Chapter 271: Chapter 268: How Heavy is 2 Million in Cash?_1
Xu Dayuan walked up to Zhang Wei, turned the printed chat logs around, and let Zhang Wei see them.
Jolted by what he saw, Zhang Wei’s complexion shifted instantly, but he quickly adjusted his expression.
"I have no idea what this is; this isn’t my QQ number," he said.
With a gesture from Xu Dayuan, Zhang Sannian had already risen and placed Zhang Wei’s mobile phone on the small desk, irritated by the intensity of this man’s acting in front of him, Zhang Sannian’s annoyance grew even stronger.
"Don’t tell me you don’t know. The chat logs were downloaded from the QQ on your phone. You thought that by deleting friends and changing to a new phone, you could erase all traces, didn’t you? Our technicians have already found your backup files," Xu Dayuan rebuked.
Having finished, Zhang Sannian returned to his seat; he couldn’t say another word.
Fearful he might lose control and smash the phone against Zhang Wei’s face, he was just too good at acting, all the various episodes of his so-called grief over his lost wife were clear in his mind, as were the times when he begged to have the case solved and to receive a death certificate.
Xu Dayuan stared at Zhang Wei, who was now teetering on the brink of collapse.
Seeing this, Xu Dayuan flipped the photocopies to the back pages, laying a few bank statements in front of Zhang Wei. The records of his money transfers, cash withdrawals, and the deposit records of Chang Yuzhang were all highlighted, matching perfectly with the dates in the chat logs.
"I’ve heard a forensic doctor say this once, ’every contact leaves a trace,’ and evidence isn’t something you can just erase if you wish to," Xu Dayuan said solemnly.
Your marriage to Xia Lirnin was nothing but insurance fraud, aimed Ultimately, at escaping debt. On the first workday after registering your marriage, you purchased a large accidental injury insurance. Don’t tell me you bought insurance for all your loved ones.
Their annual premiums cost at most 3,000 yuan per person, but Xia Lirnin’s five million yuan personal accident insurance required a premium of 69,210 yuan, after all, to buy this, you had to add additional coverage for disease, hospitalization, and accidents involving aviation, cars, and ships.
Moreover, you had the help of a professional insurance agent strategizing for you; if an accidental death occurred within three months of the insurance purchase, the payout would be less than 40% and under rigorous investigation.
Between four to six months, the payout percentage doesn’t increase by much, but after six months, the payout rate reaches 90%, and as long as there’s a death certificate from the public security authorities, the payment is made immediately.
You didn’t rush to make Xia Lirnin ’have an accident’ within three months after the marriage, not because you were kind-hearted but because you were waiting to reach six months to get a larger payout and a simpler process.
You married on December 3, 2010, bought insurance on December 6, 2010, and she died on May 11, 2011. You couldn’t wait another day, could you?" Xu Dayuan accused.
Zhang Wei stared at the photocopies on the small desk. The chat logs specifically showed his orders urging Chang Yuzhang to act, as well as his threats questioning whether Chang Yuzhang still wanted the money. Below, the details of how to divvy up the money and how to respond if the police got involved were laid out, word for word.
Listening to Xu Dayuan’s interrogation, Zhang Wei closed his eyes, unable to explain. The damning evidence was right before him, and he knew everything was over.
Xu Dayuan slapped the desk, causing everything on it to tremble, and only then did Zhang Wei open his eyes.
"Look at me and answer my question," Xu Dayuan demanded, "How did you meet Chang Yuzhang, or shall I say, did you meet Chang Yuzhang before you met Xia Lirnin?"
Xu Dayuan stared intensely into his eyes. After a long silence and a sigh, Zhang Wei said:
"At the end of September 2010, I can’t remember the exact date, Li Xin came to me—the person I became a guarantor for. He gave me 300,000 yuan and told me to get my family affairs in order, transfer assets, because he hadn’t paid a wholesaler for the goods.
The man was seriously ill, just waiting for the money to revitalize his business and pay for treatment. Li Xin’s plan was to drag it out, let the court pass judgment, file for bankruptcy, and then slowly repay part of the debt. The man wouldn’t last half a year; after that, paying back thirty percent under personal liability would suffice.
He hoped I could help him. I owed him a favor once—someone had lost it, and he took a knife for me—so I had no choice but to agree. However, during the meal, a friend of his, who was Chang Yuzhang, mentioned casually,
’You’re all having it rough. Why not just solve the problem with insurance fraud?’ Li Xin laughed and cursed him, saying he was 20 million in debt—how many wives would he have to kill to collect enough from insurance? Chang Yuzhang mentioned that one case of five million wouldn’t be a problem. At that time, I took note of him and went back to research the subject, finding it feasible.
After that, I hurried to get divorced, giving the money Li Xin had provided to my ex-wife and child. As for the property in my name, the house went to my ex-wife, and the shop fell into my mother’s name. As soon as I had finished these arrangements, Li Xin absconded, and on the day of the court summons, I was dismissed by the law firm.
I knew Li Xin planned to stay hidden for a while before reappearing. At that moment, jobless and bound by the court’s judgment to pay a large sum monthly due to joint and several liability, I scraped around to borrow money to plug the gap, but without a job, even borrowing money became a pipe dream.
In my desperation, I suddenly remembered what Chang Yuzhang had said. Without my ex-wife holding me back, this seemed like a way out. So I began to pay attention to the people around me. During a trip to the supermarket, I met Xia Lirmin, who had been scolded by her manager for accepting a counterfeit hundred-yuan bill.
Seeing her cry, I gave her a hundred yuan and took the counterfeit bill. When I returned to the supermarket, she proactively stopped me, and that’s how we got acquainted. My pursuit of Xia Lirmin began and, to my surprise, she knew Chang Yuzhang, and it seemed they were more than just acquaintances.
On November 29, 2010, I met Chang Yuzhang alone, and he told me he knew what I was up to from the first glance. He advised me not to harm Xia Lirmin—they were classmates.
I said, "No matter how much I get, I’m willing to give you two million to cooperate with me. Are you in?" He hesitated, and I immediately applied for a QQ burner account. He didn’t speak but he also applied for one. That way, we kept in touch only through QQ, since neither of us wanted to leave any evidence."
After that, he began to help me select the type of insurance. After all, we were both broke. I went to my mother and borrowed two hundred thousand from her. After getting the marriage certificate with Xia Lirnim, I rented an apartment and treated her meticulously well, not to mention I didn’t interfere with her affair with Chang Yuzhang.
Regarding what happened after that, you all know. Chang Yuzhang lured her to Yue Lake and then pushed Xia Lirmin into the water. Not feeling assured, he smashed her with the electric scooter.
As for Xia Lirmin’s phone, it was never tossed into the water, but rather smashed and discarded by Chang Yuzhang, since obviously, if someone got hold of it, they could see the text messages between them.
We then coordinated our alibis. He even found an old woman to corroborate his story. I began to drive around in the middle of the night and then reported the incident. The death certificate was issued on June 24, 2011, and the insurance payout was deposited on June 29, 2011. I gave Chang Yuzhang two million."
Having said the last word, Zhang Wei seemed to be drained of all his strength and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair.
Xu Dayuan gestured to the recorder, who printed out the transcript. Zhang Wei signed it, and then he was taken away.
Mr. Zhao blinked and nudged Zhou Ning with his elbow.
"So Zhang Wei’s the mastermind. What does that make Chang Yuzhang, who actually did the killing?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. Xia Lirmin might not have been loyal in her marriage, but she was a human being, treated like a sheep to be slaughtered at will, just to defraud an insurance company. The criminal nature of these two was too heinous.
Liu Yongxin brushed off Mr. Zhao’s hand.
"Stop babbling nonsense. With such a case, the sentence is usually swift and severe. Zhang Wei didn’t do the actual killing, but he planned the whole thing and paid Chang Yuzhang two million, which amounts to soliciting murder. It’s a case of intentional homicide, no doubt about it.
Chang Yuzhang is no different. He was involved in the planning, making him an accomplice. He took the money and took part in the act of killing. His DNA was found on the electric scooter, which counts as conclusive evidence. It’s also intentional homicide for him. It’s unlikely they’ll receive the death penalty, but a suspended death sentence is inescapable.
Besides, they both have joint financial responsibility. The defrauded 4.5 million must at least be recovered, and there ought to be financial compensation to Xia Lirmin’s family. Not to mention, the two sets of three hundred thousand he transferred to his ex-wife and the two properties are all considered malicious asset transfers."
The others in the room also discussed the case, each with their own opinion. Plainly, they all felt some dissatisfaction with the suspended death sentence.
Mr. Zhao gaped, glancing at the interrogation room.
"So you’re saying these two did all this work for nothing? They got themselves imprisoned for life, and the assets they had hoped to hide are now going to be revealed and will have to be paid to the victim’s family?"
Liu Yongxin nodded.
"Just watch the interrogation. I’m not the judge; all this is just based on experience. But the trial for this case will be very fast and made public. If you want to know the outcome, just pay attention to it when the time comes."
"Watch the interrogation. Chang Yuzhang is coming in."
Upon hearing what Zhou Ning said, everyone stopped the discussion as Chang Yuzhang took a seat in the interrogation chair, visibly indignant and ranting nonstop.
"Enough is enough! Do you police think that by keeping me here day after day, because I don’t confess, I’ll be detained indefinitely? My company’s leaders have already spoken to me, asking if I can handle this situation. If not, they suggested I quit my job and resolve this before returning to work.
I’m about to lose my job, and the police can’t just bully people like this. We both fell into the water, and I can’t swim. Wouldn’t anyone have the same reaction in that situation?
Just because I didn’t save her, does that mean I’ve committed a crime? Show me the law that says that, let me have a look! No wonder society is deteriorating, it’s all because of you law enforcers, abusing your power, disheartening most people. Let me out of here quickly!"
Chang Yuzhang’s face turned red and his neck bulged as he shouted, causing the small desk to constantly vibrate. However, neither Xu Dayuan nor Zhang Sannian and the clerks seated behind showed any sign of anger or any other emotion.
They looked at him as if he were a fool, waiting for his performance to end. Chang Yuzhang paused, letting go of his grip, his gaze wandering around the room. He noticed that there were more stacks of papers on the interrogation table than before, which made him visibly tense.
Xu Dayuan raised an eyebrow and approached Chang Yuzhang.
"Are you done shouting? Or shall I give you another ten minutes to vent?"
Chang Yuzhang remained silent, staring into Xu Dayuan’s eyes—full of doubt but not daring to ask.
"If you’re done, then take a look at this bank statement. Tell me, how heavy is two million in cash?"
