Unable to breathe

Chapter 51

"I don't know. What's the use of regretting it?"

"When did you start to become like this?"

Qu Baoyuan shifted uncomfortably, then thought for a moment:

About two years ago.

What happened to make you like this?

Qu Baoyuan suddenly became excited and raised his voice:

“After coming out of prison, I knew nothing about the outside world. I had no skills, no education, and couldn’t do anything. My wife divorced me, and later the police sentenced me to re-education through labor. I sold my car and was left with nothing. I felt that everyone looked down on me, which made me feel uncomfortable and I couldn’t stand it… If I weren’t looked down on, if I could live like everyone else, there would be no point in saying all this.”

His voice gradually faded, his head drooped, and his body seemed to be weighed down by a heavy object, unable to straighten up.

When he looked up again, Yang Ming was startled by his eyes. They were the eyes of a terrifying monster, and there seemed to be something in them that sent chills down one's spine. No wonder he had once plunged this heroic city into terror and weeping at midnight.

Story: I have a home, so this can't happen.

After Qu Baoyuan's arrest was announced, the bureau chief said in an interview with reporters:

"When the city was most tense, that was actually the safest time. Think about it, we've never mobilized such a large police force before; the whole city was full of police! We set up 24-hour cameras at the train station exit alone, and we secretly sealed off all the city's entrances and exits, focusing on short men. Especially at the train station, short men entering and leaving not only had to fill out health registration forms but also undergo specific questioning by the police. So it's not hard to understand why Qu Baoyuan immediately stopped committing crimes when the checks on train 641 passengers began on July 8th. He knew the police already had a lot of information about him and dared not act rashly again. After the police deployment network was established, it operated very efficiently. There were no more security incidents in the city. In the beginning, dozens of thieves were caught every night, with the Gujing District catching as many as eighteen in one night. The biggest unexpected gain was that we caught a murder suspect who was wanted online at the train station."

Later, during my interview, I learned that the murder suspect arrested by the police had killed more people than Qu Baoyuan. However, the two detectives refused my interview, and Wang Liguo also told me that they had refused the bonus offered to them.

I learned from a knowledgeable criminal investigator that the process of capturing this suspect was indeed somewhat bizarre.

While checking stranded passengers at the train station at night, criminal police officers noticed a young man who seemed dazed. When asked where he was from and where he was going, he immediately produced his ID card, saying he didn't know where he was going. The two officers examined his ID card but couldn't see anything wrong with him. Besides, his physical characteristics didn't match what they were looking for. They had more important things to do and didn't have time to think further, so they returned his ID card to him.

The two detectives had been busy for a long time. When it was time for their late-night snack, they ate takeout together and, without prior arrangement, started talking about the young man who had disappeared without a trace.

"That young man we just checked, don't you think something's off about him?"

Are you worried that he might commit suicide?

"Really! He looked so strange, his eyes looked like a dead person's eyes."

"Let's go check on him after we finish eating, just in case something happens."

Unexpectedly, when the young man lying on the ground saw the two criminal police officers coming over again, he jumped up, his face pale, his lips trembling and unable to speak.

"What's wrong with you? Are you in such a bad mood because you're sick, or did someone steal something?"

A detective asked him with concern.

The young man suddenly knelt down before them, clenched his fists, raised his arms, and said:

"I'm a murderer! Arrest me!"

The two detectives looked at each other, wondering what had triggered him to become so incoherent.

At this moment, the passengers who had nothing to do while waiting for the bus suddenly saw the excitement and swarmed around like flies attracted by a scent.

"I know you're after me, I'm not running away!"

Seeing this, the two detectives had no choice but to take control of the situation. They immediately pulled him into the office they had temporarily borrowed and asked him what had happened.

“In Chaoyang Town, I killed an entire family of four.”

Look at this man, so thin he's practically skin and bones, hunched over, speaking weakly and feebly. How could you imagine he killed four people? Did he have that kind of strength and ferocity? However, the two detectives didn't dare to be careless and had no choice but to listen to his own account. Later, they handed him over to the station.

Around 2 a.m., someone from the station told them that they had indeed caught a fugitive murder suspect. However, they were still puzzled as to how such a person could have killed four people.

This man's name is Liang Erzhu, 22 years old this year. He and his older brother Dazhu have lived with their grandmother since they were young. When they were 19, the county government requisitioned their village's land without compensation to build the New Century Times Square. Their dilapidated thatched house was also demolished, and he and his brother were assigned to work on the construction site. At first, the officials promised to arrange jobs for them and allocate apartments in the county town. However, the two brothers worked on the construction site for more than half a year without receiving a penny, and the promise of new apartments was nowhere in sight. Erzhu's family (where was their home? They were just temporarily sheltering from the wind and rain under a bridge) finally couldn't even afford to eat. First, their grandmother couldn't bear the hunger and poverty and abandoned the two brothers. The older brother couldn't bear such a blow and went everywhere to find the officials and complain everywhere. As a result, one night he was stopped on the road and beaten half to death. He crawled back to their sheltered place and was about to die. Before he breathed his last, he told him:

"Get me to their square. Run as far as you can, they say..."

Before he could finish speaking, his brother breathed his last.

Anyway, the family had nothing to begin with, and now they had nothing at all, not even a place to bury his brother's body. Liang Erzhu carried his brother's body to the foot of the New Century Times Square Monument that very night, kowtowed several times to his brother, and then slipped away hungry.

In a wealthy southern city, during the morning rush hour, the female owner of Jinlide Printing Factory, carrying her elegant handbag, stepped out of her house onto the street. She raised her right hand to hail a taxi, but before her hand could even land, she felt someone bump into her from behind, causing her to drop her handbag and fall to her knees. When she angrily scrambled to her feet, she realized her handbag had been snatched from behind. Turning around, she could only see the back of a man, a young man, who quickly ran into an alley. She didn't even have time to call for help. In fact, even if she had, she knew it would have been futile. No one would dare chase after a robber; who knew if he was carrying a weapon? Who would risk their life for her?

She walked into the nearby police station in tears. Although she knew there was little hope of success in reporting the case, she couldn't leave it unreported because her losses were too great. She told the police that she had two cell phones in her handbag. It wasn't the loss of the phones that made her so upset, but rather that she didn't have a phone book at all. All her clients' phone numbers and information were on her phones, and the loss of that data was irreparable.

The police reassured her that if they could find her phone, they would notify her immediately.

But the police didn't say what would happen if they couldn't find it? What would she do then?

The police officer said, "You can't be absolute about anything. Maybe we can solve the case tomorrow! Of course, it might take many days. You have to think positively about these things. Otherwise, you'll hurt yourself, and the problem won't be solved. Wouldn't your losses be even greater? So I'm telling you, try to think positively. If you fall down, just get back up!"

She only remembered the pain when she tried to get up. Looking down, she saw that both her knees were covered in blood and mud, dark and raw, with the skin torn open. She immediately fainted.

The police had to search her pockets, but she had nothing on her to identify herself. They had to take her to the hospital. When she regained consciousness, they got her home phone number and called, but no one answered. They tried to admit her to the hospital, but she didn't have a single penny of deposit; all her money was in her handbag. Later, they found someone from her factory, but she was already unconscious.

Although reporters interviewed about this matter, not a single word was published in the newspaper because the newspaper's editor-in-chief said that publishing it would have a negative impact and affect the confidence of foreign investors. Not publishing it was as if nothing had happened.

Strangely, these open robberies all occurred during the day, demonstrating just how brazen the robbers were.

A young woman was robbed twice. Once, someone pushed her to the ground and snatched her handbag from behind. The handbag contained her phone, ID card, and her bank card. The injury to her leg took a long time to heal, and although it eventually healed, it left a scar, preventing her from wearing skirts even in the summer. She cried for a long time, vowing never to use a handbag again. Two weeks later, while walking and talking on her phone, someone snatched it from her again. She watched helplessly as the shifty-looking young man ran into an alley.

It's common for women to have their necklaces stolen while walking on the street in broad daylight.

For a period of time, if you paid attention, you could hear about robberies almost every day.

During this period, people would avoid anyone who looked like a migrant worker on the street, and for a time, male migrant workers became like rats crossing the street.