Chapter 45: Chapter 44: Case Closed! ’All for Nothing!
...
Time: October 2nd.
Location: Sishui County, Jiangsan City.
The Fifth People’s Hospital.
"The first half of my life was a string of failures. I drifted from my hometown to Haiyun Province like a rat, scurrying through the dark corners."
"I scraped by at the very bottom. The people I dealt with were beggars, vagrants, and ordinary factory workers."
"My name was ’Hey you,’ ’You there,’ and ’Oi.’ Those were all our names. But starting yesterday..."
"My name is Zhang Hai."
Inside the hospital, the murderer, Zhang Hai, who had just undergone surgery, was confined to a special room, flanked by ramrod-straight police officers.
Li Jianye sat in a chair, raising an eyebrow as he heard this. His dark, somber eyes fixed on the man.
Nearby, a bored-looking Xu Huo occasionally fiddled with the flowers on the windowsill or glanced outside.
Zhang Hai had been arrested.
With no escape route left, he ultimately chose not to take the reporter hostage. Instead, in a state of extreme agitation, he decided to spend his final moments of freedom in front of the cameras.
"So, just for a bit of fame, you..."
"...killed Chen Li?"
Li Jianye put down his pen and paper, his tone growing cold and hard.
"Just because she was a reporter, a job you dreamed of, and something you could only wish for but never have!?"
Zhang Hai had confessed. He seemed to be in a very good mood.
He answered every question the police asked, even divulging details about the murders and clues like how he wiped down the weapon.
But his cooperative attitude only made the police more furious.
"She deserved to die!"
Speaking of Chen Li, Zhang Hai’s expression darkened, but he didn’t elaborate.
Although he was wearing a hospital gown, it might as well have been a prison uniform.
Handcuffs were fastened to his wrist, the other end chained to the headboard. Without the police’s help, he couldn’t even move a meter away from the bed!
This was a hospital room.
And also an interrogation room!
"Hah! Deserved to die? How so? Why don’t you tell us!?"
Li Jianye sneered, his face terrifyingly cold.
How terrifying can a person’s jealousy be?
It’s simply horrifying!
There was once a case where the subject made a fortune raising fish. He started by cleaning up and contracting a fishpond, then moved into aquaculture and selling the fish, putting himself on the path to wealth.
Until one morning, he discovered all the fish in his pond had been poisoned and were floating belly-up. He was wiped out, his family utterly ruined.
Who poisoned them? What was the conflict? Why did it happen?
His own relative did it. There was no conflict. As for why he did it...
It was because the man was making money.
That’s right. It was simply because the man was making money and didn’t include him in the venture. For that reason, he poisoned the fish, destroying the man’s life and family!
There were no fights, no arguments, not even a life-or-death grudge. It was just that one person was making money while the other wasn’t, so he was willing to go to jail just to see the other man lose everything.
It’s outrageous.
But it’s reality.
Such is the human heart. People are not troubled by scarcity, but by inequality.
This was especially true for an extremist like Zhang Hai. He was surpassed by a woman he knew inside and out, one whose family might have even been poorer than his when they were kids, and now she stood in a place he didn’t even dare to dream of...
That jealousy would burst forth from within, devouring all reason!
"And for that, you murdered three people!?"
Li Jianye’s voice grew heavier, like a pool of stagnant water.
For fame, for attention, he murdered three people...
Chen Li, a university student with a bright future. Zhao Lian, a mother with children still in school. A beggar, a pitiful soul just trying to survive at the bottom.
All because this man wanted attention, they had to be murdered by him?
Is there any fucking justice left in this goddamn world!?
"Heh heh, have you ever experienced it?"
Zhang Hai suddenly broke into a lewd grin. As he spoke, his eyes lost focus and his breathing grew heavy with excitement.
"That feeling... when everyone is watching you, everyone fears you, when all eyes are on you!"
"You’ve never felt it. You’re just an ordinary person. You’re not me. You have no idea what it tastes like!"
Every scene replayed in his mind.
That uncontrollable, crazed smile returned to Zhang Hai’s face.
"All of Haiyun Province!"
"The entire province of Haiyun, a population of a hundred million, and at least ten million of them know my name—Zhang Hai!"
"An entire province! Do you know how incredible it feels to be the focus of an entire province?"
As he spoke, Zhang Hai actually got up, gesturing wildly. His one uncuffed, uninjured arm flailed about.
The wide movements caused the sharp, metallic rattle of the handcuff to ring out clearly.
"I’m standing at the summit of all of Haiyun Province!"
"It was all fucking worth it!!!"
He laughed, his features twitching, just like a drug addict.
SNAP!
The ballpoint pen in Li Jianye’s hand had snapped in two. He glanced at the recording device, staring for a long moment before his face turned ashen and he stood up to leave.
’This man is already insane.’
’His brain doesn’t work like a normal person’s. Now that we have the information, staying here is just pure torture.’
Xu Huo followed behind him, but before he had taken two steps...
CLACK!
A rectangular plastic slab fell to the floor, drawing everyone’s attention.
"A videotape?"
Li Jianye frowned, looking at Xu Huo in confusion.
"Yep, a videotape. From the reporter."
Xu Huo nodded casually, then paused as if he’d discovered something fun. He turned his head and looked at Zhang Hai with great interest.
"Tsk. You’re not in the media, so you probably don’t know that news reports from journalists are generally broadcast in one of two ways, right?"
News reports are divided into real-time reporting—that is, live broadcasts—and...
Pre-recorded broadcasts!
The thing Xu Huo was holding was the videotape.
"Unfortunately for you, this is from the camera you got right up close to at the end."
"Mmm, and if I’m not mistaken, besides the police and the reporters, no one else knows about this tape."
It was a pre-recorded segment. Everything Zhang Hai did, including saying his name, was all on this tape.
In other words, no one out there knows who he is!
Zhang Hai’s smile froze. He stared daggers at Xu Huo, his face ashen, and the hospital room suddenly plunged into an eerie silence.
"Don’t believe me?"
Xu Huo raised his eyebrows. He clapped his hands, and an officer brought over a laptop.
Opening the laptop, Xu Huo thoughtfully moved it a little closer to Zhang Hai and, using the mouse, searched for news about the case.
He clicked open various news articles. Countless comments scrolled by, but there wasn’t a single piece of information related to the name "Zhang Hai."
"Well, unfortunately for you, after the police announced the case was solved last night, the buzz around the incident dropped by at least two-thirds."
"The people still following are waiting for an official police announcement."
"On all platforms, there are no reports about you personally, because..."
As he spoke, Xu Huo met the man’s soul-devouring gaze.
"Your identity is right here."
He patted the videotape.
The room was silent. Not a sound was made.
Until...
"Give it to me."
Zhang Hai stared intently at Xu Huo, his voice a dry rasp.
"Alright."
Xu Huo smiled, not caring in the least. He tossed the videotape to Zhang Hai.
So...
"I gave it to you. Now what?" Xu Huo taunted.
Now what?
Are you going to broadcast it?
How are you going to do that? With your cuffed hand? Or from that one-meter area you can’t even leave?
"Hilarious."
Xu Huo shot him a contemptuous look, shook his head with a "tsk, tsk," and then, under the man’s stupefied gaze, walked out.
Li Jianye was stunned, following him out instinctively.
After a long moment.
A heart-rending roar of fury erupted from behind them.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!!!!"
"I’ll kill you! I’LL KILL YOU!!!!"
"..."
...
"Tsk. In the end, it was all for nothing."
"And the cost was three human lives, three innocent victims, and two happy families."
"He gained nothing, and now he’s facing the death penalty at a minimum."
Outside the hospital, Li Jianye sat on a ledge as if a great weight had been lifted from his mind. He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag.
He took a deep inhale, and the nicotine instantly filled his lungs, calming his nerves. He relaxed instinctively, slowly exhaling a plume of white smoke.
"The higher-ups are taking Zhang Hai so seriously that they’d sooner lose me than him. You can rest assured."
On the internet, the police were coordinating with the cyber police to control public opinion.
The public outcry that had exploded yesterday had all but vanished today.
Zhang Hai’s name would not appear online. Even if passersby at the arrest scene heard it, it wouldn’t matter. The police would make ninety percent of netizens forget this incident within three days.
As for Zhang Hai...
He was a complete and utter loser!
"That son of a bitch is a dead man."
Li Jianye commented, then paused and looked over at Xu Huo.
"What about you?"
"What are your plans now?"
"Go home and crash for a couple of days."
Xu Huo stretched and yawned.
During his seven days in Sishui County, he’d barely gotten any decent sleep, and last night was no exception. All he wanted now was to go home and sleep for a solid, long time.
"Crash for a couple of days?"
Li Jianye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After solving such a huge case—one that shook even the city bureau—all Xu Huo wanted was to go home and crash for a couple of days.
"Forget about crashing for a couple of days."
Li Jianye said with a grin.
"I got an order not long ago. Our boss wants to see you. He asked for you by name."
"Me?"
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Old Chu?"
"That’s right. The Chief of the Jiangsan City Public Security Bureau. Department-level, holds several concurrent posts in Jiangsan City, and a city chief who’s well-regarded even at the provincial department!"
Li Jianye nodded, then paused before adding:
"Besides him, there are a few others."
"Others?" Xu Huo was taken aback. He could understand the chief wanting to see him, but the others... he couldn’t imagine who they might be.
"Heh, they’re from the provincial department."
"Whoa, that kind of rank..."
Li Jianye stood up with a laugh and patted Xu Huo’s shoulder.
"You’d better get over there and see what’s up!"
’People from the provincial department?’
’What do they want with me!?’
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.