Ji Chenjiao asked, “Principal Guan, was she your student too?”

Principal Guan took a look. “I don’t remember her. Let me check her class… Class Three. I didn’t teach that one—I taught Class One and Class Two.”

Ji Chenjiao looked back at the photo. The longer he stared, the more unfamiliar it seemed. He didn’t dwell on it, but subconsciously, he remembered the name Li Xinbei.

Principal Guan was grateful that the police had reopened the investigation into the Tang Hongting case, and he chatted at length with Ji Chenjiao. While they talked, Shen Qi wandered around the principal’s office. He noticed that behind the glass bookcase lining an entire wall, besides books and awards, there were many miscellaneous items. One yellowed cardboard box caught his attention—it was a box of military chess, which had been popular among boys in Xiarong City over a decade ago. He’d owned an identical set once, but it got lost during several moves. Seeing it again gave him a sudden nostalgic impulse—he felt like buying a set to relive a piece of his youth.

After leaving Cangshui Middle School, Ji Chenjiao still had time, so he headed to Mi Wei’s bookstore.

Meanwhile, in the southern district of Xiarong City, the Criminal Investigation Team at the sub-bureau received a report forwarded by a local police station—a decomposed corpse had been found in the wasteland along Wubin Avenue.

Chen Jing, the only female team leader among the criminal investigation units of the five sub-bureaus, immediately led a team to the scene.

Wubin Avenue had a grand-sounding name, but in reality, it lay on the edge where city met countryside. To the north were clusters of new apartment buildings on the city outskirts; to the south, fields bought by developers that had never been touched. Now, at the turn of spring and summer, wild grass had grown to waist height.

Few people ever ventured into the fields. Go any farther south, and you were practically in the rural counties.

The ones who reported the body were a group of sixth-grade children. The girls had already burst into tears from fright, while a few brave boys animatedly recounted how they had found the corpse.

They were all students from Wubin Elementary School, about to graduate. Soon, they’d go to different middle schools and never see each other again. Filled with a sense of parting sorrow, they decided to skip class together and explore the “furthest” place they could think of.

To them, even the northern districts weren’t far—it was still the city. But the wasteland was the “edge of the world,” because their parents had always warned them never to go somewhere deserted.

They arrived in the fields, thrilled, imagining themselves as adventurers like Sinbad. But their adventure was cut short when one of them, who had a sharp nose, smelled something foul.

Following the stench, they found a slightly raised mound of earth and weeds that looked out of place.

Someone who watched too many crime dramas suggested, “Let’s dig. What if there’s a body?”

And—there was.

After patiently listening to the kids’ dramatic retelling, Chen Jing approached the corpse. The forensic doctor and trace evidence technician were already working. The air was thick with the stench of decomposition. The weather had been dry lately, but the area was humid. If they’d waited any longer, the body might have bloated to a grotesque size.

A few inexperienced officers had already vomited by the roadside. Chen Jing, however, calmly looked down at the body: male, likely dead for over ten days. There was a stab wound to the front of the neck—probably killed with a blade. He wore a white dress shirt and slacks, and there was a blue lanyard around his neck, though whatever had hung from it was missing.

Chen Jing glanced at the nearby apartment complexes. Could the victim have been a real estate agent?

After the on-site investigation, the body was taken back to the sub-bureau for autopsy. Deputy captain Zhang Feng said, “Let’s handle this case ourselves.”

Not all homicides are escalated to city-level investigators. Even when the city bureau gets involved, not every case is passed to the Major Crimes Unit. Most of the time, the sub-bureau handles its own cases.

Zhang Feng’s view was typical of many district-level officers—“If a case lands on our desk, we don’t dodge it. The Major Crimes Unit isn’t so special—we can solve things too.”

But Chen Jing said, “Send a report to the city bureau.”

Zhang Feng was visibly unhappy with that.

Chen Jing shot him a look. “But we’ll solve it ourselves.”

The victim’s identity was still unknown. Chen Jing had someone check the missing person reports from the past two weeks and compare each one—but none matched the body.

This puzzled her. Judging from his clothing and appearance, he didn’t look like a vagrant. The blue lanyard even suggested he was a working professional. Yet no one had noticed his absence after all this time?

Standard fingerprint and DNA checks also turned up nothing. He had no criminal record, nor had his data ever entered the criminal investigation network elsewhere.

Without knowing who he was, moving forward would be difficult. Chen Jing stared at the victim’s clothing for a while, then decided to begin the investigation along Wubin Avenue, expanding outward. She would focus on real estate agents and rental agencies.

The housing complexes in the area had only been built in recent years. They were marketed as mid-to-high-end developments, with villas and apartments alike. Initially, they had attracted a lot of interest, but now sales had slowed. The area was just too far from the district center. No commercial development had taken root, and property prices couldn’t drop because of the high-end positioning.

Along the road, there were real estate offices everywhere, trying every trick to sell, sublease, or rent out units.

News of the body in the fields had already spread through Wubin Avenue. With no customers to serve, agents were gathered outside gossiping like amateur detectives. But when police officers walked in, they all clammed up like frightened quail.

Chen Jing went from one office to the next, asking if any employee hadn’t shown up for work in several days. After an hour, she got a lead.

The manager of “Aiwu Properties” said one of their employees, Zhang Xuming, hadn’t come in for seven or eight days.

The manager pulled out Zhang’s employee form and ID copy. “Here, this is him.”

Zhang Xuming was an average-looking man, thirty-three years old. With the corpse badly decomposed, it was hard to compare facial features, but their ages seemed to match. Chen Jing immediately dialed the number on the form.

“It won’t go through—I already tried. It’s been off for days,” said the manager.

Sure enough, it didn’t connect. Chen Jing alerted the technical unit to begin tracking. She also took out a photo of the victim’s clothing and asked the manager to confirm.

The manager couldn’t bear to look. After a quick glance, he cried out, “That’s our uniform!”

Chen Jing looked around at the other employees’ outfits and mentally noted the match. “Zhang Xuming has been missing for so long—why didn’t you report it?”

“That’s not my responsibility!” The manager was both flustered and frightened. Seeing the blood-stained clothing pushed him into panic. He quickly took out eye drops and began squirting them into his eyes, so much that it dripped down his face.

Chen Jing: “…”

Once he calmed down, the manager explained, “I’m not trying to shirk responsibility, but technically, it’s not our job to track whether an employee is missing. You have no idea how high turnover is in our industry. Filling out a form is enough to get hired. They don’t sit at a desk—they’re out all day trying to bring in clients. If they get one, they come back for the keys. If they don’t, they don’t return. Honestly, I never know whether they’re working or just wandering around.”

He wiped the eye drops off his face. “No clients means no commission. The base salary is just 1,200 yuan. If someone doesn’t want to do it anymore or finds a better job, they just stop showing up. Happens all the time. As long as they didn’t steal keys or handle big clients, we don’t care.”

He grew more aggrieved the more he spoke. “Zhang Xuming only worked here three months—only closed one deal. He still owes me money for the uniform! And anyway, if someone goes missing, shouldn’t their family report it? Didn’t his family say anything?”

Chen Jingxin thought to herself, if the family had already reported to the police, would I still be having such a hard time going door to door to inquire?

“Did he ever mention family? Or register an emergency contact? Many companies require filling that out.”

The manager complained again, pointing at the form. “Everything he registered is here — just his native place, see, from Cangshui.”

Chen Jingxin asked the manager to pull up the video footage. Zhang Xuming last appeared at Aiwu on the morning of April 25th at 10 a.m. He chatted briefly with some colleagues, then left. He seemed normal.

The surveillance before that day also showed him arriving around 10 a.m., drinking office water, eating snacks prepared for guests. Sometimes, around 6 p.m., he came by to fill a large water bottle to take away.

The manager was surprised: “I never noticed he had that habit!”

At this moment, an employee said, “He also liked to freeload meals. Sometimes when we went out to find customers, at mealtime, he’d ask me to treat him. He seemed really short on money, but he had a watch worth over ten thousand yuan.”

The deceased had no valuables on him. If the deceased really was Zhang Xuming, then the watch, phone, keys, and so on had all been taken by the killer?

The urgent matter was to technically confirm the identity of the deceased. Chen Jingxin asked, “Do you know where Zhang Xuming lives?”

The same employee said, “I know roughly where, but not exactly which unit.”

On Wubin Avenue, besides new residential areas, there were some old urban villages not yet demolished. The employee took Chen Jingxin to one low-rise building with a tofu pudding and rice stall next to it.

“One time I was annoyed and made Zhang Xuming treat me once. He brought me here — five yuan a serving. Hah, I usually treated him with fifteen yuan boxed meals.” The employee pointed to the third floor of the building, “He lived on the third floor. After we ate, he went to the bathroom upstairs. He said it himself, third floor. Then he came down and told me to wait for him.”

The squad members scattered and asked neighbors about Zhang Xuming. Soon, they found the landlord, who had collected half a year’s rent and didn’t care whether the tenant had run off.

The door opened, and a sour stench hit them. Chen Jingxin put on gloves, shoe covers, and a mask and started the inspection.

Zhang Xuming acted respectable outside but was extremely messy at home. The hygiene was poor but convenient for investigation: toilet trash, unwashed pots and cups, hair with follicles on the bed — all important for forensic samples.

Perhaps knowing the house was shameful, Zhang Xuming never brought anyone home. There was only a single set of footprints and fingerprints inside.

After DNA and fingerprint comparison, it was confirmed that the deceased was indeed Zhang Xuming.

At the same time, the forensic doctor completed the autopsy. Zhang Xuming’s neck was stabbed four times with a sharp weapon, wounds concentrated below the Adam’s apple. Before death, he had allergy symptoms. His stomach contained peanut residue.

“Zhang Xuming was allergic to peanuts. After accidental ingestion, he collapsed. The killer held him down and stabbed him to death,” the forensic doctor said. “There was also a footprint at the scene, likely left by the killer.”

It was a woman’s sports shoe print, size 38. Based on the footprint, a model could be created.

Chen Jingxin felt a little calmer. The killer might be female; poisoning before killing fits some female criminal patterns.

This case seemed not difficult to solve.

The initial information was already organized. Chen Jingxin packed it and sent it to the city bureau’s criminal investigation team. This was her way of handling cases.

Other sub-bureau captains usually only sent brief reports to the city bureau after the case was solved. Although the city bureau was their superior, criminal detectives were competitive and would not feel inferior just because they belonged to a sub-bureau.

She was the same. She would never hand over solvable cases to others, but she would share intelligence with the city bureau. This was a kind of confidence and her unique prudence.

She believed she could solve the case, but if not, she would not delay restoring the truth.

The sub-bureau’s report reached Liang Wenxian at the city bureau’s criminal investigation team. He opened it. Chen Jingxin’s report was neatly written, clear and concise. Liang Wenxian quickly skimmed it, stopping at Zhang Xuming’s native place.

Cangshui Town?

Again, Cangshui Town!

At this time in Cangshui Town, Ji Chenjiao met Mi Wei, who ran a small bookstore selling study aids. Mi Wei was once a classmate of Tang Hongting after Tang’s second-year class reshuffle. She had more contact with the reclusive Tang Hongting. When Tang Hongting failed the college entrance exam, Mi Wei passed a second-tier university in a neighboring province but didn’t stay in the big city to work after graduation. Instead, she returned home to do business.

The small bookstore sold books, spicy hotpot sticks, and milk tea — all popular with students. Occasionally customers came, and business seemed decent.

Hearing Tang Hongting’s name, Mi Wei froze and her eyes suddenly widened, as if pulling from deep memory what that name represented.

“Tang Hongting…” her voice trembled a bit. “Did you catch the killer?”

Ji Chenjiao did not mention the Liu Yuchun case, only said they had reopened the investigation of Tang Hongting’s case and needed to ask her classmates and teachers about what happened back then.

Mi Wei took a while to digest this and told her husband to deal with the students coming and going. “Let’s talk in the yard.”

Outside the bookstore’s back door was a small courtyard connected to the second-floor house where Mi Wei’s family lived. The yard had a pergola covered with grapevines, quiet underneath.

Mi Wei brought lemon tea to serve. “Actually, I didn’t know much about Tang Hongting. We lived in the same building, sometimes went to school together, so I knew a little more than others about her.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Just schoolmates?”

Mi Wei smiled helplessly. “I’m not as ambitious as she was. Our school had three evening study sessions, but most people either didn’t attend or only attended one. I’d get home by around 8 p.m. She stayed until the last session, sometimes the gatekeeper had to urge her before she left.”

A girl going home alone after 10 p.m. could run into anyone. Ji Chenjiao thought, then asked, “What did you usually talk about?”

“She was quiet and mostly talked about studying. I didn’t like it. When I talked about celebrities, she always lectured me.” Mi Wei’s tone was slow and a bit nostalgic. “I was childish then, found it funny, so I often provoked her to get lectured.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “What did she say?”

Mi Wei thought for a moment. “She said girls shouldn’t worship celebrities or just think about marrying rich men, but should work hard themselves. For families like ours, with poor parents, the only way out was through studying. I didn’t take it seriously when I was young, but I guess her influence seeped in. In first year of high school, I didn’t even want to take the exam, but I ended up going to university — though a not-so-great second-tier school.”

Mi Wei became sad. “She was just too serious, insisted on getting into a top-tier university. Her grades could easily get her into an ordinary first-tier.”

Seeing Mi Wei fall silent, Ji Chenjiao changed the topic, “Why open a bookstore by the middle school gate?”

Mi Wei wiped her eyes and smiled again. “Because study aids make money. But sometimes I think about what Tang Hongting said — for kids like us, studying is the only way to change fate.”

At that moment, a girl came in to buy study materials. Mi Wei glanced through the courtyard and felt somewhat comforted. “That girl has good grades, often asks me which study aids are good. I don’t have great ideals, just want to make a living, but it makes me happy to help her sometimes.”

Mi Wei said, “Some influences are like this. She influenced me, just as she was influenced by others.”

“Who influenced her?” Ji Chenjiao asked.

“There was a family in our building that always had fights — the man beat the woman badly. She wanted a divorce but couldn’t.” Mi Wei said, “Then an older sister came to help, holding a kitchen knife or something. The neighborhood committee couldn’t settle it, but she did. The couple divorced. The man slunk away and never dared to bother the woman again.”

“That day Tang Hongting and I both saw it. Tang Hongting said girls should be like that — study, don’t fear men. Men are just paper tigers bluffing.”

In Ji Chenjiao’s mind, the scene Mi Wei described appeared, and she asked, “Was the one who helped Ms. Sun, the boss of the Chicken Soup Dumplings shop?”

Mi Wei was surprised, “How did you know?”

Ji Chenjiao naturally didn’t say she had met the dumpling shop owner, but asked more about the divorce. Mi Wei didn’t remember much, only that the wife was timid, used to enduring abuse, but after being beaten too much, almost gave up on life and finally decided to divorce the scumbag husband.

It was hard for authorities to judge family matters. The police station, neighborhood committee, and women’s federation all got involved, but the man refused to divorce, crying and promising to change in front of others. Once alone, the abuse continued.

But Ms. Sun came with a knife; the man didn’t dare to be defiant. After learning she had killed her own husband, he reluctantly divorced. Afterward, he still harassed his ex-wife, but Ms. Sun’s bare-handed defense scared him away. Only then did the poor woman get some peace.

Except for the killing part — which was just neighborhood rumor — Ms. Sun only threatened her husband with a knife.

“I didn’t understand back then why Tang Hongting admired Boss Sun. In my eyes, Boss Sun was just a fierce woman, with none of the grace or elegance of a lady,” Mi Wei said with a self-deprecating shake of her head. “Later, after growing up and entering society, I came to understand Tang Hongting’s feelings. You see, her parents passed away early, and no one ever protected her. She had to rely on herself. But because she’s a girl, life is much harder for her than for boys.”

Realizing she was confiding in a male detective, Mi Wei awkwardly paused, then added, “What I mean is, women have to be stronger and tougher.”

Ji Chenjiao drifted off thinking of two female officers he admired in his team and the Nancheng District squad—both very tough women.

Mi Wei continued, “Now I really understand Tang Hongting. We have to become like Boss Sun so we won’t be easily defeated. Being tough isn’t ugly; it’s another kind of charm.”

Ji Chenjiao asked if Tang Hongting had ever spoken with Sister Sun or had any other contact with her. Mi Wei recalled for a moment, “I don’t think so. She’s very reserved, doesn’t easily show her emotions. And I remember she said that the things she wanted to do had to wait until after she got into a top university. Maybe she wanted to take her admission notice to meet her role model?”

Ji Chenjiao left the small bookstore. The sunset dyed the entire sky red.

He looked toward the horizon, his mind swirling with clues until his eyes became sore from the brightness and he lowered his gaze.

Tang Hongting regarded Sister Sun as a role model. The place where Tang Hongting was murdered was only a few dozen meters from the chicken soup shop. Did Tang Hongting and Sister Sun really have no contact as Mi Wei guessed? Or did they meet but Mi Wei didn’t know?

Sister Sun never mentioned knowing Tang Hongting, whether twelve years ago or now. She cooperated actively with the investigation and seemed like an ordinary bystander.

Liu Yuchun helped at Sister Sun’s shop. She was murdered twelve years later, and her death had some unclear connection with Tang Hongting’s.

What exactly was the relationship between them?

Ji Chenjiao pressed his thumb and middle finger to his temple — it was too confusing. There had to be something he hadn’t noticed yet.

“What kind of qigong is this?” Suddenly, a familiar voice came.

Ji Chenjiao quickly looked up but saw no one.

“Here.” In the roadside tricycle, Ling Lie whistled.

Ji Chenjiao was no longer surprised by Ling Lie’s sudden appearance. “Something?”

“Can’t I come see you for fun if I have nothing to do?”

“…” Ji Chenjiao started walking away.

Ling Lie slowly drove the tricycle to follow, teasing like a street rascal, “Hey, Captain Ji, where are you going?”

“Investigating a case!”

“Oh, I’ve brought clues from afar, want to hear?”

Ji Chenjiao, professional and not mixing personal feelings with work, immediately turned back. “What clues?”

Ling Lie pointed behind. “Get on.”

Ji Chenjiao’s eyelids twitched. “Where did the vehicle come from?”

“I rented it. What, you look down on a tricycle?”

There were many tricycles like this in Cangshui Town, functioning like city taxis with a starting price of three yuan — very convenient.

Ling Lie shouted to a couple walking toward them, “Want a ride?”

Seeing the couple was about to get on, Ji Chenjiao immediately got in first. Ling Lie apologized to the couple with exaggerated gestures, “Sorry, this rude passenger got on first.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

Couple: “…”

“What clues?” Ji Chenjiao asked again, eager for the real information.

“On Wubin Avenue, kids playing hide-and-seek found a corpse. The sub-bureau has already cordoned off the area and is investigating. Guess what I heard?”

“Don’t keep me in suspense!”

“The deceased is from Cangshui Town.”

Just then, Liang Wenxian’s call came in. “Captain Chen Jing from Nancheng sub-bureau forwarded a homicide clue. The deceased has been identified as a Cangshui Town resident.”

The tricycle picked up speed and wind howled. Ji Chenjiao told Ling Lie to stop by the roadside. Ling Lie looked pleased, “See, I wasn’t lying.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “How old is the deceased? Time of death?”

Liang Wenxian said, “The body was only discovered today. According to surveillance and autopsy, the time of death was the night of April 25. I’m sending Chen Jing’s report to you. Review it and tell me your thoughts.”

Ji Chenjiao immediately received it on his tablet.

Although the sunset was beautiful, it was brief. When Ji Chenjiao got on the tricycle, the town was still bathed in rosy light. After reading and digesting the information, it was already pitch dark outside.

“Zhang Xuming, 33 years old. Twelve years ago he was 21 — only two years older than Tang Hongting. Cangshui Town isn’t large; people of similar age may have some connection,” Ji Chenjiao said, furrowing his brow — his habitual thinking gesture. “His time of death was slightly earlier than Liu Yuchun’s, both stabbed in the neck arteries and vessels with sharp weapons. But he also accidentally ingested peanuts before death, triggering an allergic reaction.”

Liang Wenxian said, “This could also be understood as ‘loss of ability to resist.’ One fell due to allergy, one while asleep.”

Ji Chenjiao said, “There are footprints at the scene, probably female… assuming the killer of Liu Yuchun and Zhang Xuming is the same person, the killer was…”

Murder to silence or revenge?

The critical question they had discussed before surfaced again.

Ji Chenjiao repeatedly looked over the report sent from the sub-bureau. “Is there no more information? What’s Zhang Xuming’s background?”

Liang Wenxian: “That’s all for now. The sub-bureau just started, and confirming identity this quickly is already fast.”

Ji Chenjiao thought it was quite a coincidence — just as he thought of Chen Jing, he got the report. “I’ll contact her.”

Chen Jing was busy, but upon hearing Zhang Xuming’s case might relate to the major crime squad’s investigation, she was silent for a few seconds, “Wait ten minutes, I’ll be back at the office.”

Ten minutes later, Chen Jing’s video call came through. “Zhang Xuming’s economic condition isn’t good. He’s worked in the main city for three years, previously did some intermediary jobs. Not much else known. I haven’t contacted his family yet. Planned to go to Cangshui Town tomorrow.”

“How about we cooperate?” Ji Chenjiao said. “I’m in Cangshui Town now. There’s only one middle school here. I just met the principal today. I can investigate more tomorrow.”

Chen Jing: “Okay, I’ll continue checking his activity in the city. Keep in touch.”

“Alright, keep in touch.”

After ending the call, Ji Chenjiao stared ahead, silent. Ling Lie hadn’t heard the call and wandered off to pick dandelions.

“Whoosh—” While Ji Chenjiao was deep in thought, Ling Lie suddenly ambushed him, blowing a handful of dandelion seeds into his face.

Ji Chenjiao was stunned and almost jumped up. “Are you assaulting an officer?”

Ling Lie laughed until his stomach hurt, “Captain Ji, arrange accommodation for me.”

Ji Chenjiao sneered, “Why should I arrange accommodation for you?”

Ling Lie thought for a moment, then pressed his palms together in a mock gesture of reverence, “The merciful and compassionate male bodhisattva!”

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

That night, Ji Chenjiao brought Ling Lie back to the guesthouse and gave him a private room. Shen Qi was shocked beyond words when she saw Ling Lie again. “Y-you! You’re here again!”

Ling Lie found the prettiest dandelion puff while picking them, round and full, and didn’t want to blow it away. Now he casually gave it to Shen Qi. Shen Qi was stunned, but the dandelion was suddenly snatched away by Ji Chenjiao.

Shen Qi: “?”

Ji Chenjiao: “You don’t need it.”

After a minute, Shen Qi nearly jumped with frustration. Why didn’t he want it? He’d never seen such a perfectly round dandelion!

__

Author’s note:
Captain Ji: scold me for being rude, then call me the male bodhisattva.