Chapter 79 Zhai Xinlian
◎I don't know, I didn't ask, no.◎
Dai Minli, Jiang Yuchun, and Zhai Xinlian.
Zhao Xiangwan silently recited these three names in his heart.
Jia Shendu once said in his heart: When I was young and ignorant, I did kill three people myself.
Dai Minli was probably killed by Jia Shendu himself, so that counts as one.
Jiang Yuchun was framed and sentenced to death. He was killed indirectly and is not counted among the three.
On the surface, Zhai Xinlian was missing, but in fact she was killed and buried in the toilet of the old house.
Who is the other one?
Is it Shi Tong?
Anger, doubt, irritation...all kinds of negative emotions surged up. Zhao Xiangwan took a deep breath and turned to look at Ji Zhao who had been standing in the corner concentrating on painting.
Ji Zhao felt Zhao Xiangwan's gaze, put down the paintbrush in his hand, and walked to her side.
Little skylarks chirped on the branches, the trees were lush and leafy, the grass was green and wild flowers were blooming under the trees, and Ji Zhao's world was peaceful and harmonious.
【What's wrong? 】
The clear and melodious voice of the young man relaxed Zhao Xiangwan's tense nerves.
Zhao Xiangwan smiled at Ji Zhao: "I'm fine." He just wanted to see you, so that he could relieve the anxiety brought about by the evil of the world.
【Then I will accompany you. 】
Ji Zhao took an A4 white paper and a charcoal pencil from the table, pulled the chair next to Zhao Xiangwan away, and sat down.
Ji Zhaochong extended his hand to Gu Zhiguang.
【Give me a photo.】
Suddenly, a slender, white male hand appeared in front of Gu Zhiguang's eyes. His first reaction was: "Oh my god, this hand is so beautiful!" His second reaction was to open his mouth wide and ask: "What do you want?"
Zhao Xiangwan spoke for Ji Zhao: "He wants you to give him a photo."
Gu Zhiguang was confused: "What photos?"
[It doesn't matter who it belongs to, the suspect or the victim.]
Ji Zhao's answer was accurate and crisp, quite similar to Zhao Xiangwan's style.
Zhao Xiangwan raised his lips slightly, looked at Gu Zhiguang, and repeated Ji Zhao's words: "It doesn't matter who it belongs to, the suspect or the victim, it's all fine."
Gu Zhiguang finally reacted, saying "Oh, oh" twice, and took out a few photos from his bag: "I collected a few from the college's archives. There are personal photos of Professor Jia Shendu, and work photos of him taking students out for internships. Do you see this little figure? That's Zhai Xinlian. As for the photos of daily life... I didn't find them."
Ji Zhao took the photo and looked at it carefully.
Gu Zhiguang didn't quite understand Ji Zhao's working method, and asked curiously: "What do criminal portrait painters usually do? Do they paint portraits based on photos? Or do they paint portraits based on oral descriptions? Are those wanted photos on the wanted warrants painted by criminal portrait painters?"
Zhao Xiangwan's answer was brief: "I draw everything to solve the case."
Ji Zhao's brush moved very quickly, and soon a portrait of Jia Shendu appeared on the paper. After adding a few strokes of shadow, the whole person came to life.
Gu Zhiguang took a closer look, grinned, and gestured at his own face: "He still has marks from acne here and there, it's ugly. I heard that Mr. Jia used to have acne all over his face, which made him much uglier than he is now. He courted many girls, but no one accepted him."
Ji Zhao glanced at him and made a few light strokes, and the image of Jia Shendu became more vivid.
Zhu Feipeng snorted: "Ugly people are always causing trouble!"
The photo of Zhai Xinlian was too small, so Ji Zhao could only observe it carefully through a magnifying glass, and then quickly draw a thin and pretty girl.
Gu Zhiguang looked at the photo and then compared it with Ji Zhao's portrait. He was amazed: "Isn't this too similar? Not only in appearance, but also in spirit. Anyone who has seen him can recognize him at a glance from this portrait. A genius painter, really amazing!"
Zhu Kang was very interested in this case and asked Gu Zhiguang: "Besides Dai Minli and Zhai Xinlian, are there any other suspicious victims?"
Zhu Feipeng also recalled the discussion among the crowd after Shi Qiyan jumped off the building three days ago: "Oh, by the way, what happened to the graduate student who almost committed suicide?"
Gu Zhiguang took out the third file: "This is Wang Yong, a graduate student from the class of 1986. He is a boy. His parents are teachers at Huyang County Middle School in Hunan Province. He is the second of three children in his family. He had just started school for half a year. During the winter vacation, he suddenly committed suicide by cutting his wrists when he returned home. His family didn't know why, and he refused to tell them. Later, his parents had no choice but to process his withdrawal and found him a job at the County Construction Committee."
Zhu Feipeng asked: "Why did he commit suicide? Hasn't the college conducted any investigation?"
Gu Zhiguang said: "There must be people talking behind the scenes at the academy, but there is no evidence that can be brought to the table. I just said that, and you just listened to it."
Zhu Kang saw that Gu Zhiguang was a chatterbox who easily went off topic, so he urged him, "Hurry up and talk."
Gu Zhiguang said: "Wang Yong was very handsome and attracted many girls as soon as he entered the college. Jia Shendu was particularly strict with him and assigned him a lot of impossible tasks, which made Wang Yong very upset. I guess he committed suicide because he was afraid of being criticized by his tutor?"
He Mingyu found it unbelievable: "No way? He committed suicide because of a few criticisms from the teacher?"
Zhao Xiangwan shook his head: "Think about Shi Qiyan."
Everyone fell silent at once.
Yes, don't underestimate the destructive power of language. As the saying goes, a kind word can warm you through the winter, but an evil word can hurt you through the summer. Especially when teachers criticize and blame students, it is easy to undermine students' self-confidence and cognition, causing them to doubt themselves, and then to deny and hate themselves.
There are also some teachers who will criticize and isolate a certain student in front of the whole class, making the student live in an environment where he or she is abandoned by the group. The fear of being abandoned will make the student develop a pessimistic attitude towards the world.
It seems that Jia Shendu is a master of verbal violence.
Gu Zhiguang said: "So far, I have learned about these three people. That's all I have to say."
Only "three people"? It was shocking to hear that.
He is dressed as a professor, but acts like a beast.
If Zhao Xiangwan had not accidentally heard Jia Shendu's thoughts, these people and these things would probably have been washed away by the long river of history and forgotten by everyone.
Zhao Xiangwan suddenly remembered something and asked, "When did Shi Tong jump off the building?"
Gu Zhiguang had a good memory and answered quickly: "Lu Zhiying said 1980, but I checked and found that she should have said the old calendar year. In fact, Shi Tong jumped off the building on January 23, 1981, which was the 18th day of the lunar month, a Friday."
Zhao Xiangwan asked again: "What day did Zhai Xinlian take the train home?"
Gu Zhiguang thought for a moment and said, "It was the winter vacation of 1980, but the school counted by academic year, so it was the end of the first semester of the 1980-1981 academic year. The school was closed on January 15, 1981. Zhai Xinlian bought a train ticket for January 17 and left the dormitory early in the morning. Her roommates can attest to this. Her family did not contact the school until January 27, on the 23rd day of the lunar month, which was the day before the Chinese New Year in the north, to find out that Zhai Xinlian was missing."
Zhao Xiangwan stood up, picked up a piece of chalk and wrote down the time on the blackboard: "Zhai Xinlian was on the train on the 17th and then lost contact. Shi Tong jumped off the building on the 23rd. There were only six days between them. If they were both related to Jia Shendu, is it possible that their deaths were related?"
This is a bold guess because there is no evidence.
The only connection is that Shi Tong and Zhai Xinlian both knew Jia Shendu. Shi Tong was Jia Shendu's senior, and Zhai Xinlian was Jia Shendu's graduate student.
Zhai Xinlian set out on the morning of January 17, 1981, by train to her hometown: a small county town in the northwest. Her train's final stop was Chang'an City. After arriving in Chang'an, she took a long-distance bus back to her hometown.
Shi Tong went upstairs alone during the lunch break at the design institute at noon on January 23, 1981, and then jumped to his death.
There are too many questions here.
1. On the day Shi Tong jumped from the building, were there any suspicious footprints of a third party on the roof? Were there any witnesses? Was it murder or suicide?
2. What was the relationship between Shi Tong and Jia Shendu? Did Shi Tong contact Jia Shendu before he jumped off the building? Did they have a dispute? Did Jia Shendu appear in the design institute?
3. If Zhai Xinlian had indeed bought a train ticket to go home, why didn't she send a message to her family? Did she get on the train smoothly after she set out? Did she get off the train? Did she meet any acquaintances? Did Jia Shendu really not know her whereabouts?
Thinking of the voices he heard, Zhao Xiangwan had reason to suspect that Shi Tong was one of the three people killed by Jia Shendu himself, otherwise he would not have such great malice towards Shi Qiyan; and Zhai Xinlian had already been killed by Jia Shendu and her body buried under the toilet in her hometown.
Hometown?
Zhao Xiangwan suddenly had an idea and asked, "Where is Jia Shendu's hometown?"
Gu Zhiguang replied: "Jiajia Village, Mayuan Township, Changhan County, Northwest Hubei."
"How do I get there by train? Which train?"
Zhu Kang took out an old train schedule and quickly looked through it. After a few minutes, he looked up and said, "In the early 1980s, most trains were green-skinned. If you want to take a train, you can choose from these trains. Get off at Yiling Station, take a long-distance bus to Changhan County, and walk for about three hours to reach the village."
Zhao Xiangwan asked: "Does the train that Zhai Xinlian took reach Yiling Station?"
Zhu Kang flipped through the pages and his eyes lit up: "Here we are! Zhai Xinlian took the train from Yangcheng to Chang'an, and Yiling is a stopover."
The detectives of the serious crime unit immediately realized the problem. Zhu Feipeng quickly asked, "What was Jia Shendu doing on January 17, 1981? Gu Zhiguang just mentioned that Jia Shendu went back to his hometown during the winter vacation and did not work on the project. So what day did he go back? Which train did he take? Was there anyone traveling with him? Are there any witnesses?"
This is a good question, but where can we find the answer now?
After a while, He Mingyu replied, "The missing person case in 1981 should also be handled by the Yiyuan Road Police Station. The file management there is a bit messy, not as good as the Jinlian Lake Police Station. I don't know if we can find it. When we went to investigate yesterday, the old policeman in charge did not mention this case. I guess he thought that the student was kidnapped on the train and had nothing to do with Jia Shendu, so he didn't have a deep impression of it."
Gu Zhiguang raised his hand and said, "The security department of our school should have records. I can ask."
Zhu Feipeng pointed at the phone and said, "Ask quickly."
Gu Zhiguang resigned himself to his fate and walked to the phone and started to call the school security department. After a conversation, Gu Zhiguang hung up the phone and said, "They said they need to find Director Yu, who has already retired, to handle this matter. I will go and ask him later."
Investigating and collecting evidence is troublesome in itself, as you have to keep looking for people and asking questions. So much time has passed, and some people who knew the facts have retired, resigned, or even died. It is really difficult to bring up old things.
Zhu Feipeng said: "This point must be clarified. If Jia Shendu also left on January 17, 1981, then he might have been on the same train as Zhai Xinlian. As long as we can find that he had contact with Zhai Xinlian during that period and concealed it, then he is a suspect."
Zhao Xiangwan suddenly had an idea: "Is it possible that Shi Tong was also on this train, or met these two people at the train station?"
The more I think about it, the more I think it's possible: Shi Tong often travels on business, and he met Jia Shendu and Zhai Xinlian together on the train or at the train station, asked them a few questions casually, and then broke up. Shi Tong didn't take it to heart, but Jia Shendu felt guilty after killing someone, so he rushed back to Xing City before the incident, pushed Shi Tong downstairs, and left in a hurry, without anyone noticing.
In this way, the motive for the murder was found, and the reason why Shi Tong was murdered was discovered.
Everybody was excited, and if that was the case, then there were signs.
Although train tickets are not real-name-based, they always leave traces. Although Jia Shendu's whereabouts are difficult to track now, they are always seen by others. He is a local celebrity, and people will see him when he returns to his hometown. Someone must remember whether he brought Zhai Xinlian with him and what he did in late January 1981.
As long as you search carefully, you will always find clues!
Gao Guangqiang stood up and said, "I will report to our Deputy Director Xu immediately and reopen the investigation. We will use the disappearance of Zhai Xinlian as a breakthrough point and start the investigation."
The Serious Crime Unit has always been quick to act and quickly decided on the next plan.
Zhu Kang and Ai Hui went to Zhai Xinlian's hometown;
Gao Guangqiang and Huang Yuande went to Jia Shendu's hometown;
Zhu Feipeng and He Mingyu went to the Yiyuan Road Police Station to look for case files and all the information related to the disappearance of Zhai Xinlian and the murder of Dai Minli;
Zhao Xiangwan and Gu Zhiguang went to the Security Department of Hunan University and Shi Qiyan's home to understand the situation.
Ji Zhaoze stayed in the serious crime team with peace of mind. Taking the photos provided by everyone, he began to paint portraits of Jia Shendu, Dai Minli, Jiang Yuchun and Zhai Xinlian.
Everyone has their own arrangements.
On the way to school, Gu Zhiguang curiously asked Zhao Xiangwan: "What's the point of letting him draw these?"
Zhao Xiangwan smiled and said nothing.
What is it for? Ji Zhao's drawings are impressive and more impressive than photos. They will definitely help in finding people.
Gu Zhiguang was very familiar with Hunan University. Because of the opening of the detective agency, he had a good relationship with the leaders and employees of the Security Department. With just one phone call, he found out that the person in charge of Dai Minli's murder and Zhai Xinlian's disappearance was Yu Heng, who was now retired and lived in Building 6, Zone 5 of the school's family area.
Walking in from the gate of Hunan University, the teaching area is in the front, the family area is in the back, and in the middle there are shops, post offices, banks, bookstores and other supporting facilities.
Last time, Zhao Xiangwan rushed over to rescue Shi Qiyan and had no time to appreciate the beauty of Hunan University. This time, he had plenty of time and with the talkative Gu Zhiguang by his side, he was able to truly appreciate the beauty of this century-old prestigious university.
The school is located in the north of Guizi Mountain. The road is wide and smooth. The sycamore trees on the road are lush and shade the sky. As soon as you enter the school, the temperature drops by two degrees. The school is low in the south and high in the north. Looking along the road from north to south, you can see the tall and green Guizi Mountain.
The buildings are simple and elegant, and the gables are covered with vines, forming natural and beautiful murals.
Gu Zhiguang sighed, "Our school's architecture major is well-known nationwide. I was very proud when I was admitted. But... I was a little distracted later. I spent all day thinking about detective novels and opening a detective agency. My professional level is not very good. I am ashamed."
Zhao Xiangwan glanced at him and said, "It's never a burden to have many skills."
Gu Zhiguang's family runs a construction company, and he majored in architecture, so he can go back and take over the family business at any time. As for the detective agency, it is not certain whether it can become his main business, so it is unreasonable to feel ashamed.
Gu Zhiguang laughed when she said this: "Hey, Zhao Xiangwan, have you ever told me that you are really good at talking? Although you don't talk much, every word you say can touch people's hearts."
Zhao Xiangwan did not respond to this sentence.
Gu Zhiguang didn't care that she was quiet and continued to introduce the important buildings of the school: "Look, this is the new library built in 1982. It covers a large area, has high space, and has a rich collection of books. Isn't it very impressive? Look! That's the old library..."
Zhao Xiangwan walked briskly and came to Yu Heng's house following Gu Zhiguang's introduction.
Yu Heng had been retired for five years and was extremely bored. When he heard that some children were coming to his house for advice, he happily prepared fruits and cold tea, waiting for Gu Zhiguang and Zhao Xiangwan to arrive.
As soon as the two entered the room, Yu Heng took out the cut watermelon and greeted them with a smile: "Come on, come on, don't talk about the case, eat the watermelon first. You kid, you don't study architecture seriously, but you insist on opening a detective agency. You are just like me when I was young, you are full of curiosity!"
He stuffed a piece of watermelon into Zhao Xiangwan's hand and asked, "Kid, what's your major? Are you the new assistant of the detective agency?"
Yu Heng had white hair, was tall, slightly fat, had a loud voice, was full of energy, and acted like a soldier. Zhao Xiangwan looked up at him and replied politely, "Hello, my name is Zhao Xiangwan, and I'm a student at the Public Security University. Are you a soldier?"
Yu Heng became more and more excited: "You have good vision, don't you? You have the potential to be a public security officer. I am a retired cadre assigned to the Security Department of Hunan University, and I have been working there for more than 20 years. Now I am retired and have nothing to do. If you need anything, just come to me."
After chatting for a while, while Yu Heng went to the kitchen to pour some cold tea, Gu Zhiguang winked at Zhao Xiangwan and said, "How about coming to the detective agency to be my assistant?"
Zhao Xiangwan said calmly: "Are you paying wages?"
Gu Zhiguang opened his mouth and wanted to say yes, why not? But then he thought about how she was mocked by Gu Zhixing last time when he wanted to hire her as a consultant and paid her 300 yuan a month, saying that someone offered her 600 yuan but she refused. Oh no, I can't afford it. So he said embarrassedly, "Well, I'm still a student, I don't have much money. The detective agency charges very low fees, after all, the clients are all poor students."
Zhao Xiangwan heard clearly what he was thinking and nodded to show his understanding.
After eating the watermelon, Yu Heng poured each of them a cup of cool mint tea. Seeing the sweat on the two young men's faces disappear, he said, "What do you want to ask? Ask. Even though I'm retired, my memory is still good. Many cases are in my mind."
Gu Zhiguang was very happy and bowed: "Then let me ask you. Do you know Professor Jia Shendu?"
Yu Heng's smile faded: "I recognize him."
[He is a hypocrite and a coward. He has good academic knowledge but unfortunately does not care about other people’s affairs.]
Zhao Xiangwan took out his notebook and prepared to start recording. When he heard what Yu Heng was thinking, he simply said frankly, "Just tell me. This time we want to investigate Jia Shendu. You must have heard about Shi Qiyan jumping off a building a few days ago. Many people are scolding him, and we don't like him either."
Yu Heng has already retired and is not afraid of trouble. Hearing Zhao Xiangwan speak frankly and directly express his attitude, he was very happy in his heart: "Jia Shendu is Zhu Chengling's student, you know this, right? When the movement came, he was the first to jump out and write big-character posters, and he made Professor Zhu... Alas! If not for many people desperately protecting him, I'm afraid Professor Zhu would have died long ago."
Gu Zhiguang and Zhao Xiangwan widened their eyes at the same time.
Yu Heng smiled bitterly and said, "You were all born in the 1970s, right? You were still young at that time, and you probably didn't know how worthless intellectuals were during the movement."
Gu Zhiguang calculated in his mind and raised an objection: "That's not right. Jia Shendu was admitted to the university in 1965. He was a sophomore in 1966 when the movement started. If he jumped out to harass teacher Zhu Chengling, how could he still study for a master's degree and stay in school later?"
Yu Heng replied: "This is where he is shameless. After he wrote the big-character poster and took the lead in persecuting Teacher Zhu, he used his connections to stay in school and even got a graduate degree under Teacher Zhu's name. Later, when the college entrance examination was resumed in 1977 and graduate enrollment was resumed in 1978, he went around saying that he was a graduate student of Teacher Zhu Chengling and applied for the qualification of a master's supervisor. Teacher Zhu passed away in 1973, and he was unable to come out to clarify, but none of Teacher Zhu's graduate students associated with Jia Shendu."
Zhao Xiangwan suddenly realized: No wonder Lu Zhiying never mentioned Jia Shendu, it turned out to be because of this.
Shi Tong was Zhu Chengling's firstborn student, and taught him attentively, with whom he had a deep affection. However, Jia Shendu's diploma and education were all obtained during the movement, and he also took the lead in bullying Teacher Zhu. Shi Tong hated and despised Jia Shendu, so it was normal for him to not associate with him.
What’s hateful is that in the 1980s and 1990s, Jia Shendu, relying on his little intelligence, the diploma he earned from college, and Zhu Chengling’s reputation, actually stepped onto the path of becoming a professor.
Gu Zhiguang gritted his teeth and cursed: "Nonsense!"
Zhao Xiangwan also cursed: "Shameless!"
Yu Heng shook his head: "The 10-year movement caused a cultural gap, so college students in the 1960s were very valuable. Jia Shendu was lucky enough to catch the last batch of college admissions. I don't know how he managed to get a graduate degree. Anyway, it was a very chaotic time. In short, he was a cunning opportunist."
After figuring out the true relationship between Shi Tong and Jia Shendu, Gu Zhiguang asked, "Director Yu, do you still remember the murder of Dai Minli in 1975?"
Yu Heng sighed: "I know this case. I was just a small section chief at the time. Although I felt that Jiang Yuchun was a little wronged, all the evidence pointed to him at the time. There was nothing we could do."
Gu Zhiguang asked: "What happened on that day? All I know is a general description, and I don't know many details."
Yu Heng fell into memories.
In December 1975, although college entrance examination enrollment was suspended, Hunan University enrolled some workers, peasants and soldiers as university students with a four-year program and normal classes.
Jia Shendu was still a lecturer at that time, guiding students in architectural design, and sometimes he had to work until late at night.
He got married and registered at the end of 1974. In May 1975, he transferred his wife's relationship from the countryside to Hunan University and arranged a formal job for her. Dai Minli's rural household registration was suddenly changed to an urban household registration, which was very rare at the time. Therefore, it attracted a lot of discussion from colleagues in the school. They didn't know how Jia Shendu dealt with the people in the Revolutionary Committee and how he had such ability.
Jia Shendu and Dai Minli have been married for almost a year, but they still have no children. Some people say that Dai Minli is ungrateful and that after arriving in the city, she dislikes Jia Shendu's ugliness and refuses to sleep with him. However, these are all private discussions and cannot be taken as accurate.
But it is true that Dai Minli and Jiang Yuchun had an affair.
Hearing this, Gu Zhiguang couldn't help but interrupt and ask: "If it's a private affair, it should be kept secret. How come everyone knows about it?"
This sentence made Yu Heng laugh: "You kid. They wanted to keep it a secret, but because they both worked in the nursery, they fell in love over time and it would inevitably be seen by others. Jiang Yuchun and Dai Minli are both passionate people, you..."
Yu Heng glanced at the two young men with clear eyes, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
[When the two met, they wanted to stir up a fire and get together. When they looked at each other, their eyes were so sticky that they could pull out threads. It would be strange if nothing happened. Jiang Yuchun was a temporary worker and lived on the first floor of the first batch of the school's Yanyan Building. Dai Minli went to find him secretly. The two of them made a lot of noise, and the single men living next door knew about it. ]
Zhao Xiangwan lowered his head and wrote something in the notebook: Jiang Yuchun and Dai Minli had an affair and did not know how to hide it.
After writing it down, Zhao Xiangwan looked up at Yu Heng and said, "In this way, Jia Shendu should know it, right?"
Yu Heng met Zhao Xiangwan's gaze and found that she was calm and composed, as if she was young and ignorant of the world, but also as if she was accustomed to the world of love. He couldn't help but change his opinion of her: this girl seemed more stable than Gu Zhiguang.
Yu Heng said, "Maybe he knew, maybe he didn't. Who knows? Anyway, when the police questioned Jia Shendu, he cried and said he knew nothing. He said that he and Dai Minli had a good relationship, they were talented and beautiful, and they were from the same hometown. Their parents were close, and they had agreed to go back to their hometown together after the winter vacation. Who knew something like this would happen?"
Gu Zhiguang clicked his tongue twice: "Crocodile tears! Would someone like Jia Shendu cry? He must be performing for the police. The more he acts like this, the more it proves that he did it."
Yu Heng was shocked and looked at Gu Zhiguang: "You suspect that Jia Shendu murdered his wife? This is a big deal. Jiang Yuchun has been shot and he has no family. Are you going to overturn his conviction now?"
Gu Zhiguang glanced at Zhao Xiangwan.
Zhao Xiangwan explained: "It's just an investigation at the moment, and there's no conclusion yet. Just tell us what you know, and tell the truth, right?"
Yu Heng said: "I cooperated with the police station's investigation at the time, and I also suspected Jia Shendu. But he did have an alibi at the time, and Dai Minli was killed on her way home from a secret meeting with Jiang Yuchun. There was also a piece of Jiang Yuchun's clothes left at the scene, so the evidence is solid."
After listening to Yu Heng's detailed account, even Gu Zhiguang felt that the situation was difficult.
On the evening of December 19, 1975, after having dinner with Dai Minli at home, Jia Shendu said at about 6:30 that he was going to the drawing classroom to instruct students on architectural design, and then left home to go to the old building of the Department of Architecture. At that time, they lived in a single building with a single corridor in the fourth building of the first district. There was a bedroom with a kitchen and a toilet, which was considered a good condition for a young employee who had just got married.
When Jia Shendu returned home at about nine o'clock, he found Dai Minli was not at home. It was winter, windy and cold. Where had she been so late? Jia Shendu knocked on the doors of several neighbors to ask where Dai Minli had gone. One of the neighbors said that he saw Dai Minli go out dressed up and almost immediately after Jia Shendu went out. Jia Shendu was very unhappy with her tone. He argued with her for a few sentences and then went back to his room to wait angrily.
At ten o'clock, Jia Shendu could no longer sit still, so he went to look for someone with his next-door neighbor. They walked along the roads in District 1 and found the grocery store, but still didn't see anyone. It was freezing cold, so everyone speculated that he might have gone to meet his lover, but because Jia Shendu looked unhappy, no one said it.
At twelve o'clock, Dai Minli still hadn't returned, so she called the security department to help look for him. Yu Heng, who was on night duty at the time, and Jia Shendu and others rushed to Jiang Yuchun's dormitory, but they only saw him sleeping soundly. However, the air in the dormitory was filled with the smell of sex, and the bed was messy, with a red scarf on it.
As soon as Jia Shendu saw the red scarf, he rushed over and punched Jiang Yuchun in the face, shouting at the top of his lungs: "This is Minli's stuff. Where did you hide her?"
Jiang Yuchun looked panicked, and a group of people asked him, "Where is the person?" He felt a little dizzy and hesitated for a long time.
Finally, Jiang Yuchun was asked urgently, and he had to admit that Dai Minli had indeed made love with him just now, but she left long ago. Because she said Jia Shendu would go home around 9:30 in the evening, and he had to leave before that time.
Everyone was filled with grief.
For a moment, everyone was accusing Jiang Yuchun of being a hooligan and clamoring to send him to the police station.
In the 1970s, people with bad conduct could go to jail, and those charged with hooliganism could result in being shot. Jiang Yuchun was so frightened that his face turned pale. He kept apologizing and said that he and Dai Minli were truly in love.
Jia Shendu beat Jiang Yuchun like crazy, and Jiang Yuchun didn't dare to resist at all, just endured it. Later, Jia Shendu was tired of beating him, so he sat on the bed in the dormitory, tightly holding the red scarf, muttering to himself: "Minli, Minli, where are you?"
To be honest, it was the first time we saw Jia Shendu so frustrated, and everyone felt sympathy for him. On one hand, they tied Jiang Yuchun up with a rope, and on the other hand, they sent people to look for Dai Minli everywhere.
At about one o'clock in the morning, Jia Shendu's team found a small wood in the northwest corner of the school, where they discovered Dai Minli, who had been strangled to death, with a piece of blue clothing tightly clenched in her hand.
This piece of clothing was later matched with a cotton sweater on Jiang Yuchun's bedside. There was a tear mark on the hem of the cotton sweater. Jiang Yuchun kept complaining that the cotton sweater was his, but Dai Minli took it back to mend it because the cuffs were torn. He didn't know when it was placed on the bedside.
But no one believed Jiang Yuchun's words.
It was his clothes that were found at the murder scene. There was also a piece of cloth in the victim's hand. It must have been him who did it.
At this point, Yu Heng sighed and said, "Dai Minli cheated on her husband and had an affair with Jiang Yuchun. She was a chaotic person and committed the crime of hooliganism. If they were caught, they would both be sent to jail. If it was Jia Shendu who murdered someone to frame him, there would be no need to do this. He only needed to send a letter of accusation, and the security department would send someone to catch the adulterous couple in bed. The couple would be tied up with ropes and dragged to the stage for criticism and sentenced to hooliganism. The lighter sentence would be a dozen or twenty years, and the heavier sentence would be death by shooting. That was how it was at that time. Therefore, the police did not suspect Jia Shendu of murder in this case. Moreover, his movements were always clear, while Jiang Yuchun had many things that he could not explain."
Oh, yes, hooliganism was a very serious crime at that time.
No wonder the police did not suspect Jia Shendu, so this is the case.
Gu Zhiguang sighed: "Oh!" It's so chaotic. What is going on?
Zhao Xiangwan frowned: "Yuchu, did you think there was anything unreasonable at the time?"
"Something's wrong?"
Yu Heng thought for a moment and nodded: "Indeed, there is."
"The first one is irrational. Jia Shendu is not a dedicated teacher at all. He was not serious about the design guidance of the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. But starting from the end of November that year, he became particularly enthusiastic about his work. He would go out at 6:30 every evening and come home at 9:30 every evening, as if he was deliberately giving Dai Minli a chance."
"The second one is irrational. Jia Shendu is a man who cares about his reputation. If he had found out that Dai Minli was missing, he would not have made such a big fuss to bring his neighbors to look for her, and even ran to Jiang Yuchun's dormitory."
"The third thing is unreasonable. When we were looking for someone, we followed the path in the school, from east to west, from south to north, shining the flashlight everywhere. It was dark, and so many people didn't think of going to the small tree in the northwest corner. How did Jia Shendu find it?"
Zhao Xiangwan asked: "Where exactly is that small forest? Is it on the way back from Jiang Yuchun's dormitory to Jia Shendu's home?"
Yu Heng thought for a moment, took out a pen and paper, and drew a simple map of the campus. He drew a circle around Jiang Yuchun's, Jia Shendu's, and the grove. "You see, the grove is almost in the middle of the two homes, but it is a certain distance from the school road. If we want to kill Dai Minli, we need to drag her from the road to the grove, and then take action."
Zhao Xiangwan asked again: "Are there any signs of dragging? Are there any items lost along the way? For example, shoes, handkerchiefs, etc.?"
Yu Heng shook his head: "No, there was a lot of noise and a lot of people were looking for Dai Minli. There weren't any entertainment activities in the school at that time, and this incident caused a big commotion. I estimate that there were 30 to 40 people involved. With so many people making a fuss, there is no trace left."
Zhao Xiangwan's eyes flashed coldly: "So, the sweater might have been taken home by Dai Minli to mend, and then brought to Jiang Yuchun's dormitory by Jia Shendu, who placed it on the bedside when no one was paying attention."
Yu Heng exclaimed, "Ah!" and then sighed, "That was a special time. Even if there were doubts, there was no way to collect evidence. Besides, Jiang Yuchun had already been shot, so what was the point of pursuing the matter further?"
Zhao Xiangwan wrote down everything he said. Yu Heng was right. It was difficult to obtain evidence of Dai Minli's death. They could only start with Zhai Xinlian.
When asked about Zhai Xinlian, Yu Heng was also a little confused.
"This graduate student went missing, and our school had no idea what to do. She bought a train ticket and had proven to have left the dormitory. By the time her family members realized something was wrong, more than ten days had passed. How could we find her? At the time, we investigated Zhai Xinlian's whereabouts with our colleagues from the police station. The bus driver was able to prove that she got on the bus with her luggage and got off at the train station. She was alone and had no one else with her. When we got to the train station, it was a mixed crowd, and so much time had passed. We asked many people, but no one remembered seeing Zhai Xinlian."
Gu Zhiguang raised the question that was wondering about before: "What was Jia Shendu doing around January 17, 1981? I remember Jia Shendu said he was going back to his hometown for the winter vacation. So what day did he go back? Which train did everyone he take? Was there anyone traveling with him? Was there any witnesses?"
This pile of questions suddenly made Yu Heng confused.
No matter how good the memory is, the question is too detailed. Yu Heng tried hard to recall it. The room became quiet for a moment, and the only sound was the fan in the corner buzzing and shaking its head.
Two minutes later, Yu Heng said, "Yes, I remember that Zhai Xinlian's parents and brother came to the school just before the Chinese New Year, crying and shouting that the school should compensate their daughter. The leaders of the security department were very worried. They tried to contact Jia Shendu urgently but failed. They heard from the neighbors that he went back to his hometown as soon as the winter vacation started.
At that time, the police were also very busy, so they closed the case as abduction and the school paid some money out of humanitarianism. Zhai Xinlian's family could only accept the fact and returned home sadly. After the Chinese New Year, Jia Shendu returned to school.
Gu Zhiguang said: "So, you have excluded Jia Shendu from responsibility, right?"
Yu Heng nodded, "Yes, since Teacher Jia had already left the school, Zhai Xinlian's train ride home on the 17th had nothing to do with him. She met human traffickers at the train station or on the train, and there was nothing she could do about it. Two years later, the country cracked down on human traffickers and arrested a large number of them. Zhai Xinlian's parents came again, but still couldn't find her whereabouts. I don't know if she had any accidents. It's really a pity."
Gu Zhiguang asked: "The train ticket does not have a real name. Can the train ticket on the 15th prove that Jia Shendu was on that train?"
Yu Heng asked him back: "If this cannot be proved, then what can be proved?"
Zhao Xiangwan added: "When did he return to his hometown? Which long-distance bus did he take to reach Changhan County? Did he ask the villagers in Jiajia Village, Mayuan Township?"
Whenever she asked, Yu Heng would shake his head and say, "I don't know. I didn't ask. No."
Gu Zhiguang and Zhao Xiangwan exchanged glances. It seemed that no one suspected Jia Shendu at that time. In addition, nearly a month had passed and Zhai Xinlian's disappearance was closed as abduction. Therefore, he only needed to show the train ticket for the 15th to escape all investigations.
It seems that we can only wait for the results of Gao Guangqiang, Huang Yuande and others' investigation in Jia Shendu's hometown.
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