Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

For several types of insurance that are familiar to the public, the scope of claims is generally not this and not that.

But because Zhang Yan bought enough insurance before her death, and bought it early, the compensation from the five life insurance policies would add up to more than 20 million yuan, just because she committed suicide. And if her death was an accident, other insurance policies would pay out more than 18 million yuan.

"Generally speaking, after a wife dies, her husband, parents and children are the first heirs and legal beneficiaries. But Zhang Yan has insured herself with a total of 23 life insurance policies, and only designated you as the beneficiary. The sum of all this money is almost half a small goal, which is a huge temptation for someone who is short of money. So no matter how you look at it, you are the most suspected murderer."
Xie Qingfei looked at Zhang Yuheng's increasingly gloomy face and said, "It's great that she's dead. All the loans and gambling debts you owe can be paid off. You have a motive but no alibi. Can I assume that you killed someone intentionally for the insurance compensation?"

The people outside were shocked. Xi Ming nudged Zhao Chongyun's arm and asked, "You are a professional. Can you tell me if Zhang Yan can really get so much money by suing the insurance company in this situation?"
Zhao Chongyun said: "Life insurance can be compensated if someone commits suicide two years after purchase. Accident insurance does not cover this. However, if the relevant conditions are met, Zhang Yan will also receive a certain amount of compensation after being convicted of murder. The specific details depend on how the terms are written. In any case, Zhang Yuheng will get 20 million at the very least. He can fight for the rest. After all, investigating murder is the police's job and it won't bother them. Who would complain about having too much money?"
Xi Ming said, "Yesterday he insisted that Zhang Yan committed suicide, and his reasons were so convincing that I almost believed him. Today he insisted that Zhang Yan was murdered even though he was being treated as a suspect. Didn't he know about the insurance before?"

On the other side, Xie Qingfei had just finished answering this question.

Zhang Yuheng's pale lips trembled, and he tried to speak calmly: "When my sister got into trouble, I didn't even know there was such a thing as insurance. How could I kill her for money?"
Xie Qingfei: "How do you prove that you didn't know about it beforehand?"
"I..." Zhang Yuheng said anxiously, "She and her brother-in-law are so in love, and both of them want to have a child of their own. Even if I knew she bought insurance before, I never thought that I would be the beneficiary. On the contrary, Wei Cheng is the one my sister tells everything. He must know about the insurance. He planned my sister's death just to put the blame on me! Now you have found out that I am the beneficiary. No matter what I say, you think I am the murderer. His goal has been achieved!"

The jurors looked at each other, wondering what crazy talk this guy was talking about.

Xie Qingfei asked, "Didn't you just say that Wei Cheng didn't know that you and Zhang Yan are siblings?"
"I thought he didn't know, but what if he actually knew and just didn't tell me?" Zhang Yuheng said confidently, "My sister has always been very proud of me. She always tells everyone that she has an outstanding brother. She must have told Wei Cheng about it. The name, age and school match up. He knew that I was Zhang Yan's brother, but he kept it a secret just to plan this frame-up."
Xie Qingfei: "Does Wei Cheng have any grudge against you?"
"It's not a grudge, but I know he would do this," Zhang Yuheng said quickly, with an expression of sudden enlightenment, "because he can't bear to see me doing well."

The juror couldn't help but interject, "Isn't he your good friend?"
Zhang Yuheng squinted at the other person and subconsciously observed Xie Qingfei's expression. He was ready to explain, but Xie Qingfei did not ask questions right away as he thought. Instead, he nodded after thinking and looked at him very gently.

She had a magical power that could convince people, and her sympathetic gaze only made people feel cared for. Zhang Yuheng immediately stopped complaining and stared at her in a daze.

"Did he do something to hurt you, which made you have such speculation?" Xie Qingfei asked him without any doubt.

Zhang Yuheng's nose felt sore and his eyes turned red. He covered the upper half of his face and took a deep breath for a long time before putting his hand down. He stared at Xie Qingfei as if he had met a soulmate: "Yes, I... I really hate him."

Xie Qingfei looked at him lovingly, handed him a tissue, and said, "Is it because his grades are always better than yours? You have been classmates for five years, and your brilliance has been completely overshadowed by him. No matter how hard you try, you can't change this fact. You and he are from the same city, and you both studied similar majors. You are both the best among your peers, but others don't even look at you. They only think he is great, so you hate him so much."

Zhang Yuheng wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes with a piece of paper. The feeling of being understood made him let down his guard. He forced a perverse and miserable smile on his face: "Haha, you think so too, right? You have met him, right? To be fair, is he really that much better than me?"
He gradually became angry, and slammed his hands on the table with both hands folded in front of his chest. He leaned back into a comfortable position, his eyes full of contempt.

Xie Qingfei continued, "When we were in school, he had better grades than you, was more handsome than you, and had more money than you. You were like an inconspicuous follower next to him. Now, you are both in your thirties, he is an associate chief physician, and you are just a resident. Although it is normal for you to have a junior title at your age, why is he different? He is famous, and you are unknown. When others see you two walking together all day, they wonder how Dr. Wei can be friends with such a mediocre man.

"In fact, you really don't think Wei Cheng is that great. Is he where he is today because of his ability? I'm afraid it's more because of his superior family background. You can't do anything else, you can only use money to get closer to him, hoping that you can hold your head up high in front of other acquaintances and not be ignored all the time. You would rather gamble and go into debt than buy luxury goods, just to satisfy the psychological need to seem to be 'equal' to Wei Cheng, and for this need, you can even sell your rationality and conscience."

Her tone was emotionless and sounded like she was stating some fact, but it was extremely harsh.

Zhang Yuheng's tightly knitted brows relaxed, a kind of serenity that could only be found when one is extremely calm emerged on his face, and he suddenly laughed out loud.
Then he looked up into Xie Qingfei's eyes and said with a sneer, "Yes, I just look down on him. What's so great about him?"

Zhang Yuheng was spoiled by his parents since he was a child. He also had an older sister who was seven years older than him and was hardworking and never complaining. He was used to being treated like the moon by his family. At home, his words were "imperial edicts". In school, the grades were clearly divided into different levels. He always had excellent grades and was the kind of person who stood at the top and was sought after. He thought he was a child of destiny.
But after he was admitted to a satisfactory college, he suddenly found that his situation had changed. There were no more mediocre or poor students around him. Everyone was excellent and everyone would only become more excellent. He went from being in the top few to being in the tens, and then to being in the hundreds, in just half a semester. Such a huge gap caused him a great trauma in his heart, and this was only on the spiritual level.

Wei Cheng was the first friend Zhang Yuheng made in college. The relationship of being from the same hometown obviously strengthened the intimacy, which made Zhang Yuheng, who was confused, rely on Wei Cheng wholeheartedly. In his heart, Wei Cheng was his best friend, but the other party had no such perception at all.

The early stages of a person's psychological development are also greatly influenced by the educational environment. When we were young, the teacher asked us to write essays, and the topic was always "My Best Friend XXX". Some people passionately expressed their deep friendship, but then they turned around and found that their "best" was someone else, and they were not anyone's "best". So in the ignorant childhood, we will understand that efforts may not be rewarded equally, people will be selected and naturally eliminated, and friendships are divided into different levels.

Wei Cheng is a person who will never lack friends wherever he goes, and he will not find it difficult to integrate into an unfamiliar environment. Seeing how he handles social situations with ease, Zhang Yuheng inexplicably felt resentful. He was angry that he was friendly to others and felt that he owed him.
But he would not mention this dissatisfaction to Wei Cheng, so he would take some actions from time to time, such as following him all the time, and always inviting him to dinner... to create an intimate relationship between the two of them that is inseparable, so as to show to the outside world: Look, although he has a wide range of friends, my status is different from yours.

But Wei Cheng was actually not as humane as he thought. There were so many people like Zhang Yuheng who tried to please him since he was a child that he was used to it and even numb to it. He did not think that Zhang Yuheng was anything special. Therefore, Zhang Yuheng, who originally wanted to be Wei Cheng's good friend, was seen as a lackey by outsiders, and his mentality gradually turned towards hatred.

Then Zhang Yuheng discovered that Wei Cheng would never stay overnight at school on weekends unless he had something to do. This is the capital, where every inch of land is valuable. Not only does he have a house nearby, he also has a car for him to travel around. So Zhang Yuheng made some indirect inquiries and realized that in addition to being popular, Wei Cheng might also have a good family background.

"A dandy boy," he thought disdainfully. People must associate with him because he is rich. If he is as rich as Wei Cheng, their status would naturally be reversed.

Xie Qingfei was quite interested in the image of the college student Wei Cheng that he described, and he listened very carefully without interrupting him.
Zhang Yuheng seemed to be encouraged. He clenched his fists again and complained through gritted teeth, "Wei Cheng is really hypocritical. Am I not sincere enough to him? When I first arrived in Beijing, I didn't know anything and couldn't adapt to many things. In addition, the academic pressure was getting greater and greater. I only told him about these troubles, but he never comforted me. He was extremely perfunctory and told me to work hard on my own. How the hell should I work hard?"

Xie Qingfei seemed very curious: "What kind of response do you expect him to give you? I know you medical students have a hard time, but ability is a fixed thing, and it has nothing to do with other things, right?"

"Didn't you understand what I said? His family is rich. Only with that condition could his parents have paved the way for him early on. Otherwise, how could he have lived such an easy life?" Zhang Yuheng said angrily, "And Professor Meng, a big shot in our college at that time, thought highly of Wei Cheng and had been supporting him. If Wei Cheng had me as a friend, wouldn't it be difficult for him to say a few good words in front of Professor Meng to let me join his team? He was able to publish an SCI in his sophomore year, so what loss would he have to have by adding my name? We are friends, and I regard him as my best friend! But what has he given me! I really don't understand how he can be so cold-blooded."

"..." Xie Qingfei pressed his temple, "I feel like your request is a little unrealistic."
Zhang Yuheng asked back, "If you have a friend like Wei Cheng, would you still think it's normal for him to give you nothing? You haven't been with him, so you don't understand my feelings. I would rather he was just an ordinary person from a mediocre family than to be a bystander watching other people's plight."

"I misjudged him. I admit defeat and have had enough... But if I had Wei Cheng's conditions, I would not be worse than him." Zhang Yuheng said with a distorted expression and a hint of excitement in his tone, "Fortunately, Professor Meng died in an accident later, and Wei Cheng never recovered from it. I felt so happy during that time! I looked at his listless appearance, and suddenly thought... Was I the same in his eyes before? He has always looked down on me, as if I were a failed clown. He loves to see me unhappy, so he never helps me. When it was my turn to experience this, I understood him. Hahaha, it's really a matter of time... He studied for an eight-year undergraduate and doctoral degree, but dropped out in his fifth year. This is the end of his career, but the beginning of my bright future. I will become an excellent doctor, and I will be the only one who looks down on him in the future!" The first and only hurdle Wei Cheng encountered in his life was seeing his mentor being killed in front of him and being unable to save him. This dealt him a serious blow and almost shook his determination to study medicine.

Zhang Yuheng's "good memories" did not last long, and he said grimly, "But he really haunts me. Two years ago, I saw him again. At that time, I had just finished my regular training and finally got into the People's Hospital, but he was already working at Tianning Hospital, which is the best private tertiary hospital in the city, and his salary is much better than mine. I asked him a few questions under the pretext of a gathering with old friends, and then I found out that he did not give up studying medicine, but switched to psychiatry."

Xie Qingfei said: "Two years ago was a very special year for you."

Zhang Yuheng glanced at her and no longer concealed the truth: "My father's factory was not doing well that year, and he managed to survive with the help of my brother-in-law, but we can't go back to the old days. I felt very depressed, especially after seeing Wei Cheng so successful. I once doubted if everyone was destined to be different, and he was just better than me. At first, I thought he got all this by himself. As a result... I learned from the news last year that he was able to enter Tianning Hospital not because of his ability, but because his last name was Wei. What is the status of the Wei family? Tianning Hospital... is just a small industry of their family. If they want to enter, isn't it just a matter of saying so?"

He forced out a laugh from his throat. "He never mentioned a word about his family background to me in all these years. I thought he was just an ordinary rich second-generation. It's ridiculous. I wanted to accept my fate before, but why should I accept it? Everything was unfair from the beginning. Not long after, he was transferred to work in our hospital, and I had to go back to the days when I had to see him every day in college. So, how could I not hate him?"

He showed an expression that sought approval, but Xie Qingfei suddenly said, "You didn't look for him yesterday because online transfers were inconvenient, did you? You wanted him to see your new watch and let him know that you were also very proud of yourself?"

"..." Zhang Yuheng was not surprised that his borrowing money was known, but he still felt embarrassed when his little trick behind the money was exposed. Soon he became confident again, "If I don't try hard to package myself and don't behave like a rich kid like him, and let him find out that I'm still as bad as I was in college, and still not as good as him, where will my face be?"
"Then why don't you just ask him to lend you 50 yuan instead of making up so many excuses."
Zhang Yuheng thought Xie Qingfei's question was funny: "I just asked for 50 yuan. What if he guessed that I was going to pay off the debt for buying a watch?"
Xie Qingfei thought it made sense: "That's right. But even if it's 30, since you're using it to treat your family, he probably won't ask you to pay it back."
Zhang Yuheng said as if it was a matter of course: "For ten years, he has never given me any help. 30 is just a drop in the bucket for him, why can't I take it? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in debt! Everything I do is his fault. He forced me to become what I am now. This is the compensation I deserve!"

Zhang Yuheng's distorted face was reflected on the surveillance screen.

"This guy... is too twisted." Xi Ming drank a mouthful of water to calm himself down. He felt his scalp and back go numb. He turned around and said, "Zhang Yuheng is not the murderer."
Zhao Chongyun: "Why?"
Xi Ming: "If he really wanted to kill someone, my brother would have died before Zhang Yan. Oh, this matter really needs to be treated with respect. Most people will not be on guard against their friends, so if Zhang Yuheng had the slightest thought of 'It would be better if Wei Cheng died', it would only take a moment for him to execute it."
There are countless cases like this. Zhao Chongyun nodded: "Indeed."
Xi Ming pouted and blew his bangs, snorting, "Besides, my brother is not what he said. Being smart and capable is also in our family's genes. What's the point of him getting jealous and angry? There's so much drama."
Zhao Chongyun glanced at the surveillance screen again and said softly, "Actually, I can understand his feelings a little bit."

Xi Ming looked at him.

"I was also quite confused when I first entered university. I was young and unfamiliar with the big city, so I just wanted to have a friend with whom I had the same experience as I did." Zhao Chongyun recalled, "I also had low self-esteem. I still remember the first time I went to a high-end restaurant with my classmates, they actually ordered in English. Even though I knew all the words, I didn't understand what they corresponded to. I almost made the joke that people say online about ordering a string of English songs but ended up with a violin piece. That was the first time I realized the gap between people. I went back to the dormitory and hid in my bed in the middle of the night to quietly make up for my knowledge, fearing that I would be looked down upon again. After graduation, I went to a law firm for an internship. I had to pay attention to my appearance. I spent several thousand yuan a month on my clothes. It was really tiring."

"But you haven't grown up crooked," Xi Ming patted his shoulder, "I don't think Zhang Yuheng deserves to be understood. Although people are influenced by the environment they grow up in, how can a thinking creature be constrained by objective conditions?"

the other side.

"He must have seen that my material conditions have improved, and he can no longer get the same sense of superiority from me that trampled on other people's self-esteem as he did in college. My sister happened to come to him for medical treatment, and he learned about our family affairs from her, so he induced my sister to commit suicide. He also deliberately broke the appointment yesterday and took advantage of that time to call and harm my sister!" Zhang Yuheng said in a cold tone.

Xie Qingfei said: "After all, the biggest conflict between you and him is the gap in material and money."
Zhang Yuheng frowned and nodded reluctantly.
Xie Qingfei faced him, his attitude of negotiating gone, his tone icy: "In order to keep up with Wei Cheng in terms of material level, you need a large amount of money, and therefore owe a lot of foreign debts. The repayment date is approaching, but you can no longer fill this gap, so you can only turn to your sister who has always responded to your requests since childhood for help."
Zhang Yuheng: "I..."

"You know that this request is too much. Before you left, you even changed your phone screensaver to a photo of you and your sister. This was to let your sister know that you care about her and make her soften her heart." Xie Qingfei said, "Yesterday at noon, you went to her to ask for money. She refused even after begging and pleading. You even said that you would tell your parents about your extravagant spending. You were afraid that your family would question you and expose your gambling, so you pushed her down the stairs in anger."
Zhang Yuheng shouted, "No! That's not the case at all. I had a quarrel with my sister, but I didn't kill her!"

Xie Qingfei's eyes were sharp: "You had a fight with her? Didn't you say that you didn't see her at all when you went to look for her yesterday at noon? Where did you have the time to quarrel?"
"I—" Zhang Yuheng's back suddenly broke out in a layer of cold sweat. After a while, he lowered his head and said, "I went to see her once in the morning. We had a quarrel at that time."
"Why are you arguing? What are you arguing about?"
Zhang Yuheng said impatiently: "Don't you already know everything? I asked her for money, but she refused to give it to me. She also said that she would never give me a penny in her life and let me fend for myself. Are you satisfied?

"She was... like crazy at the time. She actually said such things to me. Her mood was very abnormal. Of course I was very angry. But I knew she was sick, and the child was so pitiful that she didn't save him. I didn't bother to argue with her. All I can say is that the saying that a daughter who is married off is like water spilled is absolutely true. She even doesn't care about her own brother."

Xie Qingfei said in a deep voice: "You held a grudge against me for not being able to get the money this morning, so you went there again at noon and pushed her when she was least prepared."
Zhang Yuheng's mind was in a mess, and he defended himself numbly, "No, no, no! After she rejected me this morning, I went to find my brother-in-law. I have money now, why would I kill her? If she dies, my brother-in-law won't give me money if I need it again in the future!"
Xie Qingfei: "But as long as she dies, you will get the compensation. By then, I'm afraid your brother-in-law will have to beg you for help."
Zhang Yuheng: "How is that possible! If my brother-in-law hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that I was the beneficiary of my sister's insurance—"

"So it was your brother-in-law who said that."

Xie Qingfei got the answer he wanted: "When did your brother-in-law tell you about the insurance? Yesterday or even longer ago?"

Zhang Yuheng was exhausted. He answered whatever she asked: "... Yesterday morning, I asked him to borrow money over the phone, and he scolded me, saying that I was a blood-sucking parasite. My sister has already given a lot to the family, and she's been so good to me. She even listed me as the beneficiary of the life insurance she bought for herself, and I'm still not satisfied."

This unintentional accusation made Zhang Yuheng realize how important he was in his sister's heart.

Xie Qingfei glanced at the surveillance camera and asked, "Does your brother-in-law also know about Zhang Yan's miscarriage?"
Zhang Yuheng: "I am the only one who knows about this. I haven't figured out how to tell them. I was already very worried about raising money yesterday. What if I tell them the situation and they are just sad and don't give me money? Then I... My brother-in-law is actually a hard-mouthed but soft-hearted person. I know he scolded me just to defend my sister. Afterwards, he still transferred the money to me. Together with the 30 yuan that Wei Cheng later gave me, my problem was finally solved. I went upstairs again at noon. In fact, I wanted to apologize to my sister and then tell her about the child. I swear I didn't think of compensation at the time. I'm not a beast who is greedy for money!"

"Are you apologizing for your attitude towards your sister this morning, or are you feeling guilty after listening to your brother-in-law and reflecting on what he said and realizing that you are indeed a parasite?"
Without waiting for Zhang Yuheng to answer, Xie Qingfei shook his head and said, "It seems that you don't feel guilty."
Zhang Yuheng did not refute, but it was not difficult to see from his expression that he did not know why he should feel guilty. His brother-in-law was an outsider, and he blamed him for the benefit of his own family, but his sister was his biological sister, and she had taken care of him since he was a child. What was wrong with this, and what was there to feel guilty about?
The time was almost up, and Zhang Yuheng's mental state had visibly deteriorated, making it unsuitable to continue interrogating him.

Xie Qingfei finally asked, "Did you smoke in the bathroom when you went there this morning?"
Zhang Yuheng didn't understand, but nodded and said, "I smoked one. I was in a bad mood after the quarrel, so what's wrong with smoking a cigarette without affecting other patients? If you want to say that I violated the hospital's no-smoking regulations, you can report it to the office manager. I admit it. Any other opinions? Could this be a crime against me?"
His words were full of sarcasm, and those who didn't know him would think he was the one who was right. Xie Qingfei just asked, "Where did you throw the cigarette butt?"
"Where else can I throw it?" Zhang Yuheng asked curiously, "Of course, the trash can in the bathroom."

(End of this chapter)