Chapter 114 Witnesses and Surrender
Wu Dahai finished get off work at the private owner's appliance repair shop, and was an hour late again today, but he didn't complain.
"Second Uncle, you're off work? I'll help you carry all these groceries." Wu Dahai, dressed in work clothes, carried a repair kit in one hand and helped his neighbor carry the groceries with the other.
He was the gatekeeper of the dormitory, and on his way to Building 23, he encountered many people who greeted him.
"Oh, Ocean, my old electric fan is broken again. I'll have to trouble you."
"Auntie, I'll come to your house to fix it after dinner tonight."
"Dahai, you've come at the right time. Did you get the radio wire?"
"I've replaced it for you. Take it and try it. If it doesn't work, give it back to me."
......
When Wu Dahai got home from work, he had two eggs and a pack of cigarettes in his pocket. Although he was wearing a dark blue worker's uniform, he was polite and friendly, and was one of the best men in the iron machinery factory dormitory.
Today, his new workplace gave the workshop workers five jin of mung beans, two jin of red beans, and two jin of broad beans as a summer heat allowance. He went up to the fifth floor, walked to the left side, knocked on the door, and handed all the benefits to Wu Yan: "Make some mung bean soup for your brother-in-law. He's prone to heatstroke from riding a tricycle outside every day. Give the rest to the children. This is a twenty-yuan bonus. You can give it to your mother for spending money."
Wu Yan accepted the things and money as usual, and nodded to Wu Dahai, saying, "Mom and I are going out to play mahjong, but we're going to eat now. You guys eat by yourselves, don't fight with her, or the people downstairs will call the police."
"I know, I definitely won't cause trouble if she doesn't." After delivering the things, Wu Dahai didn't even have time to knock on his own door before it was already pushed open a crack.
Yuan Juan saw Wu Yan carrying things, giving her a sideways glance before slamming the door shut. She obediently took Wu Dahai's repair kit and placed it on the shoe rack, helped him change his coat and hung it behind the door, first handing him a glass of chilled barley water, then bending down to put slippers on him.
During this time, Wu Dahai slowly drank the expensive barley water while stretching out his feet for his second wife to change his shoes.
He offered no explanation for sending all the welfare benefits to the neighbor across the street. When he got home, he sat on the sofa, accepted the fruit Wu Yan brought, and watched TV while waiting for dinner.
Wu Yan first pointed the only electric fan in the house at Wu Dahai. She was dressed simply at home, wearing a vintage floral nightgown and old green plastic slippers. She went to the kitchen, cooked two simple dishes, and frequently wiped the sweat from her chin.
The sound of a door opening came from outside. Wu Xue, also known as Niu Niu, had returned from boarding school to get a change of clothes.
She ignored her father enjoying himself on the sofa, glanced at the kitchen, and then took her dirty clothes to the bathroom.
After being laid off from the iron machinery factory, Wu Dahai found a job repairing home appliances thanks to his neighbors. As a result, his home was fully equipped with appliances, though he didn't know how many times they had been used.
Wu Xue turned on the washing machine and skillfully put her own clothes and her stepmother's clothes from the basin into it. Then she heard her stepmother call from outside, "Dinner's ready."
Wu Xue washed her hands and sat down at the dining table.
Whenever the family ate together, she and Yuan Juan were very nervous about Wu Dahai's every move.
Wu Dahai was the first to pick up his chopsticks, take a bite of the eggplant with oil, and then eat a bite of rice.
Yuan Juan silently gripped her apron, and before she could even catch her breath, Wu Dahai added more shredded potatoes to her plate.
"It's too salty." Wu Dahai said, putting down his chopsticks and getting up to head for the door. Yuan Juan, who was sitting at the table, was trembling all over. Wu Dahai grabbed a belt, grabbed Yuan Juan's hair, and dragged her toward the master bedroom.
Soon, the sound of a belt whipping came from the master bedroom. Perhaps he had been mistreated outside that day, because the beating lasted exceptionally long. The belt must have broken. Then, he picked up a chair and started hitting Yuan Juan with it, clanging and banging.
Wu Xue put down her chopsticks, ran to the bedroom door and listened for a few minutes, then tiptoed back to the dining table and picked up her bowl.
After a while, Wu Dahai came out, washed his face in the toilet, and came back to the dining table to continue eating politely.
"The rice was cooked alright today." Wu Dahai put a piece of food on Wu Xue's plate, as if discussing the weather: "You did well too. If she goes out to call for help, I'll kill her."
Wu Xue ate her meal in silence, when she heard Yuan Juan get up from the bedroom. She put her clothes in the bathroom, opened the cabinet behind the mirror, and took out some medicine to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, applying some to her neck and body.
After applying the medicine, Yuan Juan limped back to the dining table, picked up her rice bowl, and continued eating.
"Old Liu's wife from the factory wants to get her hair permed at your place. Give her a discount," Wu Dahai said.
"I understand," Yuan Juan said.
She couldn't fight back, and went from resistance to numbness.
After finishing his meal, Wu Dahai didn't go back to his own room. Instead, he went to Niu Niu's room, opened the closet door, and took out her old clothes and personal belongings to look at them.
Niu Niu stood at the doorway, staring at him indifferently.
When Wu Dahai saw Niu Niu's new bra, his tone held a hint of unspoken expectation: "You've grown up a lot. You haven't been getting too close to any male classmates lately, have you?"
"No," Niu Niu said, "living expenses."
Wu Dahai then asked, "Are there any male classmates who like you?"
"No," Niu Niu said, "living expenses."
Wu Dahai pulled out his wallet, took out a ten-yuan note, and cursed, "Just like your dead mother, you're both here to collect debts from me."
Niu Niu took the money and turned to leave, which angered Wu Dahai. He grabbed Niu Niu, threw her to the ground, and punched and kicked her.
Seeing Yuan Juan holding a bowl and plates and watching from a distance, Wu Dahai pointed at Yuan Juan and said, "If you dare to come and help, she'll die."
Yuan Juan finally spoke up: "She got into the fast class at No. 2 Middle School. The summer class is taught by a new teacher. She will call the police again when she sees the injury."
Wu Dahai stopped kicking, tidied his bangs, and asked, "What do you want to fix?"
Yuan Juan said, "English."
Wu Dahai said, "She was two-faced since she was a child, and she became a traitor when she grew up."
Even so, Wu Dahai stopped what he was doing. He called Yuan Juan over and asked, "Where's this month's pay?"
Yuan Juan took out her wages and handed them to Wu Dahai. Wu Dahai counted them and said, "Why are you short five yuan?" Without asking any questions, he slapped her across the face.
Yuan Juan bumped her head against the wall, and after regaining her balance, blood started flowing from her nose. She wiped it with the back of her hand and said, "My body hurts so much, so I bought medicine and sanitary napkins."
“I’ve said that every penny in this house belongs to me.” Wu Dahai pointed at Yuan Juan, then at Wu Xue, and said, “Women must also absolutely obey me. If either of you calls the police, the other party will die.”
Wu Dahai's words made Yuan Juan and Wu Xue feel uneasy. Especially after learning that Wu Xue had started her period in the first half of the year, Wu Dahai's beatings and abuse of them became even more insane.
Yuan Juan said, "Niu Niu, you're going to be late."
"I'm going to school." Wu Xue carried her change of clothes, grabbed a lunchbox from the kitchen, and came out of the suffocating house.
"Is it your turn to speak? I'm going to teach you a lesson today." The moment the door closed, Wu Dahai grabbed Yuan Juan and threw her onto the sofa, the sound of the blows impossible to muffle.
My aunt's brother across the hall was playing video games with his door open. He had an electric fan and some mung bean soup nearby, and he had also bought a bottle of soda.
He glanced at Wu Xue and sneered, "Bastard."
Wu Xue ignored it and walked down the stairs when she encountered an old lady downstairs who asked, "Are your parents fighting again?"
Wu Xue said, "There was no fight. I went to school."
The old woman took out two yuan from her pocket and tried to give it to her: "Your stepmother is heartless. Take this and buy some King of Kings."
Wu Xue walked past her without taking the money.
"Sigh, this child has been ruined by her stepmother."
...
Wu Dahai's violent behavior continued into the night because Yuan Juan needed to cook dinner for the whole family, so he could stop hitting her.
Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were treated as honored guests. Yuan Juan was eating in the kitchen wearing an apron. They ignored the injuries on her body and could hear their insults directed at her.
The word "stepmother" carries an inherent sin.
Yuan Juan ate half a bowl of rice, her arm trembling from the pain, almost causing her to drop the bowl and break it.
If the bowl breaks, nobody gets to sleep tonight.
Yuan Juan rinsed her arm with cold water and saw large bruises on it, then saw rat poison in a plastic bag in the cupboard.
Wu Dahai paid for someone's TV repair, but the person refused to pay him back. He was a hypocrite who pretended to be generous. He came back with a big bag of rat poison, but he didn't see any rats in the building.
"You've grown up too."
Yuan Juan was already numb to all of Wu Dahai's words, but those five seemingly casual words made her unable to resist reaching into the plastic bag—
"You're so lazy, why aren't you cleaning the table? You're only diligent in front of other men, but you don't care about any chores at home." The eldest sister-in-law slammed the bowl down. Wu Dahai stood up and stacked the dirty dishes: "It's okay, Xiaojuan is tired. Don't be angry, I'll clean up the rest."
Yuan Juan walked out expressionlessly, only to be scolded by her mother-in-law: "You jinx, you must have died of poison in your past life, now you're here to bring misfortune to my family."
After they left, Wu Dahai sat down on the sofa and said, "You've made my mom and the others angry again."
Yuan Juan closed her eyes, already knowing what awaited her that night.
...
The exhilarating beating and venting allowed Wu Dahai to fall asleep quickly after taking a shower and lying in bed.
The chirping of crickets could be heard from outside the open window.
Yuan Juan got up from the ground and struggled to move to the toilet to wash off the dirt on her body.
"Ugh—!!" The sound from the master bedroom was drowned out by the sound of running water. Yuan Juan had taken a contraceptive pill that she had secretly bought, and it took her a long time to stand up straight.
Divorce? What will happen to Niu Niu?
Persist? There's no way we can survive here.
She looked towards the kitchen again, when suddenly there was a loud "thump," which made Yuan Juan rush to the master bedroom, afraid that a new round of anger would start in a few seconds.
By the bright moonlight, she saw Wu Dahai lying on the bed, clutching his bleeding wound and groaning in pain.
Upon seeing Yuan Juan enter, he opened his hand as if to grab her for help, but Yuan Juan's gaze was drawn to the figure in the window: "...Niu Niu?"
Unaware that Yuan Juan had seen her, the murderer clung tightly to the sewer pipe and carefully climbed down, following the climbing method her friend had seen on television.
The empty window, with only the yellow moon and Yuan Juan as witnesses to this murder.
She refused to believe that the fleeting shadow was Niu Niu, telling herself that perhaps it was someone Wu Dahai had offended elsewhere. She walked up to Wu Dahai and waved in front of him.
Suddenly, Wu Dahai took a deep breath, glared angrily at Yuan Juan, and kicked his left leg hard, scaring Yuan Juan to the bone.
Wu Dahai's body instantly lost all strength, his eyes widened as he stared at the ceiling, and he was no longer breathing.
Yuan Juan thought that such a tyrannical person was immortal and would jump off the bed to teach her a lesson.
Yuan Juan stood quietly beside Wu Dahai's body, gazing at it for a long, long time. The clock in the living room struck twice, and she moved her feet and slowly closed the window and locked the latch.
Time ticked by, and she closed the door to the master bedroom, lying quietly on the sofa, watching the passage of time.
......
......
Shen Zhenzhu turned her head and quietly looked at the pitiful woman beside her.
Yuan Juan has a long neck and fair skin. Her fingertips and arms have slender and elegant curves. Upon closer inspection, there are signs of damage from years of using hair dye and chemical solutions. Because she is always in contact with water, there are faint rashes on the inside of her fingers.
Yuan Juan felt Chen Zhenzhu's gaze. The policewoman had been very calm since she entered the room, and even when everyone said she was the murderer, there was no change in her eyes.
She opened her mouth slightly, as if grasping at a last straw, and whispered, "It wasn't me..."
"Sister Pearl, come here for a moment." Wu Zhongguo came to the door and saw the "criminal suspect" and the police officers who had arrested him sitting calmly on a sofa. He frowned slightly.
Shen Zhenzhu stood up as if to encourage her, and pressed down on her shoulder: "I will investigate thoroughly."
Yuan Juan gasped.
Chen Zhenzhu asked, "What's wrong?"
Yuan Juan lowered her head, enduring the pain, and said, "It's nothing."
Shen Zhenzhu hummed in agreement, walked around the kitchen, and came to the opposite side.
Wu Zhongguo whispered to Shen Zhenzhu: "The deceased's mother wants to be a witness and say that she personally witnessed Yuan Juan committing the murder."
Aunt Wu said this suddenly in front of more than ten neighbors in the living room when Wu Zhongguo was about to leave.
At this moment, she looked at Chen Zhenzhu with trepidation. When she saw this unusual young policewoman slowly turn her head and her heavy gaze fall on Aunt Wu, she forgot to breathe.
“You say you witnessed Yuan Juan committing murder? Then come over and talk to me,” Shen Zhenzhu said.
The neighbors are Aunt Wu's pillar of support. They all chimed in, saying, "What's the point of talking over there? Their business is our business. Sooner or later, everyone will know."
Shen Zhenzhu said, "Witness testimony in a murder case can directly determine the direction of the investigation and affect the determination of guilt or innocence. True testimony can reconstruct the crime scene and provide key evidence for conviction."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wu nodded repeatedly: "I understand. I saw it with my own eyes. I want to report Yuan Juan."
"You understand, that's good." Shen Zhenzhu said expressionlessly, "A witness's truthful testimony will make the chain of evidence complete, while perjury will mislead the judicial process, causing the real culprit to go unpunished. Article 305 of the Criminal Law clearly stipulates that the crime of perjury shall bear criminal responsibility. You understand this point, right?"
Aunt Wu stammered, "I... I just said what I saw, and it's had such a big impact? What does criminal liability mean? Does it mean I'll go to jail?"
“That’s right.” Shen Zhenzhu smiled faintly: “It’s a sentence.”
Grandma Wu gave birth to a son and a daughter when she was 15 or 16 and raised them alone. Now her grandson is 16, and she is only 55. It's a pity she is uneducated; she used to work in the factory canteen, but after the factory closed down, she stayed home and enjoyed her retirement.
With her children backing her up, everyone in the building speaks to her politely; no one can say anything as terrifying as Chen Zhenzhu with her expression and tone.
"I...I need to take my medicine." Aunt Wu clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face, and collapsed into her daughter's arms, sobbing uncontrollably: "My heart is breaking, I'm in so much pain, I'm in so much pain."
"Oh, what a pity that such a good child like Dahai is wasted," said an old neighbor.
Aunt Wu felt even worse after hearing this.
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "Wu Dahai has a daughter, why can't we see her?"
Aunt Wu said, "The school sent someone to call and inform them. That child is a good student and well-behaved. He's just quiet and has been bullied by his stepmother."
Shen Zhenzhu waited for her to take the heart-clearing pill. About ten minutes later, Aunt Wu felt a little better and said to Shen Zhenzhu, "Comrade, let's talk here."
Shen Zhenzhu smiled and said, "Okay, you can think it over."
Aunt Wu breathed a sigh of relief, licked her lips, and sat up straight.
The woman on the street, who was squeezed onto the sofa, said, "Tell the police officers everything you saw, no matter what it was. They will make their own judgment later, right, comrade?"
Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said, "Yes, we will verify every testimony."
Aunt Wu looked up at Chen Zhenzhu and sensed that Chen Zhenzhu didn't seem to have high expectations for her testimony, and was even a little stern.
“Our fifth floor is the top floor, and only our family lives there. We installed an iron gate on the stairs, and we don’t usually lock the doors between the two houses.” Aunt Wu clasped her hands on her knees and said while thinking, “Every morning at eight o’clock, my daughter’s family and I go over there for breakfast. This morning I woke up early and wanted to eat the fried dough sticks from Sun Lao Er’s place, so I went across the street to tell the hairdresser that I would give her the money to buy them.”
Chen Zhenzhu asked, "What time did you go?"
Aunt Wu said, "It was around midnight, no, around six or six-thirty in the morning."
Shen Zhenzhu then asked her, "Try to confirm the time."
Aunt Wu insisted, "At 6:30 in the morning, I pushed open the door and went into their house. I saw Yuan Juan coming out of the house covered in blood. She didn't notice that I had seen her, so I quickly ran back to my room."
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "What clothes was she wearing at the time? Was she holding anything in her hand?"
Aunt Wu said, "I... I have old eyesight and can't see what she's wearing. She's holding... holding a knife, yes, a knife!"
Shen Zhenzhu then asked, "Could you describe that knife?"
Aunt Wu had seen Wu Dahai's body. She gestured with her hands and said, "It was this big, as big as a kitchen knife. If it were a small knife, she wouldn't have been able to cut it. After using it, she must have taken the kitchen knife to the kitchen. It was always stained with pig's blood, duck's blood, and chicken blood. Even if it was stained with human blood, you wouldn't be able to find it, right?"
Shen Zhenzhu didn't answer her question. Seeing that Aunt Wu had finished speaking, she handed her the notebook: "Sign or put your fingerprint on it."
Aunt Wu quickly put her hands behind her back: "What are you doing?"
Wu Zhongguo said, "Signing eyewitness testimonies is a necessary procedure for us."
Aunt Wu was convinced that Yuan Juan was the murderer, so she picked up a pen and wrote her name, Wang Fengyun, in a crooked hand on her notebook.
Wu Yan was furious. She suddenly stood up and said, "My brother has taken care of the family all these years. If it weren't for him, our family would have been ruined long ago. She just killed him like that! What are we going to do now? No way! I have to kill her, kill that damned woman!"
Her son also stood up with her. The sixteen-year-old boy finally threw down his game console, shuffling his shoes and saying, "All we do is kill, kill, kill. We might as well just kill them all."
Wu Yan rushed across the street like a madwoman, accompanied by her indignant neighbors.
"Severely punish the murderer!"
"Blood debts must be repaid in blood. We cannot allow murderers to continue to act with impunity."
"Da Hai, what a good boy! We can't let him die at the hands of a hairdresser!"
Lu Ye, along with Zhao Qiqi and Chen Junsheng, stopped them; this group of people almost overturned the entire building.
Shen Zhenzhu stood at the door to issue a warning, and then led the way in handcuffing Wu Yan, the instigator, before the riot was quelled.
"Everyone go back to your homes and don't gather on the fifth floor." Shen Zhenzhu pressed her right hand on the gun and said, "Obstructing the police in handling a case is also illegal. If needed, we will come downstairs to find you. No one is allowed to come up again."
After settling the others in, Chen Zhenzhu returned to the scene.
Yuan Juan remained seated on the sofa throughout.
"My dad is dead?" Wu Xue, carrying her schoolbag, ran to the door, panting heavily, and slowly walked up to Yuan Juan, asking, "Where's my dad?"
Yuan Juan held her hand to her face, and the tears she had been holding back silently streamed down her face: "It's in the bedroom, don't go there, it's scary."
Niu Niu put down her schoolbag and sat down next to Yuan Juan, quietly looking at Chen Zhenzhu: "You can catch the murderer, right?"
Shen Zhenzhu sized up her figure and clothing, which matched perfectly: "Do you know my crime-solving rate?"
Niu Niu asked, "The crime-solving rate?"
Shen Zhenzhu bent down to meet her gaze and said, "My case-solving rate is 100%. Every case that is handed to me will be solved."
Niu Niu looked away, grabbed Yuan Juan's hand, and said, "That's great."
The two women huddled together, a sense of sadness pervading their expression.
Lu Ye, standing at the door, whispered to Zhao Qiqi, "Why did you see Niu Niu? Your stepmother even frowned. Is she really going to hit her? But it doesn't seem like it. The child seems quite close to her."
Unbeknownst to Zhao Qiqi, he was also leading Chen Junsheng on a "visit and investigation" downstairs, circling around and around, so as not to cause trouble for Chen Zhenzhu and the others.
Returning to the crime scene, Shen Zhenzhu sighed.
Lu Xiaobao is taking pictures of the corpse, faithfully recording Wu Dahai's death.
Shen Zhenzhu took out magnetic powder and a fingerprint brush from Lu Xiaobao's box, walked to the window to observe for a while, dipped a small amount of powder on the brush head, and used an extremely gentle rotating motion to brush the window latch.
The fingerprint ridges appeared, and I brushed along the ridges until they were clear: "Brother Xiaobao, can I borrow some fingerprint adhesive?"
Lu Xiaobao rummaged through the box and found fingerprint glue, handing it to Chen Zhenzhu. He also observed from the side and said, "Adult fingerprints? Maybe it's a family member. The murderer must have come in from outside, killed the person, and then sneaked away."
"There's an iron gate on the stairs; you have to pick the lock to get in. I checked and there were no signs of tampering."
"What is that?" Lu Xiaobao craned his neck to look further. "Could it be an inside-outside attack?"
Shen Zhenzhu said, "We'll find out if we look it up."
After taking a fingerprint, Chen Zhenzhu realized that it was left by Yuan Juan when she closed the window.
I opened the window and heard a creaking sound from its age.
There are sycamore trees directly in front, and a sewer pipe on the left side of the wall. Looking down from the window, there is nowhere else to climb except the sewer pipe.
It's a five-story building; you really can't judge a book by its cover.
Shen Zhenzhu turned around and glanced at the doorway.
"There are footprints here," Lu Xiaobao said excitedly. "The murderer came in through the window! But the size of the footprints seems a bit like a minor's?"
Chen Zhenzhu pointed to the scratches on the soles of her shoes that had been climbing on the sewer pipe, and then leaned halfway out with magnetic powder to collect fingerprints on the sewer pipe.
The woman on the street downstairs opened her window and looked up, exclaiming, "Oh my god! You can find something in the pipes? Be careful not to fall!"
Her shout broke the silence of the living room.
Yuan Juan released Niu Niu's hand with trembling hands and swallowed hard.
After hesitating for a long time, she said to Wu Zhongguo, the guard, "Officer, please stop investigating. I'll turn myself in. My mother-in-law was right; I killed the person."
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Author's note: See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope coming! [Let me see!]
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