Because of what happened yesterday, Xu Man went to the balcony to take a look when she got up the next day, with a vague expectation, wondering if Qin Shen would come to pick her up today. However, the facts were not as she expected. There were many cars parked downstairs of the unit, with different models and paint colors, but there was no car she wanted to see.
The expectations in her heart were dashed. She was frustrated but also a little self-deprecating. See, I was being too sentimental again. This was not something that had to be done in the first place. People were taking care of her out of courtesy. I could be grateful, but it would be wrong to take it as sincerity and ask for more. Why think so much and only end up disappointing myself.
Putting away her disappointment, Xu Man forced herself to go to the bathroom, but she was still a little absent-minded. After washing up and packing her things to leave, she realized that she was still in pajamas and had forgotten to change clothes. She had to put down her bag and go back to the balcony to get clothes.
When she took the hanger down from the railing, she glanced outside casually. She couldn't tell what she was feeling. Perhaps she was holding on to a last glimmer of hope, and was prepared to be disappointed again. But this time there was no disappointment. The black SUV was parked quietly beside the green belt downstairs of the unit building, which made her heart skip a beat and then start pounding wildly.
She looked again in disbelief to make sure she was not dazzled. It was the car and the person she was thinking of.
He actually came to pick her up again.
Xu Man stood on the balcony in a daze, staring at the car for a full half minute before she came to her senses. She hung the clothes she had just picked up back on the railing, picked out a new skirt and went back to her room to change into it. She also matched it with a cardigan, let her ponytail down and combed her hair into a new style, and touched up her face makeup. After making sure that she looked okay, she went downstairs with her bag. If she hadn't been afraid that Qin Shen would wait downstairs for a long time, she would probably have dressed up from head to toe to appear in front of him in the best possible image.
When I walked out of the unit door, there was still a whistle, a hearty smile, and a greeting of "morning".
Just like yesterday, she gave him a gentle smile and said, "Good morning, Captain." She did not ask him why he was here or why he came to pick her up, as if this was something that had been agreed upon long ago and did not require any questioning.
If this was what Tian Si meant by letting things take their own course, then she thought she had figured out a little bit of the trick.
…
After Zhang Xiaojuan's case was solved, the detachment began to have some free time, but that was only relatively speaking. Not having to work overtime all night did not mean that there was no tedious work. After Lu Yajun confessed to the crime, a detection team went to her home and conducted a thorough search. Xu Man also went with them and made investigation records. When she passed by the study, she accidentally caught a glimpse of the computer inside. Somehow, an idea flashed through her mind.
"Can you turn on the computer so we can take a look?" she asked Lu Yajun's father. After getting his permission, she went into the study, put on gloves, turned on the computer, logged into the webpage, and chose to query the access records on July 3 and before.
The moment the screening results popped up, she was stunned. According to Lu Daonan, Lu Yajun had searched the Internet for information related to juvenile murder. It was not surprising that the access records included search terms such as "What will happen if a person under the age of 14 kills someone?" and "Will a minor be sentenced for murder?" But what was strange was that such search records did not only appear on July 2. There were related records before the 2nd and even in June.
She scrolled the mouse and paged down, and found that the earliest information could be traced back to mid-May. At that time, Lu Yajun had already been looking up information related to juvenile homicide, and each time was more precise than the last. From "child killing" to "juvenile crime" to "whether people under the age of 14 need to bear criminal responsibility", "how to dispose of the body without leaving any trace after killing", "how much strength is needed to dismember the body", one by one, it was clearly visible, and it was shocking.
Lu Yajun had long wanted to kill Zhang Xiaojuan!
She didn't kill on impulse, but premeditatedly!
This discovery brought about a major change in the nature of the case. Lu Yajun was brought to a second trial at the fastest speed and interrogated by Qin Shen himself. Soon, she could not withstand the pressure and revealed all the facts.
As a girl who is a little chubby, Lu Yajun is actually a little inferior. Her parents often say that she is ugly and bad-looking because of this. As time goes by, she also feels ashamed of it, but she just doesn't show it. She is cheerful, enthusiastic, straightforward and open-minded, all of which she deliberately displays in order to make up for her shortcomings in appearance with her personality and gain the appreciation and acceptance of outsiders.
She was indeed successful. The girls in the class had the best relationship with her, and the boys could also talk to her. She became the most popular girl in the class.
But it was just popularity. The most popular among the boys was always Zhang Xiaojuan, who studied dance, was pretty and had a good temperament.
Originally, this was nothing. Zhang Xiaojuan had been popular among boys since the first grade, and by the fifth grade, everyone was used to it. Lu Yajun herself knew that she could not compare with Zhang Xiaojuan in this regard, and she didn't want to compete. It was not until last semester that the boy sitting next to her whom she had a crush on asked her about Zhang Xiaojuan that she began to dislike Zhang Xiaojuan. In addition, one time she did not do her homework and lied that she had forgotten to bring it to her home. The teacher believed her, but Zhang Xiaojuan exposed her and said that she did not do it. Not only did she get criticized by the teacher, but the teacher also called to tell her parents.
Lu Yajun's parents were strict with her, especially her father, who had a hot temper. Whenever something didn't go his way, he would get mad at home and beat and scold her. When he heard that she not only didn't do her homework but also lied and said she didn't bring it, he immediately got angry and slapped her several times. No matter how Lu Daonan tried to persuade her, it was of no use. This incident left Lu Yajun with a serious psychological trauma and made her hate Zhang Xiaojuan. She felt that it was her mouthiness that made things turn out like this and caused her to suffer this unprovoked disaster.
"So you wanted to kill her?" Xu Man asked.
After asking this question, she realized that she shouldn't have spoken out and interrupted Qin Shen's questioning. Fortunately, Qin Shen just glanced at her and turned his gaze back to Lu Yajun. He didn't say anything and his expression was very calm. He didn't look like he was blaming her. She felt relieved and listened attentively to Lu Yajun's answer.
"... a little bit." Lu Yajun lowered her head and answered in a low voice, "But I was just thinking about it at the time. I didn't really want to kill anyone. I just... thought about it in my mind as a way to vent... I didn't really want to kill her."
"On July 1, why did you invite the victim to your home the day after tomorrow?" Qin Shen asked her, "and why did you bring the invitation forward?"
Lu Yajun: "I... I just invited her to my house to play..."
Qin Shen: "Just a pure invitation? Not a premeditated crime?"
Lu Yajun blurted out: "No! I really just said it casually. She said she was so bored at home recently, and her parents were busy opening the store to greet customers and had no time to play with her. I casually said that no one was at home, so she should come to my house to play. Really... I really didn't have any other ideas..."
Qin Shen: "Really not?"
Lu Yajun: “…”
Qin Shen: "I hope you can tell the truth. Lying will not do you any good."
Lu Yajun was silent for a long time, her drooping eyelashes trembling constantly, and finally she spoke with a trembling voice: "I... I have thought about what would happen if I killed her at home... But it was just a thought. There are surveillance cameras on the road, and the police will know that she has been to my house. I didn't really think about it..."
Qin Shen: "Don't you have the guts to actually kill someone?"
Lu Yajun nodded.
Qin Shen continued to ask: "Then why did you take action later?"
Lu Yajun: "I was mad at her, really mad... She was a thief. She stole things from all of us when we were in school before, and she even said that we wronged her. She even stole erasers and rulers, not to mention ten yuan..."
Thief? Are you referring to the incident in which Zhang Xiaojuan was isolated by other girls during the first semester of fifth grade?
Xu Man thought so and looked at Qin Shen, but Qin Shen seemed not to notice her gaze and continued to ask Zhang Xiaojuan: "What's the matter with the thief? Explain it clearly."
Lu Yajun told the story, and it was indeed the incident of Zhang Xiaojuan being isolated. It was no different from what Group 2 had asked about before. However, Lu Yajun did not admit that they isolated Zhang Xiaojuan, but just "didn't play with her" and "ignored her". When asked what she lost and whether she found it at Zhang Xiaojuan's place, she said she lost a mechanical pencil. Although it was not found at Zhang Xiaojuan's place, other people's lost things were found in her desk. So she blamed Zhang Xiaojuan for it. Anyway, everyone said Zhang Xiaojuan was a thief, so she was a thief. She stole her things and everyone's stationery.
Stealing, having a crush on her desk mate who likes her, telling tales... As these things piled up one after another, Lu Yajun's disgust for Zhang Xiaojuan grew deeper and deeper, finally reaching a peak during a dispute over ten yuan, and erupting, leading to this tragedy.
At the end of the interrogation, Qin Shen asked her a question: "What was going through your mind after you killed someone? Were you scared?"
After a brief silence, Lu Yajun said, "I was afraid at first, but later I wasn't. I've already done it, and there's no point in being afraid. And it's also said online that since I'm under 14, killing someone isn't against the law, and I don't have to take responsibility."
Qin Shen: "What about now? Are you not afraid?"
Lu Yajun: "...I regret it very much."
She didn't say what she regretted, and Qin Shen didn't ask any more questions, and the interrogation ended just like that.
On the way back, Xu Man held the folder and looked at Qin Shen in front of her. She hesitated for a moment, took two quick steps to catch up with him, and asked him, "Captain, do you think Lu Yajun's regret is true?"
Smoking is not prohibited in the west corridor. Qin Shen stopped, reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette and wanted to light it. He glanced at her and put the cigarette back: "It's true, but I told you before that her regret may be for the victim or for herself, so it doesn't matter whether it's true or not."
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