Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

Zhuque Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Tianning District. In the past few years, in conjunction with municipal renovation, garden landscapes were built around it and it was converted into an open park. Private fishing has been prohibited since then, but there are always people who do not follow the rules and sneak in in the middle of the night to cast a few hooks, and end up catching a dead body.

There were several police cars parked nearby, their red and blue flashing lights brighter than the dim street lights by the lake. Fortunately, there were not many people walking on that winter night, so they avoided being watched by a large crowd.

Xie Qingfei and Wei Cheng got off the car on the roadside and walked over. The police officer on the line saw them, greeted them, and explained the situation while leading the way.
"The people who reported the case were a few fishing enthusiasts. The location of the floating corpse was quite remote. They happened to be fishing secretly, avoiding the guards and surveillance cameras and found this place. They just happened to run into it."
"What about people?"
“They’re all squatting there.”
Xie Qingfei tilted his head and saw three men, all in their forties, squatting in a row with fishing tools beside them. It was unclear whether they were shivering from the cold or fear, and their bodies were shaking at almost the same tempo.

When Lu Shaohui saw them, he waved. Behind him was the body that had just been salvaged from the shore.

Xie Qingfei glanced at it and asked: "Where are the clothes?"
Lv Shaohui: "When they were fished out, they were naked. Here, one for each woven bag and one for each person. There were no more of them."
Because it was winter, the body did not seem to be very decomposed. It was wrapped in a woven bag and had no wounds caused by necrophilous insects or other carnivorous animals in the water. The face and abdomen were swollen, the skin turned green and some of it began to fall off, but it was still clear that the deceased was a very old man.
Since there is no evidence of identity, we can only confirm the identity of the deceased by going back for a DNA test.

Xie Qingfei had already changed into protective clothing and squatted beside the body to check the knife marks that Lu Shaohui mentioned on the phone. The number carved on the forehead was relatively light, but the two deep knife marks on the lips of the deceased, which had turned the skin and flesh apart, crossed to form an "X". They were soaked in water and swollen like pork that had just been blanched in cold water, further destroying the face of the deceased.

"The murderer wrote numbers on the bodies of the deceased and threw the bodies into the water without taking any measures to prevent them from floating up. It seems that the murderer doesn't mind the bodies being discovered." Xie Qingfei said.

The forensic doctor at the scene explained: "The knife wound on the deceased's lip was not fatal, and initially there were no other wounds on his body, which is consistent with drowning. In addition, we also found yellow plastic residue in his fingernails, which is consistent with the material of the woven bag. It can be judged that he was thrown into the water while conscious and struggled."
Lu Shaohui pouted: "This is the living devil, he is so cruel to deal with an old man."
The forensic doctor said: "Suzaku Lake is a flowing water area. The flow of water directly affects the distance the body moved. It is difficult to determine the point where the body entered the water. We can only say that it is fortunate that the temperature has been in the single digits recently, otherwise the highly decomposed body would be even more difficult to investigate."

Xie Qingfei didn't say much after the inspection, and asked curiously: "Why are you here alone? Xiao Zhao didn't come with you?"
"Here I am. There I am."
Lu Shaohui pointed in a direction, and Xie Qingfei looked over there and found that Zhao Chongyun was hugging a tree and vomiting violently. The flashing red light illuminated his pale face from time to time, as if the Black and White Impermanence were shining light on him from left to right.
Such a familiar scene.

"It's hard to blame him, actually. It goes without saying how disgusting a water-soaked corpse is. Although this old man is in good condition, he is only in good condition compared to the giant form." Lu Shaohui rubbed his arms and said, "It's too cold at night. I don't know if it will affect our determination of the time of death. Fortunately, we now know that the time of death and being thrown into the water are the same."

Zhao Chongyun saw Xie Qingfei arriving and quickly suppressed his nausea and ran over.
"Master, hi... I, hi..."
"Stop crying, Master." Lu Shaohui was so happy that he put his arm around his shoulders. "Go get someone to drive the car over. It's too cold to lie here. Let's take Master back to sleep."
Zhao Chongyun subconsciously glanced at the old man lying on the ground because of his call, and his cheeks suddenly puffed up. Lu Shaohui quickly pushed him away, avoiding the same fate as the poor tree.

After the two left, Xie Qingfei found that Wei Cheng was still talking to the forensic doctor beside the stretcher.

"what happened?"
Wei Cheng said: "I feel like this old man looks familiar, as if I've seen him somewhere before."
Xie Qingfei raised his eyebrows: "Can you see this?"
She knew that Wei Cheng would not say such a thing without any evidence, so she said, "Okay, think about it carefully. If the corresponding identity information cannot be found in the database, we can still check from the direction you provided."

It was already late at night when I returned to the bureau.

Dai Lin connected the computer to the projector: "I have sorted out the information about Kang Wenxia."
"Kang Wenxia doesn't have a job. Her husband transfers living expenses to her account every month. She also has extra income. I checked several transaction information and her online accounts. I determined that her source of income is to take on "swearing services" on the Internet. She is also a well-known marketing blogger who gains traffic and then monetizes it by publishing and commenting on online information."

Xie Qingfei: "So this person is actually a troll?"

"Yes, this is part of her speech that I collected." Dai Lin clicked on the content and pushed up her glasses. "She curses at people everywhere. Recently, she had a dispute with Du Manhe over noise, and the Internet has become a channel for her to vent. She even goes to the Weibo of people who have nothing to do with her to say something irresponsible. The words she uses are very... In short, if she is in a bad mood, even the dogs on the street will be scolded."

Xie Qingfei took a quick look. All those long-winded words were centered on human organs and used relatives and friends as the radius to enclose a large area and make indiscriminate attacks. Even a single word was offensive. It was hard to imagine that a normal person would say such things.

Lu Shaohui frowned and asked, "Did she talk like this when she was arguing with Du Manhe?"

Dai Lin then pulled up the content of the group chat of the owners of Jincheng Jiayuan, and everyone fell silent after reading it.

After Du Manhe finished speaking, several residents who were also troubled by the noise from their neighbors jumped out to respond. Kang Wenxia's attack was so powerful that even the property management dared not say a word. She even enjoyed the scene of scolding others so much that they dared not say a word. Later, she began to speak condescendingly on the topic of "this is all my power", which was of course not civilized.

Zhao Chongyun said at this time: "If that's the case, then I think Du Manhe's words about letting her die are not excessive at all. If it were me -"
Xie Qingfei looked at him.
"I can't scold her better than her." Zhao Chongyun added angrily.

Xie Qingfei: "Where is Du Manhe now?"
Lu Shaohui: "After we brought her back this morning, she was in a bad mood and it was hard to question her. Xi Ming couldn't make any progress with her, so we just called Doctor Wei over."

On the other side, Wei Cheng observed Du Manhe's situation outside for a while, asked Xi Ming to go to the convenience store downstairs to buy a box of strawberry cake and a bottle of hot milk, and then pushed the door open with the bag.

Du Manhe looked up and saw that the person had changed. There was no ripple on her face: "I didn't kill him." Wei Cheng didn't mean to mention this. He opened the cake box and handed it to her along with the tableware: "Eat something first."
Du Manhe moved his fingers but did not answer it immediately.
Wei Cheng didn't care. He arranged the milk bottle for her and helped to tighten the cap. The bottle had probably just been put into the incubator. He pressed the bottle against his palm and asked, "Do you think this temperature is okay? If it's too cold, I'll heat it up for you."
"...No need to bother." Du Manhe took it and drank it after a moment of hesitation. His expression finally relaxed a little. "It tastes like taro paste."
“Do you like the taste?”
"Ah."
Wei Cheng asked Xi Ming to buy a taro-flavored cake.

The meals prepared for Du Manhe at noon and in the evening were left aside. A mouthful of hot milk awakened her stomach. She picked up a fork and stabbed a strawberry into her mouth, saying, "I used to like eating cakes very much and I often drank milk tea."
Wei Cheng: "Don't you like it now?"
She smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Of course I like it, but I haven't eaten it in a long time."

She is 25 years old this year. Some of her peers are still students. The graduate students Wei Cheng supervises are about the same age. In his eyes, they are all still children. But the woman in front of him has a deep sense of fatigue, and there is no trace of vitality in her.

The cream on the strawberries melted on her lips, which must have been very sweet. Du Manhe said to him sincerely, "Thank you."
Wei Cheng smiled at her gently: "You're welcome, as long as you like it. Isn't it natural to eat what you like?"
Du Manhe's eyes were dull for a moment, as if she was struck by his words.

She lowered her head and was depressed for a long time before she slowly said, "I really hate the woman upstairs. Her name is Kang... Kang Wenxia, ​​right? It turns out that this kind of person also has a name. I was very surprised by her death, but I have to admit that when your colleague came to the school to find me and explain the situation to me this morning, I was very happy in my heart. She is finally dead."

Wei Cheng said: "I understand. After she dies, no one will bother your family anymore."

"Yes, it seems my ears can finally quiet down." Du Manhe showed a relieved expression and said, "Although I only reported the noise problem in the group last week, I have actually endured it for almost two months. Every day, I wonder if it will be fine after today. What if there is no noise tomorrow? I know that it is inevitable to live in a commercial building with some noise. She may not do it on purpose. It is not her fault."

Xi Ming knocked on the door. Wei Cheng stood up and brought the taro cake over. He cut it and gave it to Du Manhe: "Try it. I wonder if it tastes good."
Du Manhe mechanically scooped a spoonful and put it in her mouth, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"I am an elementary school teacher. My work is extremely tiring. I have unfinished tasks every day, and sometimes I have to work overtime to make PPTs when I get home at night. The school has very high requirements for us young teachers. There are assessments and open classes every now and then, and preparing for these takes a lot of energy. Because I got pregnant unexpectedly right after I passed the civil service exam and took a year off, the school leaders didn't say it openly, but I know they are all very dissatisfied with me. If I want to be promoted in the future, I can only rely on my grades, and I have to work harder than others... I have to take care of children, take care of the elderly, and work. I am so busy that I just want to have a good sleep in the middle of the night. This little wish cannot be met. Where did I go wrong?
"I was driven crazy by the torture. The sound of her footsteps became a curse engraved in my mind. I couldn't control my irritability, anger, and even hatred! I didn't understand why she was walking around in the middle of the night without sleeping, and I didn't know why her tables and chairs were always being moved around. So I couldn't stand it anymore and found the property management in the group to explain the situation. I thought, I had been so polite and humble, she should at least understand me, but she turned around and scolded me. The dirty words she said... I'm afraid my mouth will get dirty when I mention them, so I thought, it would be great if she were dead."

Du Manhe spoke in a state of emotional collapse, tears welling up in her eyes, which later turned into silent sobs. Her thin shoulders shrugged, and her entire spine seemed to be broken.

Wei Cheng handed her the tissue and let her vent for a while. "

When she gradually calmed down, he said, "I understand. You are under a lot of pressure. Sleep is the only way to relax. It is your right to want a quiet environment to rest. You are already very impressive. You passed the civil service exam at a young age, have a stable job, and have a lovely son. This shows that you are an excellent person. You did nothing wrong in the way you handled this matter."

Du Manhe's heart felt like it was gently touched, and she quickly ate a few more bites of cake.

Wei Cheng continued: "Outsiders may not understand, but your family can empathize with you. What do they think?"

Du Manhe paused for a moment, her face visibly darkening. After chewing the food in her mouth, she clenched her teeth with trembling hands.

Wei Cheng said promptly: "If you don't want to answer, you can skip this question."

"They also feel annoyed and can't sleep well just like me." Du Manhe did not ignore it and just sneered, "I said I would go to the people upstairs to negotiate, but they refused because it was embarrassing. I wanted to go to the property management, but they also stopped me, thinking that less trouble is better. My husband is tired from work, the two elderly people can't sleep well, and the children are also noisy. They were forced to no end, so they agreed to let me speak out in the group. As a result, after Kang Wenxia said such ugly words, they turned around and blamed me for making a fuss, saying that I deserved it and that I was embarrassed, as if I was the one who was wrong. My family doesn't understand me, I really don't know what else I can do."

She used a fork to crush the remaining cake on the plate and whispered, "I actually regretted cursing her. It made me feel like I had become the same person as her, but I had to save face. So, I wrote a letter after I got home from get off work yesterday afternoon, hoping that she would understand my difficulties after reading it. I'm used to her daily routine and I know that she goes out to eat at six o'clock every day. I posted the letter on her door before that, so she will definitely see it."

The burned letter paper did come from Du Manhe.

"I'm looking forward to it again. I hope I can have a good sleep at night." Du Manhe murmured, "At night, there was really no quarrel. I thought she had a change of heart."

In fact, it was because Kang Wenxia died at ten o'clock in the evening, and a dead person should not disturb others anymore.

Wei Cheng frowned, looking at her absent-minded expression, and suddenly asked: "In the past two months, have you had anyone else to talk to?"
Du Manhe blinked slowly: "Yes, I mentioned this matter to an online friend, and he also thinks Kang Wenxia deserves to die."

(End of this chapter)