Song Xingzhi lebte während der Regierungszeit von Kaiser Huizong

Kapitel 23

“Besides working at Leehom Executive Search, we know you also participate in some non-profit organizations.”

“Yes, that’s my interest and ideal.” Her gaze was icy.

Have you ever served as a psychological counseling volunteer at the Area A volunteer station?

“Yes.” Her unease deepened, and she frowned.

"Your current partner, Xiang Bing, was the person you were assigned to receive psychological counseling at the volunteer station in Area A when you were working there, wasn't he?" Lin Zhongjie asked slowly.

“Yes, I got to know him and helped him through communication with him. He had experienced failure, was psychologically fragile, needed help, and was sometimes impulsive, but I believed he would not kill someone…” A pair of light brown eyes slid from side to side.

She tried to steer the conversation toward her husband, but Lin Zhongjie decided to ignore her.

"Did you do volunteer work at other organizations before you went to work at the volunteer station in Area A?"

“No more,” she said firmly.

"Think about it again."

“That’s right. In college, I just helped some students in need raise money in my spare time. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” A hint of provocation flashed in her eyes.

According to several of your college classmates, you set up a volunteer station online during your college years, with the goal of helping unemployed and heartbroken people rebuild their confidence. The name of this volunteer station was "Hand in Hand".

"So what? That happened years ago." She was very unhappy that someone had grabbed her by the tail.

“It was three years ago,” Lin Zhongjie corrected. He was pleased to see the subtle change in her expression. “Did you know Su Zhiwen before Shen Biyun married him?” he asked.

"I don't know him," she said firmly.

“Among the people who posted about you, we found a familiar phone number,” Lin Zhongjie stared coldly into Zeng Yushan’s eyes, “It belongs to Su Zhiwen. He hasn’t changed his phone number in three years. How do you explain this?”

This problem caught her off guard.

“At the time… a few people contacted me, but I never…” Her face turned very pale.

"You replied to him, saying you'd contact him separately. The date was January 8, 2004," Lin Zhongjie said, looking at the documents on the table. He believed Zeng Yushan had long forgotten what she had written back then. These computer records from three years ago were found by the police through technical means; it was probably impossible for her to find them herself. "On February 1, 2004, Su Zhiwen replied to your message, saying you were a lovely and good girl, and that he felt he had benefited greatly from talking to you and had decided to look for a job. Do you want to see how you replied to him back then?"

Zeng Yushan stared intently at the pile of papers in Lin Zhongjie's hand, her eyes glazed over.

“I don’t remember,” she said softly.

"You said," Lin Zhongjie read aloud, "Thank you, Su. After getting to know you, I find you to be a lovely, gentle man with a unique personal charm. I believe you will not only find a job quickly, but also soon win the hearts of your female colleagues. I've already won them over... These are your exact words. Zeng Yushan, you not only knew the deceased, but also had some contact with him. May I ask, what was your relationship with him?" Lin Zhongjie threw out the last few sentences like a stone.

Zeng Yushan blushed. She sat there blankly, twisting her hands together. After a long while, she finally said, "Yes, I know him, but how can online words count? So what if I said those things? What does that prove?"

She was naturally combative and argumentative, typical traits of someone spoiled from childhood who always felt neglected. Lin Zhongjie didn't want to waste time listening to her nonsense, so as soon as she finished speaking, he said:

"Your conversation with him indicates that you know him, have met him more than once, understand his situation well, and have a strong liking for him. Su Zhiwen also seems to listen to you. Not long after you talked, in April 2004, he found a job as a ballroom dance teacher at the Spring Ballroom Dance School. You also seem to have a habit of dating your tutor. Zeng Yushan, what exactly is your relationship with him?!" His voice suddenly turned stern at the last sentence, startling her.

She lowered her head and pondered for a moment.

"Okay. I did know him well, but that was two years ago, so what?!"

Lin Zhongjie discovered that "So what?" was her catchphrase.

“Originally, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Su Zhiwen is dead, and you concealed your relationship with him, so that’s a big deal.” Lin Zhongjie stared at her seriously. “Now, please tell me, just how close were you to Su Zhiwen?”

Zeng Yushan stared at him for a while, seemingly realizing that her willfulness wouldn't bring her any benefit, so she changed her strategy. She smiled at him; she was very good at smiling, Lin Zhongjie thought, but the smile felt fake.

“Actually, there’s nothing between us, really.” She tilted her head back, her face beaming as if she were about to reminisce about a beautiful past, but when she opened her mouth, her tone was as cold as if she were telling someone else’s story. “I helped him pay off his debts. He owed the landlord three months’ rent at the time. As soon as he saw me, he said he had no money for food and was dirt poor. But I noticed that his clothes were quite decent. His shoes were brand new and shiny, and his shirts and coats were all brand names, neatly hung in a simple cabinet. He didn’t smoke. I asked him why he didn’t, and he asked me in return, ‘Do you like me smoking? If you do, I’ll smoke one for you to see.’ Then he lit a cigarette, and then immediately put it out. He said, ‘You don’t like it. I saw you frown. See, for you, I, a poor man, wasted a cigarette…’ Typical scoundrel!” Zeng Yushan smiled, but then immediately stopped. “Later we became friends. Yes, I was quite close to him for a while, but so what?”

After Su Zhiwen started working, did you keep in touch with him?

“Sometimes we talk on the phone, but he’s very busy with work,” Zeng Yushan said expressionlessly.

"According to our investigation, he really enjoys associating with wealthy women."

"No, he's very easygoing. Sometimes he likes to hang out with rich people, and sometimes he hates it."

"Did you introduce Su Zhiwen to Shen Biyun?"

“No! Of course not,” she denied categorically.

But Lin Zhongjie felt that her eagerness to deny it actually indicated the opposite answer.

“We’ve investigated. Everyone who enters this ‘Shanghai’s Sensual Memories’ event needs an invitation. You know Su Zhiwen, and your sister Fang Qi said that you don’t need that thing yourself, but you asked her for an invitation, saying that a friend was coming.”

Zeng Yushan's face turned red and then white.

Lin Zhongjie awaited her reply.

“Okay, I did give him an invitation. He said he’d never been to a decent party before and wanted to see what it was like. He begged me to let him broaden his horizons, so I…” Zeng Yushan suddenly became angry, raising her voice, “But I never expected him to get involved with my mother! I absolutely never expected that! He’s a shameless bastard!”

Does your mother know about your relationship with him?

"She doesn't know that I have no contact with him. I've already told her that we only talk on the phone," she said anxiously.

"Alright, now please tell me what you did on the night of the incident, starting from when you argued with Shen Biyun."

"I've already said that."

Please say it again.

"Sister Ling Ge, your hair is so beautiful," Fang Xiaoxi exclaimed, touching Ling Ge's hair.

Ling Ge had rarely received compliments on her hair throughout her life. Only once did Jian Dongping tell her, "Ling Ge, I want to drown in your hair." She wasn't sure if that counted as a compliment, but it probably wasn't sarcastic either. Jian Dongping was a picky person; he always believed that only clean hair was the most beautiful hair. When he learned that Ling Ge washed her hair every day, he began to look at her hair and even her whole person with new respect. "Rourou (a nickname), judging from your hair, you're short-sighted but have good character," he once said sarcastically. But she felt that men's opinions were somewhat tainted by other factors, and now, with a girl's compliment, she felt genuinely happy.

"Xiaoxi, your hair is beautiful too." Ling Ge praised Fang Xiaoxi's short black hair in the same way.

This morning, Ling Ge found Fang Xiaoxi sitting in the living room watching TV as soon as he went downstairs. It turned out she hadn't gone to school because she wasn't feeling well. Actually, she was just as energetic as the day before, and Ling Ge couldn't tell that she was sick. Ling Ge thought back to when he was little, his father would force him to go to school even when he had a fever, and a little resentment welled up inside him. Rich kids really do whatever they want.

"Sister Lingge, who do you think is the most beautiful in our family?" Fang Xiaoxi asked her while eating potato chips.

"I think your eldest aunt is the most beautiful." Ling Ge felt that Fang Qi was undoubtedly the best in terms of appearance and temperament in this family.

"Auntie is very beautiful, but she has a bad temper." Fang Xiaoxi leaned back on the sofa.

Ling Ge originally planned to go to the train station to continue searching for Zhou Jin's luggage, but now she suddenly realized that Fang Xiaoxi seemed to have something to say, so she decided to listen to Fang Xiaoxi finish broadcasting the inside information before leaving.

"Really? Your aunt seems to have a very good temper." Ling Ge sat down next to Fang Xiaoxi.

"People like Auntie, who usually seem to have a good temper, can be terrifying when they get angry." Fang Xiaoxi's eyes were clear, but her words were anything but innocent, clearly implying something.

"Did she insult you?" Ling Ge asked immediately.

"Because I wanted to hire an art teacher to teach me to draw, and it was very expensive, she scolded me twice, but my grandma helped me, so she couldn't do anything about it." Fang Xiaoxi laughed gleefully.

It seems that Fang Xiaoxi didn't want to talk about her own affairs.

"Besides insulting you, has she insulted anyone else?"

"She even insulted my maternal grandfather," Fang Xiaoxi said casually.

Ling Ge's heart skipped a beat; she knew that the "grandfather" Fang Xiaoxi was referring to was Su Zhiwen.

"Why did she scold him?" Ling Ge asked quickly.

"She not only scolded him, but also hit him, making my great-grandfather cry." Fang Xiaoxi popped a crispy potato chip into her mouth, tilted her head back, and chewed it with relish.

Fang Qi made Su Zhiwen cry? Ling Ge was shocked. First, she didn't expect Fang Qi to hit someone, especially her mother's young husband. Second, she didn't expect a grown man to be beaten to tears. Did it hurt that much? Is Fang Qi that powerful?

Fang Xiaoxi seemed to realize that her words had an effect on Ling Ge, and she said with a smile, "You didn't expect that, did you, Sister Ling Ge? Auntie can be really fierce when she gets angry."

"Why did your aunt hit him? What was the reason?" Ling Ge asked curiously.

"My auntie loves reading poetry collections. She's always holding a tattered book and flipping through it, sometimes even reading aloud," Fang Xiaoxi wrinkled her nose with sarcasm. "That day, she was reciting her poems in the garden. My great-uncle and my mom were sitting not far from her. My mom was sewing buttons on my great-uncle's clothes. I guess my auntie's poems were too cloying. As she listened, my great-uncle suddenly stood up and walked towards her, which startled my mom. She said the thread broke. My great-uncle went over, snatched the poetry collection from her hands, threw it on the ground, stomped on it a few times, and said, 'What kind of rubbish is that? It's awful!'"

"And then what?"

This is really strange.

"Didn't your great-uncle fight back?" Ling Ge asked.

“No, my mom said he seemed stunned at the time, just standing there staring blankly at the aunt. He probably didn’t expect the aunt to react so strongly.”

The fact that he didn't fight back when a woman hit him meant he wasn't a bad man, or at least not completely bad, Ling Ge thought.

"And then what happened?" she asked.

"After my aunt left, he told my mom that the buttons didn't need to be sewn on anymore, and then immediately went back to his room. My mom didn't know what he was doing." Fang Xiaoxi said, kicking the sofa innocently with her feet. "I only found out about this when I got home in the afternoon. My mom said that since my great-uncle had argued with my aunt in the morning, he hadn't come downstairs and hadn't even eaten lunch. My mom asked me to go upstairs to see what my great-uncle was doing. By then, my grandma had already come back, and I saw..." Fang Xiaoxi smiled at Ling Ge, "I saw my great-uncle crying on my grandma's lap. My grandma patted his shoulder and comforted him, saying, 'This was your fault to begin with. Why did you have to provoke others?' She's always been stubborn. My great-uncle cried and said, 'Can't I provoke myself?' My great-uncle was quite like a child at that moment."

"Your grandma must be scolding Fang Qi now that she knows about this," Ling Ge asked, secretly worried for Fang Qi.

"Grandma closed the door and said a few words to her, but I don't know what they said. Later at the dinner table, Grandma told everyone that Grandpa would be eating in the upstairs bedroom for the next few days. I heard from my mom that that night, Grandpa asked Grandma for a divorce. He said, 'Your family hates me, I can't take it anymore, I'm leaving.' He left with his suitcase and an umbrella, without taking any money from Grandma, and walked three subway stops in one go. Grandma sent someone to follow him, but he didn't know. The person was following him while calling Grandma, saying that the wind had broken the umbrella and he had thrown it away." One moment he said he was walking and wiping away tears, the next he said he threw the suitcase into the trash can. That night, Grandma kept answering the phone, and she told my mom and Aunt Yufen about the conversations. She seemed a bit lost and anxious, not knowing what to do. The last call was about how Grandpa had fallen asleep in the long-distance bus waiting room. The caller said he went over to check on him and found he seemed to have fainted. Grandma had someone carry him back, and that's when they discovered he was sick; his wound seemed infected, he had a high fever, and he was vomiting.

Ling Ge felt a pang of sympathy for Su Zhiwen, recalling his miserable state. She had always thought Su Zhiwen wasn't a bad person; you could tell just by looking at his smile. Ling Ge thought Jian Dongping's smile was far more sinister than his. Besides, you never knew if Jian Dongping was praising you or mocking you.

"What illness does he have?" Ling Ge asked with some sadness.

“I don’t know. I asked my grandma, and she only said he was in a bad mood. Actually, ever since then, my great-uncle has been unhappy. He spends a lot of time every day sitting in the garden, lost in thought. After that, my aunt started to go against him. Before this happened, my aunt had even taught my great-uncle how to use a computer, and the two seemed to have a good relationship. But after that incident, they stopped talking to each other. My great-uncle didn’t come downstairs for dinner for two weeks. When he met my aunt, they ignored each other. My mom said that my grandma later issued a ban, forbidding him from ever mentioning this matter again at home. It took a long time for my great-uncle’s head injury to heal. I think my great-uncle is quite pitiful.” Fang Xiaoxi sighed deeply like an adult.

Fang Qi's beating was a huge blow to Su Zhiwen. But it was just a beating, and Ling Ge didn't understand why Su Zhiwen was so devastated, as if he had suffered a devastating blow.

“I also feel sorry for your great-uncle, because in this family, it’s not just your aunt who’s against him.” Ling Ge thought of the contents of the statement and felt even more sorry for Su Zhiwen’s situation. But who told him to marry Shen Biyun? Wasn’t it himself? So in the end, he brought it on himself.

"No, in this family, the one who's really against my great-uncle is my eldest aunt. She controls the money, and she won't give it to him. She'll make him beg her before she'll let him go. Don't underestimate my eldest aunt, she's very shrewd," Fang Xiaoxi said.

"Don't you hate your auntie?"

"Little Auntie?" Fang Xiaoxi chuckled.

"Isn't that right? She insulted your great-uncle in front of many people." Ling Ge remembered that on the night of their wedding anniversary, she had ridiculed him at the dinner table, but why was Fang Xiaoxi smiling so strangely?

"Sister Ling Ge, my aunt is a master actress. Don't be fooled by her. Humph!" Fang Xiaoxi sneered.

"acting?"

"Let me tell you something. After my great-uncle came back, he hid in his room for a while and wouldn't see anyone. One day, I came home early from school and walked past his room. Through the crack in the door, I saw my aunt in his room." Fang Xiaoxi said, then chuckled and grabbed another potato chip, crunching away.

Ling Ge didn't like the smile on Fang Xiaoxi's face. She felt that young girls shouldn't have such a sinister smile, but she still couldn't help but ask, "What are you smiling about, Xiaoxi?"

"My great-grandfather was lying in bed, covered with a blanket. My aunt was sitting on a chair next to his bed. When I saw her, she was asking him if he was feeling better and telling him not to pretend to be dead. She was touching his face and hair as she spoke, and then she even put her hand under his blanket. Guess what my great-grandfather did?" Fang Xiaoxi giggled. Ling Ge understood what the little girl meant and waited for her answer with a mix of shyness and nervousness. "My great-grandfather sat up and pushed her to the ground, telling her to get out. I thought my great-grandfather was very handsome back then. No wonder a strong woman like my grandmother would fall for him."

“Then your little aunt…” Ling Ge felt that was a really awkward situation.

"She was furious, threw a sofa cushion at him and left." Fang Xiaoxi immediately added, "Luckily I left quickly, otherwise she would have found out."

“I already said last time that I don’t know anything and I haven’t been to the storage room. After Xiang Bing left the living room, I had a fight with my mother, and then I went to the garden to look for Xiang Bing, but I couldn’t find him. Then I went out the gate to look for him, but I still couldn’t find him, so I came back.” Zeng Yushan spoke very quickly, clearly impatiently repeating this passage.

“We investigated your neighbors and the convenience store, and they all unanimously reported that apart from a guest leaving your house at 8 o'clock that day, no one else left the house afterwards. The person who left at 8 o'clock was Attorney Jian,” Lin Zhongjie said calmly. He was already used to the denials and concealments from those he questioned; it didn't surprise him at all. They were like shrimp in a pot—some would always struggle a bit, but how many could hold out?

Zeng Yushan was not a seasoned criminal, and dealing with the police was probably a first for her. She was very capable and patient, but in his eyes, she was still a shrimp destined to die.

His words caught her off guard, and she frowned.

Lin Zhongjie didn't give her time to regroup, and immediately asked, "Where did you go after you left the living room?"

"I...I don't understand what you mean. I went to the garden and then walked out the gate." Her gaze swept across his face, as if testing how much he knew. Lin Zhongjie was very familiar with this change in attitude; at times like this, a firm stance could quickly subdue the other party. So he said, "Zeng Yushan, I'll ask you one more time, where did you go after you left the living room?"