Chapter 134: The Crime Unfolds

On one side, Zhu Qiang had finally been arrested and was being transported to Zhouying County for interrogation. Meanwhile, at the Zhouying County Public Security Bureau, Zhao Guilan sat slumped in the interrogation chair, confessing to her crimes.

…

She had been brought in not long after Aofeng and the others left for the neighboring county. At first, Zhao Guilan pretended to be clueless, feigning ignorance to every question the police asked. It wasn’t until they presented the recovered chat logs between her and Liu Cuiping that her expression changed.

The records clearly showed how Zhao Guilan had borrowed money from Liu Cuiping to help pay off her natal family¹‘s debts, and how she had sweet-talked Liu Cuiping into deleting their chat history. The police speculated that Zhao Guilan’s sudden action was triggered by a conversation in mid-July, when Liu Cuiping brought up the loan.

In the messages, Liu Cuiping mentioned that Wan Xiaogang’s old freight truck was just about due for replacement. He had already picked out a new one, and it wouldn’t be long before he asked her for the down payment. Liu Cuiping didn’t have much cash on hand at the time, so she asked Zhao Guilan if she could repay the loan. Zhao Guilan panicked as soon as she heard this and made up an excuse, saying it wasn’t a good time. Liu Cuiping didn’t press further.

Just when Zhao Guilan thought the matter had been dropped, Liu Cuiping brought it up again in early August. This time, she even said that there should be no lasting grudges between a married couple, and that Zhao Guilan ought to tell her husband about it so she wouldn’t have to shoulder it alone. Zhao Guilan had nodded and agreed on the surface, but inside, she was furious. Even now, just thinking about it made her angry.

“She wasn’t being kind. She was showing off! Everyone in the village knows Lao Wan² is a henpecked husband who listens to her in everything. My family’s the complete opposite. Every time I come back from visiting my parents, it ends in a fight! So what if I took a bit of money to help my family? Does she have to shout about it every day? She even said if I secretly took money again, my husband might divorce me!” Zhao Guilan’s face flushed red with anger.

“I told her everything, and she still told me to come clean with my husband. She just couldn’t stand to see me doing well! It was only sixty thousand yuan. Her family bought a house and dropped three or four hundred thousand without blinking. But over this little bit of money, she kept pressing me again and again. What kind of friend does that?”

Zhao Guilan spoke with such righteousness that even the officers conducting the interrogation began to question whether it was their sense of morality that was off or hers.

“Paying back a debt is the most basic principle. And you did all this just because of that?” one officer asked.

Zhao Guilan glared. “I didn’t do anything to her. I just owed her money, that’s all.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“I figured she was already dead. Lao Wan didn’t know about the money either, so if I didn’t say anything, I wouldn’t have to pay it back.”

The officer let out a cold laugh. “This is the age of technology. Everything leaves a trace. You think just because you don’t say anything, no one will find out? Zhao Guilan, do you remember the last time we took your statement?”

Zhao Guilan thought for a moment, then replied, “Yeah, I remember. Why?”

“Last time, Liu Cuiping had just gone missing. Everyone else was still guessing where she might have gone, but you were already deliberately hiding the truth. Just now, you said you figured she was dead, so you didn’t have to pay her back. But back then, how did you already know she was dead? Unless you were the one who did it.” As he finished, the officer fixed his gaze on Zhao Guilan, watching for even the slightest change in her expression.

Zhao Guilan started to panic. “It wasn’t me! I… I just guessed. I mean, if she was fine, why wouldn’t she come down from the mountain? She must’ve died!” She quickly came up with an excuse, thinking they had no proof anyway.

“There are plenty of reasons someone might not come down from the mountain. But you were the only one who jumped straight to the conclusion that she was dead. Have you heard the village stories about the Wildman³?” the officer suddenly changed the subject.

“Wildman? What Wildman? I’ve never heard of that,” Zhao Guilan instinctively feigned ignorance.

The officer chuckled at her poor acting. “We asked around in the village. That story came from Old Man Zhang. But according to him, the reason he linked the two events together was because you kept bringing up something that happened over twenty years ago.”

“I didn’t! He was drunk and talking nonsense. What’s that got to do with me?” Zhao Guilan denied it flatly.

“Even if you weren’t the one who brought it up, during those few days when the rumors were at their peak, everyone in and outside the village was talking about the Wildman. How could you not know? If we can recover your chat history with Liu Cuiping, we can also check your short video browsing history. Are you sure you didn’t know about the Wildman? Why did you deliberately hide it?”

Zhao Guilan unconsciously tightened her grip on her phone. “So what if I knew? Didn’t they already clear up the rumors? Can’t I just not talk about it?”

“In a situation like this, it’s your duty to make sure every word you say is true. But judging from your two statements, almost nothing you’ve said is truthful. Either you glossed over things or made them up entirely. We have every reason to believe you’re heavily involved in this case,” the officer said sternly.

Zhao Guilan’s expression darkened. “Police work is based on evidence. Did you see me kill anyone? I didn’t even go up the mountain. What does her death have to do with me? You’re just trying to frame me!”

“You really didn’t go up the mountain?”

“Of course not! I already said it in the group chat. My nephew came over that day. I didn’t have time to go anywhere,” Zhao Guilan replied.

“Your nephew’s name is Zhu Qiang, right?”

“Yeah, he came to my house that day. We never left. There’s a camera at the front door, it’ll show we didn’t go out,” Zhao Guilan emphasized.

“Do you have a camera at the back door too?” the officer countered. During their investigation, they had indeed found surveillance footage, but Zhao Guilan and Zhu Qiang never appeared in it. Moreover, there was a back door near the vegetable garden at Zhao Guilan’s house. They could have easily left through there.

Zhao Guilan fell silent. After a moment, she muttered, “Anyway, I didn’t do it.”

“You probably don’t know this yet, but we’ve already sent someone to the neighboring county. By now, Zhu Qiang is likely in custody,” the officer said casually, but it hit Zhao Guilan like a bolt of lightning.

“Why are you going after him? You can’t arrest someone without evidence!” Zhao Guilan shot to her feet. Clearly, this mattered more to her than being brought in for questioning herself.

“We’ll have the evidence soon enough. Once we bring Zhu Qiang back and test his DNA, everything will be clear. You probably don’t know this either, but we found traces of the killer’s blood on Liu Cuiping’s hand.”

“That’s impossible, I wiped it all clean!” Zhao Guilan blurted out in a panic. Only after speaking did she realize what she’d just admitted. “I mean… I mean, that’s impossible. The killer couldn’t have been that careless.”

The officer sighed and pointed to the body camera beside him. “Everything you just said was recorded. Still want to deny it? We’re only a few hours away from uncovering the full truth. Once the evidence is conclusive, nothing you say will matter. You know those eight words, don’t you? ‘Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist.’ The court will consider your attitude when sentencing.”

Zhao Guilan slumped into her seat. Even though she was sure she had wiped Liu Cuiping clean from head to toe, the officer’s words stirred up waves of doubt in her heart.

Seeing her hesitation, the officer handed her a photo. In it was a pale, stiff hand. Under the fingernail of the ring finger, a dark red stain stood out starkly.

Zhao Guilan began to tremble. Whether it was fear at seeing the victim’s body or regret over her own carelessness, it was hard to tell.

After staring at the photo for several minutes, Zhao Guilan confessed.

…

“I hated her,” Zhao Guilan said. “We were from the same village, but she always had it better than me! Her family never beat or scolded her, never made her do chores. Me? I had to get up before dawn every day to work. If I didn’t do it well, I’d get beaten. In the dead of winter, they’d strip off my coat and beat me with a stick. The chilblains on my body would crack open, and I’d roll on the ground in pain! Every time I got hit, she’d stand at her door and watch me!”

“Then we got married, and we both ended up in the same village again. Her family let her keep all the bride price. I didn’t get a single cent. I got into a fight with my mother-in-law the moment I moved in, and that old hag went around badmouthing me. Everyone in the village compared me to her, saying I wasn’t as good!”

“Her husband was successful. He drove trucks and made tons of money every year. She could buy whatever she wanted. My husband was lazy and useless. I had to do everything inside and outside the house. When we stood next to each other, people said I looked like her aunt, even though I’m two years younger than her! Why is life so unfair? Why was her fate so much better?” Zhao Guilan shouted bitterly.

“So, you and Zhu Qiang conspired to kill Liu Cuiping?” the officer asked.

“She pushed me too far! She knew I couldn’t pay her back, but she kept asking, just to see me get divorced, didn’t she? Well, I wasn’t going to let her get her way,” Zhao Guilan said with a twisted smile.

“Please describe the crime in detail.”

“…On the morning of the sixth, I posted several videos of foraging for wild vegetables on my Moments feed⁴, and set them so only she could see them. Liu Cuiping loves eating wild vegetables, so after seeing the videos, she called people in the group chat to go foraging together. I went up the mountain ahead of time and waited for them there. When Liu Cuiping went off to relieve herself, I told her I had something to say to her in private.”

“Liu Cuiping didn’t suspect a thing. She just told the others she wanted to walk separately. Once they split up, I walked with Liu Cuiping. Honestly, I gave her a chance. I asked if i could repay the money after the New Year. If she had said yes, I wouldn’t have killed her. But she said no, and even mentioned that her Lao Wan would be back in a few days, and that the money had to be ready by then.”

“I asked her if she’d told Lao Wan about me lending her money. She said she hadn’t. Lao Wan knows my family, and if he found out, my family would know soon too. I asked if she’d told anyone else, and she said no. Then I called Zhu Qiang out.”

“When she saw Zhu Qiang, she got really scared. She started screaming and running, so we chased after her. We didn’t expect her to jump. After she jumped, Zhu Qiang and I went after her. We flanked her, Zhu Qiang in front and me behind. I hit her with a stick, and then Zhu Qiang carried her off…”

As Zhao Guilan recounted all this, her expression didn’t change in the slightest. It was as if she and Zhu Qiang hadn’t killed a person, but hunted down some kind of animal.

Translator’s Notes