Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Cheng Yuyao, still veiled, gradually regained consciousness.
She found herself in a room that contained only a table, a chair, and a bed. Leaning against the chair, her head felt heavy and dazed.
The door to the room was pushed open, and Guo Zhiqian entered.
"You’re awake?" Guo Zhiqian asked with concern.
Cheng Yuyao supported her heavy head with her hand. "How did I end up here?"
"You were drugged, and I carried you over."
Cheng Yuyao instinctively checked her attire. Noticing that she was still veiled brought her some comfort. However, she still asked, "Have you been following me?"
Guo Zhiqian replied candidly, "Yes! If it weren't for me, those bodyguards would have taken you away long ago!"
Guo Zhiqian poured a glass of water and walked over to Cheng Yuyao. She felt flustered and attempted to stand up, but her head spun, causing her to sit back down in the chair.
Cheng Yuyao asked, "What exactly are you doing?"
"Aren't I just a customer at your café?" Guo Zhiqian said. "Don't worry; I'm a good person! Here, drink some if you're thirsty!"
Guo Zhiqian handed the warm water to Cheng Yuyao. She took the hot water in her hands and after drinking it said, "Mr. Guo, my mother and sister are waiting for me at home; they must be very worried. I need to go back!"
Cheng Yuyao placed the water on the table and struggled to stand up, heading towards the door.
Guo Zhiqian quickly supported her. "You just woke up; your body is at its weakest right now. Rest for a while and leave tomorrow morning! Besides, there are bad people outside looking for you; it's too dangerous!"
Cheng Yuyao replied, "If I don't return soon, my mother and sister will definitely start searching for me."
"You will be caught by those bad people, and they will worry even more! Right now, your health is the most important thing, so you should rest well!"
Cheng Yuyao nodded and sat back down in the chair.
Guo Zhiqian added, "There's a bed here. If you're uncomfortable in the chair, you can sleep on the bed for a while. I'll be outside, so if you need anything, just call me!"
Cheng Yuyao looked at Guo Zhiqian gratefully and said, "Thank you, Mr. Guo."
"My name is Guo Zhiqian; just call me by my name from now on!"
"Okay, Guo Zhiqian."
Guo Zhiqian smiled knowingly at Cheng Yuyao and stepped out of the room.
The next dawn, at Cheng Shuhua's home with her daughter.
As Cheng Yuwan's health improved, she gradually woke up.
Cheng Yuwan walked out from the inner room and saw her mother, Cheng Shuhua, reclining in a chair and fast asleep. She quietly took a jacket and covered Cheng Shuhua with it. This action startled the sleeping Cheng Shuhua awake.
Seeing that it was Cheng Yuwan, Cheng Shuhua asked, "Yuwan, has your sister come back?"
Cheng Yuwan inquired, "What has my sister been doing?"
Cheng Shuhua replied, "Last night, there was another deal at the dock. I had to go kill the pharmacist, so I let her go alone to grab the goods."
Concern appeared on Cheng Yuwan's face as she asked, "She still hasn't returned?"
Cheng Yuwan: "Mom, it's bright now. I'm going to take a look!"
"Alright! But you need to be careful!"
"Yeah! I'm just going to stroll around the Dock. I think my sister should be fine."
At dawn, the port was bustling with activity. In the distance, cargo ships sounded their horns, and several cargo vessels were docked. At the entrance of the port, a large number of porters were entering after being checked by many bodyguards and police officers.
Dressed casually, Cheng Yuwan first observed her surroundings before asking a bodyguard, "Excuse me, sir, what's going on here?"
Bodyguard: "Last night, 'Thorned Rose' showed up again. We barely managed to drug him, but unexpectedly, his accomplices came and rescued him! So from now on, the Dock will strengthen security to prevent 'Thorned Rose' from committing any more crimes!"
"Oh! Thank you, sir!"
With a worried expression, Cheng Yuwan turned to leave, but the bodyguard called out to her.
"Stop! What are you doing here?"
Cheng Yuwan helplessly stood still and turned around: "Sir, are you calling me?"
"If not you, then who else?"
Cheng Yuwan took out a business card from her pocket and showed it to the bodyguard: "Sir, my sister and I have opened a café on Peaceful Street. If you have time, you can come by for coffee; I'll give you a discount."
The bodyguard looked at Cheng Yuwan warily: "How did you end up here if you own a café on Peaceful Street?"
"I passed by on my way to work and saw so many police officers here, so I came over to ask."
Bodyguard put away the business card and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, this is none of your business. Hurry up and leave!"
"Hey!"
Cheng Yuwan turned and left the port, feeling anxious as she walked along Riverside Road until she reached a Park. She sat down on a Bench in the Park. After sitting down, Cheng Yuwan noticed that there was also a police officer sitting on the opposite Bench.
The person sitting across from her was Tao Ziwen. Tao Ziwen was in uniform, disheveled, with a haggard face and a worried expression, looking even more troubled than Cheng Yuwan. Cheng Yuwan called out to him, "Hey! Hey!"
Tao Ziwen did not respond. Cheng Yuwan picked up a small stone and threw it at him, saying, "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"
Tao Ziwen lethargically raised his head and asked, "Did you call me for something?"
Cheng Yuwan inquired, "With so many police officers maintaining order at the port, why are you sitting here daydreaming all alone?"
"I'm thinking about something."
"What are you thinking about? Let me hear it."
Tao Ziwen looked at Cheng Yuwan, feeling sentimental. "Why is it that in this world, bad people always prosper while good people suffer?"
Upon hearing this question, Cheng Yuwan also felt sad. "Why would you think about such a thing?"
Tao Ziwen replied with distress, "I'm currently working on a case. A bad person was killed by someone, and now I have to arrest a good person because of this bad person. I can't figure out whether this is right or wrong."
Cheng Yuwan sighed helplessly and said, "Is there really absolute good or bad in this world? People just judge based on their own likes and dislikes! If you think the murderer is a good person, then help him out when you're arresting him!"
"Yeah! Who can clearly distinguish between good and bad in this world?" Tao Ziwen suddenly seemed to find an answer, and his worries dissipated significantly. "Thank you for helping me resolve this confusion in my heart. I still don’t know your name!"
"You are quite an interesting police officer. While others look fierce and intimidating, you appear like a bookworm," Cheng Yuwan said, feeling that Tao Ziwen was harmless. She took out a business card and handed it to Tao Ziwen. "This is my business card. You can visit my café when you have time!"
Tao Ziwen looked at the card and said, "Cheng Yuwan... then I will call you Wan'er from now on!"
Cheng Yuwan replied cheerfully, "Sure! I still don't know your name."
"My surname is Tao, and my name is Tao Ziwen."
"Then I'll just call you by your name!"
"Sounds good!" Tao Ziwen glanced at her watch. "Oh no, I have to go! I need to get to the police station for work!"
Watching Tao Ziwen hurriedly leave, Cheng Yuwan's earlier anxiety vanished.
Tao Ziwen entered the police station and walked straight down the corridor toward the chief's office.
When she arrived at the chief's office, the chief was on the phone with Wang Junpeng.
Wang Junpeng had brought a large group of officers to interrogate people at the port but had come up empty-handed. The chief impatiently told him to wrap it up and return.
After hanging up, Tao Ziwen approached the chief to request an arrest warrant. The chief asked in confusion, "An arrest warrant? Who are you trying to arrest?"
Tao Ziwen replied, "The murderer in the bizarre murder case!"
Downstairs at Zhu Dapeng's home, Zhu Fan and Zhu Peng were having breakfast in the yard when they heard urgent knocking at the front door. Zhu Fan felt a bad premonition; she slowly set down her chopsticks and exchanged a worried glance with her son, Zhu Peng.
The knocking grew more frantic. Just as Zhu Fan was about to stand up, Zhu Peng suddenly called out to her, "Mom!"
"The inevitable will always come, and there's no way to hide from it!" Zhu Fan sighed deeply, then stood up and walked to the door, opening it.
Outside stood Tao Ziwen, Wang Zhiyuan, the sheriff, Wang Junpeng, and several police officers.
"Are you here to arrest me?" Zhu Fan extended her hands, ready to be handcuffed.
Wang Junpeng waved his hand, and two police officers arrested Zhu Fan, while two others entered the yard and handcuffed Zhu Peng, who was sitting at the dining table.
Seeing this, Zhu Fan immediately panicked: "Officer, you must have made a mistake! I am the one who killed my husband; it has nothing to do with my son!"
Zhu Fan lunged toward Tao Ziwen and the sheriff, but the two officers who were arresting her pushed her aside. In contrast, her ten-year-old son Zhu Dapeng remained remarkably calm: "Mom, weren't you just saying that what was meant to come would come?"
"That doesn't mean it's you!" Zhu Fan cried out desperately. "I killed Zhu Dapeng; if you want to arrest someone, just arrest me!"
At that moment, a crowd of neighbors had gathered outside Zhu Dapeng's house to watch the commotion. An elderly woman pushed her way to the front and pleaded: "Officer, I know this mother and son well. The wife is virtuous and takes care of the home; the son is honest and upright. How could they possibly commit murder?"
Many onlookers echoed her sentiments, shouting things like "The police are wrongfully accusing good people" and "The police are bullying the poor." Some even chanted slogans like "Without evidence, you can't take anyone away!" To prevent the crowd from getting too close, the police were forced to form a circle to keep them at bay.
The sheriff quietly asked Tao Ziwen: "Do you have evidence proving that the murderer is indeed Zhu Dapeng's son?"
Tao Ziwen replied firmly: "Yes!"
Wang Junpeng muttered to himself with a sense of schadenfreude: "If you have it, then show it! If not, let's see how this ends for you!"
Tao Ziwen turned around to face all the onlookers. The tavern owner was among them.
After signaling for everyone to be quiet, Tao Ziwen said: "Dear villagers, I know that this mother and son are both honest people. However, I can confirm that Zhu Dapeng's son Zhu Peng is the murderer, and Zhu Dapeng's wife Fan Family and the butcher shop owner Fan Ming are accomplices. After Zhu Dapeng's wife reported the incident, our police colleagues found the body of the deceased and a large amount of blood in Zhu Dapeng's bedroom. This led my colleagues to believe that the bedroom was the primary crime scene. In reality, this was a deliberate misdirection by the suspect; the actual crime scene is not in Zhu Dapeng's bedroom but in the cemetery behind his house!"
During the explanation by Tao Ziwen, the pork shop owner Fan Ming was brought to the door of Zhu Dapeng's house by two men who often acted as his enforcers.
"The large bloodstains in that graveyard are evidence!" Tao Ziwen pulled a bloody bullet from his pocket and continued, "This bullet is also evidence! The victim was shot dead in that graveyard and then the murderer brought the body to the victim's bedroom to stage the crime scene."
Fan Ming stood tall and declared, "That's right, I killed that bastard. My sister and I staged the crime scene together."
Zhu Fan cried out, "Brother..."
Tao Ziwen felt a mix of emotions but gritted his teeth and revealed the truth of the case: "The one who shot Zhu Dapeng is Zhu Dapeng's son—Zhu Peng!"
The crowd murmured and debated among themselves, even the sheriff and Wang Junpeng, Wang Zhiyuan looked confused, while only Zhu Peng remained calm.
The tavern owner pushed to the front of the crowd and loudly asked, "Officer, do you have any evidence for this?"
Zhu Fan questioned, "On what basis do you say my son shot his father? Have you found the gun?"
Tao Ziwen shook his head.
Zhu Fan continued, "That gun is in my possession; it's right on my bedside! I killed Zhu Dapeng!"
The sheriff quickly ordered a nearby officer to retrieve the gun.
Tao Ziwen said, "Although we haven't found the gun, at the crime scene where Zhu Dapeng was shot dead, there were footprints of two people standing face to face. One set belongs to Zhu Dapeng, and the other belongs to his son Zhu Peng. When I came to your house, I specifically observed Zhu Peng's footprints; they are identical to those in front of Zhu Dapeng."
Zhu Fan argued, "At that time, Zhu Dapeng was attacking Zhu Peng; I was the one who fired!"
Tao Ziwen responded, "We found that bullet ten meters behind Zhu Dapeng. This means that Zhu Dapeng was shot from in front of him, and in front of him was Zhu Peng. If you shot and killed Zhu Dapeng, how did you avoid hitting Zhu Peng while making a direct hit to Zhu Dapeng's heart?"
Zhu Fan looked around, unable to respond.
Zhu Peng cried, "Mother, please stop arguing! You and Uncle have already done many wrong things to save me! Please don't take the blame for murder on my behalf!"
Zhu Peng wept. Zhu Fan hugged Zhu Peng tightly, and the mother and son cried together.
Tao Ziwen was also moved by the sight of the mother and son in front of him. He took out a handkerchief from his waist and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
The tavern owner shouted at Tao Ziwen, "Officer! I told you, Zhu Dapeng's death is a good thing for everyone on this street. Why do you insist on finding out who killed Zhu Dapeng?"
Wang Junpeng rushed in front of the tavern owner, "Hey! You scoundrel, pursuing criminals and solving cases is our duty as police officers. Even if a royal relative commits murder, we will still arrest them without hesitation. Just because the person who killed Zhu Dapeng is an honest man, someone you consider a good person, doesn't mean we won't arrest them!"
Tao Ziwen wiped away his tears and looked at Zhu Peng and her son along with Fan Ming. "You three should recount the details of the crime."
Fan Ming looked at Zhu Peng and her son beside him and sighed deeply. "Sister, at this point, let's just tell the truth!"
Comment 0 Comment Count