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After sending off Lawyer Feng, Chu Yi instructed Xiao Sun to deliver the letter to the lab for processing. Once the results were in, he would immediately convene a meeting with all involved parties. Most of the officers enjoyed smoking, and soon the meeting room was filled with a haze of smoke. A few female officers coughed as they waved their hands to disperse the smoke while opening the windows. Liu Chang, grinning, offered a cigarette to one of the female officers and said, "Have one. If you smoke along with me, it won't feel so harsh."
The female officer glanced at the cigarette between Liu Chang's fingers, then scrutinized his face as if judging him before replying, "I've quit a long time ago."
Liu Chang, understanding her point, withdrew his hand. However, Xiao Sun suddenly snatched the cigarette from Liu Chang's hand and said, "I'm feeling sleepy; give me one."
At that moment, Chu Yi entered the room. The contents of Jiang Weiting's letter were projected on the screen:
If you deceive life, then your life will only shine brightly at the moment of death.
If you deceive yourself, your entire life, no matter how glorious it may be, is merely that of a walking corpse.
If you deceive love, then after your death, there will be no soul.
If life is filled with deception, what good is holding on? It is better to pursue the trajectory of death. For me, it is the end of deception.
For you all, this is just the beginning.
The letters were thin and slanted slightly to the right. The edges of the paper were uneven, as if torn from another sheet.
As they read the letter, Xiao Sun seemed to be smoking for the first time and couldn't stop coughing.
"What does 'deception' refer to in this letter?" Chu Yi asked. "Also, although the autopsy report states that Jiang Weiting showed no signs of coercion before her life ended—and considering this letter was given to her lawyer in advance—her death leads us to believe it was a suicide. Yet the last line says, 'For you all, this is just the beginning.' What does that imply?"
Chu Yi paused to look at everyone before continuing, "Jiang Weiting was someone who intentionally distanced herself from the media. Typically, such individuals prefer to leave quietly if they choose suicide. However, she called in reporters before her death—why? Let's discuss your thoughts."
One officer named Xu Hua spoke up: "I think that by giving the letter to her lawyer, there’s another possibility: she knew about today’s events but couldn’t control them. Perhaps her suicide wasn’t voluntary; it was forced."
"If it was forced and she had foreseen it, why didn’t she seek help from the police?" another officer named Hu Yunfeng asked.
"Maybe she wasn't entirely sure about what she anticipated. Plus, if she reported it to the police and it got out to the media, it could lead to more trouble," Xu Hua replied.
"So you're saying Jiang Weiting's suicide is an illusion? And she couldn't stop or escape it, so she left this letter for the police to catch the real culprit?" Hu Yunfeng questioned further.
"But Jiang Weiting knew exactly when it would happen; otherwise, she wouldn't have notified reporters. Since she knew the timing, why didn't she just avoid it? It seems like it was voluntary after all," Xu Hua concluded but found himself confused. Jiang Weiting's suicide was a fact; yet whether it was voluntary or forced remained unclear. All evidence contradicted itself.
"Perhaps she is just waiting for death. There is helplessness, coercion, or perhaps even a willingness," a voice suddenly emerged from the crowd, belonging to Xiao Sun, who coughed as he spoke, making it hard to listen.
Liu Chang chuckled and said loudly, "Xiao Sun, well analyzed." Then he leaned closer to Xiao Sun's ear and whispered, "Xiao Sun, I forgot to tell you earlier that this cigarette is hand-rolled rural tobacco. Isn’t it something?"
"Xiao Sun, have a sip of water and share your thoughts," a female officer said compassionately as she handed him a cup of water.
Xiao Sun took a big gulp, tossed aside the cigarette, and said, "Everyone's analysis makes sense. She gave the letter to her lawyer, indicating that she had anticipated the whole situation. She didn’t contact the police and accepted it calmly, which suggests she has an unresolved issue we don’t know about. Perhaps death is the only way to resolve this issue. Maybe using death as a form of repayment is also possible."
"Then why did she call in the reporters?" Xu Hua asked.
"Perhaps the person she owes doesn’t know where she is. She can only rely on the media to inform the murderer that her debt has been settled. Yet she is unwilling to let go and left us this letter to capture the real culprit," Xiao Sun explained.
"Why? If she is willing to use her own death as repayment, why not let the murderer go? Isn’t that contradictory?" Liu Chang asked in confusion.
"This depends on what kind of unresolved issue Jiang Weiting has," Xiao Sun replied with a smile. Liu Chang's face turned red instantly.
"Well analyzed," Chu Yi interjected, raising his voice. "It seems that to unravel her issue, we need to understand her works. Has anyone among us read Jiang Weiting's novels?"
No one answered. Chu Yi looked at Xiao Sun, who scratched his head and shyly admitted, "I usually only read detective novels; I rarely delve into romance novels. Those kinds of books make me doze off."
Chu Yi raised his eyebrows and turned to the female officers. They all sincerely shrugged and shook their heads. "We must choose someone to read her novels," Chu Yi stated. He looked around at the officers with an inquiring gaze until everyone’s eyes slowly turned toward the new recruit, Xiao Sun, who nodded slightly with an unspoken smile that seemed to say, "It's you."
Xiao Sun felt helpless and nodded in agreement.
Chu Yi sympathetically nodded at Xiao Sun, thinking that all new recruits went through this phase. He paused deliberately before saying, "Please call Yan Hong." Yan Hong had read all of Jiang Weiting's novels; perhaps she could provide some insights quickly. Chu Yi remembered one night when he brought supper to Yan Hong in the Autopsy Room and saw her crying over one of Jiang Weiting's books.
Yan Hong's response left everyone at a loss as well. Jiang Weiting’s novels were set in the 1930s and focused on love stories; for a moment, Yan Hong couldn’t think of any connections.
"One more thing," Chu Yi said before dismissing the meeting: "Jiang Weiting had a bracelet that she often wore. However, when her body was found, the bracelet was missing. This detail might be related to the case; everyone should pay attention."
After the meeting concluded, Chu Yi took advantage of the crowd to avoid direct contact with Yan Hong and tried to sneak back to his office. Yan Hong caught up with him at the door and blocked his way, saying, "This isn’t working out for us. For these few days, if there’s no work-related matter, let’s not call each other; let’s take some time apart." With that said, just like when she pursued him before, she resolutely turned away without giving him a chance to respond.
Chu Yi sighed in relief but felt even more uneasy inside.
Although not fond of romance novels, Chu Yi gathered all of Jiang Weiting's books and spread them out in front of her. She wrote in the 1930s, which explained why her living space was styled after that era. Chu Yi flipped through each book, but after only a few pages, she closed them again. Jiang Weiting's writing was elegant and refined, yet it didn't suit her taste; she still couldn't get into it. However, she made a new discovery and immediately picked up the phone.
During lunch, Xiao Sun unexpectedly ran into Liu Qi outside a spicy noodle shop near the police station. Like him, Liu Qi hadn’t gone home to rest due to the case. There was a cafeteria in the police station, but after smoking Liu Chang's homemade cigarettes that morning, Xiao Sun felt unwell and decided to grab something spicy instead.
“Hey!” Liu Qi clapped Xiao Sun on the shoulder. “I stepped on your foot this morning, so I’m here to apologize. This meal is on me.”
“Forget it. It’s no big deal.” Xiao Sun knew that reporters were usually very goal-oriented and intended to leave quickly, but Liu Qi had already pushed aside Xiao Sun's wallet.
“Any new developments?” After sitting down with his noodles, Liu Qi asked.
Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch. Xiao Sun shook his head and focused on slurping his noodles.
Liu Qi didn’t believe him and pressed on: “Didn’t you and Captain Chu have any insights?”
“Suicide. What other insights could there be?”
“Then why did he deliberately ask me to spread the news? Your Captain Chu is quite cunning; I only realized that later,” Liu Qi said with a smile, showing no signs of blame.
“There really isn’t any progress,” Xiao Sun replied firmly, lifting his bowl to drink the soup and hiding his face.
“Alright, please tell your Captain Chu that I have another piece of information I can trade with him. But he needs to come ask me personally,” Liu Qi said, suddenly putting down his chopsticks without taking a bite. He threw Xiao Sun a mysterious smile before leaving the fast-food restaurant.
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