A’Jiao committed suicide!
It was all too late.
Mei Qian didn't even have time to administer emergency aid. The young girl had passed away.
Unwilling to accept it, Mei Qian lifted A’Jiao’s face. Only then did he notice that the girl’s eyes were round and large, bright and captivating.
“A’Jiao!”
In the county bureau’s courtyard, Wang Sanfa, his eyes streaming with tears and struggling to break free from the police officers who wanted to take him inside to find his daughter, suddenly heard such a cry.
“A’Jiao!”
Wang Sanfa straightened up, strained his neck and shouted back, then fainted.
The case ending in such a manner was entirely unforeseen.
Mei Qian, as the primary investigator of the case, received a demerit.
Director Niu, as the head of the responsible supervisory department, received a major demerit.
Three days after the case’s aftermath, Mei Qian shook Director Niu’s hand apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Old Niu. I’ve caused you a lot of trouble this time,” Mei Qian said.
“No one could have predicted it. The police officer responsible for the escort took off Wang Jiao’s mask and let her speak a few words. That girl’s mouth corners are long, and she could speak freely with something in her mouth. Who could have foreseen this?” Director Niu said. “I’ve gained some insight, so it’s not a total loss! How did the provincial inspection team console us? Right, it’s like we’ve used our own lesson to fill a void in the case history.”
“Alas, I also can’t figure out how that girl managed to shove the murder weapon into her mouth and have it taken away right in front of me,” Mei Qian said. “What a pity. Once a person is dead, everything is empty. You’ve accounted for Tie Dan’s case, but the city’s case is now broken.”
Wang Sanfa arrived at the designated pick-up location and indeed waited for a smuggling ship. His daughter was indeed on board.
Seeing his daughter safe and sound, Wang Sanfa was overjoyed. But upon returning home, after his daughter removed her mask, she terrified him. Both corners of her mouth had been cut open with a sharp object. Since the wounds had already healed, the cut portions could not be sutoned. His daughter’s once delicate and beautiful face had become that of a monster with a large mouth.
Back in Hechuan, Wang Sanfa took his daughter to seek medical treatment everywhere, but it was never fully cured. His daughter became self-abandoning, her temperament changing drastically. Wang Sanfa thought his daughter had a mental illness, but the hospital diagnosis indicated she had no issues.
At that time, Wang Sanfa, burdened by a daughter who constantly wanted to die, was at his wit’s end. He asked the doctor for a referral for observation and treatment and took his daughter to a sanatorium. For the next few years, he worked and looked after his daughter. The hospital in charge of the sanatorium did not make things difficult for them, allowing the father and daughter to stay.
“This sanatorium was a good place for us. People were constantly seeking death or a new beginning here. My daughter lived here and gradually stabilized, and I had no intention of leaving. I just kept working and working, and eventually became the director,” Wang Sanfa said. “I planned to continue working like this, save enough money for my daughter to live here for a lifetime, and then I would have done right by that girl. But I never expected her to take such extreme measures.”
After listening to Wang Sanfa’s account, Mei Qian felt uneasy.
“What about Chen Fei and Tie Dan?” Mei Qian asked.
“There was a young lady named Chen Meiqi who was kidnapped and trafficked abroad with my daughter. She was also rescued at the same time. Unfortunately, this girl had a bitter fate and didn't survive, dying on the ship,” Wang Sanfa said. “Chen Fei is that girl’s father. We actually knew each other long ago. We went looking for our children together back then, so we were companions. Later, when his daughter died, he went around complaining and went mad a few years ago, ending up in the sanatorium. I took care of him. He was discharged not long ago, promising to live a good life, but I never expected him to do that.”
“As for that Tie Dan, because he was alone, he paid monthly and ate with us. I don’t know how, but he took a liking to my girl. They were in a secret relationship. At the time, I still held out hope that if Tie Dan didn’t care about the scar on the girl’s face, accepting him as a son-in-law wouldn’t be bad,” Wang Sanfa said. “But I never expected that Tie Dan would actually attempt to rape A’Jiao one time. I discovered it in time and beat him with a belt. The boy cried and said he was drunk. Seeing that A’Jiao was not harmed, I gave him a lecture and sent him away. He didn’t eat with us after that, but I didn’t expect these two to keep in contact. And… alas, these are all shameful matters. Chen Fei bombed the newspaper office, and I, adopting an attitude of ‘better to have fewer things than more,’ didn’t want to get involved. Chen Fei harbored too much resentment and spent years looking for the person who harmed his daughter. But I’m different; I accept my fate.”
“Did Chen Fei, Tie Dan, and A’Jiao know each other?” Mei Qian asked.
“They knew each other, of course. After Chen Fei was hospitalized, he rarely had episodes and was mostly clear-headed. He always asked A’Jiao about her daughter. Actually, these events are just as that company described. A’Jiao and Chen Fei’s daughter were both attracted by the conditions offered by bad people, and that’s why they broke their appointments and boarded the pirate ship. Once abroad, they were sold. My daughter’s mouth injuries were from being bullied…”
Chen Fei liked to chat with A’Jiao, and A’Jiao felt sorry for Chen Fei. At that time, there was also Tie Dan, who often came to play with A’Jiao. The three of them often sunbathed on the rooftop and played poker.
“I really liked that time. The three of them were arguably A’Jiao’s best friends. Only when the three of them were together would my daughter smile happily,” Wang Sanfa said. “Before Chen Fei was discharged, a young man claiming to be his nephew often came to see him. Oh, I told you this part already. That’s the person you were looking for. The four of them played poker together. Later, when Chen Fei was discharged, that young man never came again. This was about half a year ago.”
It turned out that Chen Meiqi and Wang Jiao were both deceived once, and then redeemed, but Chen Meiqi didn’t survive to return, while Wang Jiao did. Based on Wang Sanfa’s recollection, Mei Qian finally clarified the relationship between Tianen Sanatorium and Chen Fei.
“It should be this way. Chen Fei and Wang Jiao have always been resentful. Regardless of whether Ma Delu was the mastermind, they wanted to use an explosion to make society re-examine this case that occurred seven years ago,” Mei Qian stated his thoughts on the newspaper bombing case during the city bureau’s case analysis meeting after reporting on the sanatorium murder case.
“According to you, Tie Dan was responsible for stealing the explosives. What was the role of the young man, who has not yet been found? Helping to connect things? Did A’Jiao persuade Chen Fei to jointly orchestrate this bombing?” Xiang Wanfeng asked.
“These are just one line of thought for solving the case. Currently, this is all we have to go on. The key is still to find the person who was lost. Only by finding him can the true face of the bombing case be revealed,” Mei Qian concluded.