Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

"If you don't come down, I'll show you how I'll deal with you when I get back!"
"That vase is very expensive, ancestor..."
"hehe!"

When Lu Shaohui heard the noise after entering the room, he asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

Since receiving the anonymous courier last time, Xie Qingfei installed surveillance cameras at home. She has been using them to watch the cat these past few days. She showed the video to Lu Shaohui and covered her eyes helplessly: "I'm not laughing, I'm just calling it. How can I still laugh in this situation?"

The picture showed porcelain fragments all over the floor, and in the middle lay a big, energetic cat like a little cheetah. It could obviously hear the sound from the surveillance camera, and it jumped up and down, looking at the camera to accuse its owner of abandoning its daughter by not coming home for several days. It shook its head and tail and knocked the vase on the cabinet to the ground.
Hehe knew that he had made trouble, and he quickly admitted his mistake. He jumped down and curled up into a ball, turned his belly up to the camera to act cute, trying to evoke the last tenderness of his owner. However, he was no longer a kitten that could arouse human love. His huge body fell to the ground, like a scoundrel who was trying to scam people. Not only did he fail to impress his owner, but he also got a beating.

Lu Shaohui was amused when he saw it: "As expected of your cat, it has good energy."
Xie Qingfei sat cross-legged on the bed and complained to him: "I have good energy, so why can't I be discharged from the hospital?"
"You may look fine, but it's a brain injury after all. What if you don't take good care of yourself and have sequelae? Besides, even if you want to leave, Doctor Wei won't agree."

It’s because Dr. Wei disagrees.

Xie Qingfei ruffled his black hair and argued with him one by one: "Now, I go to bed at a fixed time and place every day, and I have to eat three meals a day. The nutritious meals are so bland that I thought my taste buds were blown away. I asked him if he could add some chili, and he said I look like a chili. Okay, let's just say I have a genetic mutation. I asked if I could skip my nap, but the result! He even restricted the time I can play with my phone. I am allowed to go out for exercise in prison, who will protect my human rights? And he doesn't agree, so I have to listen to him if he doesn't agree? The hospital is not owned by his family."

"Who asked you to play the hero and save the damsel in distress? If I were him, I would be so moved that I would worship you as a idol." Lu Shaohui knocked on the spray-painted logo on the guardrail at the foot of the bed. "Besides, this hospital is indeed owned by his family."

Xie Qingfei choked: "...Forget it, is there any new progress in your visit to me?"
Lu Shaohui immediately got to the point: "Yes, Deng Jinru is awake."
Xie Qingfei turned over and got out of bed.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"
"Go find her and ask about the situation."
"Wait a minute, I'll make a call."
While Lu Shaohui stopped the man in the bed railing, he dialed Wei Cheng's number.
Xie Qingfei was speechless for a while: "You have changed."
"Become more handsome." Lu Shaohui said, "Hello, it's me, I have something to ask...Okay, good."
Xie Qingfei asked tentatively: "Approved?"
Lu Shaohui stood up mysteriously, walked to the door and pushed the wheelchair out: "Please take a seat."
Xie Qingfei: "Thank you for your grace."

Deng Jinru was also in the hospital. When the two of them arrived at her ward, the doctor had just finished examining her. When she learned that the police wanted to question her, she first glanced at the disabled but determined police officer in the wheelchair, and then said, "The patient's emotions are not very stable yet. Try not to irritate her."
Lu Shaohui agreed to everything. Just as he finished talking to others, he lowered his head and saw Xie Qingfei had already pushed his wheelchair in first.

The curtains in Deng Jinru's ward were closed. The two policemen on duty nodded and greeted the visitor. Xie Qingfei then saw the hunched figure on the bed and the arm wrapped in white gauze.

Deng Jinru lay flat on her back, staring at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. After the door opened, she just rolled her eyes twice. Lu Shaohui roughly explained the cause and effect of the incident to her, but she still didn't react until Xie Qingfei called her name. Deng Jinru's dead face finally showed some changes. The curtains were opened, and light shone into the room. She turned her head and saw her old friend sitting in a wheelchair, also wearing a hospital gown. Tears instantly overflowed from her eyes.

Xie Qingfei didn't know what to say to start the conversation with her. The face of this person was actually blurred in her mind. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the other person sobbing first: "How did you get hurt? Are you seriously injured?"
"It's not serious." Xie Qingfei was stunned by her sudden concern. He cleared his throat and continued, "We came here to ask you about Kang Zhuo. Do you remember what happened on the day he took you away?"

Deng Jinru sat up from the bed with difficulty, and the police officer next to her helped her adjust the bed position.
She didn't answer, but just looked at Xie Qingfei: "Do you still remember who I am?"
Xie Qingfei and Lu Shaohui looked at each other, and then agreed with her: "Remember."
"You are so cruel. If I don't ask you, you won't recognize me." Deng Jinru laughed at herself. "That's right. You must look down on people like me. You must still be blaming me."
Lu Shaohui said, "Ms. Deng, let's talk about it later. You have seen our Captain Xie's current state. She can't be out for too long."
Deng Jinru subconsciously raised her hand to wipe her tears. She hadn't yet fully adapted to the fact that she had lost one hand. She was startled when she raised her arm halfway, and her tears flowed even harder. She cried uncontrollably, "Why didn't you come and save me earlier? I've been waiting for you every day!"
Xie Qingfei frowned: "Wait for me? Did Kang Zhuo tell you something?"
Deng Jinru cried as if to vent her feelings, but when she found that her tears did not move her at all, she calmed herself down and answered her questions with sobs.

She and Kang Zhuo fell in love in college, lived together after graduation, and had a very good relationship. But suddenly one day when Kang Zhuo came back, his mood changed drastically. After repeated questioning by her, Kang Zhuo finally told the truth. It turned out that he had a twin brother named Lei Heng, who was a policeman. Unfortunately, he had an accident that day and lost one leg forever.

Deng Jinru didn't know much about Kang Zhuo's family. Before this, she only knew that he was living in a reconstituted family and had a stepfather and stepsister with whom he had an average relationship. Kang Zhuo needed an emotional outlet, so he told her a lot about his brother. Only then did Deng Jinru know that the two brothers had always had a good relationship. Because he was neglected by his mother since he was a child, Kang Zhuo often sneaked to Lei Heng's house to find him when he was wronged. He was afraid that his stepfather's family would know and be unhappy, so the two brothers tacitly concealed the matter, and no one knew that they had been in contact all the time.

Now that Lei Heng has suffered such a disaster, Kang Zhuo feels as if the sky has fallen and it is hard to accept. But the incident has already happened, Lei Heng's health is gradually recovering, and he has stood up again from the shadows. Deng Jinru thinks that Kang Zhuo should also accept the reality. Both of them are old enough and have been in love for so long, it is natural for them to meet their parents. Love only sees the happiness of the two people, but marriage involves two families. Deng's father and mother are not satisfied with Kang Zhuo's family situation, and they are unwilling to let their daughter be with such a penniless man.

Deng Jinru broke up with her parents and was determined to follow Kang Zhuo, but without her parents' financial support, she gradually felt the hardship of life. It's not that Kang Zhuo didn't have the ability, but he had to send money to his mother regularly and secretly help his disabled elder brother. At that time, Lei Heng's father was also ill, and all the men in the family fell ill. All the burdens fell on Lei Heng's fiancee. Kang Zhuo couldn't stand idly by no matter what. He paid all his monthly salary, and the little money left for himself was not enough to maintain Deng Jinru's original standard of living.

Deng Jinru thought of her parents' earnest advice. They just said that Kang Zhuo's parents couldn't help him now and that the two of them would have a hard time in the future. But aren't his seriously ill father, disabled elder brother, and sister-in-law who are still studying all burdens to him? It's good for a man to be loyal and righteous, but Deng Jinru couldn't imagine that she would have to share the burden of this life with him.

So she backed off.

Kang Zhuo calmly agreed to her proposal to break up, helped her pack her luggage and sent her back to Deng's house. She also asked him if he would blame herself, and Kang Zhuo admitted that he was not worthy of her and there was nothing to blame.

Later, Deng Jinru met her current boyfriend in accordance with her parents' arrangement. Although she could not say that she loved him, she was already at an age that was "unmarriageable" in the eyes of outsiders. If she did not make a family, she would be drowned by the spit of relatives and friends. When talking about marriage, she could not help but bring up the common topics of betrothal gifts and dowries, and then she had a quarrel with her boyfriend. When she was with Kang Zhuo in the past, although he had nothing to do with being rich and powerful, he would not give her less if he had ten yuan on him. He had always loved her as much as he could from campus to society. Deng Jinru looked at the stingy face of her fiancé in front of her who was aggressively bargaining for the betrothal gift, and suddenly felt extremely disgusted. It is true that being with Kang Zhuo will be hard, but will you be happy if you spend your life with such a man? The two did not give in to each other. They both knew that this marriage was going to fail. The cold war in those days was just to ease the mood. Deng Jinru didn't know how to explain to her parents, but she received a call from her old lover.

"We used to hang out near the old houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties on Xiansheng Road, so I had no doubts when he asked me to meet him there." Deng Jinru said this, and the tenderness on her face when she recalled her first love boyfriend had disappeared, replaced by fear and disbelief, "But he actually wanted to kill me! He wanted to take revenge on me for leaving him!"

Deng Jinru recalled the chase in the alley that day and still felt a lingering fear. She didn't understand why Kang Zhuo became like that. He used to be introverted and used to keep his thoughts to himself, but his advantage was that he never got angry and was very patient with his partner. Deng Jinru thought he would blame her for choosing to leave him when he was in the most difficult time, but she didn't know that he still held a grudge against her.

"In the warehouse, I thought he wanted to reminisce about the past, but the first thing he asked was if I still remembered you."

Xie Qingfei frowned.

"Back then... I really did let you down. I've never forgotten it, so when I happened to see you in the news again, I told him about it." Deng Jinru said, "We were still in love at the time, and he tried to comfort me after listening to me."
Xie Qingfei: "When exactly?"
Deng Jinru frowned and thought for a while, then said, "It was the first year after his brother's accident, which was also the year we broke up."
That's not surprising, Xie Qingfei thought, it was normal for Kang Zhuo to hate her at that time.
She asked, "What is his purpose in suddenly mentioning me?"
"He told me to blame someone, it should be you, because he was only following your orders. He told me a lot about your plans, including that you were responsible for the deaths of several other people. I tried to run away but failed, I was so scared! When I woke up again, I was in that little house, and I cried out to the heavens and the earth for help but no one answered. I don't know how long it had been before he showed up again, and this time he..."
Deng Jinru's horrified expression completed the words she had not finished saying. When Kang Zhuo appeared again, he chopped off her right hand, which was soon put into a courier box and delivered to Xie Qingfei's doorstep.

Several people in the room fell silent because of Deng Jinru's words.

Xie Qingfei suddenly felt a chill. If Lei Heng had not discovered that something was wrong with Kang Zhuo in advance, Kang Zhuo would not have left footprints on the terrace. Then the only way for the police to identify the murderer would probably be the injuries on Zheng Yuxuan's body. An injury that could have been caused by a police officer. This police officer also had excellent anti-detection capabilities and could commit crimes repeatedly without revealing any flaws. Although Xie Qingfei did not know Li Mu, she had worked with Li Guangming. Investigators could easily find out that the two did not get along. Who could prove that she was lying when she said she did not know Li Mu? With this premise of getting along, she could also be the person who could not stand power and wanted to "enforce justice on behalf of heaven", and the last victim happened to have a conflict with her.

Can we really put the blame on her? Of course it's not that simple. But sometimes the attack on reputation is more serious than physical torture. A person who has done nothing wrong is accused of a false charge, stripped naked and subjected to a series of trials. This is the greatest humiliation to dignity. Even if the truth comes out in the end, this scar will always follow her. There will always be people who don't know the truth and think that her character is really problematic. Good people become bad people, justice is not given - doesn't that give people a motive for crime?

This routine sounded familiar. Lu Shaohui thought about it and suddenly said, "Then the reason why you were reported and suspended last time was because..."
Xie Qingfei also thought of this at the same time.
She turned the wheelchair around and said, "Let's go back to the bureau. I have something to confirm with Lei Heng."

"Xie Qingfei!" Deng Jinru called her.
Xie Qingfei turned around: "What's wrong?"
"I..." Deng Jinru stammered and couldn't speak.
She didn't know what happened during her coma, she only remembered that the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the scene of her coming to save her. Xie Qingfei might have forgotten what she looked like, but she could often see Xie Qingfei's dynamics. This excellent female police officer was once her best friend, and Deng Jinru was always proud of her, so she firmly believed that she would come to save her during the days she was trapped.
And Xie Qingfei did not disappoint her.

Xie Qingfei waited for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "Kang Zhuo said that I ordered him to kill you, why didn't you believe it?"
Deng Jinru blurted out: "I knew you first, how could I possibly..."

She lowered her head. It was hard for her to speak at this moment. She felt guilty and embarrassed. "Anyway, I know you won't do this."
Xie Qingfei nodded: "I also know you didn't mean it."
She was talking about what happened back then.
Deng Jinru understood it immediately and looked at her with tears in her eyes.
Xie Qingfei smiled at her calmly: "Have a good rest."

Lu Shaohui pushed the wheelchair to the corridor and saw her reaching out to touch the sunlight outside the window: "It's strange, I don't seem to blame her at all."

"I feel like you've never blamed her." Lu Shaohui was puzzled by her sudden emotion. After learning about the past of Xie Qingfei and Deng Jinru, his first reaction was that this was a trivial matter. When adults look at the friction between children, they can usually see the key points of conflict. Deng Jinru was eager to transfer the "stolen goods" because she was too scared. Later, she admitted that it was also because of fear. These thoughts came up in an instant, and there was no time to think rationally. It's not good to say that she was born with a vicious heart.

"You won't understand even if I tell you. Anyway, I'm not that generous." Xie Qingfei waved her hand. Anyway, she had finally put her mind at ease. "Let's go get our clothes first and then we'll go back to the bureau."

Lu Shaohui advised anxiously: "You better not go. How can I report to Wei Cheng if a sick person runs around everywhere?"
"Kang Zhuo will definitely not speak unless he sees me. Let's not drag this year's matter to next year. Wouldn't it be better to close the case earlier?" Xie Qingfei lowered his voice and said, "And I really want to get out! Look at how I've been suppressed for so long?"
Lu Shaohui looked down at her appearance. Her palm-sized face was wrapped in long black hair, her complexion was pale, and paired with the light-colored hospital gown, she had an artistic feel of a Chinese Ghost Story.
He said honestly: "Female ghost."
"Yes!" Xie Qingfei accepted the new title generously, raised his head and asked, "Then do you want me to come back to life?"
"It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just... it's difficult." Lu Shaohui scratched his head and said, "Well, tell me the truth, who has the final say in your family? I can decide who to listen to."
"Of course it's me—" Xie Qingfei paused, then changed his words, "He and I are not from the same family!"
Lu Shaohui was not persuaded.

Xie Qingfei held his forehead and tried to negotiate: "You take me back secretly, we can finish the battle quickly, and then come back secretly without being discovered by him, right?"
Lu Shaohui suddenly glanced behind her: "Actually..."
"Don't be so serious." Xie Qingfei felt that the argument between them about whether or not to listen to Wei Cheng made her lose face. "What can he do to me if he knows? Am I afraid of him? Don't say that I can do whatever I want. Even if I ask him to do something, does he dare not listen to me?"
Lu Shaohui stopped talking, and Xie Qingfei noticed something wrong from his expression.
Sure enough, the next second, I heard a familiar voice behind me: "Well, I don't dare."

(End of this chapter)