nightingale
At ten o'clock in the evening, Qin Huaisheng handed him the autopsy report and said, "Wu Danyun's death was unusual."
Chen An opened the file bag and frowned when he saw the description. "Shock?"
Qin Huaisheng said, "Well, to be more precise, she was injected with some kind of reagent that caused temporary shock. There was a tiny needle hole on her left arm, and the killer chopped off her hands while she was in shock, so there are traces of cell activity on the incision. The killer then put her in hot water, which accelerated the circulation of the reagent in her blood, leading to her death."
Chen An asked, "What reagent?"
Qin Huaisheng shook his head helplessly. "I can't figure that out. I didn't extract any detectable liquid from her dried corpse, but my initial guess is that it's a reagent that can paralyze nerves and muscles. The body was soaked for too long, and the weather was hot, which blurred the time of death. I can only roughly estimate it to be between the early morning of June 7th and around 6:00 am on June 8th."
Chen An nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."
Qin Huaisheng took off his work clothes and said, "Then I'll be off work first, Captain Chen."
"good."
When he passed by the workstation and found Bai Shuo still there, he asked him to find the bloggers who broke the news. He suspected that Wu Danyun's death was the result of a conspiracy by multiple parties.
It wasn't a good habit to daydream while driving, but he was used to sorting out clues on the way home.
As it stands, Wu Danyun was a volatile writer who rose to fame through plagiarism and hiring assassins. Her killer could have been motivated by either her personality or her identity. If her personality was the cause, then the killer must have had some contact with her, perhaps even been very familiar with her, so familiar that they could freely wander around Wu Danyun's home. If her identity was the cause, then the killer could have been anyone she had harmed.
However, is it possible that an author of a big IP like her has no connection with the circle?
So in essence, Wu Danyun is still a person with complicated interpersonal relationships. It should be easier to approach such people as long as they have a vested interest in her.
But the two people he is most suspicious of at the moment are Cen Yun and Xia Yiru.
Cen Yun, who had just returned from the big city, pushed open the old wooden door. The dust that was raised made her cough. She didn't have much stuff, so a small suitcase was enough.
Although the front door was overgrown with weeds, she felt extremely calm inside. She spent a day cleaning the dilapidated courtyard. All the neighbors moved away, and she finally had a quiet time living alone.
Cen Yun went to the supermarket to buy some vegetables and fruit. Fortunately, the well dug in the yard was still usable. She tied a long rope to the water bucket, then lowered it to the surface. She pushed hard to one side, and the bucket tilted over. Her vision also tilted and blurred...
"Hello."
"Ah?" Cen Yun was startled. He loosened his grip on the rope and fell down. The bucket also sank to the bottom of the well.
She turned around to look at the righteous man and smoothed her hair. "Who are you looking for?"
Chen An showed his ID and said, "Officer, are you Cen Yun?"
Cen Yun nodded, "Yes. What can I do for you?"
Chen An got straight to the point. "Did you know that Wu Danyun is dead?"
Cen Yun's eyes widened immediately. "Really?"
Chen An was silent for a moment, quietly observing her expression. She showed no more emotion than surprise. After a few minutes, he said, "Yes, he died in Fuyao Community."
Cen Yun seemed to be frightened. Her legs went weak and she had to hold on to the edge of the well to stand. "How could this happen?" She rolled her eyes and looked at him intently. "How did she die?"
Chen An concealed some things and only said: "She died in the bathtub. Her hands were chopped off in an extremely cruel manner."
Just hearing the description, Cen Yun felt like vomiting several times. She patted her chest to breathe, "I'm sorry, I, I can't accept it."
Chen An withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and softened his tone. "I want to know something from you."
The corners of Cen Yun's eyes turned red, and he nodded, "Okay."
The two sat under the osmanthus tree in the yard. Chen An looked up at the old tree. Cen Yun came over with two cups of warm water. Seeing his interest in the osmanthus tree, he took the initiative to say, "This tree was there when I graduated from high school. Now that I've resigned and come back, it's still there. It's great."
Chen An took the warm water and asked, "Resign?"
"Yeah." Cen Yun sat down, his eyes tired. "I told Wu Danyun about my resignation on June 6th, and she agreed."
"Why did you resign?"
Cen Yun lowered his head slightly and unconsciously tightened his grip on the water cup, "Because I can't stand it anymore."
After a few minutes she began her slow narration.
"I was laid off by my previous company in early April and lost my job. It's incredibly hard to find a job now, and it's graduation season, so companies are looking for young, fresh talent. With my modest education and experience, there's no way I could compete. I was unemployed for almost a month and a half and thought I'd be out of work forever. But in mid-May, I saw Wu Danyun's job posting for an assistant, so I submitted my resume and officially started the next day."
"Her recruitment information was very well written, and the salary offered for an assistant position was also very high, 8,000 yuan. I didn't hesitate and signed the contract with her." Cen Yun's knuckles turned increasingly white as he gripped the water cup. "But, after I got in, I realized she wasn't looking for an assistant."
She seemed to have a hard time speaking after that. After struggling for a long time, she said that Chen An helped her to speak out, "Because she asked you to be a ghost."
She pursed her lips and finally nodded. "Yes. I'm not the only 'assistant'. There are eight 'assistants' in the studio. What we do every day is read books. When we find a good book, we discuss how to disassemble and integrate it."
“The words in those popular books were all taken from other people one by one by us and pieced together.”
"Skin and tear out the tendons of someone else's 'child', pick out the most perfect bones, and form the backbone of a new character."
Her choice of words was so sorrowful and poignant that Chen An felt that she must have an inextricable bond with writing.
At least she should be someone who cherishes words.
She took a deep breath and continued, "You get numb doing this kind of thing after doing it too much. Later, I became more and more proficient at disassembling books. She wouldn't treat us unfairly when her books became popular, and she gave us a raise. I figured it didn't matter where I worked, so I just continued to follow her."
"But her demands became increasingly urgent. She even forced me to quit my job and open my office. She made us read hundreds of novels every day just to find the right opening. My health wasn't good to begin with, and staring at the screen every day was exhausting. She also forced us to work overtime, and would yell at us if things didn't go our way. I endured it for a week until I collapsed and was hospitalized with a fever. Only then did I resign."
Tears welled up in Cen Yun's eyes. "Who knew she wouldn't let me quit? Because I knew the inside story of her sudden popularity, and she was afraid I'd leak it. I repeatedly promised her not to, but she was worried. I was also afraid she'd resort to extreme measures, so I had to give up and instead offered to be my assistant and stop plagiarizing. She agreed, but I had no idea the nightmare had just begun."
"She has a terrible attitude. She treats me like a servant. Every day she either verbally oppresses me or threatens to dock my salary. If I do something wrong, she'll yell at me, and sometimes even get physical. She's just like my old boss. I've been humiliated at the company for two years after graduation. I just can't take it anymore. On June 6th, after she finished her comic convention, I told Sister Xia that I couldn't take it anymore and was going to quit and go home. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone else this secret and begged her to let me go."
"Sister Xia is very nice. She agreed. I left at six in the morning while Wu Danyun was still sleeping."
Chen An asked, "You said Wu Danyun was still alive when you left?"
Cen Yun raised her head and said bewilderedly, "Yes." She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face. "She should not have woken up when I arrived. She wouldn't get up so early. The house was so quiet. I was afraid of confronting her face to face, so I picked up my suitcase and left."
Chen An didn't answer her question, but instead asked, "Where do you usually sleep?"
He had seen Wu Danyun's apartment layout, which had one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. There was no extra space for Cen Yun to sleep. Given Wu Danyun's personality, she probably wouldn't let Cen Yun sleep with her.
When asked this, Cen Yun lowered his head again and sniffed, "Sleeping on the floor in the kitchen."
Chen An frowned, tears suddenly falling on the back of her hand. "She doesn't like me, I know. She thinks I'm not as obedient as other 'assistants'. When I was assigned to work as her assistant, she made things difficult for me. At first, she lived there alone, but then she suddenly asked me to move in with her. But there was no room, so I had to sleep on the kitchen floor."
Chen An took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and whispered "thank you".
After calming down, he raised his head and said, "I'm actually quite happy to be leaving. It's nice to be back in the countryside where the air is fresh, prices are low, and I don't have to wait on others.
Chen An asked, "Who do you think Wu Danyun will become enemies with?"
Cen Yun's eyes were large and round, and when she stared at someone, she looked harmless. She chuckled and said, "She could easily become enemies with anyone, with that kind of personality."
Chen An frowned slightly. The coldness in her eyes and the innocent face when she was crying just now gave him a strong sense of disconnection.
"Tell me more."
"Online, she led the way in plagiarism, colluding with website partners to suppress countless small authors. In real life, she bullied her employees, and there were countless 'I's' behind her." Cen Yun nodded slightly. "To be honest, I'm quite happy that she's gone. I don't have the ability or courage, but there are always people who do."
Chen An sensed murderous intent and asked, "Have you ever thought about killing her?"
Cen Yun bit his lower lip and said, "Yes, but I don't have the strength or the courage. Why did she bully me when I was at my lowest point? I just hate her. Her death can only be said to be a great relief."
Chen An didn't comment on her hatred. "Do you think there's anyone else around you who has obvious hatred and murderous intent?"
"Around me?" Cen Yun thought for a moment, as if he had thought of something but didn't dare to say it. His eyes wandered, and finally he said weakly, "No."
Chen An stared at her closely, and she felt the air pressure around her was so low, so low that she was almost suffocating.
"Are you sure?" Chen An seemed to see through her thoughts and gave her a way out. "Then tell me about Xia Yiru."
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