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Глава 18

I didn't pay much attention to Su Zhiwen's whereabouts, only remembering that he seemed very excited on the evening of May 6th. After my mother told us about her decision, we were all shocked. Of course, the money was all my mother's, so we had no right to say anything, but I admit I didn't like this decision because everyone could see that Su Zhiwen only married my mother for her money. I don't understand how a woman as intelligent as my mother could make such a foolish decision. Frankly, I felt that once my mother gave him the 3 million, he would run away. At the dinner table that day, he kept talking about his business, but I wasn't listening because I was waiting for a call from a friend overseas. His boastful way of speaking disgusted me. I had heard that tone before, and I didn't believe him at all; I thought he was a liar.

The call I was waiting for came around 7:30. I went to the study to answer it and stayed there for almost an hour and a half, finally ending the call around 9:00. After the call, I figured dinner was over, so I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. There was no one in the kitchen, so I made myself a bowl of hot pickled bamboo shoot soup. After finishing the soup, I went to the living room to watch TV. There was no one else there either. Later, my mother came downstairs to get a hot compress, and I found it for her in the closet. At that moment, my older sister, Fang Rouzhi, came in from the garden. She seemed flustered and a little surprised to see us, at least that's what I thought, though maybe I misunderstood. She said she thought she saw a dark shadow flickering near the front gate, so she went to check. After saying this, she went back to her room. My mother gave me a few more instructions about work, and then she also went upstairs to her room. I watched TV in the living room for about an hour.

When I turned off the TV, Yushan came in. She seemed very unhappy; she had been crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said she wanted to go home with Xiangbing that night and didn't want to spend the night there. I didn't know what was wrong with her. I comforted her for a while before she calmed down. I know my mother has always been against her marriage to Xiangbing, but I don't know why she cried. She doesn't tell me many things.

I haven't been to the storage room and don't know who did it. I think it's more likely an outsider, though I don't know who. You can ask my older sister; she said she saw a shadowy figure. However, I don't know if you know anything about my brother-in-law; he fled after the murder and we haven't heard from him since. I'm just saying this casually. I don't like to talk badly about others.

Glass, the little dog, belongs to Yushan. She's always been very kind-hearted, and she's always suspected her older sister of doing it because Glass had urinated at her doorstep before, and her older sister had argued with Yushan about it many times. But I don't think her older sister would be that cruel; she also has health problems. That's all I know.

I didn't like Su Zhiwen, but since he was my mother's husband, I knew my limits. If he didn't offend me, I wouldn't offend him. But if he went too far, I wouldn't tolerate it. His death doesn't bother me; I don't feel anything, as long as my mother isn't too heartbroken.

Fang Rouzhi:

I don't know why you would think of asking me. I have no money, no job, and no status in this family. What right do I have to speak? What can I possibly know?

Don't listen to them. Su Zhiwen isn't a bad person. Think about it, if he were really a bad person, why would Auntie marry him? Auntie isn't an ordinary woman; she's incredibly shrewd at judging people and handling affairs, even more so than men. How could she be so careless about something as important as a marriage? I think it's more believable that Su Zhiwen was tricked by Auntie. This is just me saying this in private, so you can't tell anyone. I don't believe Auntie would give Xiao Su any money; she might give him a little pocket money each month at most. Yes, Xiao Su knows how to say sweet words, but do you think Auntie wouldn't say those things? Auntie is a woman who has been married several times, and every man she married was firmly under her control. Let's not even talk about others; just take my own father for example. Back then, when he saw Auntie, he didn't dare to speak loudly and obeyed her every word. If I had said a bad word about Auntie back then, I was sure to get a beating. Fortunately, my aunt wasn't interested in arguing with me, a kid, and didn't care whether I called her "Mom." As long as I behaved well, she treated me well. At least when it came to pocket money, she was always very generous to me and often bought me things.

The last time I saw Xiao Su was on their wedding anniversary. During dinner, he was in high spirits, drank a lot of rice wine, and talked about many things from his past. One story was about a piece of jade; he said he lost it gambling, and I felt sorry for him. Later, he told me about a prank he played—he moved a warning sign on the road, or something like that. I don't believe the car accident was directly related to what he did. He always seemed to be trying to portray himself as a scoundrel, but he wasn't actually that bad.

In this family, I'm the one who talks to him the most. It's probably because we both grew up in broken homes. He told me that his parents divorced when he was very young, and he lived with his mother for many years. His mother died of illness right after he graduated from university. After that, he lived alone and suffered a lot. Because he had poor life skills, and his mother never taught him, he couldn't do many very simple things well. For example, because he couldn't sew on buttons, he wore zip-up shirts all the time, and because he didn't want to tie shoelaces, he only wore shoes without laces. He couldn't cook, so he ate out every meal. I don't know what you think, but I felt quite sad after hearing this. I think he was ruined by his mother. He also said that his mother was driven to her death by him because he later hated studying and became fed up with it. His mother wanted him to pursue a master's degree, but he started dating, writing love letters all day, and even living with a girl, which of course ended in a breakup. Yes, seeing how pitiful he was, I sometimes sewed buttons for him, and when he was hungry, I would get him something to eat. You don't know, Xiao Su can't get anything out of Zhang Yufen at all. Xiao Su has a good temper and never tells the aunt how Zhang Yufen treats him.

He was very happy that night, May 6th, because his aunt promised to give him money to start a business and even offered him shares, but on the condition that they would only receive them three years after their marriage. His aunt is a master of these kinds of tricks; only someone as naive as Xiao Su would believe her. I've told him many times that only real money matters; everything else is fake. They said he married his aunt for money, and at first I thought so too, but after spending more time with Xiao Su, I realized it wasn't entirely true. He said he wanted a stable life, living with an older woman and not having to worry about anything. He once mentioned his marital relationship with his aunt, saying they didn't have sex. He had asked twice, but his aunt refused, saying it was disgusting. They sleep in separate beds. I don't know why his aunt married Xiao Su.

During dinner, Fang Qi went to make a phone call, and Xiang Bing also went to make a call in the garden halfway through his meal. As soon as he left, Auntie and Yu Shan had a fight. Auntie really disliked Xiang Bing, and to be honest, I didn't like him either. He never greeted anyone. Auntie came from a scholarly family and always valued etiquette; he couldn't even greet people properly, and he was indifferent when people asked him questions. Who would like him? Only Yu Shan would be so foolish. I don't know how they met, only that Yu Shan pursued him, which Auntie disapproved of. At the dinner table, Yu Shan said that Xiao Su was a freeloader, which angered Auntie, and the two argued. Yu Shan stormed off to the garden to find Xiang Bing. Xiao Xi and I ate there the whole time. Later, Auntie and Xiao Su went back to their room upstairs together. That was the last time I saw Xiao Su. (crying)

I don't know who would do such a thing. Honestly, I don't think it could be an outsider. Everyone except me hates Xiao Su, saying he's here to claim a share of the inheritance. But they don't even consider this: Xiao Su has been married to Auntie for a year, and besides a few thousand yuan a month, what has he gotten in return? And that money is always being held back. Fang Qi is the housekeeper here, in charge of the money, but she always says she doesn't have cash and drags her feet. Don't be fooled by Fang Qi's quiet demeanor; she's adept at holding people back at the most crucial moments. That's how she treats Xiao Su. I've heard him ask her for money several times, and she pretends not to hear. Eventually, of course, she gave it to him, but it was always delayed for a long time. Auntie trusts her, saying she's honest and suitable for managing the money; she's truly devoted to Auntie. I don't know if Xiao Su told Auntie about this, but I've at least never heard Auntie say anything about Fang Qi about it, so it's unlikely. Xiao Su is doing quite well.

A shadowy figure? I knew it was Fang Qi who said that. Yes, I saw a shadowy figure, so I went to check, but there was nothing there; my eyes must have been playing tricks on me. I finished eating around 8:30. Auntie and Xiao Su went upstairs first, and Xiao Xi followed later. She wanted to draw; she draws until very late every night, which is very hard work. Auntie wants to nurture her to be an artist. I ate a bit too much and my stomach was bloated, so I went to the garden for some fresh air. I did see the shadowy figure, but I didn't see Xiang Bing and Yu Shan. I guess they'd probably already gone back to their rooms. Their room is on the second floor; it used to be Yu Shan's room.

I went to the kitchen after leaving the garden. I have a sensitive stomach and wanted some milk. It was a little after 9 a.m. I ran into Zhang Yufen in the kitchen; she was squatting there shoveling grease off the floor. I almost stepped on her. After finishing my milk, I went back to my room. Since moving into this house, I've never been inside the storage room. I know the aunt doesn't like people going in, and I won't do anything she doesn't want me to do.

At 1 p.m., Ling Ge had just come out of the train station when he received a call from Jian Dongping.

"Hey, it's you. Where are you? What are you doing now?" She was slightly surprised to hear his voice.

"I'm having lunch," he said, sounding as if he were churning something mysterious. "Ling Ge, I didn't bring some of the information you gave me with me. I want to confirm some things. Did you bring it? Please tell me."

"Okay, what do you want to know?" She found a stone bench, sat down, and took out some documents from her bag.

"First of all, what was the cause of Su Zhiwen's death?"

"Didn't you see? He died of asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen in the air, which means he suffocated inside the box."

"Does he show signs of being beaten?"

"Yes, he was hit on the back of the head with a vase. It's such a pity, I heard it was an antique from the late Qing Dynasty!" Ling Ge felt a deep regret for the blue and white porcelain vase that was worth 40,000 yuan.

Are there any other injuries?

"All ten of his fingernails were bleeding. He must have woken up shortly after being injured and found himself locked in a box. He tried desperately to pry open the metal box door with his fingernails to escape, but he failed because there was no oxygen inside."

"What was the time of death?"

"What did you look at? His time of death was between 9 pm and 11 pm on May 6th. There's something else you probably didn't notice: he wrote a very blurry line of words in blood in the box, 'Not Xiang Bing,' isn't that strange?"

"Hmm." He suddenly chuckled. "Actually, I brought them all, but I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Why have you become so glib lately? I'm not your Lu Min, or your B partner. Don't give me that."

"What does Guan Lumin want?" He smiled.

Ling Ge didn't want to discuss this annoying issue with him. She knew how he would react if she continued—either by spouting a bunch of nonsensical lies or by sternly insisting it was his privacy. Fine, she wouldn't ask.

"I have two things to tell you," she said seriously.

"What?"

"First, there are no items stored by Zhou Jin at the train station's luggage storage area, and there are no luggage storage slips with her name on them. We have checked all the slips from May 7th."

"What about the hotel?"

"There are so many hotels here. I've only checked four so far. I'll check more this afternoon."

"And one more thing?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I've contacted Zeng Yushan, and I'll be staying at their villa tonight," Ling Ge said, wondering if Jian Dongping would be angry upon hearing the news.

As expected, before she could think about it, she heard a loud bang from the other end of the phone.

"Ling Ge! What did you say?! What are you up to? Who told you to go?" He roared at her furiously.

He was a man who rarely lost his temper, so when she saw him get angry, she couldn't help but feel a little scared, and she even stammered.

“I… I went there myself. I felt there was definitely something wrong with that storage room.” She quickly added, “I also spoke with Uncle Lin, and he agreed. He said if I do well this time, he’ll talk to the boss and let me go back to the criminal investigation team. That’s what Uncle Lin said.”

"Didn't you always call me Uncle Lin? Why did you suddenly switch to calling me Uncle?" he asked coldly.

"Because Uncle Lin said that if I call him uncle and your father uncle, it's like calling him a younger person, so he told me to call him uncle from now on," Ling Ge said.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Ling Ge, are you doing this because of my B partner, Lu Min?"

“No, that’s not true. I have nothing to do with you,” Ling Ge quickly denied. “I just want to go back to the criminal investigation team! I don’t want to be looked down upon. Do you know how important work is to someone who wants to be single? After I retire…” She had just finished speaking when his voice drowned her out.

"Ling Ge, I have no sexual relationship with Lu Min or any other partner. My thoughts are not as filthy as yours!"

What?! Dirty thoughts?! Ling Ge was a little angry.

“You’re the dirty one! Who knows what you’ve been with them…” She wanted to retort, but he didn’t let her finish.

“Ling Ge, you’re going to go undercover now, which is very dangerous. Does my dad know about this?” he asked in a low voice.

"It seems he made a bet with Uncle Lin; they decided together this morning. I have full support." Ling Ge couldn't help but feel a little happy thinking about the heavy responsibility he was shouldering.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

“Okay, I’ll contact you later,” he said, then suddenly raised his voice and asked her, “I don’t understand why you insist on becoming a detective? You’re simply not cut out for this line of work.”

"Do you really want to know?" Ling Ge hesitated whether she should tell him the real reason. She didn't know if he would look down on her, but since he had just declared his innocence, she decided to tell him everything.

"Tell me, why?"

"Because criminal police officers earn high salaries," she finally mustered the courage to say.

He didn't answer. After a long, long time, he finally managed to say, "Having a goal... um... that's good... okay." Then he hung up the phone.

Oh no, I should have said something more idealistic. Ling Ge regretted speaking the truth; now she worried that he might look down on her. Sometimes, it really is true that you can't tell the truth.

Ling Ge was anxiously wondering whether he should make a phone call to explain when Jian Dongping called again.

“Ling Ge, now that you’ve decided to do this, I want you to investigate something,” he said bluntly.

He didn't seem to look down on her, and appeared to have accepted the arrangement.

"Okay, go ahead," she readily agreed.

"When you chat with Zhang Yufen, ask her if the Shen family has ever hired a temporary nanny."

“Okay,” she said. Although she didn’t understand why he wanted her to investigate this matter, her trust in him made her feel very gratified, so she immediately added, “Don’t worry, I will continue to investigate the small hotels near the train station. I will contact you as soon as I have any good news.”

"Don't just contact me when you have good news; you must contact me every day."

“Okay,” she said, “but what can we say if it’s nothing important?”

Jian Dongping remained silent for a moment.

"Ling Ge, I really regret not bringing you with me," he said in a low voice.

She didn't know how to answer his question. His deep tone made her feel uncomfortable, so she remained silent.

“Ling Ge.” He spoke again, this time his voice was a little brighter. “After you move in there, you have to remember three things. First, you can’t drink alcohol, especially the rice wine you drank non-stop last time. No matter who tries to persuade you to drink, you can’t drink, understand? If anyone asks, just say that you smashed the TV because you were drinking, so you quit drinking.”

"I see."

"Second, you can't trust anyone, including those who seem nice to you. You must try to write down everything that everyone says to you and then tell me. Third, if someone asks about your relationship with me, don't answer directly, don't say things like we're just friends. If someone asks why you're not staying at my house, just say I'm away on a long trip and that it's inconvenient for you and my dad to live in the same house."

“Hey, that’s exactly what I told Zeng Yushan.” Ling Ge was pleased that he and Jian Dongping shared the same idea.

"Great. Call me every night at 10 p.m."

“Okay.” She decided to explain her motivation for becoming a criminal investigator. “You asked me earlier why I became a criminal investigator. Actually, it wasn’t entirely for the high income.”

"Oh? Why is that?"

“The more impossible it is, the more we should do it. My dad used to say that we should learn war through war,” she said. Her dad used to say that all the time.

"Your father plagiarized Chairman Mao's quotations; the last sentence was actually said by Chairman Mao," he said coldly.

"Really?" she asked, somewhat embarrassed.

“Ling Ge, I’ve always believed that a person should do what they are good at. You know what? Last month someone poached me to be the editor-in-chief of a fashion weekly, with an annual salary of 400,000.”

400,000! She gasped.

"And then?" she asked eagerly.

“I politely declined. The editor-in-chief position is not suitable for me. I prefer my current position. Although the income is much different, I am more free and independent. I think that doing a job that suits me can give full play to my strengths and make me happier.”

He said that as if he was deliberately belittling her, and he didn't understand her situation at all.

“But I have to save money for my future. If you can’t understand, that’s fine!” she said, sounding a little angry.

"What your future holds is still a mystery. We can discuss that properly when I get back," he said with a smile. "Remember, be careful what you say when you get to the Shen family. They are all very shrewd people."

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid," Ling Ge said confidently.

“Be especially careful with the smallest one,” he cautioned.

"You mean Fang Xiaoxi? She's still a child."

“Don’t underestimate her. She can devour you if she wants to.” He paused, then changed to a cynical tone, “Rather than be eaten by someone else, wouldn’t I eat myself?”

"Jian Dongping, don't underestimate me!"

"Call me James!" he said, expressing his dissatisfaction. It was unclear whether he was unhappy that she had gone undercover. He was unhappy, but there was nothing he could do; it was her choice.

“I don’t understand English, so don’t give me that. I’ll just call you Jian Dongping!” she retorted.

Ling Ge is determined to prove himself as a qualified police officer through his own abilities.

After finishing his call with Ling Ge, Jian Dongping continued reviewing the compiled statements. Where was he? Fang Rouzhi, next up is Zeng Yushan…

Zeng Yushan:

I don't know how Su Zhiwen died there. The last time I saw him was at the dinner table on May 6th. He was so smug because my mom promised him money, he was talking about everything. I wasn't paying attention; I was whispering with Xiang Bing, and we didn't have time to listen to his bragging.

Xiang Bing is very busy with work. He's in charge of tour planning at a travel agency, and he's constantly being called at the slightest sign of trouble. He's never even allowed to eat a proper meal, which is how he ruined his stomach. Yes, he went out to answer the phone halfway through his meal. As soon as he left, my mother started arguing with me in front of that "gigolo Su." She said I was fine, and made Xiang Bing sound worthless. She doesn't understand him at all; what right does she have to say that about him? Besides, even if Xiang Bing's career isn't successful, he at least has a job, and he at least supports himself through his own labor. He never thought about taking any of my family's property when he married me. I told him beforehand that my mother might not give me a single penny after we got married, and she wouldn't leave me any inheritance. He said it didn't matter. I admire people like that. We argued for a while, and then my mother told me to go upstairs to my room to calm down. My mother doesn't swear, and she doesn't allow us to swear either. She thinks that makes her a lady. I don't think so. I think her marrying Su Zhiwen was very unladylike. That's absolutely indecent, and they even published it in the newspaper.