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

Chapter 424 As long as she's doing well (Day 4 of 10,000 words, please vote for me)
Zhou Yi immediately thought of Qin Beihai's son, Qin Feng.

I only resemble Qin Feng by about three points.

They are similar in height, build, and facial features, but their facial features are actually quite different.

The reason why the Qin couple felt the resemblance was mainly because their own background and experiences made up for Qin Feng's regrets, so they projected all their feelings for their son onto themselves.

However, Lu Xiaoshuang and Dong Lu are six or seven points similar in appearance alone.

The same face shape, bright and expressive eyes, only Lu Xiaoshuang's nose was a little smaller, and the curve of her mouth was fuller when she smiled, but that was enough to make Zhou Yi feel dazed.

If Zhou Yi were not familiar with Lu Xiaoshuang, and someone showed him this photo of Dong Lu and told him that this was what Lu Xiaoshuang looked like when she was fifteen, he would believe it.

There is a difference between fifteen and nineteen years old; at fifteen, one has not yet fully matured.

He exchanged a glance with Chen Yan, worried that his subjective judgment might be wrong.

But Chen Yan nodded knowingly at him, which meant that from his perspective as an outsider, he also thought the two looked alike.

In addition to their similar appearances, they may also share another similarity: self-reliance.

In this respect, Dong Lu is even worse off than Lu Xiaoshuang.

Because after turning eighteen, Dong Lu, who is physically healthy, will have to leave the orphanage. Whether she gets into university or goes out to work, she will have to support herself.

Just like the boy named Gao Fei that Zhou Yi met when she visited the orphanage last time.

Judging from the literary books and videotapes in the basement, Dong Lu most likely went on to pursue further studies.

That means she will have to work while studying to pay for her tuition and living expenses.

That's just like Lu Xiaoshuang.

But at least Lu Xiaoshuang has her parents, who live far away in Northwest China, to help with part of her tuition fees.

Dong Lu, however, had no one to rely on.

She must be Xiao Bing, whom I met during university, since they were only a year apart.

Two people who share the same plight rely on each other.

But for some unknown reason, Dong Lu was accidentally and severely burned, and Xiao Bing took her in his basement.

From that moment on, Dong Lu, a person with no ties to the world, disappeared from this world.

Later, amidst both physical and emotional pain, Dong Lu escaped from herself and developed a new personality. This personality believed she was born on the day of Frost's Descent and named herself Xiao Shuang (Little Frost).

In other words, to some extent, there were two people who lived with Xiao Bing for many years: Dong Lu and Xiao Shuang.

Then, until last year, a girl who looked seven-tenths like Dong Lu before her disfigurement walked into the grand school gate.

Moreover, this girl was also born on the day of Frost's Descent, and was also named Xiao Shuang. Just like Dong Lu back then, she had to work part-time while attending school in order to make a living.

In Xiao Bing's eyes, this was probably the best substitute for Dong Lu from his past memories.

Zhou Yi told Dean Hu that they might need to take the document first and return it later when they were done using it.

Dean Hu said there was no problem.

Then Zhou Yi asked, "Director Hu, do you know anyone in our welfare home who might have seen Dong Lu before?"

Dean Hu thought for a moment and said, "How about I give you an address so you can go find the old dean?"

Zhou Yi immediately expressed his gratitude, because there was no one more suitable than the former dean. Relying solely on the information provided was far too limited; he had to consult with the directly related person.

Dean Hu immediately wrote down an address for the two and gave it to them.

Before leaving, Dean Hu said with a smile, "Officer Zhou, there's something I'm not sure if it's appropriate to bring it up now."

"It's alright, Dean Hu. Just tell us what you need to help with, and we'll do our best."

"It's nothing major, it's just that Xu Xinxin has asked several times when her older sister will come to see her again. Since you're here, I thought I'd bring it up."

Zhou Yi glanced back at the photo wall and said, "Dean Hu, tell Xu Xinxin that her older sister will be coming to see her soon, and tell her to behave."

After leaving the orphanage, Chen Yan glanced at the address on the note, stepped on the gas, and drove off.

It will probably take more than half an hour to get to this old director's house from here.

On the way, Chen Yan couldn't help but say, "Zhou Yi, isn't this too much of a coincidence? Dong Lu and Lu Xiaoshuang really do look alike."

"Yes, this is really unexpected."

This was a clue that had never been found in the previous life; the existence of Dong Lu was appearing for the first time.

"Do you think these things are related to the major case? Although it's a coincidence, it seems like they have nothing to do with the major case now," Chen Yan said.

Zhou Yi lowered his head in thought. Yes, although they were investigating along the line with Dong Lu, it seemed that neither Xiao Bing nor Dong Lu had anything to do with this massive dismemberment case.

Is it really just a completely unrelated coincidence?
“No, it can’t be that simple,” Zhou Yi murmured softly. “This connection must be related to something grand in the grand scheme of things, and it might even be of paramount importance.”

Zhou Yi's intuition as a detective from two lifetimes told him this!
On the way, Zhou Yi contacted Xiang Jie and Qiao Jiali separately.

Xiang Jie said he had already reported to Liang Wei, but Liang Wei was rather conservative about using the media, because releasing information that the two suspects, Xiao Bing and Dong Lu, were at large could easily cause public panic, given the bizarre extent of the dismemberment in this case.

Liang Weihui would discuss it with the leaders, but Xiang Jie said that Liang's detachment had already asked him to allocate more manpower to assist Jiang Biao in the search, and the attitude was self-evident.

Another point is that, so far, Dong Lu's name has not been found in the student lists of Xiao Bing's class, or the classes before and after hers.

The situation was similar for Qiao Jiali; no name, Dong Lu, was found in the criminal case, nor was any matching arson case found.

She's currently investigating civil cases; if there aren't any civil cases, then she can only investigate non-litigation cases.

In other words, cases that are ultimately resolved through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration do not reach the point of being submitted to the courts.

If they still don't have it, then the local police stations will have to check the police records one by one.

Under normal circumstances, after confirming suicide, the police will not file a case, but will issue an "Unnatural Death Certificate" for the family to use for subsequent procedures such as cremation.

In the An Yuan case, Fan Zhongliang exploited this loophole, fabricating the crime of murdering his wife to make it appear as a legitimate death.

The main problem is that we don't know when or where Dong Lu's accident happened; otherwise, we could directly contact the local police station to investigate.

Zhou Yi said, "Sister Qiao, don't worry, wait for our news. I feel that the old director of the welfare home should know something."

After all, Dong Lu shares her surname, and she even chose her given name.

Soon, Chen Yan found his destination: a detached, self-built house.

A fence was built around the yard, and many crops were planted in the yard. The small building is quite old, with mottled exterior walls covered with the marks of time and ivy.

As soon as the two stopped the car outside the yard, an old woman wearing a straw hat who was bending over and weeding straightened up and looked over.

The two asked around and confirmed that the elderly woman with glasses and a full head of silver hair was the previous director of the welfare home.

Zhou Yi cut to the chase, directly showing Dong Lu's photo and asking, "Old Dean, do you remember this person?"

The old lady adjusted her glasses, took the photo, looked at it, and said, "Isn't this Xiao Lu?"

We found the right person! Even after all these years, the old lady recognized her at a glance.

Zhou Yi quickly pressed Dong Lu for details about her life after she came of age.

The old lady thought for a moment and said, "I remember... Xiao Lu went to a teachers' college."

"Teachers' college?"

"Hongcheng Teachers' College?"

Compared to other prefecture-level cities of the same level, Hongcheng has an absolute advantage in educational resources, mainly due to the existence of Hongda, which has driven the development of Hongcheng's education system.

This is why the city is paying so much attention to the Hongda case.

Hongcheng has a total of three undergraduate institutions and three higher vocational colleges.

Besides Hongda, there is also Hongcheng Broadcasting Institute, where Ding Chunmei studied, and a teachers' college.

Of course, the latter two were both ordinary second-tier universities, but in the 1980s and 1990s, their degrees were still extremely valuable.

In other words, although Dong Lu may have a tough life, as long as she perseveres until she graduates from university, her future will be bright.

He graduated from a teacher training college in the late 1980s and was able to teach high school, which already put him ahead of 90 percent of the people in the city.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that after hardship comes happiness.

After the old dean confirmed the school, Chen Yan immediately went to the side to call Xiang Jie and told him not to keep looking at Hongda's information, but to go to Hongcheng Normal College instead.

When Chen Yan returned after making the call, the old dean, under Zhou Yi's questioning, had already begun to recount the story of Dong Lu.

She said that Dong Lu was very sensible from a young age. Not only was she good at studying, but she was also very optimistic and cheerful. When she was seven or eight years old, she started helping to take care of children, changing diapers for her younger siblings, and teaching them to eat and dress themselves. She was just like a little parent.

As the old lady spoke, a smile of satisfaction involuntarily appeared on her lips.

"Xiao Lu is just too sensible. When she was little, she clearly had the opportunity to be adopted because she was beautiful, like a porcelain doll. But every time a kind couple who wanted to adopt came to the orphanage, she would deliberately cause trouble and be disobedient, so every time someone else was chosen to be adopted."

"At the time, I thought she was just being dramatic. I even scolded her afterward once, and she cried and said, 'If I get chosen, other children won't have the chance to have new dads and moms.'" The old lady took off her glasses, wiped her tears with the back of her rough hand, and sighed, "This child is just too sensible, always thinking of others."

These words left Zhou Yi and Chen Yan feeling uneasy.

"Later she grew up and started school. When she reached elementary school age, the chances of her being adopted were very slim, so she stayed in the orphanage until she took the college entrance exam."

"With the college entrance exam approaching, she came to ask me which school she wanted to attend and what major she wanted to study," the old lady said, putting her glasses back on. "Actually, Xiaolu's grades are really good; she could definitely get into a top university like Hongda. But realistically, she can't afford the tuition and living expenses of Hongda, and the hospital can't help her in that regard either. After all, the hospital is short of funds, and we're spending the people's money. We have to be very careful with every penny."

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan nodded repeatedly, indicating their understanding.

After the market economy took off, a small group of people got rich through business, and only then did people start doing charity and making private donations.

Before that, the funds allocated by higher authorities to maintain the operating costs of these social welfare units were indeed, as the old director said, stretched thin.

"So I told her that she could try applying to a teacher's college, since teacher's college programs are tuition-free."

That's true. Dong Lu took the college entrance exam in 1984. At that time, teacher training colleges were important bases for training teachers, and tuition fees were usually subsidized by the government, so students basically didn't have to pay tuition. Most colleges even provided living allowances, such as meal subsidies and scholarships.

This is a far-sighted policy move by the country, aiming to reduce the economic burden on students' families and cultivate a large number of teachers for basic education.

Because only education can strengthen a nation and enable us to plan for its future.

This is the foundation of the nation!

Therefore, the old dean's suggestion was excellent, and it was indeed the best way out for Dong Lu's situation.

“I also told her that another advantage of studying to be a teacher is that after graduation, you will be assigned a job, which is reliable and stable.”

In fact, in the 1980s, university graduates were basically guaranteed job placement. After all, university graduates were synonymous with elite talent at that time, and many enterprises and institutions were eager to hire them.

The same applies to teachers, given the growing population and the increasing diversity of subject content, which necessitates a greater number of new teachers.

Of course, if you don't like the assigned job, you can resign and find another one. However, this is much less likely to happen in teacher training programs than in other fields. Many college graduates who become teachers continue to work as educators until retirement.

The practice of assigning jobs gradually began to be replaced by independent job selection around the 1990s due to the development of the market economy.

Lu Xiaoshuang, for example, graduated in 1996, which was right around the turn of the millennium. At that time, except for those with special majors, most people chose their own careers.

However, even if they chose to pursue their own careers, college graduates around the turn of the millennium had no trouble finding jobs, let alone those from prestigious universities like Grand University.

Unlike twenty years later, when academic qualifications have become devalued and large numbers of college graduates face unemployment upon graduation.

"Actually... I could tell she was a little disappointed, because after all, she had such good grades. But that's life, there's never a time when everything goes her way. So she listened to me and applied to the local teachers' college, and she got in smoothly."

"Have you seen her since she went to university?" Chen Yan asked.

The old lady said, "Yes, I see her often. After she went to university, she would go back to the welfare home to volunteer almost every weekend, and she would also teach the children to read, write, and draw."

"Doesn't she usually work part-time or anything?"

"I don't think so. I'm not entirely sure about that. She said the school provides a meal allowance, and the teacher helped her apply for a waiver of textbook and tuition fees. She also receives a scholarship every year. She shouldn't have any financial difficulties, since she uses her scholarship money to buy gifts for the children."

Zhou Yi nodded, clearly demonstrating how correct the old dean's choice was; the teacher training major was indeed the best option for Dong Lu.

If she had studied at Hongda University, she would probably have fallen into the same predicament as Lu Xiaoshuang, struggling to make ends meet for tuition and living expenses.

Or, she might become like Xu Liu, selling herself and accepting a man's support.

Of course, the difference in admission scores between Hongda and Hongcheng Normal College is also a helpless move by Dong Lu.

"So, did Dong Lu graduate smoothly afterward?" Dong Lu took the college entrance examination in 1984, so theoretically she should have graduated in 1988.

The old lady nodded: "She should have graduated by now. I remember she went to a middle school for an internship in the second semester of her senior year."

Zhou Yi frowned slightly. What do you mean by "should"?

"Dean, when was the last time you met Dong Lu?"

A hint of melancholy flashed in the old lady's eyes behind her glasses: "Oh, I can't remember. I only remember that after she went to do her internship, she didn't come back for quite a while."

The old lady used the word "come back," which shows that in her eyes, Dong Lu was the child who had left home.

"I know she's busy with work. The last time... was probably the first year after graduation. It happened to be her birthday, and her boyfriend even bought a cake and came back with her. I asked her how work was, whether the students were obedient, and whether her boss treated her well. She just kept smiling and told me everything was fine."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi and Chen Yan thought, "Boyfriend?"
He hurriedly asked, "Old Dean, have you met Dong Lu's boyfriend?"

"Yes, I've seen him. He was a fair-skinned young man with glasses, and a little taller than Xiao Lu."

Do you know her boyfriend's name?

"Oh, I completely forgot. Xiao Lu did introduce you to her," the old lady said. "I remember we even took a picture back then. I still have it. Shall I go get it for you?"

"Excuse me."

The old lady took off her straw hat, walked into the house, and laboriously climbed upstairs.

Zhou Yi told Chen Yan, "Dong Lu graduated in 1988, and in 1991, Xiao Bing took her to see Director Sun for mental illness treatment. Director Sun said that her burn condition had stabilized at that time."

“I remember that Xiao Bing’s maternal grandmother passed away in April 1990. Before that, Xiao Bing promised to bring his girlfriend home, but he didn’t.”

"The former dean said that the last time he saw Dong Lu was on her first birthday after graduation, which was in October of 1989."

"That means Dong Lu's burns must have happened sometime between the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990."

Chen Yan nodded in agreement and said he would call Sister Qiao and tell her the timeframe.

Although it's not possible to pinpoint the exact police station yet, having a clear timeframe makes the investigation much easier.

Chen Yan went to make a phone call, and Zhou Yi found it a bit strange about Dong Lu's reaction to the concern mentioned earlier by the old dean.

This kind of response—just a smile and a vague "everything's fine"—doesn't sound like something Dong Lu would say to the old dean.

For Dong Lu, the former dean was like her father and mother, the closest people to her in the world.

This "it's all good" response with a smile is generally used when dealing with people who are not very close to you, and it shows a clearly perfunctory attitude.

But Dong Lu couldn't possibly be perfunctory with the old dean, especially since she had already brought Xiao Bing back.

Unless... this isn't just a perfunctory response, but a cover-up, there's some reason why Dong Lu needs to cover up when facing the old dean's questions.

She started her internship in the second semester of her senior year. Did something happen at school?

After Chen Yan finished his call, the old dean came downstairs, holding a photo, and handed it to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi thanked him and accepted the photo. There were three people in the photo.

The person in the very center is the former dean, who was a bit fatter than he is now, and his hair was mostly black with very little white.

The old dean was wearing a cardboard birthday hat, and in front of him was a cream cake with several lit candles on it.

"This child insisted that I blow out the candles and make a wish, and even put her hat on my head," the old lady said with a nostalgic smile, though there was a hint of melancholy in her smile.

To the left of the old dean was a young girl with a ponytail, wearing a pink sweater, who was affectionately hugging the old dean and smiling very happily.

Zhou Yi was momentarily dazed. Dong Lu in the photo should have been twenty-two years old at this time, and she really looked like Lu Xiaoshuang, about eight-tenths similar.

To the right of the old dean, the young Xiao Bing stood with a smile on his face, his gaze fixed on Dong Lu.

The old lady pointed to the photo and said, "This young man is Xiaolu's boyfriend. Xiaolu said he is a teacher at Hongda University. I was so happy at the time. I thought it was so good that one was a university teacher and the other was a high school teacher. They could support each other in the future. This young man's life has finally come to an end."

"Dean, have you not seen Dong Lu since then?"

The old lady shook her head.

"What about making a phone call or writing a letter?"

"Sigh..." The old lady sighed, "I guess she's been too busy with work. It's been almost ten years now. She and this young man should be married by now, and their child should be in elementary school by now."

The old lady's long sigh weighed heavily on Zhou Yi and Chen Yan's hearts.

To the old dean, Dong Lu was like her child. After growing up, she suddenly disappeared without a trace, not even telling her about major events like getting married and having children. Anyone would be heartbroken and disappointed.

But they knew part of the truth: it wasn't that Dong Lu didn't want to, but that she couldn't.

It must have been shortly after that that Dong Lu had her accident. She ended up living in Xiao Bing's basement and developed a serious mental illness.

The old lady said slowly, "Actually, it's fine not to keep in touch. People always have to look forward. As long as she's doing well now, that's enough."

Hey……

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan exchanged a glance and decided to conceal their purpose for coming today.

Sure enough, the old lady, realizing what had happened, asked Xiao Lu what was wrong and if something had occurred.

Zhou Yi said that there was a case that was somewhat related to her, so she wanted to understand the situation. It was just a routine investigation, and she didn't need to be nervous.

After asking some more detailed questions, the two borrowed the photo from the old lady.

On the way back to the task force, Xiang Jie called and provided a new investigation location: the middle school where Dong Lu was assigned after graduation.

After receiving Chen Yan's call, Xiang Jie immediately sent someone to Hongcheng Normal College.

With her name and year of enrollment, it became much easier to find her. Dong Lu's name was quickly found in the list of Chinese Literature majors from the class of '84.

It wasn't so quick to learn about Dong Lu's situation during university, but in order not to delay the investigation, the people sent over first found out the school where Dong Lu did her senior year internship and was assigned after graduation, and told Xiang Jie about it.

This school is Kaiping No. 3 Middle School. Back then, Kaiping was still a county.

On the phone, Xiang Jie said, "I just got the news too, and I haven't had time to check the exact address of Kaiping No. 3 Middle School yet."

Upon hearing the message on speakerphone, Chen Yan, who was driving, replied, "Officer Xiang, there's no need to investigate. I know this Kaiping No. 3 Middle School."

"Yeah, that's great."

"The Kaiping No. 3 Middle School is gone." Chen Yan's words startled Xiang Jie and also made Zhou Yi pause.

"Gone?"

"I remember it was around 1990, because of the planning and construction issues in Kaiping District, Kaiping No. 3 Middle School was merged into Kaiping No. 1 Middle School. I know the location of No. 1 Middle School, let's go there now."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi casually asked, "Is that so? I've never heard of it."

Chen Yan said, "It's quite a coincidence. One of our high school teachers came from Kaiping No. 3 Middle School, and he told us this himself."

The two then rushed to Kaiping No. 1 Middle School, found the director of the academic affairs office, and explained their purpose.

The director of the academic affairs office touched his shiny bald head and said, "Dong Lu, we don't seem to have a teacher with that name here."

"Not now, but after graduating from teachers' college in 1988, I entered No. 3 Middle School."

“1988… or Third Middle School… um… this is probably not easy to find out,” the director of the Academic Affairs Office said with difficulty.

Chen Yan said, "Why? Back in 1990, No. 3 Middle School was merged into No. 1 Middle School, which was only two years ago."

“Officers, it’s not that I’m not cooperating, it’s just really difficult to investigate. When No. 3 Middle School was merged into the school, things were quite chaotic, and a lot of documents were lost. If the teacher you’re looking for, Ms. Dong Lu, wasn’t at No. 3 Middle School before the merger, then these documents are probably truly unavailable. We’ve had to re-collect a lot of documents for the teachers who came from No. 3 Middle School.”

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and asked, "When No. 3 Middle School was merged into us, were there any leaders who knew the situation, such as the principal of No. 3 Middle School? We can ask him."

The director of the academic affairs office smiled helplessly and said, "You probably won't be able to ask that."

"Why? This person is dead?"

"No, but they're already inside." As he spoke, the director of the academic affairs office poked his finger into the air.

Once he's in there, he'll naturally be going to prison.

"What crime did you commit? How many years were you sentenced to?"

"How would I know how many years he was sentenced to? I'm from No. 1 Middle School. The principal of No. 3 Middle School was already in jail before the merger. I don't know the specifics, but I heard it was for rape."

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan immediately exchanged a glance. Rape? Could it be...?

After asking some further questions, it was discovered that the director was indeed unaware of the situation.

He also called over two colleagues and asked them if they remembered a teacher named Dong Lu who had transferred from No. 3 Middle School.

The other two teachers shook their heads. One of them said that when No. 3 Middle School was merged into the school, there weren't actually many teachers accepted.

The main reason is that the Hongcheng government did not do a good job in planning Kaiping District. They had made such a big show of changing the county into a district and expanded the scale of other related areas, but the new district did not develop well and the population was lost in large numbers. At that time, the No. 1 Middle School and the No. 3 Middle School were not full, so the Education Bureau decided to merge them.

At that time, many teachers were transferred to various middle schools throughout the city, so they were scattered.

In addition, the previous principal of No. 3 Middle School had committed such a scandal, and the management and teaching quality plummeted before the merger.

As soon as Zhou Yi left Kaiping No. 1 Middle School, before even getting back into his car, he immediately took out his phone to call Qiao Jiali.

Ask her to investigate the case of the principal of Kaiping No. 3 Middle School going to jail, and see if it is related to Dong Lu.

While dialing, Qiao Jiali's call came in.

"Sister Qiao, we just happened to need to talk to you about something."

"Zhou Yi, I've discovered a case that's related to Dong Lu."

Was it a rape case?

Qiao Jiali on the other end of the phone asked in surprise, "You found out too?"

Zhou Yi's heart sank. "I only found out a little clue: is the rapist the principal of Kaiping No. 3 Middle School?"

"That's right, it's Xin Yunfei, the then principal of Kaiping No. 3 Middle School. He was arrested on June 16, 1988, on suspicion of raping Dong Lu, a female intern teacher at the school, and was eventually sentenced to eight years. Xin Yunfei was released from prison in 1996, and his current whereabouts are unknown."

Qiao Jiali's words have essentially put an end to this matter.

No wonder Zhou Yi had no recollection of it, because although rape is a criminal case, it is not a murder case, so the case file was not sent to the provincial capital.

This case was likely handled by the Kaiping branch of the Public Security Bureau at the time.

Qiao Jiali added some details.

Dong Lu started her internship at Kaiping No. 3 Middle School at the end of February 1988, according to the school's assignment.

Since Dong Lu started her internship at the school, Xin Yunfei has shown her extra care and enthusiasm. Because Kaiping No. 3 Middle School is located in a remote area and commuting is inconvenient, Xin Yunfei specially approved a single teacher dormitory room for Dong Lu to live in.

The rape ultimately occurred in this single dormitory room.

From the time Dong Lu started her internship at the school to the time the incident occurred, only three and a half months had passed.

At first, Xin Yunfei was relatively restrained in his criminal desires. He would take advantage of his position to frequently call Dong Lu to his office to talk to her and take the opportunity to have physical contact with her.

They became increasingly brazen, frequently going to the faculty dormitory building after school and forcibly entering Dong Lu's dormitory under various pretexts to verbally and physically harass her.

This includes his unhappiness in his married life, the repression and pain of not having sex for a long time, and other despicable acts such as lying on Dong Lu's bed and refusing to leave under the pretext of physical discomfort.

According to the case statement, Dong Lu repeatedly and subtly conveyed to Xin Yunfei that she already had a boyfriend and hoped that he would respect himself.

But Xin Yunfei turned a deaf ear and his behavior became increasingly outrageous.

The most serious incident occurred when Dong Lu discovered that Xin Yunfei had been there and that she had lost a pair of underwear. Xin Yunfei denied it outright and even lectured her in a sanctimonious manner, telling her not to make baseless accusations at such a young age and to produce evidence if she had the guts.

Dong Lu cried and said that if he continued to be so shameless, she would report him to the education bureau.

This incident occurred in mid-May. Since then, Xin Yunfei has never gone to the faculty dormitory to look for Dong Lu again. However, Dong Lu said that she had repeatedly encountered setbacks in her internship and had been targeted and made things difficult for her. It was obvious that this was instigated by Principal Xin Yunfei.

At this point, the drawbacks of teacher training programs become apparent.

Although graduates are guaranteed job placement, and most can stay on after a normal internship.

But precisely because jobs are assigned, it means that graduates have no other choice; you have to work wherever you're assigned.

If you give up on your own, there's a high chance you won't get a second chance.

Of course, one could pursue employment through social recruitment after graduation, but within the education system at that time, this possibility was relatively low.

So even though Dong Lu was deeply troubled and miserable, there was nothing she could do but swallow her anger, since she had no evidence to file a complaint with the education bureau.

Fortunately, after that incident, that bastard Xin Yunfei quieted down.

It wasn't until the evening of June 16th that Xin Yunfei suddenly appeared in the faculty dormitory.

Dong Lu said she refused to let him into the house, but he forced his way in under the pretext of discussing her promotion to a permanent position.

Then Xin Yunfei shamelessly made a deal, saying that he had taken a liking to Dong Lu from the first day she came to the school. If she wanted to become a full-time employee and stay, she could become his mistress. He would not only help her become a full-time employee, but also give her money every month and rent an apartment for her. He also promised that as long as she followed him, he would help her get promoted and receive a raise, and that she could achieve in three years what Dong Lu couldn't achieve in twenty years.

Xin Yunfei also threatened her that if she refused, not only would she not be able to get a permanent position at No. 3 Middle School, but he also guaranteed that no school in Hongcheng would hire her because he would write the worst evaluation on her internship record and keep that internship report in her file for life.

He also said that he had checked her information and knew that she was an orphan with no parents and no one to support her.

Just when Xin Yunfei thought he had the victory in his grasp, Dong Lu gritted her teeth and said: Even if I have to beg for food, even if I starve to death, I will never submit to the tyranny of you, you beast in human form.

These words completely enraged Xin Yunfei, who, in a fit of rage, resorted to violence to beat and rape Dong Lu.

Dong Lu's cries and struggles attracted the attention of other teachers in the dormitory, and Xin Yunfei was eventually caught in the act of committing the crime.

According to the forensic examination, Dong Lu suffered not only rape but also minor injuries of the first degree in this case.

The police investigation went very smoothly because they not only caught the perpetrators red-handed, but also had a large number of eyewitnesses.

After the investigation was completed, the case was transferred to the procuratorate, and Xin Yunfei was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison.

That's the whole story of the case. As for Dong Lu's whereabouts after the case was closed, that's not within the scope of the case file.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan sat in the car, listening to Qiao Jiali's description of the case, and their mood plummeted.

Because this case is full of helplessness and injustice, it is unimaginable what pain and fear Dong Lu felt during that time, let alone the despair and fear she felt when facing such a beast in human form.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi took out the photo that the old dean had given him earlier.

This photo was taken in October 1988, which means that the rape had occurred four months prior.

Looking at this photo again, Zhou Yi wondered if it was because her mindset had changed after learning about the rape case, but she felt that Dong Lu and Xiao Bing's expressions in the photo conveyed a sense of sadness.

Such incidents, regardless of the era, cause immense harm to the victims. It's impossible for them to recover so quickly after only four months.

That's why when the old dean asked her about her work, she could only give perfunctory answers, because she couldn't tell the truth.

We've finally found a few pieces of the puzzle about Xiao Bing and Dong Lu.

However, the trail also ended there, because neither the case file of the rape case nor the school's information contained anything about what happened to Dong Lu afterward.

Where did she go after the rape? What did she do?
We don't know anything from the current clues.

And how she and Xiao Bing met and got together is also unknown.

More importantly, after being raped, even greater suffering awaited her.

How exactly did she get burned, and how did she end up looking like this?

Was it an accident, or did someone reach out their evil claws and drag her into an endless abyss?

Zhou Yi glanced at the sky; another day was about to pass, and night was falling.

Zhou Yi suddenly realized that since his rebirth, he seemed to have become too accustomed to solving cases in a short period of time.

Now, more than ten days have passed since the major case was solved, and it's like a quagmire, making it impossible for him to move quickly and making his steps difficult.

……

Daguan Street was as bustling as ever.

As night fell, the shops on both sides of the street lit up their lights and started their stoves, with the sounds of stir-frying dishes rising and falling in an endless stream.

People were coming and going, and it was quite lively. It seemed that the police's midnight search not long ago had not had any impact on the surrounding area.

Many people, however, used the story of the dismembered body of a student from Hong Kong University as a topic of conversation at drinking parties, sharing "insider information" they had heard from some friends.

No one noticed that a figure was walking along the wall, in the darkness, along the edge illuminated by the warmth of human life.

If someone walks by, the figure will move even faster, like a startled cat.

Then, with practiced ease, he turned into a small alley and walked briskly through the unlit alley.

Soon, the figure stopped in front of a dark, single-story house.

The figure reached into his pocket and rummaged around for a while before taking a rope off his neck. Two keys were hanging from the rope.

The figure skillfully inserted a key into the keyhole of the door, then turned it, and the door opened.

The person slipped silently through the crack in the door and immediately closed it again.

But what the figure didn't notice was that after the door was closed, two broken seals were left hanging on it.

A figure entered the house without turning on the light, then skillfully walked to the door of the inner room, opened the door a crack, and slipped inside.

In the deathly still air, the rapid breathing of a figure echoed.

Once inside, the figure walked to the basement wall, fumbled around for a moment, then dug his fingers into the narrow gaps in the floor tiles and opened the entrance to the basement.

The person carefully climbed down, and then reached out and carefully closed the cover that connected to the floor tiles.

In the cold basement, a figure walked to the iron bunk bed, sat down first, and then slowly lay down.

In the pitch-black darkness, the figure slowly curled up into a ball on the bed.

In the basement, the previously rapid breathing gradually subsided.

Ultimately, it merged into this deathly silence.

(End of this chapter)