Chapter 51
Seeing that an argument was about to break out, Zhou Zhengzheng quickly explained, "Chen He, don't worry. I know the old dean's situation, and I deliberately didn't tell her that I was a police officer. I just said I was your friend here, and I stopped by to visit her and chat with her. That's all."
As he spoke, Zhou Zhengzheng took a large bag from under the table and placed it on the surface. "The old dean said that you didn't get to eat the mooncakes she made for Mid-Autumn Festival this year, so she specially baked some and asked me to bring them to you."
Chen He's eyes softened: "Thank you."
"The old dean mentioned the time you fell. You suffered seven fractures, including your left thigh, left arm, left clavicle, right wrist, hip, knee, and ribs. You also suffered a severe brain injury.
Chen He remained silent.
Zhou Zhengzheng continued, "After you were injured, you were sent to our city's municipal hospital. You were admitted the day after the fire at the base. You were critically ill several times, but you were saved by emergency treatment. The old dean got the news and rushed to Qi'an City a few days later. She said it was thanks to one of your female classmates who had been accompanying you in the ward."
"Later, you underwent several surgeries and were hospitalized for six months. You were bedridden during the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination) and only managed to complete it by requesting a private ward. You spent your first two years of university in a wheelchair. After a long period of rehabilitation, you were thankfully able to stand up again.
"Unfortunately, I've been left with color blindness, and I can't realize my dream of becoming an oil painter. The old dean said that even though you don't say it, she knows how sad you are, and she feels bad for you."
Chen He lowered her eyes to hide the tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes, her voice slightly hoarse: "Don't talk about this anymore."
"That's right, let's say something useful." Chang Ting spoke like an emotionless wooden man. "The point is, the place where you fell was in Beilu Valley. Chen He, why did you go to Beilu Valley? Did you know that Qiu Yue was buried there?"
Chen He raised his head, his expression calm, and replied, "Of course I don't know."
Chang Ting looked at her and asked, "Are you trying to say it's a coincidence?"
"No, I never fight a battle without preparation. I go there after analyzing it."
"How did you analyze it?"
Chen He twirled the crystal bracelet between her fingers, like a string of Buddhist beads. Amidst the clattering of the beads, her thoughts became clear:
"After the fire at the base, most of the students left. I figured there was no rush to go home, so I wandered around and looked for Qiu Yue."
Chang Ting's eyes were complicated: "Didn't you fall out with Qiu Yue a long time ago? Why are you still looking for her?"
Chen He sighed softly: "You don't understand."
Chang Ting was so choked that his breath stopped. He simply put aside this delicate and useless topic and focused on the key point: "Are you trying to say that you were wandering around and accidentally came across the valley on the northern slope?"
“It’s not accidental, it’s because of the seeds.”
"Speak clearly."
"I found red spider lily seeds in the small studio. Thinking of Qiu Yue's death fantasy, I had an ominous guess - I thought Qiu Yue must be dead, buried somewhere, just as she had imagined, with red spider lily seeds sprinkled all over her body. Then I thought, red spider lily grows best in moist soil away from sunlight. So, she might be buried in the shade of a mountain."
Chang Ting's eyes flashed with suspicion: "Since you had this suspicion, why didn't you tell the police at the time?"
"How do you know I didn't tell you?"
"Who did you tell?"
"An older police officer, whose last name I don't know, was busy directing the excavation of the rubble. I spoke to him briefly, but he simply ignored me and told someone to find a car to take me away."
The older policeman... Chang Ting knew who it was. It was his master, Xiao Pingyuan.
Chen He sighed: "Officer Chang, if I had come to you at that time, would you have believed me?"
Chang Ting remained silent. This kind of inference, or intuition, was no ordinary skill.
Putting himself in her shoes, everyone at the time thought Qiu Yue was most likely trapped in the building. Even if it were him, if a little girl came out and told him about red spider lily seeds and death fantasies, he would have dismissed it as the fanciful thoughts of an art student and told her to go home and not get involved.
Seeing him silent, Chen He guessed what he was thinking and smiled: "I don't blame the policeman. Who can believe what he said without any evidence? So, I thought I would try my luck."
Chang Ting's mind was also clear. He said, "There are many places in Mingzhu Mountain that are suitable for a shady environment."
"Yes, there were more than one. Even if we found the right place, the burial site could be hidden even slightly and would be difficult to spot. But I refused to give up. I walked from morning till night that day, a long, long way. The valley at the north foot of the mountain was the place I finally arrived at."
Chang Ting felt a mixture of emotions. Mingzhu Mountain was so vast, and it must have been a difficult task for a little girl to trek all over it.
The premise is that what Chen He said is true.
Seeing that he remained silent, Chen He laughed at herself, "Looking all over the mountain based on a little guess, you look like a psycho, don't you? We cartoonists, it's normal to be a little crazy. It was only after five years that I realized I guessed right. Unfortunately, I fell down before I could even reach the bottom of the valley to search carefully."
Chang Ting nodded: "I understand. According to your comic, you think it was Yu Aiai who pushed you down."
"I think so."
"Do you have any evidence? If you can produce evidence, I will arrest her immediately."
"Perfume." Chen He pointed at the comics. "That's already been expressed in the comics."
Chang Ting's face wrinkled: "This cannot be used as evidence."
"I knew it was useless."
"But if you had called the police, there would have been hope of finding out the truth. Why didn't you call the police?"
Chen He smiled helplessly: "Officer Chang, do you know what my condition was when I was admitted to the hospital, and who the female classmate who accompanied me was?"
Chang Ting's expression changed: "Yu Aiai?"
Chen He gave a thumbs up.
Chang Ting asked: "Why her?"
"She said she had also broken her leg that day and happened to see me being carried out of the ambulance. Before the director of our welfare home came over, she had been leaning on crutches and took the trouble to stay by my bedside."
"What a coincidence?"
Chen He smiled meaningfully: "Yes, what a coincidence."
Chang Ting understood her implication and asked, "You mean, her leg injury wasn't a coincidence?"
"I'm not sure, ask her."
"Has she ever behaved in any unusual way?"
"When I was semi-conscious, I heard her make a phone call, and the person on the phone instructed her to kill me."
Chang Ting frowned: "You were not in your right mind at the time, are you sure it wasn't an illusion?"
"I'm not sure." Chen He spread his hands. "At the time, I didn't dare to speak out. I knew calling the police was useless, so I chose to remain silent. Yu Aiai even asked me if I remembered what happened when I fell off the cliff. I just said I had lost my memory and didn't remember."
Chang Ting remained silent. Indeed, if all this were true, Chen He would have been powerless to resist. If she revealed anything, it would surely provoke Yu Aiai's murderous intent. Remaining silent was indeed the most tactful approach.
He had some admiration for Chen He's patience, but he didn't show it. He just said, "Even if that's the case, there's no real evidence. It's all your guess."
"No. I have evidence." Chen He's eyes flashed with cunning. "Last Wednesday and Friday, I met with Yu Aiai and talked to her a lot."
Chang Ting's eyes lit up: "Is there a recording?"
"There's a video. We met in the side room on the first floor of my house. The landlord installed a surveillance camera, but it's not very conspicuous. Surprising, isn't it?"
Chang Ting stood up and walked away, then turned back after two steps: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
“I have my own rhythm.”
As retribution in this life, Chang Ting almost choked to death.
Chen He couldn't help but laugh: "Don't be so angry. You'll know after watching the surveillance video. She admits it one moment and denies it the next. It's useless. It doesn't make any difference whether you watch it sooner or later."
Chang Ting raised his index finger, and after a long pause, he said, "...How do you know it's useless? If I had known there was something wrong with Yu Aiai, I would have found out long ago if I had summoned her for questioning! Why did you have to draw a comic and post it first?"
Chen He spread her hands and said, "You questioned her five years ago, but you didn't get anything out of her. What difference does it make if it's two days earlier or later?"
Chang Ting gritted his teeth until veins popped out of his temples, pointed at her and said, "You want her dead. You want her to be killed like Xu Candong, by someone following the instructions, right?"
"That's just unfounded conjecture. Officer Chang, you know the law better than I do. You need to back it up with evidence." Chen He's eyes were like piercing needles. "By the way, after this chapter of the comic was updated, Yu Aiai called me and asked the same question—she asked me if I wanted her dead."
"...How did you answer?"
Chen He's smile was as cold as a blade: "I said, yes."
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