Chapter 883: Chen Shi's Efforts
Translator: Azza
Little Li rubbed her arms. "Let's talk outside. It's so cold here!"
Hence, they left the morgue and when they passed a large conference room, Lin Dongxue saw smoke coming out of it as if it was on fire. A bunch of male police officers were discussing the murders at the villa, burning with passion like the cigarettes in their hands. This murder case concocted by Zhou Xiao had occupied all the elite of the criminal police team.
Lin Dongxue said, "In that case, did this person do it intentionally according to your conjecture, or was it a spontaneous murder?"
"Both are possible… I think we should check before and after the incident, whether there were suspicious people at the scene."
"I'm really not trying to attack you. I just think it's a coincidence. It's like a certain legal case in which a man tried to commit suicide by jumping down from a building just as someone upstairs shot out of the window and hit him in the head. As a result, suicide became murder."
Chen Shi said, "Coincidence is also a part of reality!"
It was almost noon. The three of them ordered takeaways and continued to watch the surveillance footage while eating. Chen Shi stared at the boring video and asked, "The efficiency of having just three people is really low. Should I bring a few videos to the hospital and let Xiaodong watch some?"
"You’re horrible. He’s already injured, and you’re still thinking about his labor!" Lin Dongxue smiled.
Little Li said, "Xiaodong said that he was bored in the hospital yesterday and could help out with anything within his abilities."
Chen Shi smiled. "Work makes people happy!"
It was rush hour when the incident occurred. The bus stop was crowded with people. Lin Dongxue's eyes were frazzled from watching. Chen Shi watched very earnestly. He kept his eyes on the screen and used chopsticks to deliver ribs to his mouth. He repeatedly chewed his ribs five or six times.
Little Li bit her nails and frowned, as if trying to crack a difficult code.
Lin Dongxue also tried to perk up and continued to watch the footage.
Three hours later, Lin Dongxue said, "No way, no way, I'm going to die!" She took out eye drops from the drawer, pried open her eyelid and prepared to apply them. Little Li shouted, "You got the wrong bottle, that bottle is Little Jia's ear drops!"
Lin Dongxue brought the bottle close to her eyes and looked at it. It vaguely had the words "Zhenshiming" written on it. Then she groaned, "You tricked me!"
Little Li chuckled. After Lin Dongxue had finished using the eye drops, she used them herself and asked Chen Shi if he wanted them. Chen Shi responded, "Do I need them with such keen eyes? Let's talk about our findings and see if there are any overlaps."
Lin Dongxue glanced at the notebook at hand. "If we’re talking about suspicious people, I’ve recorded three… The man in red, the man in the black hat, and the well-built man."
Little Li said, "I was watching the surveillance footage at the intersection. The suspicious people included an aunt with a bag, a man in red, and a man in a black hat. This black hat man was the closest to the deceased at the moment the accident occurred."
Chen Shi asked, "What are your criteria for judging suspiciousness?"
"They waited for a long time but didn't get on the bus. They left after the incident." Little Li said.
Chen Shi nodded. "Come and see this!"
The two of them moved over. In the surveillance footage that Chen Shi had been watching, the man in the black hat stood beside Liang Zuoming with his hands in his jacket pockets, but a flesh-colored pixel appeared in the middle of the clothes in the instant the accident happened. It only stayed for one frame.
This frame was fatal. In the next eighth of a second, Liang Zuoming's bike fell towards the left side of the road and was hit by the car one second later.
Lin Dongxue was inspired and hurriedly looked at the surveillance footage on her side. "The reason I suspected this man was because he kept his hands in his pockets the whole time and took out his hands only when he left the scene of the crime!"
"This is a thief's trick. The sleeves in the pockets are empty. The real hands are hidden in the clothes. He stuck them out from the center of the zipper and shoved fiercely just at the right time. As he was standing in front, the people behind didn’t notice…" Chen Shi pondered. "I think the black hat man specializes in this kind of thing. He’s one of the legendary pushers!"
Chen Shi thought of Zhou Tiannan's death inexplicably. He had also been pushed down from upstairs by some mysterious person. Of course, Zhou Tiannan and Liang Zuoming had no connections at all. This shouldn’t have been done by the same person.
Lin Dongxue concluded, "So Yueyue really didn't kill anyone! But we have to find this black hat man in order to prove it…" Taking a look at the video, Lin Dongxue thought to herself that finding this suspicious black hat man would definitely bring out a lot of truths to light.
"For me, knowing that Yueyue didn't commit murder is enough. She had escaped while harboring great guilt. We should let her know that she is innocent through the media and let her come back!" Chen Shi said excitedly.
Little Li said, "I actually know someone from a TV station. He's my ex-boyfriend. I really hate him, but on behalf of Yueyue, I’ll get in touch with him!"
Little Li went outside to make a call, and Chen Shi could finally breathe a sigh of relief. "That's great, I really have to thank this black hat man. It’s him who saved Yueyue from making a mistake."
Lin Dongxue went over and hugged Chen Shi. "Yueyue can finally come back."
"When she comes back, I have to teach her a good lesson!" Chen Shi said both angrily and happily.
"Teach her a lesson?" Lin Dongxue reproached him. "Of course we have to comfort her when she comes back and prepare a spread of delicious food for her!"
Three days later, Long’an’s news channel broadcasted a piece of news: "Recently, there was a car accident on XX Road in our city. A junior high school boy who was riding a bicycle was hit by an oncoming bus and died on the spot. The police spared no effort in investigating. In this seemingly ordinary traffic accident, a suspicious point was discovered. At the scene, a man wearing a black round-brimmed hat had pushed the deceased the instant the accident happened, causing him to fall towards the opposite side of the road. The Long'an City Public Security Bureau reminds citizens to pay attention to their safety when traveling, and is collecting clues about the man from city residents. To provide clues, please call the hotline at the bottom of the screen…"
In a small noodle restaurant in the old city district, people began talking about this. "Fuck, anything can happen these days!", "Is that motherfucker even human, doing that to a kid?", "If only I had a clue. I’d earn 200,000 for nothing.", "Forget it. Do you have that kind of fortune? Besides, would you dare to offend this kind of person?"
Tao Yueyue raised her head. The noodles in her mouth slipped into the bowl unconsciously. Her tears fell and she wiped her eyes with the back of her dirty hand. She could feel it even through the screen: That was the result of Chen Shi’s efforts. He was delivering a message: “Come back, Yueyue!”
Tao Yueyue, who was disguised as a boy, pushed the bowl away. She settled the bill, took the sack by the door and left.
She went to a deserted area under a bridge. Plastic bags and stray dog corpses floated in the dirty water. A young boy with a crew-cut was sitting in a crude tent, heating adhesive strips with a lighter, and carefully gluing a broken toy car back together. When he noticed that his friend had come back, he said happily, "Yueyue, you’re back! See what I picked up in the trash today. Wait for me to fix it and you can play with it first!"
Tao Yueyue tipped out the plastic bottles in the sack. "Ergou, thank you for taking me in these past two days. I may have to go home."
"Go home?" The boy widened his eyes. "What do you mean? Chen Yueyue, didn't you say that you’re a homeless orphan like me?"
"I… I actually have an uncle who’s looking for me on the news, but I will come to see you often in the future!"
The boy threw away the lighter and toy car in his hand, stood up and questioned, "Why?! Didn't you say you wanted to be my friend? Why did you throw me away again! Why do you have an uncle?!"
"Sorry, I lied to you. I actually ran away from home. I have to go back now. He must be very anxious… I will discuss it with my uncle and have you sent to the best orphanage."
"No. No! I don't want to go to the orphanage. I only want you!" the boy stomped and roared.
Tao Yueyue left reluctantly. The boy ground his teeth so hard that he nearly bled. Suddenly, he drew out a knife and tried to stab her from behind. Tao Yueyue, who heard his footsteps, turned around quickly, and the bright knife gave her a shock. However, she still immediately remembered the trick that Chen Shi had taught her. She grabbed the boy's wrist and twisted it, then pushed him down onto the ground.
The boy burst into tears and kicked in anger. The cries echoed under the bridge, as if many ghosts were crying with him.
Tao Yueyue still left without saying a word.
The boy felt that the whole world had dimmed suddenly. It was even dimmer than when he was alone in the past. He didn’t know how much time passed but he heard the sound of footsteps and perked up his ears. He thought Chen Yueyue had changed her mind, but a strange man with a terrifying smile on his face walked in instead.
"I heard that a girl lived here. Where did she go?" The man smiled malevolently. "I don’t have much patience. You’d better tell the truth!"
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