Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Murderous Joy (26)

The College of Agriculture might have more than one position, and Liang Lanjun might not necessarily be competing for it with Ju Ning, but they were likely rivals.

Sui Xing logged into the College of Agriculture's website and searched for Ju Ning, gathering more information about him. After completing his studies abroad, he once taught at Guiyong University before transferring to the Guiyong Academy of Science, focusing on research. In recent years, he had returned to the College of Agriculture multiple times to give lectures and give back to his alma mater.

Sui Xing copied his work phone number from the website and dialed it. The assistant answered, mistakenly thinking Sui Xing was a colleague from another research lab, and said that Professor Ju was on vacation for the next few days and would be available after the Spring Festival.

Sui Xing couldn’t wait until after the Spring Festival and went directly to the Guiyong Academy of Science. Coincidentally, the academy was hosting a New Year’s cultural performance, and Ju Ning would be attending later.

As the sky darkened, the hall of the Guiyong Academy of Science grew more lively. Sui Xing stood among the crowd, looking at the cars pulling up like a new researcher. Suddenly, her gaze fell on a man wearing a coat, walking and talking with a young researcher. The man smiled, and his appearance was quite outstanding among people his age. He appeared unbothered by the young researcher’s questions.

Sui Xing approached and heard the researcher say, "Thank you, Professor Ju, I understand everything now!"

The man nodded, parted from the researcher, and was about to stride toward the hall entrance when Sui Xing appeared in front of him. "Professor Ju."

Ju Ning looked surprised for a moment, sizing up Sui Xing. "Who are you?"

Sui Xing took out her badge. "I need to ask you about something."

Ju Ning's expression changed. The hall was crowded, but luckily, Sui Xing had only shown her badge and quickly put it away, so no one around them had seen it. Ju Ning glanced around and instinctively walked toward a quieter corner. Sui Xing followed.

"I don’t remember anything that would make the police come looking for me," Ju Ning said, regaining his composure after a brief shock. "I’m just a researcher at the Academy of Science."

Sui Xing said, "This matter has nothing to do with you directly, Professor Ju. We want to inquire about one of your classmates."

"Classmate?" Ju Ning raised his hand to check his watch. "Look, I’m in a hurry to get to the hall. Can we talk later?"

Sui Xing raised her hand to stop him. "Professor, when you were in your junior year, you got an opportunity to participate in a project in F-country, right?"

Ju Ning’s eyes tensed again, and he frowned at Sui Xing.

"You contributed significantly to that project and gained the admiration of the professors there, which allowed you to stay in F-country for further studies," Sui Xing said. "Afterward, you chose to return to China."

Ju Ning replied, "This land raised me, and one can’t forget their roots."

Sui Xing nodded. "Coincidentally, the student I’m investigating also had the chance to go to F-country. His name is Liang Lanjun. Do you know him, Professor Ju?"

A nearly torn expression appeared on Ju Ning’s face—his skin remained still, but the muscles beneath it twitched violently.

"Liang... Liang Lanjun..." When repeating the name, his pronunciation sounded strange, as if he hadn’t uttered these three words in a long time, and saying them brought him fear.

"Yes, Liang Lanjun," Sui Xing observed Ju Ning’s discomfort and tilted her head. "Professor Ju? Professor Ju?"

Ju Ning snapped out of his daze, pinched the bridge of his nose, and asked, "What did he do? What happened?"

Sui Xing said, "Not necessarily, but during our investigation, we found out that he was expelled from your alma mater. The reason was that during a competition for a research spot abroad, he got into a physical altercation with a classmate. If we calculate the timeline, the project you participated in seems to be the one he wanted to fight for. So I wanted to ask you if you know about that incident?"

Ju Ning’s lips trembled a few times. "You should ask the school about that."

Sui Xing said, "I’ve already asked, but the teachers don’t know the details like the students do. Professor Ju, what do you think about Liang Lanjun beating a classmate for a research spot?"

Ju Ning didn’t look at Sui Xing. "I wasn’t very close with him. It’s been years, and I don’t want to casually comment on a classmate who got expelled."

Sui Xing nodded understandingly. "How many spots were there in that project?"

Ju Ning didn’t answer.

Sui Xing raised an eyebrow. "If there was only one, Professor Ju, you wouldn’t be the student who clashed with him, would you?"

Ju Ning became visibly impatient. "I don’t have time to deal with your questions. If Liang Lanjun has a problem, go investigate him!"

Sui Xing stepped back and blocked Ju Ning’s path. "Then let me make myself clearer. Was it you whom Liang Lanjun hit?"

Ju Ning stopped in his tracks, and a trace of fear appeared in his eyes.

At that moment, someone who appeared to be a leader called from a distance, "Xiao Ju, what are you doing over there?"

Ju Ning quietly said to Sui Xing, "I’ll explain everything to you after the event is over!" He immediately put on a smile and said, "Dean Zhou, sorry, I..."

Sui Xing watched Ju Ning’s back as he walked away and took a deep breath of cold air.

“Fear? Why fear?” Hai Shu listened to Sui Xing's account and was full of doubts. “If Ju Ning was indeed the student beaten by Liang Lanjun, even after so many years, the police coming to ask about it would still feel like a tangled issue. I should be full of anger, not fear.”

Sui Xing was sitting on the street, eating beef offal noodles. The shop owner had set up a windbreak tent, but the cold wind still blew mercilessly, carrying the roar of the cars on the road.

“I also find this point particularly strange,” Sui Xing said. “The college didn’t disclose which student was beaten, but I found out there were only two spots. If Ju Ning wasn’t the one who got beaten, couldn’t he just answer directly? He’s probably the one, and…”

Hai Shu said, “And what happened back then wasn’t that simple.”

Sui Xing continued eating, “But what’s really odd? Ju Ning’s reaction seems like he didn’t earn that spot fairly. Liang Lanjun was impulsive in beating someone, but why wasn’t it the other person? Liang Lanjun thought that spot was definitely his, only to be replaced at the last minute.”

“Ju Ning involved in unfair competition?” Hai Shu rubbed her temples. “The trouble is, we have no solid reason to investigate.”

Sui Xing put down her chopsticks. “If we find out that Ju Ning engaged in unfair competition, causing Liang Lanjun to lose the spot, which ultimately led to his expulsion, what does that have to do with the Wan Ze Yu case?”

“That’s the problem I’m worried about,” Hai Shu sighed. “It feels like we’ve been groping our way forward but can’t find that exit.”

Sui Xing, feeling too hungry, ordered another serving of beef offal. “Since we’ve come across something strange about Ju Ning, I can’t rest easy unless I look into his background. You continue exploring around Zhou Ping Town, and I’ll investigate Ju Ning. If there’s a problem with Liang Lanjun’s expulsion or that project in F country, Ju Ning must be connected to something. And that also involves Guiyong University. Although the missing student didn’t come from Guiyong University, we can’t rule out that others may in the future.”

Hai Shu nodded. “Okay, I’ll go with what you suggested.”

After hanging up the phone, Hai Shu rested her hands behind her head and leaned back in the chair. Soon, she sat up again and started searching for information about Ju Ning online.

As an outstanding researcher in Guiyong City, Ju Ning had been reported by the media. His news photos looked dignified, and he seemed very focused on his academic work, as if he had devoted his life to research.

The news article stated that he came from a remote southern village and had worked hard to get where he was. He almost couldn’t continue his high school education but was helped by a kind teacher. This was why, despite having the opportunity to stay in F country, he insisted on returning to serve his country. He was always grateful to those who helped him. After joining the Academy of Science, he donated money to his hometown every year and brought his mother to Guiyong City to enjoy her later years.

Looking at all the reports available online, Hai Shu muttered, “Hmm?”

Ju Ning’s actual situation was quite different from what Sui Xing had analyzed. He seemed to have no background at all, and even if he had earned the admiration of a certain teacher during his studies, it was highly unlikely that he had used unfair competition to push Liang Lanjun out.

Hai Shu thought of Zhao Yue again. Both of them had been expelled, and on the surface, it seemed like their own mistakes. But after Sui Xing’s investigation, everything seemed shrouded in mystery. No one could clearly explain the cause and effect of their expulsions. The criminal investigation team had only received vague and evasive answers.

Hai Shu felt that it wasn’t the right time to approach Liang Lanjun and Zhao Yue directly, but that wall without a door kept extending infinitely. She had to try getting closer to them.

The workers' residential area looked like a northern courtyard. During the Spring Festival, every household had their doors open, children ran around in groups, and adults were picking vegetables or chatting downstairs. The television inside the homes was turned up loud, with most people watching variety shows.

The Liang family lived on the first floor, but their door was closed. Hai Shu arrived at the door but didn’t knock immediately. She walked around the area. The curtains of the Liang family’s windows were half-drawn, and through the remaining gap, she couldn’t see anyone, but she could see part of the television.

Unlike other homes, the people inside weren’t watching variety shows; they were watching the news. Last year, a well-known real estate company tycoon had been investigated for causing a fatal injury, and as a result, the company’s upper management was implicated in several economic crimes. The news was doing an in-depth report on the matter.

Hai Shu watched for a while and then walked back to the door. Just then, the door opened, and Zhao Yue, looking as though she was about to go out, saw Hai Shu and froze. “Officer Hai, what are you doing here?”

Her voice was a bit louder, not like a regular greeting, but more like a reminder to someone inside. Hai Shu heard the sound of the channel changing and people moving around inside.

“Going to buy vegetables?” Hai Shu smiled and waved her hand. “I was out early and saw some fresh pea tips by the roadside, so I brought some for you.”

Zhao Yue said, “For us? How embarrassing.”

Hai Shu placed them in her hand. “Can I come in and sit for a while?”

Zhao Yue hesitated. “This…”

Hai Shu reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’m just doing a routine visit. I already went to Sister Qian and Sister Wang’s houses.”

Zhao Yue looked at the group of women on the dock, hesitated for a moment, but still let Hai Shu in. “No need to take off your shoes. We haven’t cleaned yet.”

Hai Shu said, “Then I’ll bother you.”

Liang Lanjun came to the door, and the dim yellow light overhead made his expression appear vague and unsettled. “Officer Hai.”

“Don’t be nervous, really, I’ll just sit for a while and leave.” Hai Shu glanced at the layout of the room. It was an old-style factory area house with a linear three-room layout. There was no real living room, and the space right by the door was a transitional area. To the left was the kitchen and dining area, with a TV in the dining room. On the right were parallel bedrooms, and to get to the innermost bedroom, one had to pass through the front bedroom.

Hai Shu couldn’t go to the right side, so she walked into the dining area to the left. “Watching a program?”

At that moment, the television was no longer showing the news. An outdated celebrity was singing loudly on stage, and the bright singing made the room’s emptiness even more stark.

“Sit down.” Zhao Yue said, “Ah, we don’t have children or any relatives to visit, and no candies to offer you.”

During holidays, most families would offer sunflower seeds and peanuts, and Hai Shu remembered when Wen Xu was asking Liu Qiong’s brothers for information, he had even set up a temporary tea party. But in Liang Lanjun and Zhao Yue’s home, there were no candies, peanuts, or anything related to the New Year, as if they weren’t celebrating at all.

Hai Shu glanced at the TV. The variety show was the only trace of New Year’s atmosphere in the house. But a few minutes ago, Liang Lanjun was watching social news.

Hai Shu couldn’t help but wonder if Liang Lanjun had changed the channel when Zhao Yue said “Officer Hai.” But why? Was there something he needed to avoid by watching social news?

Liang Lanjun had already gone to the kitchen to cut leek, presumably for leek dumplings. Zhao Yue brought over hot water. “Officer Hai, let me explain again what happened when we went to the old workshop that day. That day, I was just confused with Lao Liang. We wanted to burn some paper money for our ancestors before the New Year and didn’t think it was the site you mentioned. We didn’t cause any trouble for you, did we?”

Hai Shu said, “It’s nothing, no trouble at all. By the way, aren’t you going back to your hometown for the holiday?”

Zhao Yue replied, “Hah, my family passed away early. Only distant relatives are left in my hometown, and the incense and paper money are all burned for my parents.”

Hai Shu glanced at Liang Lanjun’s back. “Then, Brother Liang…”

The sound of Liang Lanjun chopping leeks grew louder, thud thud thud, blending with the noise of the television, making it quite noisy.

“He…” Zhao Yue thought for a moment, “He’s no longer in touch with his family.”

Hai Shu asked, “Is it because of the university issue?”

Thud—the chopping sound stopped.

Zhao Yue’s gaze drifted past Hai Shu, and she couldn’t help but furrow her brows at Liang Lanjun before quickly turning back to Hai Shu with a forced smile. “Officer Hai, I don’t understand. What exactly do you want to ask us?”

“Zhao Jie, don’t worry. I told you, today I’m just having a casual chat. See, I didn’t bring an assistant or any recording equipment.” Hai Shu said, “You know, the Wan Ze Yu case is strange. During our investigation, we need to gather some basic information from the whole town. I learned that you and Brother Liang once studied at Guiyong University, but for some reason, neither of you graduated.”

Zhao Yue awkwardly replied, “But what does this have to do with Wan Ze Yu?”

Hai Shu shook her head. “There’s another case, isn’t there? Xu Qiao was also a student of Guiyong University, and we’ve never found her body.”

Zhao Yue was confused. “This…”

“I’m not suspecting you, but since we’ve come this far, why not take the opportunity to learn a bit about Guiyong University? If it can provide us with any clues, that would be best.”

Zhao Yue’s expression slowly softened. “That girl was unfortunate. When I heard she got into Guiyong, I was happy for her. But Officer Hai, we’ve been away from the university for too long to know what’s going on there now, so we can’t help you.”

Hai Shu asked, “Do you know if there are any academic scandals at Guiyong University?”

Liang Lanjun finished chopping the leeks and came over to wipe his hands with a paper towel.

“We really don’t know,” Zhao Yue said. “Officer Hai, thank you for the pea tips. Our family loves them in winter.”

Hai Shu looked up at Liang Lanjun. He hadn’t shown much expression from the beginning, and he didn’t initiate any conversation. After wiping his hands, he returned to the kitchen.

Hai Shu knew this conversation was nearing its end. Before leaving, she took another glance around the room. Her gaze suddenly fixed on a photo frame in the glass cabinet.

It was a place that could easily be overlooked if one wasn’t paying attention. The Liang family’s furniture was all old, with a low cabinet about a meter high attached to the wall. The cabinet doors were made of tea-colored sliding glass, and inside were tea sets and other items. The photo frame was placed next to the tea set. Because of the color of the glass and its dirtiness, the people in the photo couldn’t be seen clearly. But it was evident there were three people in the picture—two adults on the sides and a girl in the middle with braided hair.

Zhao Yue quickly blocked Hai Shu’s line of sight and politely escorted her to the door.

When Hai Shu returned to the pea tip stall, she bought a large bag and walked toward the police station while deep in thought. Liang Lanjun and Zhao Yue’s reactions today weren’t too strange. At least, they were much more normal than when they had gone to the old workshop to burn paper earlier in the morning. But who were the people in that photo? The two adults were likely Liang and Zhao, but who was the girl in the middle? They didn’t have children, and they didn’t have contact with relatives. Who would they have a photo with?

Not just a photo, but one placed in a frame. But why put it in such an odd spot? It was already framed and displayed, so why not place it somewhere more visible? That location, that height, with that tea-colored glass—if you didn’t specifically look for it, you would never see it.

The air conditioning in the temporary office warmed Hai Shu as she walked to the whiteboard, adding clues and points of suspicion. Besides the photo, there was also Liang Lanjun suddenly changing the channel. He wasn’t watching something that absolutely couldn’t be seen by others, as the curtains weren’t fully drawn, and the neighbors could see if they passed by. Was he just avoiding letting her, the criminal detective, see it? Or was it because there were visitors at home, and he wanted to put on something with more of a New Year’s atmosphere?

Wen Xu rummaged through his pockets and cheerfully said, “Pea tips!”

Hai Shu snapped out of her thoughts. “Professor Wen, under what circumstances would someone put a photo in a frame but then place the frame in a hard-to-see spot?”

Wen Xu paused for a moment, then smiled a somewhat bitter smile. “Why do you suddenly ask about this?”

Hai Shu then explained what happened when she visited the Liang family.

Wen Xu fell silent and stared at the pea tips in a daze. Hai Shu felt the atmosphere shift and asked, “Professor Wen?”

Wen Xu looked up. “Ah, you’re talking about the photo frame…”

Hai Shu asked, “Professor Wen, what’s going on?”

Wen Xu’s fleeting sadness disappeared, as though it was just Hai Shu’s imagination. “Placing it in a photo frame usually means cherishing, commemorating, or displaying it, right? Based on what you said, that could be a family photo. But Liang Lanjun and Zhao Yue don’t have children. If they wanted to display it, why put it somewhere where you have to make an effort to retrieve it? It’s like they don’t want to see it every day but want to look at it at specific moments. There’s another possibility.”

Hai Shu asked, “What’s that?”

Wen Xu replied, “That the photo frame was originally placed somewhere visible, but when you went there, Liang Lanjun put it away in the cabinet. You stood by the door for a while before entering, so he had the time to do it.”

Hai Shu thought for a moment and shook her head. “If it was hidden, it should be even more concealed, at least locked away. If it was really hidden, then that would be a big problem. Why couldn’t I see the girl in the photo?”

Wen Xu said, “That makes sense. Leaving it out like that doesn’t seem like hiding. But what I said earlier still stands—it might have been put in a visible place at first, but after some incident, it was moved to the cabinet.”

Hai Shu thought for a while. An incident? Did something happen to the girl in the photo? She shook her head, reminding herself that the cases in the criminal investigation team were the Wan Ze Yu case and three missing person cases.

During the investigation process, it’s common to come across attention-grabbing clues. The more experienced a criminal detective is, the more sensitive their instincts become, and the easier it is to gather clues that seem important but actually distort judgment. Hai Shu tried to piece together the new clues with the original ones, but they seemed to come from different puzzles and just didn’t fit together.

On one hand, Hai Shu was worried that she was heading in the wrong direction; on the other hand, it was hard to let go once she had discovered a clue.

“These pea tips are fresh,” Wen Xu said. “I’ll go borrow an induction cooker and a pot.”

Just as the criminal investigation team was having pea tip soup, Sui Xing met Gu Ning again, this time at a location Gu Ning had specified—a café in the city center, not far from both the science institute and Guiyong University.

Compared to their meeting outside the science institute’s auditorium, Gu Ning seemed much calmer this time, as if he had already prepared himself. “The fact that Liang Lanjun was expelled is indeed related to me to some extent. If you want to know about this, I can tell you everything.”

Sui Xing asked, “At that time, the agriculture department had two spots. You were the one who competed with Liang Lanjun for the second spot?”

Gu Ning slightly frowned. “You could put it that way. The first spot went to the best student in our department, Sheng Kuiran. As long as he applied, it was a done deal. He did apply and later worked in F country for a while, but he’s already returned and opened a company.”

Sui Xing felt the name Sheng Kuiran sounded familiar and planned to look it up later. She continued asking, “Did Liang Lanjun think the remaining spot should belong to him?”

Gu Ning smiled. “He’s a very obsessive person. After enrolling, he never made any friends—he only knew how to study.” He paused, then coughed. “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t look down on anyone who works hard. I’m just making an objective statement.”

Sui Xing nodded, signaling for him to continue.

“I admit, on paper, my grades weren’t as good as his, but participating in overseas research projects isn’t just about how well you did in finals. They also look at past academic achievements and even consider interpersonal skills.” Gu Ning showed a hint of pride. “Before that, I had already published papers, had authoritative professors write recommendation letters for me, and I got along well with my classmates. My foreign language skills were good, so the department considered it all and gave me that spot.”

Sui Xing said, “So, Liang Lanjun didn’t accept it and caused trouble for you?”

Gu Ning sighed, rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a scar. “This was done by Liang Lanjun. If the surgery hadn’t been timely, I wouldn’t have been able to use this hand.”

Sui Xing immediately recognized it was a knife wound. Once a student conflict involves a knife, it’s a major issue, and the police are almost always called. But she had checked the police records yesterday, and there was no report on this incident.

“He cut you with a knife, and you didn’t report it to the police?”

Gu Ning froze for a moment, then put his sleeve down and sipped his coffee. “The teachers came quickly, there were many people, and they subdued him. If I had called the police, Liang Lanjun would have been done for, right? The department also had its considerations, and they didn’t want to lose such a good student.”

Sui Xing said, “But he was still expelled later. Was that your request?”

Gu Ning said, “Do you think I have that kind of power? You can check into my past; I’m a child from the mountains, with no background. I couldn’t have forced the school to do anything.”

Sui Xing had already looked into this and discussed it with Hai Shu. “So in the end…”

“I didn’t look into it in detail. After all, at that time, I was in a mess myself and didn’t understand why I had to go through something like that,” Gu Ning said. “But I heard that the department initially wanted to keep Liang Lanjun, but he had used a knife, and many students were scared. The teachers were also worried about similar incidents happening in the future, so they made him leave. I later heard there was a big argument. Liang Lanjun refused to leave, but he had made a mistake. He shouldn’t have stayed at Guiyong University.”

After finishing the last of his coffee, Gu Ning stood up and left. Sui Xing sat alone for a while before leaving. Today, Gu Ning was a completely different person from yesterday. It seemed as though he had prepared himself overnight, becoming calm and composed. His words seemed airtight, but why was he so flustered when he first heard Liang Lanjun’s name yesterday?

Sui Xing gently tapped her pen on her notebook, the word “knife” circled many times. A cut that long—Liang Lanjun had prepared the knife long beforehand. Was he trying to kill Gu Ning?

After a while, Sui Xing remembered Gu Ning’s mention of the genius student Sheng Kuiran. She searched the name online and immediately understood why it sounded familiar. Sheng Kuiran was a rising star in the tech world, and the medical and AI company he founded, Kuiran Technology, had gained increasing fame in the industry over the past few years.

Sui Xing muttered to herself with curiosity, “Wasn’t he an agriculture student? How did he get involved with medicine and artificial intelligence?”