Chapter 101: Rabies Vaccine

The Morning Star Trading Company was located on the twelfth floor of Yonghe Tower. Though the space wasn’t large and the staff numbered only a little over thirty, the company’s annual net profits were impressive.

As a result, employee benefits were excellent. In addition to salaries, there were generous bonuses every month, free lunch at noon, and full transportation and housing subsidies. It was considered a benchmark for workplace benefits within the industry, far beyond what Zhong Xiaoxuan’s company could offer.

Song Changfeng arrived at the front desk of Morning Star Trading Company and stated his purpose. The receptionist made a call inside, and shortly after, a young man came out. Both Song Changfeng and Aofeng recognized him at once. This was the same man who had appeared in Zhong Xiaoxuan’s social media posts—Wang Hao.

“Excuse me, who are you? Do you need something from me?” Wang Hao looked puzzled as he glanced at the man and dog in front of him.

Song Changfeng pulled out his credentials and held them up. “Mr. Wang, hello. There’s something we need your cooperation on. Is now a good time?”

Wang Hao gave him a look, turned to say a few words to the receptionist, then walked back toward them. He led them into the company and into a small, empty office.

“Officer, whatever you need from me, just ask,” Wang Hao said calmly, his eyes clear, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

Aofeng was sure Wang Hao had nothing to do with the case. Of course, this judgment had nothing to do with his expression or demeanor. The real reason was Lao Jin’s discovery the night before. Lao Jin had said he’d fought with the man, bitten his wrist, and torn part of his white shirt. But Wang Hao’s sleeves were rolled up, revealing smooth, unblemished arms—no marks at all.

“Mind if I record this?” There was no body camera or way to take a formal statement right now, so recording was the only option.

Wang Hao shook his head, indicating he didn’t mind.

“Where were you between two and four yesterday afternoon?” Song Changfeng asked.

Without hesitation, Wang Hao replied, “I was at work. Officer, why are you asking me this?”

Song Changfeng didn’t answer and continued, “Can anyone confirm you were at the office during that time?”

“Of course,” Wang Hao said. “All my colleagues can. We landed a big order yesterday afternoon, and the manager called a meeting to go over the proposal. We were in the conference room from 1:30 until 5.” As he spoke, his expression was full of the weary resignation of an overworked employee.

He didn’t seem to be lying, and it wasn’t the kind of lie that could hold up under scrutiny anyway. Judging by his reaction, Wang Hao probably didn’t even know about Zhong Xiaoxuan’s death yet.

So, Song Changfeng got straight to the point. “Between two and three yesterday afternoon, Zhong Xiaoxuan was killed at a small garbage dump.”

Wang Hao froze, unable to react for a long moment. Eventually, he rasped, “You’re joking, right? That can’t be true.”

“No one jokes about something like this, and the police certainly don’t. Her body is still at the station. We’re preparing to contact her family to arrange the funeral.”

Wang Hao shook his head sadly. “Her parents won’t come. Can someone else handle it on their behalf?”

It seemed Wang Hao knew quite a bit about Zhong Xiaoxuan’s family, and it was clear he cared deeply for her.

“Normally, that’s not allowed,” Song Changfeng said, shaking his head. To avoid future disputes, the police couldn’t approve that request.

“How did Xiaoxuan die? Who did it? Have you caught the killer?” Wang Hao’s eyes turned red. Then, as if something clicked, he looked at Song Changfeng in disbelief. “You think I did it? I loved her. How could I ever hurt her?”

“Mr. Wang, please calm down. This is just a routine inquiry to help us get to the truth faster. The reason we came to you is because we found a note on one of Zhong Xiaoxuan’s sticky notes,” Song Changfeng said, repeating the message. “According to her friend Ms. Chen, you had been in contact with her recently.”

Wang Hao let out a weary sigh. “Yes, I had been trying to reach her these past few days. I don’t understand why she insisted on breaking up with me. I loved her, and I thought she loved me too. Why couldn’t we work things out? I even proposed to her, but then she suddenly wanted to end things…”

Song Changfeng and Aofeng stayed silent. As two lifelong bachelors, they had no place in this kind of emotional conversation. But based on what Chen Ru had said, Zhong Xiaoxuan feared marriage because of her upbringing. So Wang Hao’s well-meaning proposal, which he thought would make her feel secure, might have been the very thing that ended their relationship. In the end, it just showed they didn’t truly understand each other.

After rambling on for a bit, Wang Hao suddenly unlocked his phone and placed it in front of Song Changfeng. “I don’t usually delete chat records. Comrade, take a look. We completely stopped talking seven days ago.”

Song Changfeng took the phone. The screen was filled with long green message bubbles, occasionally interrupted by brief replies from Zhong Xiaoxuan. This girl was clearly determined to break up. Her cold responses were probably meant to keep him from clinging to hope. Scrolling further down, Song Changfeng saw why their communication had stopped seven days ago. Zhong Xiaoxuan had ended it with a glaring red exclamation mark¹. Wang Hao then pulled up the call history. The last call was also seven days ago. It looked like his number had been blocked too.

“Alright, Mr. Wang. That’ll be all for today. If anything comes up, we’ll be in touch.” Song Changfeng stood up. Since there were no leads here, he needed to move on to the next location.

Wang Hao was still wondering who he meant by “we” when he suddenly noticed the calm dog, who hadn’t made a sound since entering, now standing up with Song Changfeng.

“Of course. I’ll cooperate anytime. Officer, if Xiaoxuan’s family really doesn’t come, could I handle her funeral arrangements?” Wang Hao’s expression turned gloomy again. Earlier, the anger from being suspected had overshadowed his grief, but now that it was mentioned, the sorrow returned.

Song Changfeng gave a slight nod, though he knew full well they couldn’t let that happen.

Song Changfeng and Aofeng walked out of Morning Star Trading Company. He let out a sigh. Another lead gone cold. It seemed Zhong Xiaoxuan hadn’t told Chen Ru about being harassed. Maybe she didn’t want her to worry.

Aofeng looked frustrated too. They had found a key piece of evidence, but the suspect still hadn’t shown up. If Lao Jin’s only description of the man was “tall,” Aofeng really felt like wandering around to see if he could bump into the killer.

Where would the killer go?

As he walked, Aofeng pondered the question. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit him. He thought of a place the killer would definitely go. He looked around, then barked once at Song Changfeng and took off running in a specific direction.

Song Changfeng didn’t understand, but with the leash suddenly tugging forward, he had no choice but to follow.

They ran for about seven or eight minutes. Neither man nor dog was out of breath, but running under the blazing summer sun was far from pleasant.

“Anyang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention.” Song Changfeng read the words on the building in front of him, puzzled as to why Aofeng had brought him here.

As he wondered, two people came out of the building—a father and son. The boy was holding his arm, lips trembling, on the verge of tears. The father looked helpless and said, “I told you not to touch stray cats and dogs. Now look what happened. You’ve got to get three more shots!”

The boy burst into tears. Through his sobs, he protested, “But Xiaobai was different! It only bit me because you suddenly showed up…” He looked down at his index finger, which had a small cut.

Watching the father and son walk away, Song Changfeng smiled. He guessed the kid had been feeding a stray dog when his father suddenly appeared and startled the animal, causing it to nip the boy’s finger. With a wound like that, a rabies vaccine was a must. Otherwise, there was a real risk of infection.

Rabies?

The word echoed in Song Changfeng’s mind. He looked up at the disease control center, then down at Aofeng. Aofeng was staring back at him, eyes anxious, a low whine rumbling from his throat as if urging him to remember something.

Song Changfeng crouched down and cupped Aofeng’s head. “Aofeng, are you trying to remind me that the piece of torn fabric found at the crime scene was ripped off by a dog?”

Aofeng nodded.

Song Changfeng didn’t doubt it for a second. With Aofeng’s sharp nose, he must have picked up the scent of another dog on that cloth. Back when they first found it, they had focused on the bloodstains and the fabric’s material. Just as they were starting to make connections, they got a lead on the victim’s identity and temporarily set the cloth aside.

“Come on, let’s go take a look!”

With renewed energy, Song Changfeng led Aofeng into the disease control center.

About ten minutes later, Song Changfeng walked out holding several sheets of paper. One listed the names of people who had received rabies vaccines from yesterday afternoon to now. The others were lists of community hospitals and private clinics in Anyang authorized to administer the rabies vaccine. If they could track down everyone who got the vaccine in the past two days and rule them out one by one, there was a good chance they’d find the killer!

Just then, Song Changfeng’s phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Lei Liming.

“Hello, Captain Lei?”

“Changfeng, have you finished your questioning over there? Hurry back for a meeting. We got some leads from Li Yun, and we need to analyze them together.”

“Got it, Captain Lei. I’m heading back now. I’ve got a few leads of my own too.”

After hanging up, Song Changfeng hailed a cab and headed to the bureau with Aofeng in tow.

Translator’s Notes