Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 423 Another Little Frost (Seeking monthly votes, a long chapter of 10,000 words)

To ensure they understood, Director Sun provided a detailed explanation over the phone.

Schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder are two completely different conditions from a pathological perspective.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder, while multiple personality disorder is a personality disorder.

The most common mental illness in real life refers to "schizophrenia" because once it develops, it can cause many negative symptoms, such as confused thinking, hallucinations, abnormal emotions, and abnormal behavior.

In severe cases, individuals may experience extreme emotions, manic behavior, or even self-harm or harm to others.

Because when a patient develops symptoms, they have already lost the ability to restrict their normal behavior.

This is why, legally, people with mental illness cannot be held criminally responsible, because when a mentally ill person is having an episode, they cannot recognize or control their own behavior.

Director Sun said that Dong Lu's original personality, that is, Dong Lu herself, suffered from this kind of schizophrenia.

According to Xiao Bing's description, when Dong Lu was ill, she would exhibit severe mental abnormalities and emotional outbursts, and would even engage in self-harm, directly scratching her burned skin with her fingers until it bled profusely.

Therefore, in the early stages, Xiao Bing said that he could only forcibly stop her self-harm by binding her hands and feet.

However, after receiving medication from Director Sun, this situation rarely occurred again.

But while medication was one aspect, the more important issue was a unique situation that Dong Lu herself was experiencing.

In order to escape the reality of her burns and her own schizophrenia, Dong Lu actually developed a new personality. The most prominent feature of this personality is that she escapes everything and completely shuts herself off in a world where she is all alone.

The downside is that this personality hardly interacts with the outside world; Xiao Bing even said that she herself cannot communicate with this escapist personality.

Of course, before bringing her to the hospital, Xiao Bing didn't know that Dong Lu had developed multiple personality disorder. He was just puzzled by Dong Lu's behavior, but assumed it was just a new manifestation of mental illness, since mental illness itself is irrational.

When Director Sun first diagnosed her, he keenly sensed something was wrong. After several subsequent treatments, it was finally determined that Dong Lu had developed multiple personality disorder on top of her schizophrenia.

Because this split personality had said one sentence to him, which was also the only sentence he spoke voluntarily during the entire treatment process.

When Director Sun said it, all four people on the other end of the phone were shocked, especially Zhou Yi, who felt his scalp tingle instantly.

"Dong Lu's other personality says that Dong Lu was born on the day of Cold Dew, while she was born on the day of Frost's Descent, the next solar term after Cold Dew, so she calls herself Little Frost."

Zhou Yi was completely stunned. Was this a coincidence that was already destined by fate?

Director Sun said that Dong Lu began receiving his treatment in 1991, which means that at that time, Dong Lu had already developed a split personality. This personality believed that she was born on the day of Frost's Descent, so she called herself Xiao Shuang (Little Frost).

Six years later, Lu Xiaoshuang, who was actually born on the day of Frost's Descent, stepped into the grand school gate.

It has a sense of fatalism.

Director Sun, unaware of the shock of the people on the other end of the phone, continued speaking.

He said that Dong Lu's "Xiao Shuang" personality did not show signs of schizophrenia, and her emotions were very stable. The only problem was her severe inner self-isolation, like a hedgehog curled up in a ball.

As for that one time he took the initiative to speak, it was because that day happened to be the Frost's Descent solar term.

After that, asking anything was useless.

Director Sun said that such cases are extremely rare. He has never encountered such a situation in his many years of clinical practice, and it has great research value.

He even suggested to Xiao Bing that he could admit Dong Lu to provide long-term, close monitoring and treatment for her condition, with all expenses covered by him.

Although Zhou Yi didn't understand the specifics of this case, he could tell from Director Sun's tone that it was extremely rare. If he could cure Dong Lu, it would probably be enough for him to publish several high-profile papers.

But as expected, Xiao Bing refused.

Director Sun said with regret, "As doctors, we must respect the wishes of patients and their families. However, if a treatment can be found for this rare disease, it may be able to help more patients in the future."

Director Sun also said that he was unsure whether it was due to the effects of the continued medication or the influence of Dong Lu's subconscious, but the proportion of body dominance between Dong Lu's personality and Xiao Shuang's personality had gradually changed.

In short, based on the information provided by Xiao Bing each time she came to get her medication, it was learned that the self-isolating Xiao Shuang personality was taking over more and more time, while the Dong Lu personality, which suffers from schizophrenia, was appearing less and less often.

Although the patient's condition has not been cured, at least the condition is stable and the patient will not exhibit the self-harm or potential harm to others that occurred before.

Director Sun said that Xiao Bing comes to get prescriptions about once every two months, and every six months he brings Dong Lu for a follow-up visit as required.

Over the past two years, Dong Lu's overall condition has been relatively stable. During her two recent follow-up visits, the personality that emerged was Xiao Shuang, not Dong Lu.

Xiang Jie then asked about the medical expenses. Director Sun replied that it had always been out-of-pocket, but he remembered that Xiao Bing had filled in her ID number and address on the patient's initial registration form.

After thanking Director Sun for his cooperation on behalf of the police, Qiao Jiali hung up the phone.

The four people gathered around the desk looked at each other in disbelief, because the information they had received from Director Sun was too explosive.

First, her name was confirmed. This woman is called Dong Lu, one year younger than Xiao Bing, and was born on the day of Cold Dew in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

Having the accurate name can greatly reduce the efficiency of searching for information. There's no need to flip through page after page anymore; you can simply check the overall enrollment registration list, find people with the same name, and then distinguish them.

Once Director Sun provides the ID number, we can directly access the household registration records.

What used to take three days and three nights to complete can now be done in half a day with precise positioning.

Moreover, this task can be directly handed over to Director Fang, which would free up police resources on the task force side.

Then, regarding Dong Lu's severe burns, based on Director Sun's description, it basically matches the description of the man in black who appeared multiple times.

Moreover, it was only at this point that Zhou Yi and Chen Yan remembered that when they were investigating and visiting the area near Xiao Bing's house, a five-year-old boy had called the man in black a monster. It turned out that the boy hadn't just watched too much Ultraman; he had actually seen the man in black's burned face.

To a child who doesn't have much ability to distinguish things, that's practically a monster.

Moreover, based on Director Sun's description of Dong Lu's two personalities, it seems that the one that is likely to run away is Dong Lu's own personality, which means it poses a certain degree of danger.

The person who calls herself Xiaoshuang, with a closed personality, is probably the one who has been staying in that basement for a long time.

After all, the seclusion of the basement perfectly matches the personality described by Director Sun.

"So the large number of literary books and videotapes in the basement were probably prepared by Xiao Bing for the Xiao Shuang personality," Chen Yan said.

Everyone nodded, and Xiang Jie said, "In other words, Xiao Bing often goes to the bookstore to buy books, but he's not actually buying them for himself; he's also buying them for Dong Lu in the basement."

Qiao Jiali raised a question: "I forgot to ask Director Sun earlier. I don't know if this split personality is completely blank in terms of knowledge and cognition, or if it is consistent with Dong Lu's original personality."

Zhou Yi said, "I think it should be consistent. As Director Sun said, this personality is a personality that Dong Lu split off from in her subconscious to escape reality and her original mental illness. It's not actually the same as Dong Lu having a child on a mental level. This child doesn't understand anything and needs to start from babbling. It's more like Dong Lu forcibly changed her name to Xiao Shuang. Changing her name is equivalent to amnesia, not remembering the past."

A more accurate description would be like copying a file on a computer, renaming it, and then formatting it. The original records and viruses are gone, and it becomes a new file.

However, this description might not be easy for everyone to understand.

However, judging from this, Dong Lu's mental illness is indeed very rare, no wonder Director Sun wanted to conduct research on it.

Qiao Jiali said, "If that's the case, can we understand that Xiaoshuang's personality inherited Donglu's original aesthetic preferences, and that the art books and art films in the basement are all Donglu's original aesthetic preferences?"

Zhou Yi nodded and said he guessed so, because he understood what Qiao Jiali meant, which was to use this opportunity to confirm whether Dong Lu was likely a college student.

After all, ordinary people can't appreciate art films; they'll just find them long, tedious, and incomprehensible. People who like art films and can appreciate obscure literary works, let alone in the 1990s, would need to be educated and have artistic sensibilities even twenty years from now.

Xiang Jie stood up and said, "Let me first tell everyone about Dong Lu's name to get us on track."

He then left the office.

The remaining three exchanged glances, and Qiao Jiali asked seriously, "Zhou Yi, Dong Lu's second personality calls herself Xiao Shuang. Isn't that too much of a coincidence? Do you think it's possible that Lu Xiao Shuang got involved because of this?"

Zhou Yi shook his head, thinking to himself that if we only consider the grand case of the previous life, it would be hard to say. But this life also involves Xu Liu, and no matter how you look at it, you can't see any connection between Xu Liu and Xiao Bing and Dong Lu.

"I feel there are still some logical gaps, but one thing is basically certain: the person in black who followed Xiaoshuang on the No. 68 bus on the 30th was Dong Lu, and it was her original personality."

"Could it be that she's the one who kidnapped Lu Xiaoshuang?" Chen Yan asked Zhou Yi. "Do you remember the auntie who sells apples saying she saw a man in black follow Lu Xiaoshuang into the alley?"

“I remember, but with Dong Lu’s physical abilities, I’m afraid she wouldn’t be able to control Lu Xiaoshuang. And do you remember that quarter footprint you found? Its size doesn’t seem like a woman’s.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan nodded, because the claim that Dong Lu had kidnapped and drugged Lu Xiaoshuang was indeed somewhat far-fetched.

Even if someone with 80% severe burns recovers their physical functions, they are unlikely to have a good physique, let alone a woman who has been hiding in a basement for many years.

"But at least some of the information from the previous on-site investigation can finally be matched up."

Several pieces of information that Zhou Yi mentioned matched up.

Besides what Chen Yan had previously observed, many daily necessities were sold in pairs.

Zhou Yi also raised several points.

First, Xiao Bing's home doesn't even have a single mirror.

Because Dong Lu is a patient with severe burns and multiple personality disorder.

Neither of these two conditions is suitable for looking in the mirror, as it can easily place a huge psychological burden on Dong Lu, given that Dong Lu herself suffers from schizophrenia.

Second, the restraint ropes on the iron bunk bed in the basement.

It wasn't a tool for playing some perverted games, but rather something Xiao Bing prepared to control Dong Lu's self-harm when she had an episode.

As for why no biological tissue was extracted from the rope during the on-site investigation, based on the information provided by Director Sun, it is likely due to the combination of drug control and the frequency of closed personality events, which makes such extreme cases rare.

As for the previous traces, Xiao Bing will definitely take the initiative to clean them up, so it's normal that they can't be extracted.

Thirdly, there's the reason why Xiao Bing's house is covered in tiles.

Especially in the basement, the walls are covered with tiles, which makes it feel very cold, but there is an electric fan in the corner.

Zhou Yi recalled the female worker he had seen when he was a child. He remembered his father saying that people with extensive burns often suffer from many serious sequelae.

After all, it was a psychological trauma from his childhood, so he specifically looked up relevant information when he was in police academy.

There are two common types of aftereffects.

One type, called hypertrophic scarring, can cause persistent pain and itching, which can last for years in severe cases.

Another reason is that deep burns damage the skin and sweat glands, making it impossible for patients to sweat on their own. As a result, they are particularly sensitive to heat, which can trigger a series of problems.

"So the purpose of Xiao Bing's house being covered with tiles may be to lower the temperature and provide Dong Lu with a relatively comfortable living environment."

After all, air conditioning is a luxury these days, and even if you can afford to install it, you might not be able to afford to run it. Running it for extended periods when you're not home might arouse suspicion from others.

Chen Yan suddenly realized: "No wonder Xiao Bing's house gives off a cold feeling. I was wondering why everyone's bedroom is covered in tiles."

"Sister Qiao, have you found a foreman to renovate Xiao Bing's house?" Zhou Yi asked.

Qiao Jiali shook her head and said not yet.

Zhou Yi said, "It's possible that our previous assumptions were wrong."

Which point are you referring to?

"Regarding the relationship between Xiao Bing and Dong Lu."

At this moment, Xiang Jie returned and, after learning about their conversation, asked Zhou Yi to continue.

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "We suspected that Xiao Bing didn't get married because he was heartbroken. After being hurt by Dong Lu, he developed psychological problems and then angrily kidnapped and imprisoned Dong Lu in his own basement. During this process, Dong Lu, the hostage, developed unusual feelings for Xiao Bing, the kidnapper, which is Stockholm syndrome."

Chen Yan nodded, because this deduction was something he and Zhou Yi had come up with through analysis.

"But we didn't know before that Dong Lu had severe burns and mental illness."

"Let's put the mental illness aside for now, because it most likely appeared after Dong Lu was burned. I want to talk about the issue of Dong Lu's severe burns."

“Generally speaking, there are only three types of severe burns: accidental, spontaneous combustion, and arson.”

"Arson resulting in severe burns is a very serious criminal case. I'd appreciate it if you could check if there are any similar cases in Hongcheng." Actually, there was basically no need to check, because Zhou Yi didn't remember any similar cases, but just to be on the safe side, she would check again.

Qiao Jiali nodded: "No problem."

Zhou Yi continued, "The remaining possibilities are accidents and self-immolation, and I lean more towards accidents. Because self-immolation usually indicates suicidal thoughts; people take such an extreme step because they don't want to live anymore, making it almost impossible for them to survive the painful treatment and recovery period. Those who can survive must have an inherent will to live."

Humans are amazing creatures. Sometimes we can't blame some people for being too idealistic. In the same physical condition, a person without the will to live will die quickly, while a person who wants to live will stubbornly breathe as long as they have a breath left, even if they are as frail as a rag.

"If it were an accident, it might not be classified as a criminal case, but a properly reported criminal record would definitely remain."

"Given the fact that he suffered severe burns in an accident, and considering that Xiao Bing dug a basement under the guise of renovations, our previous assumptions may need to be overturned."

Chen Yan vaguely understood Zhou Yi's meaning, "You mean... Xiao Bing digging the basement might have been for Dong Lu's sake from the very beginning?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "That's right. We'll know this once we find the construction team that did the renovation for Xiao Bing. If the tiles were laid back then, it means that Xiao Bing did all this to settle Dong Lu. And do you remember that we found Dong Lu's footprints at Xiao Bing's house, but not her fingerprints, and the obsessive-compulsive disorder and germaphobia that his family exhibited? All of these can be explained by Dong Lu's burns and mental health issues."

This result still surprised many people.

In other words, Dong Lu suffered severe burns in an accident back then. Although she survived, she was completely disfigured and became neither human nor ghost.

Xiao Bing, who never abandoned Dong Lu, transformed his home into a cold, living coffin in order to properly care for her physical and mental well-being.

This hiding lasted for at least seven or eight years. During this time, Dong Lu developed mental health issues, and Xiao Bing took her to see the best psychiatrists and prescribed her medication regularly.

He would also go to the bookstore to buy books and videotapes for Dong Lu from time to time.

In order to protect Dong Lu, who was disfigured, Xiao Bing, who was originally praised by his classmates as a cheerful, optimistic and nice person during his undergraduate years, gradually became a withdrawn and solitary man, and even cut off contact with his relatives.

This isn't some kind of pervert anymore; this is just an incredibly devoted and heartbroken man.

As soon as Zhou Yi said this, Xiang Jie immediately asked a question: "If Xiao Bing isn't a pervert, then why did he lure Lu Xiaoshuang to your house at noon on the 30th? And why did he run away?"

Yes, Xiang Jie's question hit the nail on the head.

If Xiao Bing isn't a bad person, why would he do these things?
Moreover, it is quite obvious that it is not one person who has escaped, but two people: Xiao Bing and Dong Lu.

Could it be that Dong Lu has some unknown secret?

Chen Yan suddenly said, "I understand."

"What?" The three of them looked at him.

"That piece of photograph! Do you remember it?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Of course I remember. The front shows Xiaoshuang's eyes, and the back has some French text." "Think about it, where could this photo have come from? It couldn't have been given to Xiao Bing by Lu Xiaoshuang, could it?"

Zhou Yi nodded, indicating that such a possibility did not exist.

Chen Yan said, "So it must have been Xiao Bing who took the photo secretly, and then wrote some words in French on the back to express her feelings. Let's not talk about what kind of feelings Xiao Bing has for Lu Xiaoshuang. Just look at this photo. It was torn up by someone. There are only two people in Xiao Bing's house. If it wasn't Xiao Bing, then it could only be Dong Lu."

Zhou Yi understood Chen Yan's meaning, as did the other two.

"If the person who accidentally discovered this photo is Dong Lu's own personality, then she may be triggered to develop schizophrenia. Director Sun said that she would have severe self-harm behavior when she had a schizophrenia episode, which shows that Dong Lu had violent tendencies and aggression when she was having an episode."

Qiao Jiali continued, "So after Dong Lu fell ill, she may have taken Lu Xiaoshuang as a rival in love, or even a target, because of this photo, and intended to harm her."

Chen Yan said excitedly, "That's right. Dong Lu may have directly expressed her intention to harm Lu Xiaoshuang, or Xiao Bing guessed it. In any case, Xiao Bing believes that Dong Lu wanted to kill Lu Xiaoshuang because of love turned to hate, which is why she recklessly tricked Lu Xiaoshuang into coming to see you on the 30th at noon. Didn't Lu Xiaoshuang say in her confession that Xiao Bing was extremely nervous at the time, and this nervousness even affected her ability to make normal judgments?"

Chen Yan's analysis is very reasonable. Most importantly, he did not make wild guesses, but used various case details to corroborate and confirm them.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but sigh, "A top student is a top student; they've improved so quickly."

Chen Yan also found his rhythm, becoming more and more excited as he spoke, and his thoughts became more and more active.

“We analyzed before that Dong Lu was most likely an orphan with no relatives, otherwise it would have been possible that no one had reported her missing for so long. Now, Director Sun’s information at least allows us to confirm that Dong Lu was not forced into long-term coercion, so the orphan theory is most likely correct. Dong Lu is an orphan, and with the added burns and disfigurement, Xiao Bing is the only lifeline she can cling to.”

"So when she discovered that Xiao Bing had 'fallen in love with another woman,' she was bound to have a mental breakdown and develop extreme thoughts. That should be the motive for the crime."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but nod. For a patient with severe burns and mental illness, this was a criminal motive that was quite in line with the logic of a normal person.

Chen Yan said, "According to the information provided by Director Sun, the one who ran out in black clothes is Dong Lu's original personality. The closed personality who calls herself Xiao Shuang shouldn't have run out. The fact that the neighbors had seen this person in black before shows that Xiao Bing is actually unable to, or unwilling to, restrict Dong Lu's behavior."

"The fact that Dong Lu was so well covered up when she went out shows that although she has a mental illness, she has not lost her original intelligence. Of course, I don't know what her purpose is in going out."

"Brother Yan, please continue." Zhou Yi clasped his hands together to cover his nose and mouth, pondering Chen Yan's words.

Chen Yan scratched his head sheepishly: "Actually, I've said enough. What I mean is that Dong Lu has had a relapse after being stimulated and intends to harm Lu Xiaoshuang. Xiao Bing is caught in a dilemma and can only remind Lu Xiaoshuang to seek your protection. He certainly doesn't want to see Lu Xiaoshuang get hurt, but he also certainly doesn't want Dong Lu to be arrested."

"But how did he know Zhou Yi was away on a business trip?" Qiao Jiali wondered.

“Following her,” Zhou Yi said. “Brother Yan is right. The photos were definitely taken secretly. Xiao Bing must have been secretly following Xiao Shuang long before I met her. So that incident at the food street was no coincidence.”

Regarding the so-called noodle shop on the food street, the task force sent people to investigate and found that there was indeed such a noodle shop, but the noodle shop owner and waiters had no impression of Xiao Bing.

This does not prove that Xiao Bing necessarily lied, but this proof is actually invalid because it is too ambiguous.

"Therefore, Xiao Bing must have some abnormal feelings for Xiao Shuang, which is why he did this long-term secret stalking, and then knew my home address and my business trip."

However, Zhou Yi still had doubts about the business trip, because he had been extremely careful when he came to Lu Xiaoshuang to talk about it that day, and he only spoke to her when there was no one around.

He noticed that there was no one around and no place to hide from people, so it was unlikely that Xiao Bing was hiding nearby and overhearing their conversation.

"Then how did he know whether you were back from your business trip or not?" Qiao Jiali asked.

“He doesn’t know, he might just think I’m back, or…” Zhou Yi paused, “He has no other choice but to take a gamble.”

Regardless of the reason, it is an undeniable fact that Xiao Bing is hiding Dong Lu. If he directly tells Lu Xiaoshuang the truth or asks Lu Xiaoshuang to seek protection from the police station, the end result will be that Dong Lu will be forced to be exposed, which is obviously not the result he wants to see.

Therefore, tricking Lu Xiaoshuang into coming to him was the only option.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Jie said, "So, Xiao Bing ran away not because of himself, but because he thought Dong Lu and Lu Xiaoshuang's disappearances were related?"

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered the time when he and Chen Yan pretended to leave and then eavesdropped outside Xiao Bing's house.

There was no sound from inside the room at the time, but after a while, a door slammed shut.

In addition, there was Xiao Bing's reaction when she opened the inner room door and found it locked.

Around that time, Dong Lu was in the basement of the inner room, which was separated from the three of them by a wall. It was probably because of Dong Lu's closed personality that she locked the door.

After they left, Xiao Bing probably went into the inner room and down to the basement to question Dong Lu about whether she had hurt Lu Xiaoshuang, so Zhou Yi outside didn't hear anything.

Then the sound of the door slamming was probably Xiao Bing venting her emotions, because in patients with multiple personality disorder, the different personalities have independent cognition and memory.

To put it bluntly, when he asked Xiaoshuang's personality, Dong Lu, whether she had harmed Lu Xiaoshuang, he received no answer.

That's why he slammed the door in anger to vent his emotions.

But once he calmed down, his first reaction was to run away with Dong Lu.

But the problem is, where can two orphans escape to?

The four people in the office discussed it and then fell into deep thought.

If we follow this line of reasoning, then Xiao Bing and Dong Lu actually didn't need to run at all.

Although the person on bus number 68 is presumably Dong Lu, Dong Lu does not fit the characteristics of the current kidnapper of Lu Xiaoshuang.

Leaving aside the issues of physical ability and the vehicle, which are essential tools for committing the crime, Dong Lu wouldn't even be able to obtain ether for drugging.

Even though the supervision and management of some controlled drugs were relatively lax in the 1990s, it was impossible for someone who hid in Xiao Bing's basement for seven or eight years and was completely out of touch with society to get his hands on such a thing.

Therefore, Xiao Bing's assumption that Dong Lu killed someone and therefore wanted to escape was purely wishful thinking.

"In other words, the murderer is someone else!" Zhou Yi said.

The three nodded in agreement.

This judgment can be basically confirmed!

Based on the social connections Xiao Bing has been identified so far, and the information we just learned about his relationship with Dong Lu, it is highly unlikely that a third accomplice has emerged between them.

Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that Xiao Bing himself may also have some mental issues. Judging from the fact that he has been keeping Dong Lu at his home and has been stalking and secretly filming Lu Xiaoshuang, he may have some mental or psychological problems.

Two mentally unstable individuals could not have devised such a meticulous criminal plan.

Moreover, the first victim in this case was Xu Liu, who was shattered into thousands of pieces.

All current leads regarding Xiao Bing have absolutely no connection to Xu Liu.

Chen Yan asked, "Should we continue to investigate Dong Lu's situation?"

Before Zhou Yi could speak, Xiang Jie said first: "Investigate, we must investigate. These are all our speculations at the moment. The purpose of the investigation is to verify whether these speculations are reasonable. Only after we have investigated and confirmed them can we rule them out."

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, Officer Xiang is right. And once we get Dong Lu's ID number, the information will be much easier to find, without going through so much trouble. But I can't figure out how Xiao Bing could hide for so long with someone as physically and mentally unstable as Dong Lu. It's really strange."

“Yes, it is indeed very strange,” Xiang Jie said. “How about this, I’ll ask our Captain Liang later to see if we should mobilize the media to find a way to get the public to report it, or to get Xiao Bing to turn himself in.”

"That's all we can do. Thank you for your hard work, Officer Xiang."

With the analysis nearly complete, the group split up to take action.

Soon, a doctor from the Department of Psychiatry at the Third Municipal Hospital contacted Qiao Jiali, saying that Director Sun had asked them to find patient information, which was then faxed to the special investigation team.

The task force successfully obtained Dong Lu's ID number. From the ID number alone, some information could be confirmed: Dong Lu is a local of Hongcheng, and her date of birth is October 9, 1966.

That day was the Cold Dew solar term.

Then, they began checking her household registration information based on her ID number.

With Director Wang's help, Zhou Yi and his team quickly obtained Dong Lu's household registration information.

There is an extremely important piece of information in the household registration information!

Dong Lu was indeed an orphan, because her registered address was the same place Zhou Yi had visited before, the Hongcheng No. 1 Social Welfare Institute.

However, Dong Lu's ID photo was not found in the household registration information, which may be due to incomplete registration at the time.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan immediately drove to the welfare home, while Qiao Jiali continued to check the relevant files and records of the burn case.

On the way, Chen Yan finally remembered: "Right, didn't you say you were going to investigate something? Were you talking about Dong Lu?"

"No, I went to the Municipal Bureau this morning and picked up Xiaoshuang."

"Oh, so where did you take her now? It's not safe for her outside right now, is it? If you don't have anywhere to go, you can take her to my house. It's just me and my mom at my house. Even if the murderer had been following Lu Xiaoshuang before, he wouldn't have thought of a completely unrelated place."

Zhou Yi was very touched and said, "No need to trouble Auntie, I'll take her to Qian Hongxing's house."

Chen Yan nodded: "That's a good option. You haven't said what you want to investigate yet."

"After I took Xiaoshuang there, she gave me a clue. She has a male classmate named Zheng Jianxin who confessed to her not long ago. We didn't know about this before, so we thought we should go and ask Zheng Jianxin to find out what happened. I have already retrieved the investigation data about Zheng Jianxin from the internal affairs team, and he has not mentioned this matter."

"But there's no rush. Now that we've got this lead on Dong Lu, let's investigate that first. We can find Zheng Jianxin later when we have more time."

"Oh, I see." Chen Yan suddenly said with a smile, "Then is this young man your rival in love?"

Zhou Yi was taken aback; Chen Yan, who was usually so serious, was actually joking.

He stretched and said, "Rivals in love? They don't exist."

What stood between him and Lu Xiaoshuang was never a rival in love, but a mystery spanning two generations.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan arrived at the welfare home. Since Zhou Yi had been there before with Lu Xiaoshuang, she went straight to the director's office without any trouble.

After knocking, Dean Hu's voice rang out from inside the room: "Please come in."

Zhou Yi pushed open the door, and Dean Hu stood up in surprise when he saw Zhou Yi.

"Dean Hu, do you remember me?"

Dean Hu nodded repeatedly and said, "Officer Zhou, of course I remember. What brings you here?"

Zhou Yi introduced Chen Yan and showed him his identification.

Seeing that the officers opposite him had produced their identification, Dean Hu knew it must be for official business and asked, "Officers, is there anything I can do for you? Are you... here for Xu Xinxin's parents' case?"

Zhou Yi shook his head, took out Dong Lu's household registration information and handed it over, saying, "Dean Hu, we're here for this person."

Director Hu took it and looked at it: "Dong Lu? This name sounds familiar. The registered address is indeed our welfare home."

According to Dong Lu's household registration information, in addition to the address being a welfare home, her household registration type is also a collective household registration.

However, other information has clearly not been updated in a long time; the education level column still shows high school.

"Director Hu, I remember that once the children in the welfare home turn eighteen, they have to leave the welfare home to support themselves. Do they need to transfer their household registration?"

"Regarding household registration, it's not mandatory. If there's a place that will accept you, then you can transfer your registration. If not, you'll stay with our welfare home. After all, there's nothing we can do about it. Please have a seat, comrades. I'll go find Dong Lu's file." Director Hu said, taking a key from his desk drawer.

"Thank you for your help, Dean Hu."

"Of course," Dean Hu said as she left the office. Then, she was heard calling to the staff in the corridor to go with her to the warehouse to check some information.

Zhou Yi did not sit down, but walked to a wall because he saw that an area on the wall was covered with photos.

His gaze casually swept over the photos, all of which showed the smiling faces of children from the welfare home.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on one of the newest photos.

A group of children were playing "Eagle Catches Chicks," and the person protecting the large group of children behind them was Lu Xiaoshuang.

It was taken by staff at the welfare home when they visited last time.

In the photo, Lu Xiaoshuang is smiling brightly.

A little while later, Dean Hu hurriedly walked in with a stack of documents.

"Gentlemen, I found Dong Lu's information. She is indeed a child who came from our welfare home, but it was quite a while ago, and I haven't met her. I was transferred here to take charge of the work here in 1992, so I haven't met this child before."

Zhou Yi took the documents and began to look at them with Chen Yan.

Dean Hu poured tea for the two of them.

According to the records, Dong Lu entered the orphanage in 1966, because someone abandoned her at the gate of the orphanage when she was just born.

Director Hu said that such things still happen now, not just in the past, but more often in the past. For example, there are cases of son preference, illegitimate children, premarital pregnancy, and families that are too poor to raise the children. It's considered that anyone who abandons a child at the gate of an orphanage has a conscience.

Those with no conscience would just throw them into the river, into the trash can, or into the reeds and wasteland.

As he spoke, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Those of them who do this job see too many things like this, just like criminal investigators see too many murder cases.

The day she was thrown into the orphanage was the day of the Cold Dew solar term in 1966.

That's why she was named Dong Lu. As for the name, Dean Hu said it was probably given by the former dean.

Dean Hu said, "The old dean's surname is Dong, so many abandoned babies without names or surnames will take the old dean's surname Dong, so these children will all be family."

Chen Yan asked, "Then, Dean Hu, are there many children with the surname Hu these days?"

Dean Hu smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

The rest of the information was more normal, recording some information about Dong Lu's primary, middle, and high school education. Zhou Yi paid special attention to the middle and high school information and found that she did not attend the same school as Xiao Bing, indicating that the two did not have any overlap in their schooling.

By 1984, Dong Lu had turned eighteen.

According to the law, orphans who are 18 years of age or older, and who are physically healthy and have no intellectual disabilities, are required to leave the orphanage.

According to the information, Dong Lu also completed the relevant procedures in October of that year.

Judging from the year she enrolled, this was the year she finished the college entrance examination and started university.

The records from the welfare home are the same as the household registration records, and there is no record of Dong Lu attending university.

However, there are a few black and white photos in the materials. One is a photo of Dong Lu when she was a baby, and the other is a photo of her when she was five or six years old. She had pigtails and a round face, which was very cute.

The last photo was probably taken when Dong Lu was fifteen or sixteen years old. Although her face still looked childish, you could tell that she was very pretty.

What made Zhou Yi gasp for breath was that Dong Lu in the photo looked six or seven points similar to Lu Xiaoshuang.

(End of this chapter)