chance to resist or struggle. But this time, it's unclear whether the killer arrived early or Zeng Yongshan's father and older brother returned late and hadn't had time to rest; in any case, they just happened to run into them.
Zeng Yongxuan had multiple wounds on his arms and cheeks, as well as wounds on his palms, because he had instinctively gripped the knife tightly just now.
He was about to collapse, but thankfully the police arrived in time.
The sharp sound of police sirens swirled in my ears.
Zhu Qing was still holding the gun when she realized that her breathing was erratic and her chest was heaving violently.
They were rescued.
She rewrote the tragedy in the original story!
...
Some officers took Ah Kang back to the police station, while the rest went to the hospital.
The original female lead of "Little Sun" became a crybaby, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she felt. She was so close, she might never have seen her family again.
Yi Dongmei smiled, looking somewhat tired: "You're such a grown-up, yet you still cry like a little kitten, making your colleagues laugh at you."
Zeng Yongshan wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
Just a hundred meters in front of her was the snack shop she had recommended to Inspector Liang several times. That wonton noodle shop was absolutely amazing, and this time they finally had a chance to try it together. Zeng Yongshan was as excited as a little girl when suddenly her pager went off. It was Zhu Qing contacting her.
On the phone, Zhu Qing's words were unclear, and the conversation ended abruptly after a few words. Zeng Yongshan knew that Zhu Qing was sensible; her gaze only lingered for a second on the wonton noodle shop a hundred meters away before she immediately went home.
But she never imagined that the "danger" Zhu Qing mentioned that her parents and brother were facing could cost them their lives.
Just now, Zhu Qing told Mo Sir that because the security guard in the gatehouse was watching Yi Dongmei yesterday, and with the sudden connection of clues, she intuitively suspected that he would target Teacher Yi, so she asked for help.
Uncle Li laughed from the side, "Who says a young woman's intuition is unrealistic? This time, her so-called sixth sense came in very handy."
At this moment, Zeng Yongshan had many things she wanted to say to Zhu Qing, her most sincere gratitude.
She stepped forward, her nose tingling with emotion: "Zhu Qing."
Zhu Qing was dozing off while holding the notebook when she suddenly jolted awake, looking up sleepily and asking, "Are we taking a statement?"
Zeng Yongshan stopped crying and started laughing.
Zeng Yongshan's older brother suffered minor injuries. Doctors and nurses bandaged his wounds. He occasionally gasped in pain, but it was nothing serious.
Their parents were protected by their son throughout and were unharmed, although they were quite shaken and took a long time to recover. However, in the original story, the original female lead's parents were always emotionally stable and were their child's warmest support and haven. At this moment, instead of saying much, they comforted their daughter.
Yi Dongmei thanked Zhu Qing.
When asked about any unusual behavior by security guard Ah Kang, she was lost in thought and only now realized what was going on.
“Principal Zheng required that the recruitment process be standardized, and security guards had to have a single-inch photo attached when they were hired. That day, HR asked him to reissue some materials, and I happened to be passing by, so I helped him take them in… The single-inch photo he used had been taken several years ago. I asked him why he was much fatter before, and A-Kang even said that it’s popular for young people to lose weight now.”
"Everyone says they don't understand why Principal Zheng would hire such a short security guard... Actually, it's because they haven't seen his resume. Ah Kang used to participate in flyweight judo competitions and even won the runner-up title."
Yesterday afternoon, Yi Dongmei drove out of the school gate and blocked the only exit.
The security guard overheard her conversation with Zhu Qing and wondered why they were concerned about Zhan Weiqiang's weight. He worried that she would talk too much, so he decided to kill her to silence her.
Yi Dongmei had no idea about this at all.
The police only asked her if she knew anything about Zhan Weiqiang. So many people have changed their body shape, and she wasn't familiar with the security guard, A Kang, so it was impossible for her to deliberately bring it up.
“When I was leaving get off work in the afternoon, he noticed that I hadn’t driven home, so he deliberately chatted with me and asked about my family situation.”
"He asked me why I wasn't driving, and I said I wasn't driving anymore, I was just walking to the tea restaurant next door to grab a bite. These days, Lao Zeng and his son are away on business trips, and even his daughter is busy, probably working all night..."
"It's really strange. This security guard is usually quiet and has never been seen to initiate conversations with anyone."
“Yongshan said long ago that I am not wary of strangers. This time it's all my fault, I shouldn't have said so much.”
Zeng Yongshan comforted her mother: "Mommy, the murderer was very cunning, and we couldn't guard against him. How can you blame yourself?"
Security guard A-Kang handed the resume to the human resources department.
Yi Dongmei wasn't the only one who saw the passport photo on her resume.
Zhu Qing wondered if, in the original storyline, after killing the Zeng family, he would silence even more people to ensure his own safety...
But in any case, the plot has been completely rewritten starting today.
...
The entire B team didn't leave the police station until nearly 2 a.m.
The murderer has been caught, but the truth is still elusive. Ah Kang refuses to say a word, his face numb. By this point, Inspector Mo has relaxed. He'll just keep him detained and see how it goes. Even if he doesn't talk, the police will find evidence, and given his attempted murder, convicting him is inevitable.
Unlike Inspector Weng, Mo Zhenbang genuinely cared about his subordinates.
He escorted everyone to the police station entrance, urging them to hurry back and catch up on their sleep. Since they were reluctant to take a taxi, they got the receipts, and he reimbursed them for everything.
"There's another tough battle to fight tomorrow." After saying that, Mo Sir glanced at Zhu Qing and said seriously, "Your taxi fare won't be reimbursed."
She's a wealthy heiress who's already been recognized by her family; there's no reason for a poor sergeant to reimburse her travel expenses!
Zhu Qing got into the car and had just told the driver "Huangzhukeng Police Academy" when she suddenly paused.
She changed her mind: "Let's go to the hillside instead."
The journey from Yau Ma Tei Police Station to Wong Chuk Hang Police Station is much farther than the journey to Mid-Levels, and the nighttime fare is more than half the price.
But Zhu Qing realized that when she asked the driver to take her halfway up the mountain, she hadn't considered this issue at all.
Zhu Qing suddenly understood why her colleagues all looked forward to going home after work.
When Mo Zhenbang comes home, his wife and daughter are waiting for him. Sometimes, if he gets home late, his wife and daughter are already asleep. He goes into his daughter's room and gently tucks her in. Once in the bedroom, he has the clothes for the next day neatly ironed and hanging on the hanger. Uncle Li divorced years ago, and now his children are working. He has a cat, and although the cat doesn't seem to care much for him as its owner, it always glances at him whenever he opens the door. Xu Jiale and Haozai have mentioned more than once how good their family's cooking is; every night it's either sweet soup or nourishing soup, and the family menu is never the same.
And then there's Zeng Yongshan, the female lead from the original storyline, who has a happy and fulfilling family life...
Zhu Qing didn't understand before, but now she understands their eagerness to return home.
The reason Zhu Qing could empathize was because she realized she also had a family now.
It turns out that "home" is not a specific place.
Whether it's Banshan or Huangzhukeng, there are people who welcome her back; that's home.
...
Shengfang, the little one, didn't fall asleep until very late last night.
Aunt Ping had a tough time; worried that he would catch a cold, she huffed and puffed as she carried the little guy back to his crib. He kept company with his toys, but instead of dreaming about Ultraman or Iron Man, Fangfang dreamed of investigating a case with his niece.
The tiny seed had just fallen into my heart, and it sprouted so quickly.
My niece looks so cool when she investigates cases; Shengfang wants to become a cool police officer like her.
In his dream, he and his niece went to release snakes, and the plainclothes policemen looked incredibly impressive. Before the criminals could even give themselves away, he felt a tickle on his cheek, and with a quick swipe of his chubby little hand, he grabbed the spider's hand.
Someone poked his cheek with a small Spider-Man figurine.
The little boy's face scrunched up as he swatted the model away. He's a grumpy kid when he's woken up; when he was younger, he'd cry loudly if woken up. Now he's not a two-year-old anymore, and if woken up, he'll put his hands on his hips, and breakfast is absolutely out of the question.
The cool little spider kept poking his face. Fangfang frowned and slapped it away, lifting his eyelids slightly.
The eyelids, which had only been slightly raised, suddenly opened wide.
He rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again.
It's Qingzai!!!
Fangfang jumped right out of bed, all her morning grumpiness gone, and pounced on Qingzai to ask what was going on here.
When did you arrive?
Why didn't you call me?
"Have you caught the bad guy yet!"
Aunt Ping stood at the door of the children's room and couldn't help but chuckle.
“The young lady didn’t get home until 2 a.m. last night, and she specifically told me not to wake you up,” she said. “She was resting in the guest room, and knowing you had a lot to say, she woke you up before going to work.”
Just as Zhu Qing was about to speak, Sheng Fang stretched out his palm and made a "stop" gesture.
The uncle could tell at a glance that his niece was uncomfortable.
"Aunt Ping, you don't need to do that," he said in his childish voice. "Just call her Qingqing!"
Aunt Ping had always felt that with one being the young master and the other the young lady, the generations were completely messed up. Calling her by her name didn't seem quite right... Finally, she came up with the idea of calling her "young lady," but now that idea was overturned.
I spent several sleepless nights thinking about it, but it was all for nothing.
Aunt Ping has always been a good cook, and she can make a variety of breakfasts, both Western and Chinese, there's nothing she can't do. The long table in the first-floor restaurant used to be full, but now only two people are sitting there, their broad shoulders and narrow shoulders pressed tightly together.
In the past, everyone in this family kept their distance from each other, with strict table manners, the clinking of knives and forks, and a cold, impersonal atmosphere. Unlike now, they are so close together; this is what real family feels like.
The Sheng family patriarch has always had many rules. Aunt Ping has worked as a maid in their family for over twenty years and has never sat down to eat at the same table with everyone before. Today is the first time.
There was a pile of food on the table, which Zhu Qing and Sheng Fang couldn't possibly finish, so they insisted on pulling her to sit down and eat together.
Aunt Ping was restless, but they all looked calm and composed, as if this dining table was a place that rightfully belonged to her.
Early in the morning, my niece gave her uncle his first lesson.
We must not waste food.
So her uncle also gave her a lesson called sharing.
Shengfang's favorite food is Aunt Ping's homemade strawberry jam, which is sweet and sour. When spread on buttered toast, the toast bursts with flavor with every bite.
The child handed Zhu Qing a piece of soft, white toast, spread it with lots of sauce, and squeezed it with his little hand.
"Qingzai, eat more."
Did you wash your hands?
Fangfang's uncle glared at her: "It's been washed!"
Zhu Qing always eats very quickly, finishing a meal in no time.
Shengfang patted her on the shoulder, encouraging her to slow down and try eating the soft toast by pinching it with her hands, savoring the aftertaste of the food.
Aunt Ping watched from the side, her eyes not only filled with laughter but also with tears.
If the old man could see his youngest son and granddaughter supporting each other in life, he would be very gratified. And the eldest daughter, if she knew that her long-lost daughter had returned home, she would be at peace.
"I'll go check if the soup is ready," Aunt Ping said. "I'll take it to the police station for Qingqing to share with her colleagues."
She quickened her pace toward the kitchen, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers.
If only the young master and young lady could stay here forever. With such a high salary, she should take good care of them.
Meanwhile, Zhu Qing and Sheng Fang, who were eating breakfast at the table, kept shaking their heads.
This place is not good at all.
Some people have rectangular dining tables where you can't even reach the food; you almost have to climb onto the table yourself. You have to shout to get to the food; if someone on the first floor wants someone on the third floor to eat, they might have to make a phone call.
Also, the room was ridiculously big; even snoring echoed at night!
"I don't snore."
"I'm not going to hit it either!" the uncle grumbled. "Just in case!"
...
With the suspect arrested and brought to justice, Zhu Qing could finally relax, and the pace of the investigation naturally slowed down.
Just like Haozai says every day, even if you're about to hang yourself, you still need to catch your breath.
"Qingzai, where are you going?"
“Go to the hospital,” Zhu Qing said. “Arrange for the witnesses to undergo color blindness screening.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she waved her hand, indicating that he wouldn't understand anyway.
The children put on their shoes and followed their niece.
Newcomers always have a lot they don't understand, but they can learn slowly!
What should we learn?
The children wanted to learn how to be a police officer.
My niece is Madam, and he is the future police officer. The foundation of their police family will be laid from now on.
My uncle has a dream of becoming an inspector.
"..." Zhu Qing muttered, "I haven't even become an inspector yet."
Zhu Qing's success in solving the case, along with her little helper to collect evidence, isn't a big problem. After all, the child behaved well last night, so this can be considered a reward for him.
The future Inspector Sheng went to investigate a case with his niece. Everything he saw was new and interesting. He memorized all the case-handling procedures, but his brain was only so big, so it was a bit difficult.
"Qingzai, buy me a notebook, I need to take notes."
How many characters can you write?
"You!" The young master couldn't argue. "Then let's buy a voice recorder!"
The topic of buying a voice recorder lasted for a little while.
Half an hour later, the niece and her uncle met with witness Zhu Daxiong at the hospital entrance.
Zhu Daxiong told Madam that he and his wife had discussed it and agreed that she would cook at home and he would take over the job of delivering boxed lunches to the docks and construction sites. He and his wife were physically strong and not afraid of hard work, and they believed things would gradually get better.
When he said these words, Zhu Daxiong's eyes were shining, but after the doctor finished examining him, the light faded and he became blank.
"Red-green color blindness?"
Zhu Qing always thought that red-green color blindness was simply a matter of swapping two colors.
But it turns out there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
The doctor said, "Red and green are reversed... This is a misunderstanding that many people have based on the literal meaning. Of course, there are special cases. In very rare cases where red and green are reversed, it is due to an abnormality in the patient's cerebral cortex, which leads to a mistake in color processing, but this does not belong to red-green color blindness."
"True red-green color blindness is a congenital lack of the ability to distinguish between these two colors."
Zhu Daxiong then realized that all the colors he had seen since childhood were unusual.
When he was a child, he had many siblings, and it was a blessing to have enough to eat. Later, after he got married, he was always busy making a living. No one told him what was right or wrong. He always adapted on his own. Even traffic lights were simply identified by their position and brightness. It became a habit, and he never doubted that he was actually incapable of accurately distinguishing colors.
The same thing happened at the construction site. A fellow villager introduced him to this job. Zhu Daxiong was doing odd jobs and wasn't familiar with many of the tasks, so he picked up the wrong helmet. But after a while, he'll be able to tell just by the thickness and material of the helmet.
In fact, physical strength is far more important than color recognition in daily work.
And so, life went on in a daze until now, and no one has ever thought anything was wrong.
Zhu Qing took the doctor's diagnosis and the revised statement she made to Zhu Daxiong and left the hospital.
In the case at the container factory a year ago, he probably mistook the tan for red.
Or rather, in Zhu Daxiong's mind, that is red.
Now that the suspect has been apprehended, we will expand the scope of the investigation, using him as the center.
Just like Tetris, each shape has its own designated landing spot.
The details of the case became clear.
...
A-Kang, the security guard at Feiman International Beauty Academy, is actually named Yu Jinkang.
He has not spoken since he was taken to the police station early yesterday morning.
At this moment, Zhu Qing pushed open the door and entered the interrogation room.
He looked up and saw his hands clasped together under the handcuffs.
Yu Jinkang looks different than before.
When they first met, he was trembling like a leaf. Later, during questioning, he cautiously asked if he would become the killer's next target. At the time, Zeng Yongshan kindly told him that, according to the analysis of criminal psychologists, the killer would not target him, who was only twenty years old.
He stubbornly insisted that he was already twenty-five years old—
That day, Zhu Qing and Zeng Yongshan both smiled.
Unexpectedly, all of this was actually a smokescreen by Yu Jinkang.
The timid and cowardly security guard actually had blood on his hands and carried the weight of so many lives on his shoulders.
Why did he do that?
The police officers responsible for interrogating Yu Jinkang changed batch after batch.
Zhu Qing and Xu Jiale sat in front of him.
Zhu Qing came in carrying a folder of documents and a disposable cup.
She raised her hand and grasped the water glass.
Yu Jinkang coldly watched the policewoman prepare small favors.
He turned his head away, but halfway through, he saw her pick up the cup, take a sip herself, and show no intention of pushing the disposable cup forward.
Xu Jiale stood up and went out for a while. When he came back, he was holding a piece of clothing in his hand.
The uniforms were tan, with custom-made buttons on the collar, exquisite and sophisticated, and words printed on the chest. These were the uniforms of the Xinjing Hotel.
"I specifically borrowed this uniform from the parking attendant at the Xinjing Hotel," Xu Jiale said. "It looks familiar, doesn't it?"
Xu Jiale pulled out Yu Jinkang's resume from the file folder, which the police had pieced together from various sources.
In the past year and a half, he has held three different jobs.
Initially, Yu Jinkang worked at Hung Kee Container Conversion Factory on Kwai Chung Pier Road for less than a week. He did so to familiarize himself with the factory's layout so he could target Ma Guohua.
My second job was as a valet parking attendant at the Xinjing Hotel.
Perhaps it was to get closer to the hotel manager, Zhang Zhiqiang.
"The first time you committed this was when you were working as a parking attendant," Xu Jiale continued. "What triggered you that late night that made you rush to Kwai Chung Wharf Road without even changing out of your work clothes?"
“Your third job was as a security guard at a beauty academy,” Zhu Qing continued, picking up where Xu Jiale left off. “After resigning from the Xinjing Hotel, you didn’t work for a whole year. Why?”
Yu Jinkang's gaze was fixed on the parking attendant's uniform.
He didn't return his own clothes to the hotel; he burned them long ago, and was fined for it by losing his deposit.
“Let me answer for you.” Zhu Qing handed him a medical record. “You have lost a lot of weight in a short period of time, and it was already in the terminal stage when it was diagnosed. You are sick and your body cannot take it, so we have to stop. But you don’t have much time left, so after this year of recuperation, you came to Feman.”
Before each attack, he would approach the victim stealthily.
This allows you to familiarize yourself with the other person's daily routine, family situation, and lifestyle habits...
“We have been investigating the adults who had conflicts with the four deceased in the children’s theater.”
"But in fact, the murderer in the rainy night serial murder case was a child in the theater."
Tucked inside the case file on the interrogation table was a list of people present at the children's theater.
The names of the child actors were listed in the last few lines.
Xu Jiale: "We have found eyebrow razor blades, leftover lipstick, blush, and even high heels hidden under your bed in your dormitory. The evidence is conclusive, and you can't deny it."
Yu Jinkang's expression shifted slightly.
The precise data in those autopsy reports indicated that, based on factors such as the angle of the ligature marks, the perpetrator was roughly 1.7 meters tall.
The murderer that eyewitness Zhu Daxiong saw last year was also within the same height range.
However, Yu Jinkang was exceptionally short.
When they first met, his colleagues even teased him, saying that he wasn't as tall as Zeng Yongshan.
That's why, at first, no one suspected him of being the murderer.
It wasn't until a series of inexplicable flaws appeared in the case that Zhu Qing, connecting them together, suddenly realized this possibility.
"What happened in the children's theater back then?" she pressed, pausing deliberately. "Ma Guohua, Feng Yaowen, Zhang Zhiqiang, and Zheng Shihong... they were innocent."
At this point, Yu Jinkang suddenly became agitated.
As if trying his best to endure, he clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on the interrogation table.
"Who says they are innocent?"
"They deserve to die."
"They all deserve to die!"
The unassuming, short man was trembling with intense emotion, and his anger was impossible to suppress.
The memories from more than a decade ago were buried deep in his heart, never mentioned to anyone, but every time he recalled them, Yu Jinkang's hatred for those four people deepened.
"What about Yi Dongmei? And Zeng Shaoping and Zeng Yongxuan..."
"Should they also die?"
Yu Jinkang pursed his lips again, as if he had suddenly lost his temper, and did not say anything more.
There are fifty-three people in the group photo taken at the children's theater.
There were more than twenty children among them, all roughly the same age, with hairstyles and clothing differentiated only by gender, and each wearing heavy makeup. At first, the group couldn't tell which one was the young Yu Jinkang, until just now, when Sheng Fang pointed to a child and asked, puzzled—
Why is he wearing high heels?
At this moment, Zhu Qing pointed to the child's figure in the corner of the third row of the photo.
“I don’t think that killing someone while wearing high heels was to confuse the police,” Zhu Qing said calmly, looking at him. “It’s purely your personal fetish.”
Yu Jinkang closed his eyes, his breathing rapid.
It was at this moment that Mo Sir opened the door and came to exchange places with Xu Jiale.
In the observation room next to the interrogation room, everyone waited quietly for him to tell the truth.
Time ticked by, and finally, Yu Jinkang spoke.
That year, children's theater performances were very popular.
Those classmates who loved performing would always mention during breaks that they were going to perform at the concert hall on Saturday mornings. At that time, Yu Jinkang liked to sing, dance, and imitate cartoons on TV, adapting and performing his own versions. He asked his music teacher, and she said that was what stage plays were.
I heard that registering for the performance is free, but parents need to buy tickets to watch the show.
At that time, his family didn't have enough money, and Yu Jinkang didn't even dare to think about it, keeping his wish hidden in his heart.
Unexpectedly, his mother was willing to fulfill his dream.
“When I got home from school on Monday, I saw tickets to the children’s theater on my bedside table.” Yu Jinkang’s eyes lit up. “My mom said I could go to perform.”
Yu Jinkang recalled that when his mother was pregnant, she dreamed of having a well-behaved daughter. After he was born, her hopes were dashed. However, he was clean-cut and pretty from a young age, so it wouldn't be out of place if he were raised as a girl.
"When I grew up, my parents stopped dressing me in little girl clothes."
"However, cross-dressing is very normal in stage plays."
Even now, he still remembers how excited he was standing at the entrance of the Hong Kong Concert Hall that day.
The play he prepared was a scene from "Snow White." Yu Jinkang practiced at home again and again, using different voices to perform the dialogue between the Queen and the Magic Mirror. His mother said he was sure he would win the Best Performance Award, the prize of which was a set of costumes exclusively customized by the children's theater.
“You have no idea how much I was looking forward to it.” Yu Jinkang remained silent for a long time, the light in his eyes gradually dimming. “They ruined this performance.”
Back then, Yu Jinkang didn't realize that deep down, he believed he should be a girl.
The costume his mother rented was very cheap, but he was satisfied and eagerly awaited the makeup artist to do his stage makeup.
“It’s a gorgeous performance costume.” Yu Jinkang’s expression was somewhat intoxicated. “A big, fluffy skirt.”
There are now many strange-looking people in the children's theater.
There was a boy imitating Little Red Riding Hood, a girl playing both Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and twins dressed as ducks quacking loudly while singing nursery rhymes.
Zheng Shihong's mockery, however, fell solely on him.
When Yu Jinkang grew up, he learned that Zheng Shihong, who had just entered the industry, was also ridiculed. He transferred this humiliation to someone even weaker.
“He didn’t want to do my makeup,” Yu Jinkang said. “He said, ‘Why should a boy wear makeup?’”
However, he played Snow White's stepmother.
Wearing a wig, a puffy skirt, and even her mother's high heels, everything was ready except for the exaggerated stage makeup.
As a child, Yu Jinkang waited, as if waiting for Zheng Shihong's favor, hoping that he would turn around and look at him.
However, he ignored himself.
Finally, Yu Jinkang sat down in the chair and secretly used the makeup artist's cosmetics.
He didn't know how to use it, so he painted his lips very red, and the blush on his cheeks looked like a monkey's bottom.
As Ma Guohua, who was setting up the stage, passed by, she inadvertently stepped on the high heels next to his feet, looked him up and down several times, and then let out a shrill laugh.
Zheng Shihong noticed that he had secretly used cosmetics and became very angry. He twisted out the lipstick and pressed it hard on the corner of his lips in annoyance.
The red paste spreads upwards, like a smile, or more like a clown.
Yu Jinkang clearly remembers those harsh words.
They didn't know each other at all, yet they blindly followed the leader and laughed.
Makeup artist Zheng Shihong looked disgusted, poked his eyebrow, and mocked him for not even having eyebrows.
The breakfast vendor, Fung Yiu-man, turned around with a bottle of milk and asked, "Do you want to try your hand at the Miss Hong Kong pageant?"
Zhang Zhiqiang, who assisted with the event's etiquette, said, "Look in the mirror, you look like a paper effigy from a horror movie."
Even now, Yu Jinkang still feels that he was just unlucky.
Of all the people performing in drag, only he ran into Zheng Shihong's crossfire. Perhaps Principal Zheng was in a bad mood that day, while the other three were also troubled by trivial matters in their lives and wanted to find an outlet for their frustrations.
And so all that malice came straight at him.
That year, Yu Jinkang was eleven years old.
He was supposed to be the last performer at that show. But while the young host on stage announced the program again and again, he just sat in front of the mirror, wiping his lipstick off with a tissue until the corners of his mouth were chafed.
His mother waited in the audience but couldn't see him come on stage. After the performance, she went backstage and, not knowing what had happened, pulled him to take a group photo with everyone.
From then on, Yu Jinkang stopped performing and stopped wearing women's clothing, hiding the puffy princess dress and wig in a hidden corner of his heart.
After entering puberty, his eyebrows gradually grew thicker. In order to make himself more masculine, he learned judo and taekwondo, but he was still not tall.
As Yu Jinkang grew up, he always forced himself to do many things, but he was not happy.
His instincts, his nature, were always suppressed until one day, he remembered his mother's high heels again.
"They ruined more than just the performance I had been looking forward to."
"And my life after I turned eleven."
Zhu Qing: "Why did you target Ma Guohua first?"
Those past events are like a long nightmare.
"Why..." Yu Jinkang seemed to wake from a dream, a strange smile appearing on his lips, and said to himself, "You would never guess how they reacted when they found out that I was that child from back then."
The rustling sound echoed in the closed interrogation room.
Zhu Qing turned the note paper to the next page.
The story is too long; what he is about to recount is the detailed process of the crime.
Mo Zhenbang tapped on the interrogation table: "Continue."
...
Most of the officers in Group B were crammed into the observation room, while only Sheng Fang remained at her post.
Inspector Weng came once, raising his eyebrows as he looked the child up and down, but the child didn't even lift his eyelids, remaining calm and composed.
When they came, Jia Le, Yong Shan, Hao Zai, and others all told him—
His niece was a major contributor to the successful resolution of the case, and Inspector Weng would not fire him.
The calendar on the table clearly states that today is Wednesday.
Once he starts working, he works day and night, even forgetting the most important things in his family. There's just no way to deal with this kid!
To avoid being disturbed, Zhu Qing left her pager in her desk drawer before entering the interrogation room.
The pager has gone off several times now.
You keep calling this number, can't you guess the customer is at work?
Sheng Fang ran up to the civilian police officer, stood on tiptoe, and tugged at the table with her little hands: "Sister Zhen, I need to return a phone call."
"You can use it." Sister Zhen chuckled, picked up the phone receiver, bent down, and handed it to him.
The real estate agent's familiar voice came through the phone line.
Today is Wednesday, and they agreed to sign a provisional contract this evening. There are still some details that need to be confirmed.
"Qingzai is busy, she confirmed with me."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line from the real estate agent: "Let the person in charge of your family answer the phone."
Shengfang frowned slightly.
With repeated provocations, Manager Wang had no idea who the real boss was.
"I'm not buying it!" the young master declared defiantly.
After thinking about it, I'm still worried that this house I've been eyeing for so long will be bought by someone else.
Uncle Fangfang gritted his teeth and announced, "Actually, I was just kidding you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com