Chapter 50: Brother

Qiong Cang had said that when Fan Huai called her while on the run, they only spoke two sentences during the thirty-two-second call, spending the rest of the time in mutual silence. He Jueyun had been somewhat skeptical at the time, feeling that the two of them at least should have explained or settled something.

But now that he was facing a similar situation himself, he wondered what he would even say to Fan Huai.

He realized he truly did not know.

Comfort seemed too hollow, advice too hypocritical. And help? That seemed far too meager.

Perhaps Fan Huai himself had not known what he wanted when he called Qiong Cang. Maybe it was simply a desperate person, driven into a corner, craving a bit of guidance and hope from someone he trusted and admired. Yet, once the call went through, he suddenly realized that the person on the other end was, after all, only human. So, he walked away.

What must it feel like to be pleaded with by someone so helpless, yet remain just as powerless to help?

A lingering confusion must have remained in Qiong Cang’s heart, hovering in her mind and leaving her to ponder it in vain for a long time. That was likely why she had participated in Sanyao’s 【Case Scene Analysis】 to search for a so-called answer. Otherwise, given her aversion to trouble, Sanyao’s tedious and complicated psychological screening process alone would have been enough to deter her.

Those two sentences had troubled Qiong Cang back then, and now they troubled He Jueyun as well.

He Jueyun pressed the communicator by his ear, kept his tone under control, and said in a low voice, “I found Ning Tingting’s phone.”

Zhang Wuping was listening to reports from team members in various locations. Upon hearing this, he quickly replied, “Are there any clues on it?”

There were many ordinary citizens around, and the store manager kept glancing in his direction from time to time. Holding the phone, He Jueyun walked out of the shop first and headed to the police car parked nearby.

Inside the enclosed space, the air felt incredibly stifling.

The sky during the Qingming holiday was a dreary gray, heavy with oppression. Although it was still daytime, it was as dark as dusk approaching night.

He Jueyun tugged at his collar, unbuttoning the top button. Suppressing the slight resistance in his heart, he tapped the photo album icon.

Rows of small, square thumbnails appeared. He Jueyun selected one at random to enlarge.

These censored, mosaic-covered photos simultaneously appeared on the right side of the Live Stream Room.

There were over three hundred photos stored in Ning Tingting’s phone, all of them close-ups she had taken of different parts of her own body.

Black-and-blue arms, skin dotted with needle marks, fingers that were clearly dislocated, swollen welts from being whipped, and even lacerated flesh embedded with shards of glass…

Some of the wounds had turned dark, clearly old injuries. Others were still fresh with blood, taken with trembling hands right after she was hurt. The injuries were horrifying to look at, but they all shared one common feature: none of them were on her face.

Taken at different times and in different places, the photos clearly documented the inhumane abuse she had endured over the years, piecing together a completely abnormal married life. Judging from the earliest timestamps, this situation had spanned over two years, persisting almost from the moment she married right up to the present.

He Jueyun stopped scrolling halfway through. He raised a hand and rubbed his face hard, trying to calm his emotions.

Quite a few viewers in the Live Stream Room had also left. They simply could not bear to look at such images, even though the pictures displayed on the Sanyao interface had no overly graphic details and were accompanied only by text descriptions.

“A gentleman, when it comes to animals, having seen them alive, cannot bear to see them die; having heard their cries, cannot bear to eat their meat.¹” This had nothing to do with being a gentleman. Even an ordinary person would not want to abuse a vulnerable human being this way, let alone their own wife.

He Jueyun swiped up. There were a few videos at the bottom. Judging by the angle of the thumbnail covers, they seemed to have been secretly recorded from beneath the leaves of a potted plant.

He Jueyun tightened his grip on the phone, bracing himself before opening the first video.

Unsurprisingly, it was a brutal, graphic video of domestic violence. Due to the camera angle, Ning Tingting was not in the frame, showing only the profile of her husband standing over her.

Ning Tingting must have already been beaten to the floor, her bitter pleas echoing in the background audio.

Groans of pain escaped her throat, mingled with hoarse, trembling sobs. Her humble, fragile pleas were drowned out by her husband’s slurred, venomous curses.

“You worthless bitch!”

“Your brother is a murderer, do you hear me? Have you no shame? What did you go out and say to people today?”

“I told you not to go out, so why did you? What if someone recognized you? Are you trying to ruin me? You can’t behave, so I’ll teach you how to behave!”

“So what if I go out and find other women? Look at what you are! You’re filthy inside and out. Without me, you wouldn’t survive a single day!”

“Yelling at me! I told you not to yell at me! I’ll beat you to death! Fuck!”

“…”

The barrage of vile abuse thoroughly provoked the violent impulses deep within He Jueyun. For a split second, he wanted to rush in, pin the man down, force him to his knees, and make him experience the agonizing pain of being beaten until he bled.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and silently recited the core socialist values² in his mind.

The dull thuds of fists striking flesh echoed continuously inside the car. Toward the end, Ning Tingting had lost consciousness, yet the man still did not stop. When he finally realized his wife had been beaten into a faint, he showed no remorse, only spitting on her in dissatisfaction.

The scene made one’s blood boil with hatred; no fictional villain could be more repulsive than this man.

The video was long and agonizing, every frame dripping with unbearable malice. He Jueyun did not hit pause. Instead, he watched it all the way to the end of the progress bar. The person in the video had endured a life far more painful than this viewing; this was Ning Tingting’s actual reality, and it deserved to be witnessed.

Once the video finished playing, He Jueyun closed his eyes and raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

These were all records of domestic abuse left by Ning Tingting. She had been gathering evidence from the very beginning, yet in the end, she had never filed a lawsuit in court.

For a woman who has suffered years of domestic abuse, finding the courage to leave a dominant husband is sometimes incredibly difficult. It is not something that can be resolved by simply calling her cowardly. Moreover, Ning Tingting’s family background was far from clean. Growing up in a warped, insecure environment, she had never learned how to fight back against injustice, nor did she know how to seek goodwill from society.

Where did the root of all this begin? Perhaps it lay in societal norms, perhaps in the indifference of bystanders, or perhaps in the misfortune of her own life. But the one who bore the greatest responsibility was undoubtedly that violent, cruel, and hypocritical man.

Unfortunately, kind people always tend to look for faults in themselves first, pushing themselves step by step until they can no longer bear it and take the worst possible path.

·

The impact of a video was far more direct than pictures or simple words. This blurry footage struck a chord with almost everyone.

Although they were mentally prepared for the fact that Ning Tingting was a victim of domestic abuse, their emotions only truly erupted the moment they saw the video.

The comment section of the Live Stream Room went from initial indignation to silence, and then to a raging fury like an impending storm.

“Fuck this bastard! 【Look, your mom is flying³】”

“And to think I actually felt sorry for this guy. 【Goodbye】 I must have been blind to waste my sympathy on him.”

“【Web Link】 Here’s the media interview with this ‘friendly, refined elite.’ ‘Resented by his wife just because of a conflict during a drunken business dinner’ – what kind of garbage is this? Does he have no shame?”

“We’re supposed to respect the dead, but I’m sorry, that only applies to humans. This thing’s death is absolutely wonderful.”

“I’m so disgusted, I want to throw up. What is wrong with this family?”

“…How about we stop chasing him? Just let Ning Dongdong go.”

·

Zhang Wuping’s voice rang out in He Jueyun’s earpiece, instantly snapping his attention back.

“Hello? Xiao He, are you still there?”

He Jueyun looked up and said, “I’m here.”

“The media has put out more news. See if you can do some damage control,” Zhang Wuping said, his pace quickening with obvious anxiety. “Did you find any useful clues on Ning Tingting’s phone? Why did Ning Dongdong go to see his sister at that specific time? The media has already found a witness who can prove they had a heated conflict before. Public opinion online is a mess right now. It’s best if we can stabilize things. I’m worried Ning Dongdong will be affected.”

He Jueyun replied calmly, “Alright, I understand. I’ll head over to check it out right away. First, I’ll send you the useful data from Ning Tingting’s phone. We might need to release some details to the public.”

Zhang Wuping said, “I trust your judgment. Handle it as you see fit. We have a lead on our end too. An officer just remembered seeing someone who looked like Ning Dongdong at an intersection. We’re heading there now to confirm.”

He Jueyun quickly aligned plans with him and ended the call.

Everyone was racing against the clock to find Ning Dongdong, hoping to secure him as soon as possible, which was also a form of protection.

He Jueyun pulled out his phone. He didn’t even need to search; the information he wanted was pushed right to the top of the homepage.

He clicked the web link and saw the interview video on the main page.

On the screen was a young reporter in a short-sleeved shirt. Walking as he spoke, he explained to the camera, “Earlier, the police released a statement saying there is clear evidence proving Ning Dongdong has nothing to do with the two deaths. Is this true? However, according to our reporters’ on-site investigation, this was not the first time Ning Dongdong appeared near this neighborhood. Since his release from prison, he has visited this place multiple times, and someone witnessed him having a heated argument with his sister before the incident. Since their relationship was so strained, why did Ning Dongdong repeatedly come to find Ms. Ning? And why was his appearance at the crime scene this time so perfectly timed – not a minute too late, not a minute too early, but just right before Ms. Sun?”

He stopped and pointed at the glass door ahead. “Alright, we’ve arrived. It’s this cafe.”

The reporter walked in with the cameraman. The wind chimes jingled as the door opened and closed, and two servers said in unison, “Welcome!”

The camera pointed at the floor to avoid filming the inside of the shop before obtaining permission.

The reporter must have gone to speak with the staff. After a brief discussion, a youthful face appeared on screen.

The reporter asked, “You personally saw Ning Dongdong arguing with his sister, correct?”

“Yes, it wasn’t their first time here. I usually follow the news, so Ning Dongdong’s face looked familiar. When I saw him show up, I made a point to double-check.”

Reporter: “What were they arguing about?”

“I wasn’t really trying to eavesdrop, so I didn’t hear it very clearly.” The employee adjusted their mask to cover their face completely, clearly uncomfortable in front of the camera. “Anyway, the woman was extremely emotional and speaking very loudly. I heard her shouting, telling Ning Dongdong never to come looking for her again, begging him to leave her alone.”

The reporter confirmed the details and asked, “Anything else?”

The employee recalled for a moment and replied, “The woman had injuries on her. I saw a lot of severe bruising where her sleeves pulled back. It was clearly from being beaten, and the bruises were fresh. When Ning Dongdong touched her that day, she reacted very defensively. I thought her reaction was a bit unusual.”

Reporter: “You said you saw them arguing more than once, right?”

The employee nodded. “Yes. Once, the lady’s husband even showed up. He was very aggressive, telling Ning Dongdong to stop harassing his wife. He even threw a stack of cash at Ning Dongdong and told him to get lost. The two of them ended up arguing and almost broke our tableware.”

The reporter asked, “So they were arguing over money?”

The employee shook their head. “I really don’t know about that. I didn’t hear everything.”

The reporter asked a pointed question: “What kind of person do you think Ning Dongdong is?”

The clerk thought for a moment, offering a dry laugh. “He looks pretty fierce, like he’s ready to hit someone at any moment. There’s a hostility in his eyes. It’s a bit scary.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, the reporter thanked the young clerk and walked out with the cameraman.

“Let’s reenact this according to the timeline provided by the police, and see just how ‘perfect’ the timing of Ning Dongdong’s appearance really was…” The reporter held down his wind-blown hair, his face serious as he laid out the timeline of the crime scene for the viewers.

The police had not released the specific details of the timeline, and the neighborhood property management had been instructed not to reveal too much to the public. The timeline the reporter was reconstructing was based on what they had gathered from nearby residents.

From their perspective, the timing of Ning Dongdong’s appearance was indeed far too suspicious.

It just so happened that he appeared right as the argument between the two victims had ended.

And it just so happened that Ms. Sun from downstairs saw him holding the knife.

Without clear supporting evidence, they were unwilling to accept coincidence as an explanation.

Finally, the reporter added with a touch of sarcasm, “Do you believe there are really that many coincidences in this world?”

The speculation was reasonable, and the logic held together.

Honestly, if He Jueyun weren’t an internal investigator, he might have thought the same as this reporter. But he chose to respect the police department’s findings under conditions of asymmetric information, rather than relying on his own logical speculation.

He Jueyun rubbed his forehead tiredly and scrolled to the bottom of the page.

Sure enough, almost everyone in the comment section was questioning the results of the police investigation. Clearly, they were a crowd that did not believe in “coincidences.”

When people are biased against someone, they question everything that person does. Even if he just sneezed, they would think there was an ulterior motive behind it, let alone Ning Dongdong’s case, which was already so suspicious.

.

He Jueyun picked up Ning Tingting’s phone again and switched to the social media app.

Unsurprisingly, he saw a saved chat history.

Yet, it was this very chat history that, after He Jueyun finished reading it, left his hands feeling ice-cold and his blood running cold. A chill spread from his limbs to his chest, nearly shattering the restraint and composure he had maintained all this time.

Resting both hands on the steering wheel, he leaned his forehead against it, burying his face deeply.

One chat log was from a few days ago.

Ning Tingting: Bro, I didn’t want to argue with you today. I just want to live a peaceful life.

Ning Dongdong: Do you call your current life peaceful? Do you realize this isn’t normal at all?

Ning Dongdong: Why didn’t you tell Mom?

Ning Tingting: Don’t tell her. She’s so tired. As long as I do better, everything will be fine.

Ning Dongdong: That has nothing to do with you!

Ning Dongdong: Get a divorce. A man like him will beat you to death sooner or later. He doesn’t treat you like family at all.

Ning Tingting: What can someone like me do after a divorce? And he won’t let us go that easily. He’ll hurt you.

Ning Dongdong: What are you talking about? You think you can’t survive without him? Any kind of life would be better than this. You still have me. We’ll get through this together.

Ning Dongdong: I can support you. We just need to live a normal life, right?

Ning Dongdong: I can work. I’ve been studying all this time. Once I have some money, I’ll go get a degree.

Ning Dongdong: My teacher promised to hire me as an assistant. Trust me, I’ll make money.

Ning Tingting: There is no normal life. Not for us.

Ning Tingting: You don’t understand, I can’t turn back anymore. Just live a good life with Mom.

There was another segment from the day of the incident.

At 11:05, Ning Tingting sent several voice messages to Ning Dongdong.

He Jueyun tapped the green voice message bar⁴, and Ning Tingting’s sobbing voice came through.

“Bro, he’s coming back soon…”

“Why do I have to live like this? I actually blamed you before. If you hadn’t gone to prison, I wouldn’t have had to live like a dog… But I know you love me the most. If you were here, you would never let anyone bully me. Why did you disappear?”

“I’m not as strong as you, Bro. I can’t do this… I don’t even know what I did wrong. I can’t take it anymore…”

“I want to go home, Bro… Where is our home? Where are you right now? Bro…”

Ning Dongdong replied in a calm and firm voice: “Don’t be afraid. I’m coming to take you home.”

Before the multiple murder cases were solved, Ning Dongdong had been under partial police surveillance as a person of interest. On this day, he shook off the police tail to come and protect his sister.

He wanted to start over, wanting to piece that shattered home back together, wanting to protect his family with his own hands.

But he was just a little too late. All that awaited him was Ning Tingting’s corpse.

Sometimes, that tiny margin is all it takes.

He Jueyun logged into the official account and uploaded the video of the domestic violence. Right after, he uploaded the two chat logs to explain why Ning Dongdong had appeared at the crime scene so coincidentally.

After transmitting the data, He Jueyun sat in his seat, exhausted. He rolled down the car window to get some fresh air.

The clouds in the sky seemed to grow heavier, and the day grew darker.

Since many people were online at this hour, the update was quickly reposted by major news media accounts and spread rapidly across the internet.

The number of comments under the announcement climbed by dozens per second, the popularity exploded, and the public opinion reversed in an instant.

“I’m crying listening to this. Ning Dongdong really is a good brother.”

“??”

“Fuck, didn’t some colleague just say this beast in human clothing⁵ was gentle and refined, tolerating his wife without prejudice? This is it? Tolerating?! You have no conscience. I hope your whole family gets ‘tolerated’ like this.”

“On one side they’re mourning the tragic death of a perfect husband, and on the other, he’s been completely exposed. What is the real tragedy here?”

“Fastest face-slap in history… Face-slap my ass!”

“So who is the murderer anyway? When are the police releasing an official statement? I believe you, I’ll only believe you guys, alright?”

“I only care about whether Ning Dongdong’s mother is doing okay. Her daughter just died, her son was falsely accused, and she was almost choked to death by the groom’s family taking their anger out on her. She’s going through so much.”

When He Jueyun saw the last comment, his eyelid began to twitch uneasily. He felt as though he had overlooked something incredibly important.

A name flashed across his mind, only to vanish just as quickly.

He exited the main interface and, with trembling fingers, searched the hashtag #Ning Dongdong’s Mother#.

A flood of related videos popped up.

Reporters had gone to interview Ms. Ning, and the groom’s family, having heard the terrible news, had also rushed over. The two sides clashed at her door. Ms. Ning’s coat was torn by the crowd outside as countless cameras were shoved in her face, reporters demanding to know what she thought of her son.

Ms. Ning looked helpless and grief-stricken. These people seemed to have forgotten she was a grieving mother, caring only about squeezing a “breaking story” out of her.

Ms. Ning forced the door shut against them, and after that, there was no further sound.

In the comments below the video, people were still cursing Ms. Ning, calling her cold-blooded and heartless, saying it was no wonder she raised a child like Ning Dongdong.

He Jueyun froze for a few seconds, his heart suddenly hammering in panic. A wave of intense dread washed over him. Losing his composure, he shouted into his communicator, “Captain Zhang! Captain Zhang!”

“What is it?” Zhang Wuping asked, his voice heavy. “I saw the announcement you posted. Ning…”

He Jueyun cut him off. “Ning Dongdong’s mother! Do we have any officers near her apartment?”

“Did Ning Dongdong go to his mother’s place?” Zhang Wuping’s voice rose. “Have the officers in the area been notified?”

“It’s not that!” He Jueyun roared. “Get someone to her apartment right now! Hurry!”

A crisp voice chimed in over the comms. “I’m in the area. I’m heading over now, but there are so many reporters here.”

He Jueyun snapped impatiently, “Just push past them! Ignore the reporters!”

Spurred by his urgency, the rookie Player said nervously, “Okay, okay, I’m at the door. Excuse me, let me through, please. Ms. Ning? Ms. Ning, are you in there?”

Loud thuds of knocking mixed with the noisy chatter of the crowd. Someone was shouting, “She doesn’t dare open the door!”

“She’s not answering,” the rookie Player said.

He Jueyun could barely hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears. He yelled, “Break the door down! Kick it in! Now!”

“But… this is a reinforced security door⁶,” the rookie Player stammered, bewildered. “Don’t panic yet, I’ll climb over from the neighbor’s balcony! Give me a second.”

Translator’s Notes