Card Room (Rebirth)
chapter-86

Yue Xiaoquan left and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang discussed their next plan.

First, the rope tying Zhao Quan up and the blood-stained clothes hadn’t been found. They needed to search the train again to find these two key pieces of evidence. Secondly, there were many suspects in this case. Taking them to the toilet one by one was easy to disturb the other passengers. In addition, the scene was too bloody. Some timid girls were likely to have a psychological shadow.

Therefore, Yu Hanjiang decided to use Zhao Quan’s mobile phone to take some photos of the death scene to show to the suspects. They could clearly see the situation from the photos but there was a big difference from seeing photos and seeing the scene in person.

The two people acted together. They went to the toilet and took photos from various angles. This was followed by a careful search of the trash cans in the 4th carriage and the dining carriage. Unfortunately, there was no harvest.

Yu Hanjiang thought about it and took Xiao Lou to the 6th sleeper car. He searched through the trash cans and actually found a piece of clothing in it, as well as a large number of female rubber band hair ties.

The clothes were deliberately covered with soup noodles but this was just a cover up. Xiao Lou could instantly see that there was a lot of blood on the clothes but the blood had dried. Mixed with the soup of the instant noodles, it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

This was a very sexy black silk dress. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, “Yue Xiaoquan’s clothes aren’t in this style. Combined with her cold personality, suddenly asking Zhao Quan to go to the toilet for bondage play would definitely arouse Zhao Quan’s suspicions.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and made his way to Yue Xiaoquan’s sleeper room to question her roommates.

The little star, who was wearing a mask, had been in his room since getting on the train. He rarely went out, presumably out of fear of being recognized. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou opened the door and he happened to be alone in the room.

Yu Hanjiang told him, “Hello, we have some questions to ask you. Is now convenient?”

The star looked at him in an alert manner and nodded. “Ask.”

Yu Hanjiang said, “Do you have an impression of the two girls sleeping in 5A and 5C? One has long, straight black hair and the other has brown curly hair.”

The star nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

“Did the two of them go out last night? Or did you hear any strange movements?”

The star thought about it. “I fell asleep at 3 o’clock last night. Before I went to bed, they were sleeping very well. The girl I slept under was snoring loudly enough to kill me.”

Yu Hanjiang then asked, “You are also going to see Goddess Luo Yan’s concert? Can you tell us something about the concert?”

This was his idol so the star immediately gushed about her. “Goddess Luo Yan has been a national idol for more than 10 years. I grew up listening to her songs and she only holds a concert every three years. This year’s concert is the largest scale ever and tickets have to be booked one month in advance. It was extremely difficult to grab.”

Yu Hanjiang seized the key point. “You mean the concert tickets have to be booked a month in advance?”

The star nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you need a real name system?”

The star told them, “Of course. The goddess was afraid that real fans couldn’t buy tickets and they would all be stolen by scalpers. Therefore, you must register with your real name to buy tickets and each ID card is limited to one ticket.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Thank you.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “For example, Liu Xiaoyan and Song Xiaoyu brought three friends to go to the concert and this won’t cause suspicion. Group Leader Yu, there are so many suspects. Which one should we question first?”

Yu Hanjiang thought about it. “Start with the first love.”

The two of them went to the next room and found Yu Lin reading alone.

The girl had long black hair and wore a simple and refreshing blue dress with white high-heeled sandals. She looked graceful and elegant. She had a typical oval-shaped face and could play a noblewoman in an ancient costume idol drama. It was hard to imagine that such a girl would dirty her own hands for a scum or to even abuse Zhao Quan. Of course, this was just Xiao Lou’s subjective judgment. Appearance could sometimes deceive people. Zhao Quan was a good example.

Yu Hanjiang requested calmly, “Miss Yu Lin, please come with us. Your boyfriend is looking for you.”

Yu Lin was surprised when she heard this but she quickly regained her composure. “Don’t joke around, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Yu Hanjiang told here, “His name is Zhao Quan. Please look at this.”

Then he direct placed the phone in front of Yu Lin. The girl saw the tragic death of Zhao Quan and immediately covered her mouth. She stared with wide eyes but restrained from screaming. It was obvious that this schoolgirl was a person who could control her emotions.

Yu Hanjiang told her, “Zhao Quan was murdered. Please cooperate with the investigation.”

She followed the two men in a shock. Once she arrived at the office of the 6th carriage, she recovered from her shock and wondered, “Zhao Quan is dead? How did this happen?”

Xiao Lou took a close look at her expression while taking notes. Her surprise didn’t seem to be an act.

Yu Hanjiang got straight to the point. “For what purpose did you and the other six girls discuss going to the City of the Moon? Was it to join forces to get revenge on the scum?”

Yu Lin was silent and didn’t speak.

Yu Hanjiang added, “We already know that the seven of you are on the train. I hope that you can answer the question truthfully. You are an educated university student and should know the consequences of killing in a criminal case.”

Yu Lin’s face was ugly as she declared firmly, “I didn’t kill him.”

“Give us a reason to believe you. Please elaborate. How did you find out that Zhao Quan was cheating and how did you get together with the other girls to discuss revenge?”

Yu Lin took a deep breath to adjust her mood before speaking, “Zhao Quan was my first love. I put on filter on these feelings and always thought he was handsome, eloquent and talented. He is a particularly excellent person. To be honest, I was too young at that time and the number of excellent boys I saw was too small. Once at university, I found out… what is Zhao Quan? There are so many boys much better than him.”

In high school, the puppy love boy/girl would have a thick layer of filters regarding their sweetheart. They never met anyone better than their goddess/god but thanks to the increasing experience, they met many more good people and found they were really stupid. The person they liked wasn’t that great.

Yu Lin’s change in mentality was very normal. Her maths results were so great and she went to the mathematics department of a famous school. This girl was a logical thinking ability and calm personality could quickly emerge from a break up with her first love.

Sure enough, Yu Lin said, “I went to a different university from Zhao Quan and broke up. My feelings for him were very light and my mind was devoted to studying. Three months later, he suddenly ran to me on my birthday and asked for a reunion. At the time, I was quite surprised and felt there was no need to get back together. However, he was sincere and bought me a very expensive gift. He knelt down in front of me and said that I was his first love and a girl he would never forget. I admitted that I was moved. In any case, I didn’t have a boyfriend and promised to get back together.”

“Every weekend, he would take time to see me. In the beginning, it was very frequent but then he changed from once a week to every two weeks and then every month, using the excuse that he was busy with his studies. Despite being gentle and considerate every time he came to see me and bringing me all types of gifts, a girl’s sixth sense told me the situation wasn’t quite right.”

“I’m very sensitive to numbers. During that time, he was very regular when sending me messages. He talked to me every night a 9 o’clock until 10 o’clock, where he took a shower and went to bed. I had an idea. Perhaps he was talking to me as well as other girls.”

“I started to investigate him and opened a smurf account in the game he played. I found that every night at 10 to 12 o’clock, he was with his game wife. They are very famous lovers in the game and according to the guild people, they show love in the guild channel every day.”

At this point, Yu Lin’s expression became extremely indifferent. “That was why all the fantasies in my heart about my first love were disillusioned. My only thought was to break up with this scum as soon as possible. In any case, my feelings for him have long since faded. I didn’t expect that before I proposed a break up, Liu Xiaoyan, Song Xiaoyu, Si Yi and Yue Xiaoquan added me on WeChat, stating they were also Zhao Quan’s girlfriend.”

She had just found her boyfriend cheating in the game and as a result, four girls came to find her. Yu Lin’s mood at that time could be imagined. Her three views were probably refreshed.

Yu Lin said, “I told them about Yan Ruru and they found Cheng Mu through Yu Lin. Finally, we locked down that Zhao Quan was in contact with six girls and wanted to get back together with Liu Xiaoyan, adding up to seven. We were all so angry that we got together under Sister Si Yi’s call and discussed how to retaliate against him.”

This girl was worthy of being a school tyrant. She might be agitated by Zhao Quan’s death but her logic was clear when describing the entire process.

Yu Hanjiang asked, “What did you talk about?”

“Take advantage of the summer concert to go to the city of the Moon together. Yue Xiaoquan will report on Zhao Quan’s movements and we will buy the same train ticket. Wait until we at the hotel before collectively confronting him. We will be able to see the wonderful expression on that scum and then tie him up for punishment. Yue Xiaoquan is studying to be a doctor and she said very coldly that we can take a knife to scare the scum, cutting him a dozen times. As long as we don’t cut any large blood vessels, he won’t die.”

She took a break and added, “Yue Xiaoquan told her about a case where one of her school sisters encountered a scum man and cut his body dozens of times. He was in pain but still alive. The final forensic identification was a minor injury and she didn’t need to bear any legal responsibility. She only needed to pay some medical expenses.”

“We all felt that girls who study medicine are really powerful and it was a relief to punish a bad guy like this.”

“At first, I didn’t want to participate in this. In my opinion, a scum man is like shit on the roadside. Once you step in it, hastily back away. There is no need to study what the shit looks like. However, Yue Xiaoquan’s proposal moved me. I really wanted to see how dozens of knife wounds on Zhao Quan could be considered a minor injury.”

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou couldn’t help looking at each other after hearing Yu Lin’s testimony.

This was at odds with Yue Xiaoquan’s statement.

Yue Xiaoquan only said that the result of their discussion was to take Zhao Quan to the hotel to beat him up. She concealed her suggestion to ‘cut Zhao Quan a dozen times.’ She was probably afraid that her suggestion was too close to Zhao Quan’s method of death, increasing her suspicion.

Yu Lin continued by saying she didn’t know who had such a deep hatred with Zhao Quan to carry out a murder. Once the two men questioned her, Yu Lin went back. Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. “Group Leader Yu, do you feel that the possibility of the first love committing the crime is high?”

Yu Hanjiang shook his head. “No, this school tyrant is very calm and her treatment of a scum man is also very rational. A scum man is like shit on the ground that should be hastily moved away from. There is no need to desperately dirty themselves. Based on her performance, her feelings for Zhao Quan weren’t deep. She is a well-bred, opinionated woman and shouldn’t go to the extreme of killing.”

Xiao Lou thoughtfully touched his chin. “I think that Yue Xiaoquan’s suspicion isn’t big. She was the person who put forward the suggestion of ‘cutting the scum man’ but since she is studying medicine, she should have a good sense of proportion. If she was the killer, cutting him dozens of times is considered a minor injury and ending it like that is a loss. She should be able to end his life her own way, rather than a stab to the heart.”

Yu Hanjiang agreed. “It seems that someone found inspiration from Yue Xiaoquan’s suggestion and was pleased at such torture. This person doesn’t necessarily need to have medical knowledge. They can look up in the information. Isn’t one month enough time to research human anatomy?”

“Yes, this isn’t like professional surgery. The knife cuts are actually very simple and left to avoid the important blood vessels and organs, so as to not let Zhao Quan die too fast.”

The killer being a medical student was only a subjective inference they made after seeing the scene of the crime.

Based on Yu Lin’s testimony, they found that Yue Xiaoquan had proposed to torture Zhao Quan with the ‘knife cut’ method. Zhao Quan’s seven girlfriends would hold a knife and cut him. He would be greatly tortured physically and mentally but this would eventually only be considered a minor injury and the seven girls could retreat. Once Zhao Quan experienced this torture, don’t talk about being a disaster to other girls. He would probably have nightmares for the second half of his life. This was really a perfect way to punish a bad man.

Yue Xiaoquan made this suggestion and the other people present could imitate it. Therefore, ‘learning medicine’ wasn’t a necessary condition. Of course, a person who studied medicine would be more accurate but studying the human anatomy was possible in one month.

Xiao Lou said, “Out of the remaining five suspects, Song Xiaoyu has a thin body and a heart disease. It would be too abnormal if she suddenly proposed to play a bondage game with Zhao Quan. Zhao Quan shouldn’t be stupid enough to go to the toilet with her. Moreover, this black dress isn’t Song Xiaoyu’s style.”

Yu Hanjiang added, “Song Xiaoyu’s height is less than 1.6 metres. This dress is very long and would be like a sack on her if she wore it.”

Xiao Lou, “…”

Group Leader Yu’s description was unique. Xiao Lou thought of the small and cute Song Xiaoyu wearing the long black dress and it really didn’t match. It wouldn’t be convenient for her to walk in and she would probably trip.

The remaining four girls were tall and over 168cm They were in good shape and could wear this dress.

Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. “The next focus is on interrogating these four people. Liu Xiaoyan used to work the front desk of an Internet cafe and opened a room with Zhao Quan after knowing him for three days. She is bold and uninhibited and has the possibility of playing the bondage game with Zhao Quan. Besides, she and Song Xiaoyu are like sisters. The double blow of her being cheated and her little sister being cheated might be enough to make her pick up the weapon in anger.”

Xiao Lou continued, “Si Yi looks like a knowledgeable and gentle working woman. She wore a suit skirt and there is a possibility of a younger man and older woman bondage play. Yue Xiaoquan also mentioned that Zhao Quan was interning in her department. As a junior student, he developed a software that sold for millions by himself. This is very difficult. Perhaps Si Yi helped him?”

“That is a possibility. Or he took Si Yi’s research results to sell and Si Yi encountered setbacks in the workplace. Si Yi was deceived and her work affected so she angrily killed him.”

Xiao Lou touched his ballpoint pen against the name Cheng Mu. “Zhao Quan and Cheng Mu knew each other through a dating software. It started from an Internet love to a fixed relationship. A girl who can make an appointment with a stranger on a chat software should be open. I think her suspicion is also high.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at the last person. “Yan Ruru found a husband in the game and dated him. We don’t know enough about her so we will question her later to see what she has to say.”

Once they finished their analysis, they held the book where they took notes and headed through the dining carriage back to the 4th carriage.

Just then, the two people saw Jing Weiguang of the 8th row holding a cup of water while coming back from the other side of the carriage. The connection of the 3rd and 4th carriages had a hot water supply and it seemed that Dr Jing went to pick up a cup of hot water. The two people didn’t think much until Jing Weiguang walked past the 13th row and suddenly stopped, glancing at the two girls sitting them were a puzzled expression.

It was Cheng Mu and Yan Ruru’s seats. Cheng Mu was looking down at her phone while Yan Ruru met his eyes and her expression changed. The next moment, Jing Weiguang became very excited. “Ah? A junior student? What a coincidence! What are you doing on this train?”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, “…….”

Yan Ruru, whose information was unknown, was actually Jing Weiguang’s junior female student! Jing Weiguang was clearly identified as a doctor. If she was Jing Weiguang’s junior female student, it seemed she was also a doctor?

Yan Ruru’s suspicions rose sharply. Yu Hanjiang and Xiaolou glanced at each other and walked toward Yan Ruru’s seat.

Jing Weiguang saw the two people and scratched his head with a smile. “Are you looking for me? How can I help you?”

Xiao Lou smiled and said, “No need… we are looking for your junior female student.”