Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Mountain Blaze (15)

Hai Shu asked, “Are there any special clues?”

Qiao Heng said, “The clue still comes from you. The lab just sent me the report. Among the bottles and jars you brought from Yao Wei’s house, there’s a packet of propofol.”

Half an hour later, the sound of Hai Shu’s quick footsteps echoed in the corridor. She suddenly pushed open the lab door. “Let me see!”

The lab technician placed the report and samples in front of her. “It is indeed propofol.”

Hai Shu’s heart raced. Auxiliary officer Zhao Ruocheng died from propofol, and Yao Wei’s house just happened to have propofol, hidden carefully inside a bottle labeled as hemostatic powder!

The technician said, “Ordinary people wouldn’t usually keep this at home. Either it’s for personal use to seek thrills, or it’s intended to harm someone else. There’s no third possibility.”

Hai Shu had initially planned to hand the investigation of Zhao Ruocheng over to the Yanai District Sub-Bureau, but now it was clear: Criminal Investigation Team One had to handle it themselves. She rushed to Shaohua Street, checking the distance between Shaohua Street and the section of Yongming Jiangnan River where the body was found—it was over ten kilometers apart.

Shaohua Street was far from the central district of Yanai. The local police station mostly handled trivial matters, so when city bureau personnel arrived, everyone was startled.

Hai Shu verified whether there was an auxiliary officer named Zhao Ruocheng. The station chief said, “Little Zhao? He’s our auxiliary officer. He didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

Hai Shu briefly explained the situation. The station chief went pale. “Dead? I saw him just last week!”

Hai Shu asked, “He hadn’t been to work for a few days, right? Why did you all seem unconcerned about his attendance?”

The chief said, “It’s not that we didn’t care. He requested leave last week, saying his elderly mother back home was sick and he wanted to take care of her. I couldn’t refuse. Little Zhao is diligent, hardly ever takes a break in a year. I let him rest a bit. How did he die?”

All the officers and auxiliary officers at the station began talking about Zhao Ruocheng.

He came from a county under Huiyong City. His parents were farmers; the family seemed poor. After middle school, Zhao Ruocheng went to a technical school and worked in a factory, but later came to the city to seek his fortune.

Before becoming an auxiliary officer, he had been a taxi driver, courier, and security guard. He was enthusiastic and unafraid of hard work. Any task the station assigned, he did without question. If another auxiliary officer took leave, Zhao could be called to cover immediately.

Over the past year, he never had disputes with any police or auxiliary officers. Even when dealing with particularly unreasonable citizens, he could handle them, sometimes using the same trickery as the troublemakers themselves. After returning from his hometown post-Spring Festival, he even brought homemade cured meat for everyone.

Hai Shu asked, “In the past year or two, has there been any case involving propofol here?”

Everyone looked at each other and said no.

Hai Shu then showed Yao Wei’s photo; no one had seen him.

Hai Shu requested Zhao Ruocheng’s family contact information and current address. The phone connected quickly to an elderly woman’s voice, likely Zhao Ruocheng’s mother.

The woman said “Hello?” twice. “Is this Ruocheng? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Hai Shu took a deep breath. “Hello, is this Zhao Ruocheng’s home?”

“Yes, who is this?”

Hai Shu hesitated, then asked, “Has Zhao Ruocheng returned recently?”

Zhao’s mother said, “No, it’s been a long time. Young lady, are you a friend of Ruocheng?”

Hai Shu paused. “It’s like this… please listen to me…”

A piercing cry came from the other end. Zhao’s father rushed over, took the phone. “Hello, who is this? What happened to our child?”

Informing families of bad news is a necessary skill for many criminal investigators. Hai Shu had done it many times, sometimes thinking she had grown numb, but facing grieving parents always burned her heart anew.

The only thing in this world that cannot be retrieved is a lost life.

After hanging up, Hai Shu contacted the local police station near Zhao Ruocheng’s hometown, asking them to check on the family and accompany the elderly couple to the city bureau if possible.

Next, Hai Shu went to Zhao Ruocheng’s residence. The station was already in slight panic over the auxiliary officer’s death, so the chief brought two officers to go with Hai Shu.

Zhao Ruocheng rented an apartment on Shaohua Street. The landlord, doing business on the same street and knowing many police officers, quickly came when informed. Zhao had changed the lock, so the landlord’s key couldn’t open it—they had to break in.

The apartment had one bedroom and one living room. Upon opening the door, a strong sour stench hit immediately.

The landlord was anxious. With Zhao dead, the apartment would become a “haunted house.” The chief reassured him: the incident happened outside, so don’t panic. Any clues should be reported to Captain Hai.

Compared to Yao Wei’s place, Zhao Ruocheng’s apartment looked more like a single man’s home. The toilet had thick urine stains. Floors and tables hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. Dirty clothes piled in the washing machine; flies buzzed around the trash bin. The refrigerator, range hood, and stove were clean, showing he hadn’t cooked at home.

Zhao Ruocheng didn’t have a computer. Hai Shu found a mobile phone in a drawer, but even after charging it, it wouldn’t turn on. The landlord looked and said, “He probably hasn’t used this for a long time. Look at how broken it is—it was likely used back when he delivered packages.”

Hai Shu put the old phone into an evidence bag and also collected some hair samples from the apartment. While checking the cabinet, she discovered women’s underwear and a military uniform inside.

Hai Shu asked the landlord, “Did Zhao Ruocheng ever bring women here?”

The landlord scratched the back of his head and awkwardly chuckled twice.

The station chief patted him. “Answer the question!”

The landlord then said, “Men are like that, you know.”

He was referring to Zhao Ruocheng, who had no steady partner and felt lonely at his age, so he spent money to see women. He was good-looking, especially his physique—still fit at 35, already ahead of most men his age.

But the landlord also defended him. “Old Zhao wanted to find a proper woman to live with. He told me countless times to introduce someone for him. As long as there’s no ‘extra baggage,’ other conditions are negotiable. But, you know, without his own apartment, it’s not easy to find a partner.”

A police officer who came along added that Zhao Ruocheng had mentioned finding a girlfriend and even wanted the officer to help lie, claiming Zhao wasn’t an auxiliary officer but a regular police officer.

The chief shouted, “You lied?”

The officer quickly shook his head. “I didn’t!”

Hai Shu asked the landlord, “Do you know who the women Zhao Ruocheng sought were?”

The landlord quickly put on a proper demeanor. “I don’t know, but ask around the market—you’ll find out!”

The market the landlord mentioned was on Shaohua Street. It wasn’t just a vegetable market; it also had various small shops, barber shops, nail salons, massage parlors. It was the busiest and most chaotic area of Shaohua Street. At night, some women became commodities, happily soliciting business. Others, more experienced, didn’t need to advertise—business came to them.

Hai Shu went to the fourth floor of a residential building along the market, knocked on the door, and a short-haired woman appeared. “Who are you looking for?”

Hai Shu showed her ID. “I’m here for you.”

The woman tried to close the door, but Hai Shu blocked it. She got anxious. “It’s not New Year. Can’t you wait for the anti-vice sweep at the end of the year?”

Hai Shu almost laughed in exasperation. “Not here for a raid, just asking about someone.”

The woman was wary. “Who?”

Hai Shu gestured to enter. The woman reluctantly stepped aside. “Which bastard told you I’m here?”

Inside, it was quiet—no one else was around. The woman sneered. “What, you think this is a brothel? I quit that long ago.”

Hai Shu asked, “Did you know Zhao Ruocheng?”

The woman froze, then her lips twitched. “Damn! I knew it had to be him! Think being an auxiliary officer makes him special? He’s still a fake cop! Pretended to be a soldier before, now pretends to be a cop—what a guy!”

Hai Shu knew she was in the right place. “So… things were good between you two?”

The woman lit a cigarette with disdain. “I’ve slept with a lot of men. There’s no such thing as ‘good.’ What, Zhao Ruocheng reported me to get credit?”

Hai Shu said, “Not exactly. I’m just checking his relationships and ended up here.”

The woman looked like she’d met a disaster. “It was consensual. He’s deceiving others, maybe, but only those naive girls.”

Guided by Hai Shu, the woman began recounting her history with Zhao Ruocheng.

The woman was called Sister Tao. She had been in the streets since her teens. In her own words, her body was long no longer pure, but her mind was sharp.

Over a decade ago, Sister Tao moved to Shaohua Street for business, working both gray and white trades, meeting countless men. More than five years ago, she noticed Zhao Ruocheng.

At that time, Zhao Ruocheng was not yet an auxiliary officer, just a laborer nearby. The market needed many laborers every day, and he worked among them. Sister Tao liked him simply for his looks and physique.

“You know, a man without a belly is rare,” Sister Tao said with a smile.

However, although she had noticed Zhao for a long time, she didn’t bring him to her place until three years ago. Sister Tao was good at judging men. One thing she despised about Zhao Ruocheng was that he wasn’t honest with her or others.

Sister Tao heard from her friends that Zhao claimed to be a retired special forces soldier, had completed secret missions, and even showed his uniform to impress them. She immediately knew it was a lie. Special forces? Where do so many special forces soldiers come from? With Zhao’s walk and posture, he could never have trained in the military.

After Zhao became Sister Tao’s “client,” she asked him about the special forces. He tried to deceive her too. “I really was a soldier, in the snowy plateau…”

Sister Tao mercilessly exposed him. “You went to a technical school in your county, graduated, and worked in a factory. What snowy plateau did you ever go to?”

Zhao Ruocheng got a little angry. “Are you investigating me?”

Sister Tao said, “My connections are way broader than yours.”

The two maintained a romantic relationship for some time, until Zhao Ruocheng became an auxiliary officer. Sister Tao, after all, was a woman walking in the gray areas; Zhao Ruocheng felt she would be a burden, so he proposed breaking up.

Sister Tao’s dictionary didn’t have the word “breakup.” If she didn’t want to continue, she just left—and she wasn’t short of men.

Zhao Ruocheng seemed to have refocused, wandering around Shaohua Street every day like a real police officer. Occasionally, when he saw Sister Tao, he greeted her like an old acquaintance.

Hai Shu asked, “Did he look for someone else afterward?”

“People like us?” Sister Tao said, “At least around here, no. But old habits die hard. He really enjoyed pretending to be a soldier and a cop—he might have tricked some young girls elsewhere. Oh, last year he told me something: he might get married.”

Hai Shu asked, “To whom?”

Sister Tao said, “I don’t know her name, but she looks pretty. I laughed—these girls today are too easily deceived by sweet talk. No house, no car, why marry him?”

It seemed Zhao Ruocheng wanted to show off to his “ex,” flaunting a photo with the girl. Sister Tao, used to women similar to herself, understood that girl was more innocent. But the more innocent the girl, the more vulnerable she was to a man like Zhao Ruocheng.

Hai Shu asked, “Do you remember what she looked like?”

Sister Tao laughed. “How could I describe that? Unless you make her stand in front of me.”

Hai Shu showed Sister Tao a photo of Yao Wei. Sister Tao laughed loudly. “This is a man! What, Zhao Ruocheng likes this? Disgusting!” She flipped through more photos, then suddenly said, “Hmm?”

Hai Shu looked and saw a screenshot from the video “Huanhuan Ah Huanhuan.”

“This woman…” Sister Tao said, “looks just like the girlfriend Zhao Ruocheng showed me!”

Hai Shu then showed other photos of Tang Jinli, and Sister Tao became even more certain. “Yes, it’s her!”

Zhao Ruocheng’s old phone, recovered at the city bureau through technical methods, contained some self-taken photos in military uniform and chat records with women. Consistent with Sister Tao’s account, he looked down on his family and status, using the pretense of a retired special forces soldier to attract women.

Hai Shu was about to call the team for a meeting to analyze the current situation when she suddenly received a call from Li Siwei. He claimed he had arrived at the city bureau with important information to report.

The police had previously released Yao Wei’s photo, asking citizens to report immediately if they saw him. Li Siwei came because of the photo.

“Officer Hai!” he panted. “I saw him near Tang Jinli’s house—it’s him!”

Li Siwei no longer looked anxious like last time. He was desperate to distance himself from Tang Jinli’s death, as if finding someone more suspicious would relieve his own pressure.

Hai Shu thanked him, but in fact, this lead was already less important. The police had seen the photos in Yao Wei’s house; he had to be someone very close to Tang Jinli.

Once all the investigative team members arrived, Hai Shu said, “I’ll share my thoughts.”

The meeting room’s ventilation fan hummed, harmonizing with the spring rain outside. Hai Shu displayed images of Tang Jinli and the propofol on the projector.

“These are the two key points linking Yao Wei and Zhao Ruocheng. Zhao Ruocheng died from respiratory suppression caused by propofol. Yao Wei happened to have this drug at home. Yao Wei met Tang Jinli through Fengcheng Anna—they weren’t just ordinary friends. Even if they weren’t officially dating, it was clearly heading that way, and Yao Wei had taken photos of Tang Jinli. But when Yao Wei met Tang Jinli, Tang Jinli also knew Zhao Ruocheng. How exactly they met, we don’t know. Given the deaths, we might never find out for sure. But one thing is certain: Zhao Ruocheng once showed Tang Jinli’s photos to his previous ‘girlfriend,’ claiming he wanted stability with Tang Jinli.”

Hai Shu paused. “Combined with Li Siwei’s testimony, Tang Jinli immediately broke up with him upon learning he wouldn’t divorce, and soon had more than one ambiguous relationship. Her family background made her crave a family of her own quickly. All these factors together lead me to deduce that after breaking up with Li Siwei, Tang Jinli used a ‘wide net’ approach. She couldn’t spend one or two years on a single person only to find she couldn’t marry. Contacting multiple people reduced her time cost. To settle with someone later, she could break up with others, or simply distrust men. She bought anonymous accounts to contact these men without revealing the others’ existence. But she was careless, and eventually someone discovered her plan, leading to her death.”

The meeting room was silent for a moment. Wen Xu said, “The most likely perpetrator is Yao Wei. His mental state shows that although he appears elegant and calm, he’s emotionally unstable and extremely possessive. When he realized he was only a backup, impulse would overpower reason. But there’s something strange—maybe he initially intended to kill both Tang Jinli and Zhao Ruocheng, but spared Zhao Ruocheng and only acted recently.”

“I’ve thought about that too,” Hai Shu said. “A far-fetched explanation: When Yao Wei killed Tang Jinli, for some reason, Zhao Ruocheng saw or knew about it. They might have made an agreement, and Zhao Ruocheng didn’t reveal Yao Wei. But now Tang Jinli’s body has appeared. We’re expediting the investigation. Yao Wei fears that if we find Zhao Ruocheng, he’ll reveal the truth, so Zhao Ruocheng must die. Extending this, there’s an extreme possibility: Yao Wei and Zhao Ruocheng both realized they were backups. They didn’t hate each other but sympathized, and together killed Tang Jinli. Now, exposed, Yao Wei silenced Zhao Ruocheng.”

This inference touches on deep-rooted flaws in male psychology. Hai Shu, the only woman in the room, objectively stated her thoughts, forgetting the male colleagues’ feelings.

After a moment, one team member said objectively, “This seems very likely. Zhao Ruocheng and Yao Wei’s mutual hatred isn’t as strong as their shared animosity toward Tang Jinli.”

“Pfft—” Wen Xu fiddled with his e-cigarette. “Speaking of Tang Jinli’s body, this also involves Liu the Fool. He definitely knows more than us.”

Hai Shu nodded. “I’ll interrogate him again tomorrow. Wen Xu, can you continue tracking Yao Wei? He’s highly likely to flee out of fear.”

Wen Xu gestured “OK.” “Leave it to me.”

After the meeting, Hai Shu stayed behind in the room. The earlier analysis was based on existing clues; subsequent investigation couldn’t ignore the framework, relying solely on intuition. But Hai Shu had a feeling—their direction might be wrong.

This feeling stemmed from Yao Wei abandoning his planned event, leaving abruptly for no reason. Sui Xing, present at the scene, overheard employees of Qifeng Kaiyun chatting—they all thought Yao Wei’s departure was odd. His kitchen condition suggested he hurriedly yet orderly ate breakfast, planning to clean the sink later, showing his schedule had suddenly changed that day.

This wasn’t a trip to kill Zhao Ruocheng—he was already dead by the 19th, yet Yao Wei ate breakfast calmly on the morning of the 20th.

Even stranger, Yao Wei seemed to plan Zhao Ruocheng’s murder while also preparing an offline event. Colleagues reported everything was normal; the change occurred after Zhao Ruocheng’s death.

Hai Shu closed her eyes, hands tapping her lower abdomen unconsciously. Could there be a third person? Another backup, present at Tang Jinli’s death scene?

But this was baseless speculation—the investigation still had to follow the original plan.

On the morning of the 23rd, Hai Shu and Wen Xu split up to act separately. Before driving off, Hai Shu told Wen Xu her thoughts from staying up all night—trying to use how Yao Wei obtained propofol as a breakthrough direction.

“You can’t just buy this drug outright. Either get it from the black market, or get it from someone who has easy access. The latter requires connections, and of course, there are more extreme possibilities, like accidentally finding it. We can’t trace any black-market purchase records, and Yao Wei has no medical professionals around him. But while I was circling Erli Branch Road, I noticed Kangmin Hospital. After passing Erli Branch Road, Yao Wei and his car disappeared. Could it be that he had something necessary to do at Kangmin Hospital?”

Wen Xu digested this for a moment. “People working in hospitals do indeed have more opportunities to come into contact with propofol than ordinary people. Okay, I’ll think of a way.”

After hanging up, Hai Shu started the car. Whether it was a trick of perception or not, she felt Wen Xu seemed tenser after learning about propofol. Around the Spring Festival, during the investigation in Zhouping Town, Wen Xu had always appeared relaxed—relaxed not because he was lazy, but because he exuded ease.

Approaching Kangmin Hospital, Hai Shu refocused, glancing at the castle-like building until it disappeared from her rearview mirror.

In the morning light, many patients had already arrived at Kangmin Hospital. In this area, the hospital had an excellent reputation: nurses were gentle, doctors responsible—not like large hospitals that radiate busyness and indifference. People came here even for minor ailments, to get some medicine. Older patients, seeing the young staff, felt as if they were their own children.

The line at the pharmacy was a bit long today. Three pharmacists carefully prepared prescriptions. Some were in a hurry to get medicine for work, shouting angrily inside, “Can’t you hurry up? Not moving for half a day—how long do we have to wait?”

Their shouting stirred others in line. An elderly woman scolded them, “There are many prescriptions ahead—show some respect for the doctors.”

At first, the man complained disdainfully, “Who cares about the person getting the medicine? The medicines are all on the shelves, the prescription is clearly printed—anyone who can read can get it!”

The pharmacists remained calm, having heard too many similar complaints. At first, they might have been upset or hurt, but over time they learned to let it go. The team leader said to the only male pharmacist inside, “Xiao Xie, take this prescription.”

Xiao Xie nodded, and the leader quietly added, “Don’t mind what they say—cheer up a little!”

Xiao Xie smiled. “Sister, I’m not upset.”

Even though the pharmacists managed their emotions, the commotion outside grew louder. Elderly people couldn’t tolerate the arrogance of middle-aged and young adults, while the middle-aged and young scolded them for speaking without hardship. They could have come later for medicine, but insisted on competing with office workers—how was this different from muscle-bound seniors pushing onto crowded buses with senior cards during rush hour?

The chaos escalated, and security arrived, but everyone was angry. People were pushing each other, and an elderly person was knocked down, shouting to call the police.

When Wen Xu and two team members entered the hospital lobby, this was the scene they saw. Wen Xu hadn’t expected that coming to get a general sense of drug flow in the hospital would first require handling a public dispute.

Even those reporting to the police were surprised. “110 is still recording, and the police are already here? Response this fast?”

Inside the pharmacy, the team leader said, “The police have arrived.”

Xiao Xie, with his back to everyone, paused slightly while holding the medicine basket. “Sister, I’m going to the restroom.”