Chapter 233 Finding Jiang Han
"Fang Zhi's behavior shows that he is a shrewd and cunning person who can judge the situation. He acquired assets worth over one million yuan in six months, and he surrendered himself to the police and paid compensation as he pleased."
Chen Zhenzhu sat at her desk, touched the beautiful, delicate red rose petals, and analyzed, "I suspect he's still hiding something."
"This kind of person is obviously one who won't admit defeat until he's faced with the consequences. He only tells half the story and hides the rest, always trying to get all the benefits. He's not going to turn himself in so easily." Lu Ye leaned back on the sofa, pinching the bridge of his nose. Director Liu told them to go back and rest, but he and Shen Zhenzhu took a walk outside and then returned to the office.
The four teams chatted in the office all night, verifying everyone's statements, and chugging coffee like water.
Lu Ye said, "Overnight, Dean She attempted suicide, and Fang Zhi turned himself in. It's hard not to be suspicious."
"Yesterday, Director Liu told me that the case involving the H country embassy is being dropped." Shen Zhenzhu opened the newspaper, which was full of news articles such as "The Collapse of Happiness," "Behind the Happiness Lies the Suffering of Teenagers," "How to Conduct Standardized Production Management," and "Who Will Protect the Growth Environment of Teenagers?"
Skyscrapers rise and fall; the once-high-standard nutritional supplement for teenagers has fallen from its pedestal and is now piled up in the trash, indifferent even to scavengers.
Hundreds of consumer groups protested outside the factory, demanding substantial compensation from HappyGo. Even government announcements informing the public that HappyGo products on the market do not have hormone issues have failed to quell the parents' anger.
On Shen Zhenzhu's desk was a thank-you letter from the H country embassy, which highly praised her efficient handling of the case and also presented her with a bucket of kimchi as a state gift.
Xiao Bai, having failed to snag a sofa to rest, sat back in a chair, hands folded on the back, and said listlessly, "What do we do now? Arrest them all, and the case is over?"
Holding his coffee, Zhao Qiqi said with a look of utter despair, "Market regulators must take responsibility, fake associations must be investigated, youth training groups are being screened, everyone's statements are in order, even Jiang Han's mother confessed to the contents of the agreement."
“I’m not going to deal with the other cases anymore. All the investigation departments have already gotten involved, so it seems we can stop here for now. But there’s still one question: where is Jiang Han’s body? I need to see it with my own eyes before I can close the case.”
Xiao Bai said, "Yes, it's still unclear whether it was suicide or homicide. How can we just say he fell in and that's it?"
"I'll go ask Xie Yuyin again." Chen Zhenzhu dozed off for two hours, went out to wash her face, and returned to the office full of energy: "Who's coming with me?"
Xiao Bai stretched out her hand and said, "Sister Pearl, I can't go on like this anymore. It'll be too late."
Lu Ye said, "Don't look at me. I still have to sign off on each of the people from the art training schools and youth training camps who are colluding with Fang Zhi." Chen Zhenzhu didn't have time to do these trivial things, so they all fell on Lu Ye.
Wu Zhongguo had stayed up all night, and his eye bags were almost drooping down to his chin. Before he could raise his hand, Chen Zhenzhu said, "Uncle Wu, you should rest for a while. You'll have work to do later."
Zhao Qiqi raised her hand shakily: "Well, Sister Pearl, at least I'm a person."
Shen Zhenzhu patted Zhao Qiqi on the shoulder affectionately: "You are my most loyal comrade-in-arms. Let's go and bring Jiang Han back."
There are many suspicious points surrounding Jiang Han, and we must not let them go unchecked.
Shen Zhenzhu and Zhao Qiqi left the office together and encountered a group of parents of the victimized students on the way.
They saw Shen Zhenzhu and surrounded her. One of them said, "I heard there's compensation and donations from kind people. Where can we get it? What are the requirements?"
Zhao Qiqi whispered to Shen Zhenzhu, "Many successful people in society have spontaneously organized donations to help teenagers who have dreams but have been hurt to recover their health and continue to pursue their dreams."
After understanding the situation, Shen Zhenzhu told the dozen or so parents present, "We will organize everyone to communicate with Fang Zhi's lawyer about the compensation. If it is appropriate, it will be transferred to you within three days. However, I am not responsible for social donations. You will have to ask the person in charge of receiving the funds about that."
The parents were already familiar with each other, and they whispered among themselves. Shen Zhenzhu also saw Xu Nan's mother inside.
Xu Nan's mother was also surprised to see Chen Zhenzhu. She squeezed through the people in front of her and said, "So it's you, Miss Zhuzhu!"
Zhao Qiqi corrected, "It's Chen Dui."
Xu Nan's mother smacked her lips and said with a smile, "Captain Chen, I think you look extraordinary. I felt you weren't an ordinary person that day. Do you remember me? We went to the Happy High factory together, oops. Hey, we even went to the toilet together, and you even gave me toilet paper."
Shen Zhenzhu, of course, remembered Xu Nan's mother. She pulled her aside and asked, "What happened to the product development agreement you signed with me that day? Has anyone contacted you?"
Xu Nan's mother said, "Of course I refused. That's my precious son! How could I send him to do experiments for a little money! But if you ask me that, does anyone really do that? My God, is that even human?"
Although they had only met once, Shen Zhenzhu's impression of Xu Nan's mother was that she was someone who liked to take advantage of others, but she didn't expect her to refuse so decisively.
In this way, Fatty, who was taking care of Xu Nan, could rest assured.
"Big sister, you are a qualified and good mother. Xu Nan is so lucky to have you as his mother." Shen Zhenzhu said with a smile, "Xu Nan should also remember me. I saw him at Roast Chicken Queen."
After being praised, Xu Nan's mother became embarrassed and said shyly, "What kind of qualified mother am I? I don't own a house or have a formal job. I'm far below the standard."
Upon hearing the word "standard," Shen Zhenzhu shook her head helplessly: "Whether you are a standard or not is not something society defines for you. If you control the temptation of money for Xu Nan's sake, you are a qualified mother."
Zhao Qiqi said nonchalantly, "We've even handled cases of trafficking one's own flesh and blood. They give birth and sell at the same time, and she has the audacity to think she did nothing wrong. Think about it, you worked so hard to raise Xu Nan, and you didn't feel tired working at the chemical plant. Xu Nan must also think you are a qualified and good mother."
"How can I compare to that kind of person? Bah, they're not even human." Xu Nan's mother turned her head away, still a little embarrassed.
"This is my phone number. Contact me anytime if there are any issues." Shen Zhenzhu took out her business card and handed it to Xu Nan's mother, saying with concern, "Xu Nan and the others are still in good condition. Director Chen personally said that they can recover their health, so don't be too sad."
"Hey." Xu Nan's mother wiped her eyes, a shy smile appearing on her thin, sallow face. She carefully put away Shen Zhenzhu's business card, and watching Shen Zhenzhu's departing figure, she sighed, "So capable at such a young age. I can't lose the criminal investigation team leader's business card. I have connections with officials now."
Shen Zhenzhu urgently interrogated Xie Yuyin, and once again raised questions about the Jiang Han corpse.
This time, Xie Yuyin couldn't hold back any longer. When she heard that Xu Nan's mother refused to cooperate with the experiment, she pretended to cry and said, "I know her. She's so greedy, yet she still refused. I... I'm so sorry to my son."
Shen Zhenzhu looked at her indifferently and said seriously, "Where did you send the body? You said it was cremated, but I sent someone to your house and didn't see any cremation materials."
Xie Yuyin said with tears streaming down her face, "How is Miaomiao? Boss Fang also did a test for her and said she's a genius, a genius!"
Shen Zhenzhu suddenly realized and immediately said, "Is this why you had Jiang Han cooperate with Happy Gao's human experiments?!"
Zhao Qiqi stared in disbelief and whispered, "Isn't that autistic?"
Xie Yuyin felt that Zhao Qiqi's tone was disrespectful to Miaomiao and angrily retorted, "What do you know? It's already very difficult for me to raise two children on my own! Jiang Han looks exactly like an old bastard, doesn't like to study, and still has to go out to work! He has completely let me down after carrying him for ten months! I hate him, and he's destined to be a failure. I only want Miaomiao, I only want Miaomiao to become a genius, then I can turn my life around!"
Shen Zhenzhu said, "So you abandoned Jiang Han, your own son."
Xie Yuyin's face was full of anger, bursting with strong rebellious emotions: "He gave up on himself! He's no good at anything, not ambitious, not smart, and doesn't know how to please people. What's the use of being honest in today's society? He doesn't meet the standards in any subject, except for sports. If I don't let him do experiments, what use is he to me?! He'll be a social waste when he grows up!"
Shen Zhenzhu clenched her fists and asked again, "Where exactly is the body?"
Xie Yuyin said with a sneer, "You're right, I'm not going to cremate him. I won't spend a single penny on him. I'll send him back to my hometown and bury him."
Shen Zhenzhu glanced down at Xie Yuyin's profile and said, "Caijia Village, right?"
Xie Yuyin said, "Yes, don't be scared when you find him. He's a monster, just like his good-for-nothing father, a piece of discarded trash."
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "How did you send it back?"
Xie Yuyin said, "The fish in the hot pot restaurant are all dead fish from the fishpond in Caijia Village. When I received the goods, I packed them into boxes and loaded them onto the truck, saying they were unusable coal."
"Nobody asked?"
"Nobody asked. Who would bother with people like us? The driver was even worried I'd get the car dirty, so he made me help him all the way back."
After leaving the interrogation room, Zhao Qiqi punched the wall!
He vented his anger at Xie Yuyin for being a disgraceful mother with a punch.
“Caijia Village is located in a remote area, more than 100 kilometers away from here.” Chen Zhenzhu said as she walked, “I’ll report to Director Liu, and you go fill up the car with gas. Let’s try to bring Jiang Han back today for the autopsy.”
Zhao Qiqi said, "Sister Pearl, aren't you angry?"
Shen Zhenzhu said, "Be angry, but you must stay calm."
"Um... I'm going." Zhao Qiqi ran downstairs without saying another word.
When he arrived at Director Liu's office, he wasn't surprised by Shen Zhenzhu's arrival: "Continue the investigation?"
Shen Zhenzhu nodded: "We need to give Jiang Han an explanation."
Director Liu said, "Caijia Village, you've been chasing the corpse for miles. Go ahead, and come back soon."
"Yes." Shen Zhenzhu saluted and quickly left. When they arrived at the forensic lab, Lu Xiaobao had already packed his belongings: "Let's go."
Sitting in the car, Zhao Qiqi insisted that Shen Zhenzhu take a nap.
Shen Zhenzhu wasn't sleepy. She stared wide-eyed out the car window, thinking about the despair in Jiang Han's ugly face in the Heavenly Eye's retrospective.
He knew he had been abandoned.
What exactly did he go through?
If she hadn't seen the Heavenly Eye's retrospective, Shen Zhenzhu would never have believed that a thirteen-year-old child could be destroyed to such an extent.
Standards are set everywhere in society, but where are the standards of humanity?
Is being impeccably dressed under the guise of money truly the standard of success?
Is social morality and humanity really less important than the weight of money?
No.
The answer is definitely no.
Shen Zhenzhu clenched her teeth tightly, her determined gaze sweeping over the receding scenery outside the window.
The weight of humanity lies in upholding the bottom line.
The bottom line is worth tens of millions of gold.
Gufeng County is near Caijia Village.
The torrential rain pounded against the windshield of the police van, splashing water everywhere. The wipers swept across the windshield, creating a foggy scene.
Zhao Qiqi parked the car in front of a noodle shop: "The road behind is a dirt road, it's too rainy to go any further. Have a bite to eat and wait a bit?"
Chen Zhenzhu closed the materials and rubbed her eyes: "Okay."
Lu Xiaobao shrank back, his face pale from the bumpy ride: "You guys go ahead, I'm not eating."
Chen Zhenzhu said, "There is bread in the bag."
"knew."
The glove compartment contains an umbrella, bottled water, tissues, and sunglasses.
As she opened the dark blue men's umbrella, Chen Zhenzhu smelled the frost-like scent emanating from Gu Yanzheng.
"When was it released?" Shen Zhenzhu tilted her head, a slight smile on her face.
"Two bowls of large meat noodles and a small plate of cold dishes." Undeterred by the dampness, Zhao Qiqi closed the car door and ran into the shop in a few steps, saying to the owner chopping vegetables at the window.
Turning back to see Chen Zhenzhu standing at the door, he gave her the money and walked to the door, asking, "What's wrong?"
Chen Zhenzhu looked at the coffin shop next door. It was still raining, yet there were four or five elderly people inside choosing coffins.
The old man standing behind, his lower body soaked by rainwater dripping from the eaves, noticed someone approaching and turned around to see Chen Zhenzhu's face: "Oh, thank you, young lady."
Holding up her umbrella, Chen Zhenzhu asked curiously, "Grandpa, are you having a discount?"
Brother Leng has done such despicable things, and Uncle Zhang has also bought them.
The old man's hair was gray on top, with some black hair still remaining at the nape of his neck. Perhaps due to difficulty walking, the instep of his left foot was slightly upturned. His hand, supporting the solid wood coffin against the wall, was covered with age spots, and the veins bulged and trembled slightly from the sudden spring rain.
"It would be great if there was a discount." The old man was grateful to Shen Zhenzhu for holding the umbrella for him. He moved to the side and let Shen Zhenzhu stand inside. "We old folks heard that cremation will be standardized next year, so we're buying coffins and arranging funerals in advance."
Shen Zhenzhu said seriously, "How can we cremate someone who's still alive? Who notified us?"
The coffin shop was run by a husband and wife. The proprietress, wearing a brown floral shirt, held a receipt in her hand and said without looking up, "They're buying coffins in advance so the people who are going to die next year can be cremated and don't want to be cremated."
The old man wiped his mouth and said with a smile, "It's better to move in sooner rather than later, so I don't get cremated. It's better to be buried in the ground."
Chen Zhenzhu asked, "Stay?"
"It's just lying in there waiting to die." An old woman in front of me was counting her RMB bills. She had chosen a mid-priced coffin and had already registered the address: "Our ancestors have always believed in burial for peace. It's the rule. If it's burned, it's all over."
After she finished speaking, she instructed the lean boss, "Pour more glue into the board and smooth it out, so it won't be uncomfortable to lie on and there won't be any bugs biting you."
The owner held up several pieces of different types of wood for the other elderly people to choose from, and said, "Okay, don't worry, if you're not satisfied with your stay, you can come and find me."
The joke, which sounded harsh to Shen Zhenzhu, actually made all the elderly people present laugh.
Shen Zhenzhu couldn't smile. She asked the old man, "Do your family members agree?"
The old man said, "What difference does it make whether you agree or not? We old folks just want to avoid causing trouble for the younger generation. Don't you see we have to buy our own coffins? Young lady, don't worry about it."
Hearing the noodle shop owner's greeting, Zhao Qiqi came out and said, "Sister Pearl, have some noodles."
Chen Zhenzhu sat in the noodle shop, remained silent for half a minute, then took out her mobile phone and reported the matter to Director Liu.
The elderly people make it sound nice to say they're "moving in" early, but what's the difference between that and suicide?
After hanging up the phone, Shen Zhenzhu noticed that Zhao Qiqi hadn't eaten her noodles either, and was looking at her expectantly: "Will the bureau care?"
Shen Zhenzhu picked up a slice of meat from her bowl and put it in his hand, saying in a low voice, "I'll take care of it. How could I not take care of something like this?"
Zhao Qiqi breathed a sigh of relief, poured white vinegar into the large bowl of noodles, and slurped it up: "Chewy, delicious."
While we were eating noodles, two motorcycles arrived in the rain, and four people from the county police station got off.
Shortly after, the coffin shop closed. The elderly people were taken away for questioning.
"We did it voluntarily. If we're cremated, where will our children and grandchildren find us?" one old man stubbornly shouted. "This has been the standard since my grandfather's time. Why should I be cremated after I die? Isn't this cursing me to go to hell?!"
The noodle shop owner sat behind the counter peeling garlic and muttered, "Who cares about anything else when someone's dead? I don't think I need to be buried. Just grab a handful of ashes and scatter them when I die, and that's it."
Zhao Qiqi couldn't help but say, "You're really open-minded."
The noodle shop owner said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I'm finding joy in hardship."
Shen Zhenzhu said, "The noodles are delicious, almost as good as my mother's cooking."
The noodle shop owner chuckled: "Young man, I've been kneading noodles for twenty years, and your mother is that amazing?"
Zhao Qiqi nodded vigorously: "Yeah, the difference isn't that big, we can manage with a little effort."
The noodle shop owner laughed out loud: "Okay, then I have a goal for the rest of my life."
The heavy rain gradually subsided, pattering on the roof tiles and flowing into the weeds yearning for life. The rain washed away the dust from the leaves, and the weeds stretched out their tender, sword-shaped green leaves with renewed vigor.
The moisture still floated in the air, carrying the scent of the earth.
"Go down that road from Caijia Village, turn right after you cross the railway tracks," the noodle shop owner said, pointing out the way from beside his car.
"Thank you, brother," Shen Zhenzhu said.
The noodle shop owner, speaking with a local accent, said, "Is your mother's noodles really that delicious?"
Zhao Qiqi said, "Let's have a friendly match at Sister Liu's Restaurant in Liancheng sometime."
Chen Zhenzhu smiled, pursing her lips.
The noodle shop owner nodded: "Okay, I'll go meet him when I have time. Come again."
Zhao Qiqi drove onto the dirt road, and Shen Zhenzhu saw the noodle shop owner standing at the door, gazing at the clear blue sky after the rain.
After the van had been driving for a while, the village officials, who had received the news, were already standing at the village entrance looking around. When they saw the van approaching, they hurriedly walked to the roadside and waved, saying, "Here!"
Knowing that Xie Yuyin's last return had caused a lot of trouble for the village, he ignored the mud splashed on his trousers and trudged along the road to point out the way.
Chen Zhenzhu leaned out of the car window: "Big brother, get in the car."
The village official, a man in his forties, aged considerably in just a few hours upon hearing the news. Holding a cigarette butt that had long since been extinguished, he waved his hand and said, "No need, it's not far, just the grave mound in the field ahead."
They soon arrived at the rural land, where the village official nearly slipped and fell. Police officers had already set up a cordon.
The village official, leaning on a shovel, called out to the villagers who had arrived later: "Hurry up, don't delay solving the case."
Shen Zhenzhu got out of the car, the damp wind blowing on her face, making it itch slightly. She looked at the small grave, which didn't even have a tombstone.
“No one under the age of 18 can be buried in the ancestral graveyard.” The village official said, “Xie Yuyin obtained a fake death report, but because we thought she had a mentally challenged son, everyone helped bury her.”
Although Caijia Village produced a cold-blooded mother like Xie Yuyin, the other villagers were relatively kind. A group of people took turns digging out the wooden box with shovels and spades.
Lu Xiaobao laid out the medical plastic sheets and prepared to start work.
The cheap, damp wooden crate was nailed shut at the four corners, and the rainwater that had seeped in over the past two days gave off a putrid smell. The bottom of the crate was covered in greasy, black mud.
Zhao Qiqi pried open the wooden box lid. The gradually warming April temperature attracted fly eggs and larvae to breed in the corners of the corpse's mouth, nose, and eyes: "The smell is too strong."
Zhao Qiqi glanced at it, told the others to step back, and then spread out the four sides of the box.
His discolored skin was swollen and covered with lines. The young man, barely out of his teens, hugged his knees in an extremely uncomfortable and cramped position inside the wooden box, like an abandoned, failed experiment.
The ill-fitting basketball uniform, the barely recognizable hairstyle, and the unnaturally bent fingers that had dunked the basketball made Chen Zhenzhu recognize him as the boy from the Heavenly Eye Retrospective.
“It must have been buried for three to four days. The decomposition process has been accelerated by the dampness and rain, but it hasn’t fully unfolded yet. Rigor mortis has subsided, and the appearance of giants is beginning to appear.” Lu Xiaobao and Zhao Qiqi opened the box and helped Jiang Han lie down. A lot of dark, greasy liquid flowed out from the gaps in his body.
"There is obvious bloating in his chest and abdomen." Chen Zhenzhu squatted to the side and saw that Jiang Han's skin was stretched until it shone.
Lu Xiaobao said, "Luckily we arrived in time, so the swelling in his limbs and face wasn't too severe, but it's not much better... Just how much hormone did they give him!"
Jiang Han's facial bone thickening and abnormal subcutaneous fat distribution, caused by excessive hormones during his lifetime, were magnified after decomposition and swelling, forming a bizarre and enormous outline that was even more shocking than when he was alive.
Opening the mouth, the soft tissue inside had shrunk due to decay. Chen Zhenzhu and Lu Xiaobao both focused on the missing tooth socket, where there were still unhealed traces at the edges.
"Visually, it matches the tooth gap we found," Lu Xiaobao said. "The time also seems to match the time of death. I'll go back and do another autopsy, especially on the respiratory tract, esophagus, and stomach, and determine the cause of death within 24 hours."
Shen Zhenzhu examined Jiang Han's hair, nails, and clothing, hoping to find something. She eventually found an unusual needle in Jiang Han's tracksuit pocket.
"It's over 8 centimeters long and made of stainless steel." The needle, encased in an evidence bag, emitted a chilling starlight as it hovered in mid-air.
Lu Xiaobao exclaimed, "This is a bone marrow aspiration needle! My God, what kind of experiment did they use it for?!"
Realizing his loss of composure, his face flushed red with anger: "There should be an extension tube connected here, with a three-way valve at the end, used to extract bone marrow fluid. The process will be very painful, requiring force to insert the bone marrow aspiration needle into the bone. Sometimes they give general anesthesia, but I can't say for sure, whether they would use anesthesia on him... You know, some psychopaths take pleasure in torturing people, and they torture a child like this."
Chen Zhenzhu asked, "Can it be detected that bone marrow fluid has been extracted?"
Lu Xiaobao said firmly, "Yes, although the condition of the corpse will seriously affect the morphology of bone marrow cells and increase the difficulty of observation, I have read a paper that says that within 8 to 14 days, we can use the morphology and systemic bone marrow pathological examination to compare people of the same age and diseases in a horizontal and vertical manner."
Shen Zhenzhu was shrouded in a low mood. She said in a low voice, "As long as I have solid biological evidence, I will definitely be able to uncover the entire criminal chain."
On the way back, Chen Zhenzhu sat in the back of the van, staring at the heavy yellow bag.
Lu Xiaobao was on the phone with Section Chief Qin in the passenger seat, requesting access to the equipment and advanced technical support.
Zhao Qiqi drove silently, even more recklessly than usual. He wished he could fly to the criminals immediately and capture them all.
The fragment seen through a single tooth was insufficient to depict the eve of Jiang Han's death. As the wheels raced, Chen Zhenzhu relived the vision she had just witnessed through the Heavenly Eye—
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Author's note: See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope coming! [Let me see]
***
This chapter references "Forensic Medicine," "Anatomy," and online resources for description.
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