Chapter 47
Zhu Zangmo's expression froze slightly. "She doesn't visit often. Sometimes she'll stay for a few days and take care of my life."
"Oh...where did she live?"
"Do you remember that small building in the base compound? It was just west of the main building—the one that burned down. It was the old sanatorium building for veteran cadres. We converted it into faculty and staff dormitories. My wife and I lived on the first floor."
Chang Ting remembered the small building nestled among the trees. It had not been affected by the fire, and the police had searched the building but found nothing.
He stood in front of the picture frame, the light shining from behind him, his face sunk in the shadows, and asked again: "Was your wife there the night Qiu Yue disappeared?"
Zhu Zangmo lowered his head and nodded, "Let me think... I remember now. She wasn't here that night. She went home the day before. I'll call her now and ask her to look through the account book."
Zhu Zangmo turned and walked away a few steps to make a phone call. His hurried posture seemed as if he was avoiding something.
Chang Ting stared at his back with a heavy gaze. Was it really such a coincidence that Fu Weiru had left the day before the incident?
He thought back to five years ago.
Chang Ting and Xiao Pingyuan rushed to the base after receiving the alarm. Before they could begin their search, the main building caught fire and collapsed. Teachers and students evacuated, and the police dug through the rubble to search for people. During the excavation, Chang Ting spotted the small building and went inside to take a look. It was already deserted, and nothing was found.
Even if there were people hiding in the small building before, there was enough time to escape during the chaos.
Whether it was Fu Weiru or Qiu Yue. Whether they were alive or dead.
Chang Ting took this matter to heart and made a note of it.
Zhu Zangmo came back after finishing his phone call. Chang Ting put away the sharpness in his eyes and forced a smile on his face: "What did the madam say?"
"The previous financial statements are sealed. She went to the study to look for them. It will take a while."
"No hurry, let me appreciate your masterpiece." Chang Ting put his hands behind his back, looked at the paintings on the wall one by one, and commented on them one by one.
Zhu Zangmo's face turned blue and purple at the comments, the colors were even richer than those in an oil painting. He quietly sent a message to his wife: Send it quickly, let him leave!
Chang Ting was staring at a painting. It showed a girl with butterfly wings, wrapped in white silk. Her wings were broken, and her slender body was twisted at an angle that threatened to break, as if she were trying to break free from her cocoon.
"Is this painting of... a moth becoming a spirit?"
The guests nearby looked at him strangely when they heard this.
Zhu Zangmo was anxious. He stepped forward and pointed at the label on the side of the frame, trying to stop Chang Ting's nonsense. "Officer Chang is really humorous. This work is called "Breaking the Cocoon"."
Chang Ting insisted on commenting, "Breaking out of the cocoon? That's not right. Don't silkworm pupae grow wings after they break out of their cocoons? She already has wings, but she's still flapping them inside. Judging from her appearance, she's probably fallen into a spider web. It would be more accurate to call it 'Entering the Net'."
Zhu Zangmo could hardly control his expression, and the muscles on his cheeks were trembling.
At this moment, Chang Ting's gaze swept across Zhu Zangmo's cuffs and suddenly froze.
Zhu Zangmo was wearing Chinese-style clothes today, with wide cuffs. When he raised his right hand to touch the label, the cuff slipped down, revealing a part of his forearm. Chang Ting took a glance and saw a colorful tattoo.
Chang Ting was surprised and said, "Principal Zhu has a tattoo, it's really trendy!"
Zhu Zangmo quickly pulled his sleeves tighter.
"What are you covering? I'm not an old feudalist. Let me see." Chang Ting never cared about propriety. He reached out and grabbed Zhu Zangmo's right wrist and rolled up his sleeve.
On the slightly aged skin on the inside of Zhu Zangmo's right forearm, there was a square-inch butterfly tattoo. The half-red and half-green color was slanted across the butterfly wings, like a brilliant color, but also like a scar.
Zhu Zangmo almost snatched his arm back and wanted to get angry, but he couldn't do it in front of the guests.
Chang Ting was incredibly shameless, and jokingly said, "It seems Principal Zhu really likes moths. He even got one tattooed on his arm. Not bad, it looks pretty good."
As if nothing had happened, he turned around and continued looking at the painting.
Half an hour later, when Chang Ting's exhibition was almost over and Zhu Zangmo was about to collapse, Fu Weiru finally sent a photo of the bank document.
Zhu Zangmo quickly handed the phone to Chang Ting: "Officer Chang, it's been sent. Please take a look."
Chang Ting took the phone. The bank receipt was very small, and the photo had to be enlarged to be clearly visible.
The training fee for the Tibetan Ink Base is 60,000 yuan for six months. There are six receipts, each for 10,000 yuan. The 60,000 yuan was remitted to the base's account in six installments over two days. The remittance address is Jiangzhu City, XX District, XX Road Branch. Transaction type: Cash deposit (no card required).
The receipt was handwritten with "Qiu Yue's tuition fees", which was obviously marked by the recipient after receiving the money.
However, the name of the remitter was not marked.
Chang Ting frowned: "It doesn't say who paid the money?"
Zhu Zangmo stretched his head to take a look and said, "This is an ATM transaction receipt. The other party remitted cash directly at the ATM, so there is no need to mark the remitter's name."
Chang Ting experienced this kind of situation while handling cases. If you make a remittance at a bank counter, you'll need the sender's ID card, and naturally, their name will be listed. However, when transferring cash at an ATM, no ID is required. However, the maximum amount you can remit per transaction is 10,000 yuan, with a daily limit of 50,000 yuan.
So the remitter went to the bank twice in two days to transfer the money.
Why doesn't the other party just go to the counter and transfer the money and get it done in one go? Why bother with all this effort?
Maybe... he doesn't want to leave his name and reveal his identity?
Although there are cameras on ATM machines, it is impossible to keep video data for five years and there is no way to check it.
Chang Ting looked at the name of the remittance bank and read out, "Jiangzhu City..." Jiangzhu City was in another province, not where Qiu Yue's parents lived at the time. Who was the person who paid Qiu Yue's tuition?
Seeing Chang Ting was lost in thought, Zhu Zangmo seemed to have thought of something as well and hesitated to speak.
Chang Ting glared and asked, "Why, did Principal Zhu remember something?"
An awkward smile appeared on Zhu Zangmo's face: "There are some things that I, as a teacher, shouldn't say."
Chang Ting frowned and said, "This is for the purpose of investigating the case. The most important thing you should do is to tell us everything you know."
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhu Zangmo nodded quickly and stammered, "There were some unsavory rumors about Qiu Yue back then."
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