Chapter 850: Chapter 840: Graduation Photo

Ding ding ding

"Is anyone home?" Li Zijun stepped forward and knocked on the door.

At the entrance of a small farmhouse courtyard, Li Zijun knocked on the iron gate and called inside.

The yard wasn’t big. Although the house was a bit old, it wasn’t dilapidated. The only mismatch was that there was a brand new motorbike parked in the yard, looking stylish, somewhat out of place with the home.

"Cool, an Aprilia gpr150r," Yu Mingyuan couldn’t help but exclaim at this moment, his eyes fixed on the motorbike and sighing.

Hearing this, Su Qing was stunned: "You mean that motorbike? You know it?"

Yu Mingyuan nodded: "To be honest, Su, I’m very fond of motorbikes, thinking of saving money to buy one someday. I’ve seen this model online, and it’s not cheap. This bike costs more than twenty thousand, I couldn’t afford it."

Yu Mingyuan scratched his head a bit sheepishly; it’s normal for young people to have hobbies, especially men. Some like shoes, some like watches, some like figurines, and some like cars, of course including bicycles and motorbikes.

Obviously, Yu Mingyuan was the latter.

A twenty thousand RMB motorbike means little to him, but for most families, it’s somewhat hard.

Even if you have twenty thousand, few would be willing to buy a motorbike. After all, even a used car is more practical than a motorbike.

For this kind of thing, it’s probably not for practicality but simply for interest, only that this family doesn’t seem to have this kind of financial condition. This is also where he felt the mismatch.

Of course, maybe he’s underestimating them. Perhaps their family’s financial condition is quite good?

The two didn’t intentionally lower their voices, and the others naturally heard and noticed the motorbike.

At this moment, a middle-aged woman dressed ordinarily, with a plump figure, came out: "What! Calling... who are you..."

The woman’s looks were average, her skin rather dark, her eyes shown with suspicion, despite being towards these outsiders, Su Qing sensed a hint of meanness, especially in the eyes. He used to hear that eyes are the windows to the soul, he didn’t believe it, but at first glance, he felt this woman wasn’t someone good.

The woman’s initial tone was indeed poor, as if she had swallowed gunpowder, but when she saw Lin Chengcai and the others in police uniforms, she immediately changed her tone.

"We are detectives from Jiang City Public Security Bureau. There was a body-dumping case at the entrance of your village this morning, and we’re here for investigation!" Lin Chengcai opened his credentials and said.

Beside him, Li Zijun, He Wendong, and Yu Mingyuan also took out their credentials. Su Qing instinctively touched his pocket and found that he hadn’t brought his criminal investigation consultant’s ID, not even a piece of ID on him, could only awkwardly touch his pants.

This is why he envied these official police officers; whether in uniform or not, pulling out IDs genuinely looked cool!

Hearing that they were police officers, the woman clearly showed a hint of panic in her eyes but quickly calmed down and stepped forward to ask: "Hello officers, what can I help you with? We didn’t kill anyone in our family, we know nothing!"

Hearing this, Su Qing and Lin Chengcai exchanged a glance, both noticing her earlier micro-expression, confirming their suspicions.

"Please don’t overthink; we’re just here to understand the situation, for investigation, not just only your household!" Lin Chengcai explained.

Upon hearing this, the woman visibly sighed in relief.

"Okay, is it convenient to go inside? We have some things to discuss with you!"

"No problem, come in!"

Then, a few people followed the woman inside, and she poured water for them.

Afterwards, Lin Chengcai started to get down to business, without any concealment, directly took out Zhao Dongyang’s photo and asked:

"Do you know Zhao Dongyang? He is from Yushu Village, Nankou County, 33 years old this year!"

Seeing the photo, Miao Fang shivered slightly, instinctively wanting to deny: "No..."

"Think carefully before you speak. Every word you say to us has great significance; you can say you don’t know, but if you lie, that’s a serious matter!" Seeing this, Li Zijun fittingly inserted a sentence, a strange pressure directly approaching.

In response, Lin Chengcai looked at his disciple with appreciation, knowing when to apply pressure.

Police questioning also requires skill; sometimes, you need someone to exert pressure.

"I... know him." Miao Fang was, after all, an ordinary rural woman, frightened.

In response, Lin Chengcai did not let go of the opportunity his disciple created and asked:

"We received some information saying that the deceased had some interactions with your family?"

"No, absolutely not, we just know of him, never had any interactions!" Miao Fang quickly denied, after all, some things aren’t pleasant to say.

"Impossible, we are..."

Before Li Zijun could finish, Lin Chengcai gently pulled her and spoke himself: "Let me be honest with you, the person killed at your village’s entrance this morning was him. We received some information that your families might have some issues, so we are worried your family might be implicated. But since you say there’s nothing, then let’s forget it.

Moreover, I can tell you this, the murderer hasn’t been caught yet, and Zhao Dongyang’s death is gruesome. We suspect it’s a vendetta or... a cover-up. By the way, we heard your daughter recently... Forget it, I’m getting off-topic. In short, please be cautious if you have any information. Contact us promptly. We won’t disturb you further!"

With that, Lin Chengcai stood up but suddenly saw Su Qing staring dazedly at the old photo on the cabinet.

"Xiao Su, what are you looking at? Let’s go!" Lin Chengcai reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing couldn’t help pointing at the photo under the glass on the cabinet and asked, "Excuse me, whose graduation photo is this?"

The photo lay flat on the cabinet covered by a layer of transparent glass, a yellowed graduation photo in the corner that caught his attention.

He unexpectedly discovered a familiar figure, Chen Jing, who had accidentally passed away some time ago, even spotting several familiar faces on the graduation photo, though his memory was somewhat fuzzy due to his young age, he couldn’t recall clearly.

Hearing this, Miao Fang walked over to take a look and said: "This is my eldest daughter’s graduation photo! This is her."

Saying that, she pointed to a fair-skinned girl in the far corner.

"Your eldest daughter? How old is she?"

"Twenty-five this year!"

"That’s impossible!" Su Qing instinctively blurted out.

"What’s wrong, Xiao Su?" Seeing his reaction, Lin Chengcai stepped forward to ask.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing stared firmly at the photo, indeed, Chen Jing was in the same year as him, then he suddenly thought of something and looked at the photo’s upper left corner, indeed finding a line of writing there.

’Sanhe Village Primary School Graduation Group Photo’

He was from Daoist Manor Primary School, but Chen Jing transferred in fourth grade; he heard that the school over there was a dangerous building, from that year onwards, third graders and above partly transferred to their primary school, partly to southern township schools, until the last batch left, leaving Sanhe Village Primary School deserted.

And this photo was likely taken before Chen Jing transferred, meaning that Zhang Shunzhi, although two years older, was in the same year.

"My daughter is mute, slightly mentally deficient since childhood, so she was late in schooling, after third grade she stopped attending."

[Partly because Zhang Shunzhi couldn’t speak, learned things slowly leading to assumptions of intellectual deficiency, but more importantly, Miao Fang felt it was wasting money, since she wasn’t biologically hers. It was better saved for her son’s education. If Zhang Shunzhi’s biological father were still alive, given her view, she wouldn’t have allowed her to complete the third grade]

The narrator triggered, Su Qing glanced at the woman before him, indeed worthy of her naturally sharp triangular eyes.

For a moment, Su Qing felt an intricate line linking all the clues together, narrowing the range instantly.

He glanced at those around him, especially Old Lin and the others, trembling inside, suddenly wanting to stop investigating.

Because he had a premonition, if the investigation continued, the outcome would surely be something he despises.

With a gulp, Su Qing swallowed, his fists instinctively clenched.

Noticing his unusual behavior, Lin Chengcai stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and spoke:

"Are you alright?"

"I’m fine! By the way, can I take a picture of this photo?"

"Ah? Sure... go ahead!"

Actually, before the other party agreed, Su Qing had already taken out his phone to capture it, then left without saying another word.

Though he still didn’t know who the counterpart was, he had a premonition, only needing a trigger, the person would emerge.

...

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