Chapter 62: Old Grudges

The phone screen was small. Even if Qiong Cang looked closely, she could only make out a few pictures, and leaning any closer would mean pressing against He Jueyun’s shoulder.

He Jueyun tilted the screen toward her and read the contents aloud.

“Hong Jun was originally a bus driver. He was married, and they had a happy home. When his wife was giving birth, she suffered a sudden postpartum hemorrhage. Due to limited medical facilities, they couldn’t save her in time, and she passed away. The unborn child didn’t survive either, leaving him completely alone.”

Below was a photo taken not long before his wife’s death.

The man in the photo looked refined, grinning foolishly at the camera. With his neatly trimmed hair and clean, simple clothes, he seemed like a cheerful, decent man with a touch of endearing simplicity. Back then, he had a full head of black hair and eyes full of life, looking quite young. It was impossible to imagine that he would become the man he was today twelve years later. They were like two completely different people.

The difference between then and now wasn’t just twelve years; it was a completely different life.

Qiong Cang stared at the man in the photo for a long time before speaking slowly. “So, unable to cope with the tragedy, he let himself go, gave up his job and a decent life, and eventually became a sanitation worker just to make ends meet? Did he not have any other family?”

“It wasn’t just simple misfortune.” He Jueyun’s expression grew colder, his eyes darkening. “Hong Jun’s wife went into premature labor, though it was only about two weeks before her due date. While they were celebrating the Lunar New Year in the countryside, she accidentally slipped and fell. Hong Jun called an ambulance to take her to the nearest hospital. But because the vehicle was delayed on the road for too long, she had already lost consciousness by the time they arrived. In the end, neither mother nor child could be saved.”

He Jueyun swiped his finger across the screen, revealing the text below.

“According to the traffic police report, on that day, a certain Mr. Ding was driving and blocking both lanes, obstructing the ambulance and causing the patient to miss the critical window for rescue. The ambulance driver used the loudspeaker and honked the horn the entire way, but Ding ignored it all. In the end, a driver behind the ambulance couldn’t stand it anymore and rammed Ding’s car to force him to stop, finally letting the ambulance pass.”

Qiong Cang’s lips tightened into a thin line, and she leaned back, putting some distance between herself and He Jueyun.

“Afterward, Ding claimed he was listening to music with headphones and got distracted. He said he didn’t hear the announcements from the vehicle behind him, didn’t know the horn was meant for him, and didn’t see the ambulance in his rearview mirror. In the end, he was only given points on his license, a fine, and a ten-day detention.” He Jueyun said, “This Mr. Ding was Ding Tao.”

Qiong Cang sneered. “How does that count as justice?”

He Jueyun continued scrolling down, bringing up another report.

“Hong Jun once reported to the police that Ding Tao had blocked the road on purpose. Ding Tao had lost a company contract that day and was in a bad mood, so when he heard the ambulance honking behind him, he refused to yield, even deliberately slowing down to delay the patient. Hong Jun claimed Ding Tao said this himself, but because there was no evidence, the police couldn’t file a case, and it eventually went unresolved. Besides, the legal penalties for maliciously blocking an ambulance were already too light, amounting to administrative punishment at most.”

Qiong Cang said, “Unless he was deaf or hard of hearing, how could an experienced driver make such a severe mistake?”

He Jueyun agreed.

The excuse was so flimsy. Everyone knew Ding Tao had done it on purpose, whether it was Hong Jun, the traffic police, or the doctors. Yet, everyone was powerless to do anything about it.

He Jueyun cursed, “Scumbag.”

Qiong Cang slowly turned her head to stare at him.

He Jueyun said, “What?”

Qiong Cang said, “A scumbag is still fundamentally human. For someone like him, you should just call him a beast.”

He Jueyun stood corrected. “A beast.”

Qiong Cang added, “An animal.”

Off-screen, He Chuanzhou nodded in quiet agreement. She was a sensible one.

A warning popped up from the administrator: 【Mind your values. Profanity is prohibited.】

Qiong Cang and He Jueyun ignored it in unison, though they stopped discussing the art of insults.

Bringing his focus back, He Jueyun analyzed, “Based on the current information, Hong Jun watched his wife and child die in agony because of Ding Tao’s selfishness. Yet the culprit never took responsibility, and even went on to live a prosperous life without a shred of guilt. Knowing this, Hong Jun must have harbored deep resentment. He has a strong motive for murder. On top of that, he coincidentally appeared at the scene of Ding Tao’s death, became the first person to discover the body, and claimed he didn’t know the deceased. But after going through something like that, there’s no way he could have forgotten Ding Tao.”

Qiong Cang closed her eyes and leaned back against her seat, adding calmly, “But his claim of not knowing the deceased could also just be to avoid trouble, so the police wouldn’t suspect him. That kind of subconscious reaction is normal.”

He Jueyun looked down at the screen and continued, “According to Hong Jun’s usual work schedule, he would have finished sweeping this area before four o’clock. Yet today, because he wasn’t feeling well, he delayed his arrival until a quarter past five. While it’s unclear how this shift in timing relates to Ding Tao’s death, it seems too convenient for an accident to happen today of all days. He might be trying to obscure the time he discovered the body. Ding Tao smelled strongly of alcohol. Hong Jun might have deliberately pushed back his arrival to ensure Ding Tao was already dead when he got there.”

Qiong Cang said, “It could also really just be a coincidence. Sometimes, coincidences are the hardest things to believe, yet they turn out to be the truth.”

He Jueyun said, “Hong Jun clearly had a phone on him, so why did he walk all the way to the convenience store to call the police? It feels like he’s trying too hard to cover his tracks.”

“He might have told a half-truth,” Qiong Cang said. “He hated Ding Tao so much that he didn’t want anything to do with him, remaining indifferent even when he saw his corpse. But after walking away, he had second thoughts and decided to call the police for him. Without thinking much, he just went into the nearby convenience store.”

He Jueyun turned off the phone, placed it on a nearby shelf, and asked, “Which possibility does your gut lean toward?”

“My gut feeling doesn’t matter,” Qiong Cang said. “In any case, there are many suspicious things about Hong Jun.”

He Jueyun asked, “Should we bring Hong Jun back to take another statement?”

Qiong Cang thought for a moment and shook her head. “Let’s wait for Ding Tao’s autopsy results and the footprint analysis from the scene first. Without knowing how he died, it will be hard to make any progress in an interrogation. Have someone keep a quiet eye on Hong Jun. If he does anything unusual, bring him back to the station. Also, keep an eye on the surveillance. Tell them to report any findings immediately.”

He Jueyun said, “So, should we go see the victim’s family first?”

Qiong Cang said, “Sure.”

He Jueyun drove to Ding Tao’s house.

Ding Tao was a clothing manufacturer. He owned a large factory and a top-selling store on a wholesale website, while also running brick-and-mortar businesses. His main store was located near the city center, targeting the budget market, and business was quite good.

The factory, the store, and his house were all some distance from where he died, and they weren’t even in the same area. Clearly, Ding Tao wasn’t killed on his way to work or home.

What baffled them most right now was why Ding Tao had gone to the suburbs, only to end up collapsed in the grass. Who drove him there while he was dead drunk? And when?

When Qiong Cang and He Jueyun arrived, the lady of the house, Shen Sui, was not home. Apparently, she had been distraught by the terrible news and, accompanied by an officer, had gone to her son’s school for support. She had cried until she nearly fainted and was currently trying to compose herself, planning to return home once she felt a bit better.

Qiong Cang stood at the door, checked the time on her wrist, and once again looked displeased.

How long would it take to compose herself? How long would it take to get from the school to the house? Surely she wasn’t going to waste half their day?

He Jueyun seemed to have plenty of experience with this and simply sat down on the stairs. Qiong Cang, unwilling to just wait, debated whether they should go intercept her at the school or stay put.

Just then, a soft click sounded. A green light flashed, the doorknob turned on its own, and the door cracked open as if blown by the wind.

Qiong Cang froze where she stood, thinking she was seeing a ghost. A red prompt box popped up on her interface:

【Note: The Player may enter the house to search while waiting. The interior of the house has been reconstructed based on the police’s initial investigation records. Please finish the search before the NPC Shen Sui returns home. Data generated during the search will not be saved. Countdown: 26 minutes.】

He Jueyun sprang to his feet and cried, “This is too much! The way you guys are giving us a green light is-“

Qiong Cang looked at him, puzzled.

He Jueyun’s tongue tied, dragging out the word “is” into a long drawl before he forced himself to change his tune. “…incredibly user-friendly. You guys have really improved. I can’t believe the pacing of this beta test Instance isn’t dragging at all.”

Qiong Cang couldn’t read this man, Brother Q, so she simply reached out and pushed the door wide open, revealing the entire living room.

Since the search data wouldn’t be saved anyway, Qiong Cang didn’t even bother taking off her shoes and walked right in. He Jueyun followed close behind her.

The living room felt very lived-in. Trash from a fruit bowl was still sitting on the coffee table, though judging by the color of the banana peels, it looked like it hadn’t been cleared away yesterday.

Qiong Cang only gave the living room a brief sweep before turning to walk toward the bedroom.

Ding Tao’s bedroom smelled of a mixture of cosmetics, which hit them the moment they pushed the door open. The walk-in closet connected to the bedroom was filled with clothes and handbags. The tables and windowsills were almost entirely covered in women’s cosmetics and various pieces of jewelry. When she pushed open a cabinet door against the wall, she found over a hundred pairs of high heels inside.

Qiong Cang didn’t recognize the brands, but items kept like this were bound to be valuable. She smiled and said, “They must have had a good relationship. Ding Tao might not have been a great person, but he was generous enough to his wife.”

“He was pretty generous to himself, too. The watch on his wrist cost over six hundred thousand.” He Jueyun stepped aside to show her several boxes in the cabinet. “These watches are also worth over four hundred thousand each. The most expensive one is a limited edition that’s hard to get, with a market price of around a million. Although his factory makes a decent profit, it’s far from enough to support this level of reckless spending. He must have been someone who didn’t exercise much self-control when it came to spending money.”

Qiong Cang thought to herself that it was a good thing she didn’t know luxury brands, otherwise she would have had a heart attack just hearing those numbers. She didn’t understand the pleasures of the rich.

Feeling puzzled, Qiong Cang went to check the other rooms. When she reached a room in the furthest corner of the first floor and reached out to open the door as usual, it was stuck.

She asked in surprise, “Why is the door locked?”

He Jueyun bent down to inspect it. “There’s dust under the door crack. It’s been locked for a long time.”

“Why would someone lock a room in their own house?” Qiong Cang asked curiously. “Hey, if I say ‘open sesame,’ will the tech guys at Sanyao open the door for me again?”

He Jueyun said, amused, “How could that be? Do you think this lock is voice-activated? Since it’s locked, it probably means we need to trigger some other plot point to open it. Let’s look around some more.”

Before Qiong Cang could speak, the familiar unlocking sound rang out again. The wooden door, which had been completely unyielding just a moment ago, swung halfway open on its own.

He Jueyun: “…??”

Little genius? Why are you using cheats in my company?

Qiong Cang smiled and said, “Thanks, tech guys.”