Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

If he had known this earlier, the result probably would not have changed. Zhang Yuheng knew this truth, and could say nothing except crying in regret for his dead sister and little nephew.

Xie Qingfei didn't give him time to feel sad. He just looked at his tearful face and said, "You and your sister seem to have a good relationship."
"Of course," Zhang Yuheng frowned, as if he didn't understand why she used the ambiguous word "seems", "She is my biological sister, and an elder sister is like a mother. She has been very kind to me since I was a child."
"I believe this," Xie Qingfei said, "What do you think of her?"
Zhang Yuheng was stunned, then asked angrily: "What do you mean?"
Xie Qingfei just looked at him calmly: "Do you think I have any other intentions?"
Without waiting for his response, she leaned forward slightly and said in a cold voice, "The concept of 'good' is too general. You didn't answer all the policemen who asked you questions. As soon as I walked in and called you 'Doctor Zhang', you were willing to talk to me because you thought I was better to you. So this attitude that is not expressed in material or action cannot prove your true feelings for your sister. Maybe you are just used to enjoying the benefits she provides you, so you rely on her and like her, and mistake this satisfaction of being benefited as a sign of a good relationship between the two of you - she may not think so."

"You bullshit!"

Zhang Yuheng's chest heaved several times, and he was even more excited than when he just defended himself from killing anyone.

However, he quickly calmed down, leaning back against the chair with his arms folded, looking like he didn't want to care about it any more: "Captain Xie, you also have a sister, you should know how family members with brothers and sisters get along with each other. Yes, I think it's natural for my sister to be nice to me. She is my relative, who would settle accounts with the closest relatives so clearly? But it doesn't mean that I am ungrateful, it's just that these are not worth telling to outsiders, those who understand will naturally understand, and I don't need to explain to you in detail."

Xie Qingfei did not correct the true relationship between himself and Xie Yinan, and several policemen on the side looked at each other, and vaguely understood the reason why Zhang Yuheng suddenly broke down.

Xie Qingfei observed his resistance to communication and asked abruptly, "Do your parents like you or your sister more?"
As soon as the question came out, Zhang Yuheng went completely berserk. He changed his calm attitude and stood up and said angrily, "What does this have to do with the case?!"
Xie Qingfei leaned back and looked into his eyes: "It seems that I like you more."
"You..." Zhang Yuheng's extreme dissatisfaction was written all over his face. "If you are saying this just to accuse my parents of favoring boys over girls, then I have nothing to say. The older generation may have backward ideas, but this is not something I can decide, not to mention that my sister didn't say anything."

After saying that, she was still not satisfied. She looked at the policemen present one by one. She felt that their eyes were mixed with contempt for her, so she urgently explained loudly: "You don't understand at all. You just keep saying these four words. Do you think it's your turn to comment on other people's family affairs?! Just because I have a sister, does my family favor boys over girls?"

"I think you misunderstood me." Xie Qingfei walked around the table to Zhang Yuheng's side, pressed his shoulder and asked him to sit back in the chair. His cold attitude suddenly returned to normal, and he said in a friendly tone, "According to the procedure, we must find out Zhang Yan's living conditions before we can judge whether she has sufficient motives for suicide, and you, as her brother, should know these best. I know that you two siblings have a good relationship, and you must love your sister very much in your heart. No matter what others do, you should have a clear conscience in treating her. So, Doctor Zhang, I need to tell you that moral flaws are not the focus of our pursuit. Even if it is to clear your own suspicion, you should tell the truth."

As soon as the matter related to him was mentioned, Zhang Yuheng calmed down a lot and didn't even care about her choice of words.

After a while, he spoke: "My parents do care about me more. Since I was a child, I have heard them say that my sister will get married sooner or later, and then she will be an outsider, so there is no need to invest too much in her... I personally don't agree with this statement, but I can't change the adults' ideas. My sister has not been abused, so what's there to worry about? Besides, the Zhang family will rely on me to continue the family line in the future. Isn't it normal for me to be treated better? If my sister is really dissatisfied with the attitude of my parents, she must hate me, but she doesn't. Since it doesn't affect me anyway, why should I go to the trouble of killing her? What am I trying to do?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yuheng noticed that everyone was looking at him, and his voice gradually became quieter.
Xi Ming listened to the whole process and said "Oh my god" in a neither loud nor low voice. Zhang Yuheng's face turned red instantly, and he didn't know why he suddenly felt his whole face burning.

A colleague nearby came out to ease the atmosphere, ended the topic and asked another question: "How do Zhang Yan and Wang Shuang's family get along well? Are there any conflicts between husband and wife, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, etc.?"

Zhang Yuheng smoothed his hair tiredly before saying, "My brother-in-law is an orphan. After marriage, it was just him and my sister living together. There were no conflicts like you mentioned."
Xie Qingfei: "Does he know that your sister suffers from depression?"
Zhang Yuheng: "I don't know. My sister won't let me tell him."
Xie Qingfei: "How is his relationship with your sister?"
Zhang Yuheng: "Of course it's very good. He looks at my sister like the apple of his eye. Especially after my sister got pregnant, he put almost all his focus on her and did everything himself. My sister is in poor health and has been sick frequently in the past two years. It was my brother-in-law who took her to seek medical treatment everywhere."

Xie Qingfei frowned: "Does your sister... have any other physical problems besides depression?"
"When she was pregnant for the first time, she accidentally fell from the upstairs and had a miscarriage. It was also because of this that it was difficult for her to have children again. My brother-in-law probably blamed himself, so he has been more cautious with my sister since then. In fact, I have read the medical reports and there is nothing else wrong, but they are very nervous. My parents and I think my brother-in-law is making a fuss, but he is concerned about my sister after all. What else can I say? If the two of them have a bad relationship, the man would probably have discussed divorce long ago after knowing that she would have difficulty getting pregnant again."

Zhang Yuheng spoke highly of her brother-in-law Wang Shuang. He continued, "Besides, he is a businessman with a good financial situation. He has no parents of his own and is very filial to my parents. He always brings many gifts when he visits during festivals. My parents treat him as their own son."

Xie Qingfei asked meaningfully, "Is this watch also given to you by him?"
Zhang Yuheng was stunned and covered his wrist: "No, I bought it myself."
His cuffs covered most of the dial, so at first no one noticed the watch he was wearing. When he was mentioned, Xi Ming took a curious look and said, "Your family is well off, but this thing is not cheap. With our salary, we would have to save money for three to five years to buy one, right?"
"Not bad." Zhang Yuheng twitched his lips in agreement. It seemed that Xi Ming's words resonated with him. He couldn't help but complain, "It's just a piece of clothing to show off your status. It's not necessary. But it's hard to justify that others have it and you don't."
Xie Qingfei asked again: "Newly bought?"
Zhang Yuheng frowned: "How do you know?"
"You didn't have the habit of wearing a watch before—" Xie Qingfei still remembered that when he checked the time during the day, his first reaction was to take out his mobile phone instead of looking at his watch. "But it looks pretty good and suits you very well."

Zhang Yuheng's expression eased a lot after hearing this, so he also looked at the time on his watch and asked, "I have said everything I need to say. Can I go now? Or do I have to give you 24 hours to check my evidence?"
Xie Qingfei listened to his ridicule and said, "Just sign your transcript and you can leave."

After walking out of the corridor, Xi Ming couldn't help but say, "Wearing a Patek Philippe and driving a Mercedes, what's the point of talking about not having material possessions? Is this considered showing off wealth in reverse?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Shaohui laughed and said, "I'm afraid their understanding of money is different from ours. Or maybe it was given to them by their family."
Zhao Chongyun thought for a moment and said, "Based on his salary, the latter is more likely."
"That's right," Xi Ming agreed, and said, "He said that he and my brother are like brothers, then what am I? I don't know what this guy is, but he made my brother a suspect and accomplice with just one sentence. It's so disgusting! Master, don't you agree?"
Xie Qingfei: "..."
Xi Ming reacted: "Oh, I forgot."

The emotional relationship between Captain Xie and Doctor Wei was no secret in the bureau, but only this "relative" sandwiched between the two parties dared to speak of it in front of the parties involved, although that was only because he never had time to think before speaking.
Lu Shaohui coughed twice, hooked his arm around Xi Ming's neck and said, "Let's help watch the surveillance video first, and prove your brother's innocence as soon as possible."
Then take the person away.

Zhao Chongyun had been concentrating on preparing for the exam in the first half of the year and had paid no attention to what was happening outside. He had no idea what was going on. Xi Ming walked backwards and made faces at him, which confused him.
Xie Qingfei interrupted their eye contact and continued to talk about the case: "Zhang Yan's husband didn't come?"
Zhao Chongyun immediately switched back to work mode: "They were here. Zhang Yan's parents were also here before. Our people didn't say that Zhang Yuheng might be the suspect in Zhang Yan's murder. They just said they wanted to find him to learn more about the situation. The family didn't suspect anything. Later, it was too late and the old man said he was sleepy, so Wang Shuang sent them back first."

Xie Qingfei raised his eyebrows: "Are you sleepy?"

"That's what I heard them say." Zhao Chongyun showed disdain. "At first I thought it was because the old man was old, but after listening to what Zhang Yuheng said, I'm afraid the old couple really didn't care much about their daughter's death. Captain Xie, although the phenomenon of favoring sons over daughters is very common, how do you know that this is definitely the case in his family?"
"Zhang Yuheng's reaction proves everything. 'Even if I'm nothing anymore' - we didn't mention any disputes between him and the deceased before, but he subconsciously knew that he had done something inhumane, so he said such words carelessly," Xie Qingfei said, "What's more, several of Zhang Yan's friends were her classmates in high school. They said that she was motivated, popular, good at studying, and willing to help others. Why didn't she go to college if she was good at studying? Is it because she didn't want to?"
She showed Zhao Chongyun the transcript of the conversation between her colleagues and Zhang Yan's parents in the afternoon.

Question: "Why didn't Zhang Yan go to college?"
Zhang's mother: "At that time, our family was in a difficult situation. Yuheng also had to go to school, so we didn't have the money to send her to college."
Q: "She had good grades, it's a pity she didn't go to college."
Zhang's father: "Why would a girl need such a high degree? She should go home early to help."
Q: "Zhang Yuheng's grades are pretty good, but studying medicine is too expensive and laborious."
Zhang's mother: "Our Yuheng has been smart since he was young, and now he has a promising future. It's so prestigious to be a doctor. Isn't this the day we parents have been working for? It's worth it no matter how much it costs."
Question: "But if Zhang Yan had continued to study, he might have been more successful than Zhang Yuheng."
Father Zhang: "Oh, I told you that our family was poor at that time."

As a post-00s student, Zhao Chongyun had no idea about the reason of dropping out of school because of "poverty". But you should know that the national student loan policy was launched in 1999. Zhang Yan took the college entrance examination in 03. The data showed that her college entrance examination score exceeded the first-tier line. Although the Internet was not well developed at that time, the relevant information of the student loan was included in the admission notice and sent to the students. Even if her family situation was not good, as long as she made a phone call, the counselor would do her best to help her apply for various subsidies to ensure that she completed her studies. The only thing that could be considered difficult was to issue a certificate, which Zhang Yan, who was still a child at the time, might not understand, but if a parent came forward, it would not be a problem.

But I don't know how the family discussed the result back then. In the end, they gave up her opportunity to go to college on the grounds of family difficulties. In fact, her family was not really that poor.

"I'll go, I'll go!" Zhao Chongyun imitated Xi Ming's tone and said angrily, "By the time it was Zhang Yuheng's turn, his family had become rich again? Not only could he afford to go to medical school, but he also had luxury cars and famous watches. He spent so much money and only bought a watch... How come this thing is a clock that works in the opposite direction? Can we really only blame Zhang Yan for being born at the wrong time and not catching up with the good times at home?"
Xie Qingfei said, "His watch was not bought by his family."
Zhao Chongyun was stunned: "Who bought it?"
"Didn't he say that he bought it himself?" Xie Qingfei held up his chin and pondered, "I also saw him during the day. At that time, he didn't know my identity. He behaved naturally when he was working, and he didn't hide anything. It was obvious that he was willing to let others notice his 'personal possessions'. His mentality was easy to understand. But when I mentioned this topic again just now, his first reaction was to cover his hand."

Zhao Chongyun also reacted quickly: "His parents and sister spoil him very much, so he can enjoy the material conditions provided by his family without any embarrassment. He just shows off. But he doesn't want us to pay attention to his watch. Whether it was bought by his parents or by himself, he doesn't feel guilty. The only possibility is that the money for the watch came from an illegal source."

(End of this chapter)