Skin - Chapter 12

Unexpectedly, the van did not slow down. Meng Zhao assessed the road conditions ahead and was about to overtake him at the intersection in front of him. Unexpectedly, a car suddenly jumped out of the intersection in front of him.

　　Meng Zhao quickly stepped on the brakes, but because the speed was too fast, the moment he stopped, his car still had a slight collision with the car turning left.

　　With the sound of tires scraping the ground, the three cars stopped at the same time.

　　Meng Zhao pushed open the door and got out of the car, ignoring the sudden traffic accident in front of him. Seeing the driver of the van trying to open the door and escape, he rushed over, grabbed the driver’s collar, and pushed him against the car. : “Why are you running, huh?!”

　　After subduing the driver, he managed to talk to the owner of the car in front of him. Although he should have turned to go straight, the situation was urgent and had been driving too fast: “Brother, I’m sorry. If there is any problem with the car, I will take full responsibility… Lu Shichen? Why is it you? ”

Chapter 13

　　”Why are you here?” Meng Zhao was a little surprised. No wonder he felt that the Panamera in front of him looked familiar.

　　”I was going to do something nearby,” Lu Shichen didn’t say clearly, “Are you handling a case?”

　　Since it was Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao suddenly felt that he didn’t need to talk any more nonsense. He focused his energy on the young man in front of him: “Give me the phone.”

　　”Wha…what cell phone?” The young man looked panicked.

　　”What do you think?”

　　”I do not know……”

　　Zhou Qiyang followed up and quickly searched the man: “Brother Zhao, we didn’t find it.”

　　Meng Zhao grabbed the man’s collar and threw him to Zhou Qiyang. Then he opened the car door, leaned his upper body into the car, and found Zhao Yunhua’s mobile phone from under the console.

　　Last time at Zhou Yan’s house, when he asked Zhao Yunhua to show Zhou Yan’s text message, he had seen her password. He remembered her power-on password and easily unlocked it, but the unlocked page made Meng Zhao’s expression change. Before Zhao Yunhua lost her phone, she must have seen the article about the manslaughter of Zhou Yan!

　　Meng Zhao grabbed the driver and said, “Did you meet the owner of this phone at the West Bus Station? Describe her.”

　　”A woman in her forties or fifties, with a bit of a hunchback…” The person was obviously a little frightened by Meng Zhao, and he couldn’t speak clearly. “I just stole a mobile phone, and I didn’t commit any big trouble, police…”

　　Lu Shichen came over at that time, took the phone from Meng Zhao’s hand, and flicked through it with his fingers, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

　　Meng Zhao ignored him and continued to ask the driver: “Where was she going? Was she leaving the station or checking in?”

　　”I do not know….”

　　”Think with your head,” Meng Zhao knocked him into the car, “judge based on the direction!”

　　”Le-leaving the station…yes, yes, she was leaving the station!”

　　Leaving the bus station…where was she going? Was she going to the train station? No, the ticket checking at the bus station was obviously looser than the one at the train station… If Zhao Yunhua had decided to take the bus back to her hometown from the beginning, there was no reason to change her mind temporarily and take the train, which was easier to get her caught.

　　”Did you notice her condition?” Meng Zhao asked again.

　　”No, I didn’t pay much attention…but I almost knocked her down and she didn’t react at all. She seemed to be thinking about other things…Oh, yes, she…she seemed to be crying…”

　　”Xiao Zhou, take this person back to the bureau first, and wait for me to return and interrogate him.”

　　Meng Zhao ordered, pulling away the passenger seat of the van, stuffing the thief in while taking out handcuffs and cuffing one of his wrists to the handle above the car.

　　After closing the door, Meng Zhao walked to his car.

　　Relating to Zhao Yunhua’s expression when she left the bus station, Meng Zhao had to consider the worst case scenario – after learning that she had killed the wrong person, Zhao Yunhua would most likely choose to commit suicide!

　　The timing of the appearance of that public account article was too timely. This case could never have been that simple without it… But the most important thing was to find Zhao Yunhua. If Zhao Yunhua really committed suicide, various clues may be cut off.

　　Where would Zhao Yunhua go… Meng Zhao fell into thinking. The public account article mentioned that Zhao Tong committed suicide by jumping off a building near a chemical plant. Would Zhao Yunhua also choose to end his life there?

　　He could only go and have a look. Meng Zhao picked up his cell phone and called his colleagues in the city bureau: “Help me check the nearest chemical factory to Wenzhao High School… Are there any? Then check the map from ten years ago. It’s an emergency. If you find it, send it to me.”

　　After Meng Zhao finished the call, he saw Zhou Qiyang sitting in the driver’s seat and had not started the car. While waiting for his colleague to send the address, he walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

　　Zhou Qiyang tried twisting the car key again: “Brother Zhao, this old car seems to be out of service. I tried several times but it still isn’t starting…”

　　”Ask the police to send someone to pick him up.” Meng Zhao frowned and asked someone to be sent over. “You go with me first. Let this person wait in the car.”

　　At that moment, Lu Shichen spoke from the side and said to Meng Zhao: “Where are you going? Get in my car, I will take you there.”

　　Meng Zhao turned to look at him. To be precise, he was sizing him up.

　　That dog hair and… Lu Shichen appeared now, was it really a coincidence?

　　”Let your colleague drive your car back to the bureau.” Lu Shichen let him look at him and continued without changing his expression.

　　Was Lu Shichen really that kind? Or did he actually have some ulterior motive? Then just do as he said, Meng Zhao made up his mind, he could take the opportunity to test Lu Shichen.

　　”That’s just right.” Meng Zhao’s expression softened and he threw the car keys to Zhou Qiyang, “Drive my car back.”

　　”Ah?” Zhou Qiyang didn’t expect that Meng Zhao would actually accept the proposal of the man next to him that easily, but he was still relieved after receiving the car key. No matter what, whether he took a taxi or asked someone from the bureau to pick him up, it was troublesome to take the thief along with him.

　　Meng Zhao got into Lu Shichen’s car, pulled on his seat belt and asked, “What were you doing nearby?”

　　”Handle a banking business.” Lu Shichen started the car.

　　There was indeed a bank nearby, Meng Zhao confirmed as he recalled the small building near the intersection.

　　”We were already at the intersection, so I didn’t know how to slow down,” Meng Zhao continued to tell him, “Normally, when you turn left, you have to go straight. If you meet someone else, no one can say that you are fully responsible.”

　　”Didn’t I meet you now?” Lu Shichen said.

　　”Isn’t that right? You just met me…”

　　”I saw you.”

　　”Huh?” Meng Zhao glanced at him.

　　”Didn’t you want to force the car next to you to stop?” Lu Shichen drove in the driveway, “I was just helping you, and you didn’t even notice?”

　　”Are you that kind?” Although he asked that, Meng Zhao was a little unsure. Lu Shichen’s car did take a strange direction. It was reasonable to explain that he was helping him force the car to stop, but the cost of it seemed a bit too high…

　　Lu Shichen didn’t reply to his words. Meng Zhao noticed that although he didn’t urge him, Lu Shichen had consciously increased the speed to 110 and overtook several cars in a short distance. Meng Zhao was already driving aggressively. Unexpectedly, Lu Shichen, who usually seemed to be rational, was unambiguous when overtaking a car.

　　Although Lu Shichen still looked calm on the surface, judging from the speed of the car, Meng Zhao felt that Lu Shichen was paying unusual attention to the case.

　　Meng Zhao judged the direction of the car and asked, “Hey, do you know where I’m going?”

　　Lu Shichen’s voice also sounded calm: “Isn’t it the chemical plant near Wenzhao High School?”

　　”How do you know?”

　　”The article on Zhao Yunhua’s phone just mentioned that Zhao Tong committed suicide there.”

　　”So?”

　　”In the absence of any other clues, it is most likely that Zhao Yunhua would choose to commit suicide there. Don’t you also think that Zhao Yunhua will commit suicide there?”

　　Meng Zhao clicked his tongue. If nothing else, it was too easy with Lu Shichen. Before he opened his mouth, Lu Shichen had already guessed his conclusion based on an article. Such a thing was possible even when Lu Shichen didn’t know the facts of the case.

　　”Do you know who Zhao Yunhua is?”

　　”It was the cleaning lady from the apartment upstairs, I guess. I’ve seen her before,” Lu Shichen said. “Didn’t the driver just say a woman in her forties or fifties? I just took a guess.”

　　”So you just found out about it?” Meng Zhao judged Lu Shichen’s understanding of the case.

　　”Um.”

　　Wenzhao High School was still some distance away. Although Lu Shichen’s driving skills were not much inferior to his own, Meng Zhao estimated that it would still take ten minutes to get there.

　　He took out his mobile phone and called the local police station, asking them to go to the chemical plant to check the situation and prepare anti-suicide equipment to prevent Zhao Yunhua from committing suicide.

　　”When your car is under insurance, contact me at any time if you need help with it. You have my contact information with you.” Meng Zhao said, feeling a little pained. Although the insurance company would reimburse the repair cost, because Lu Shichen’s car is expensive, it is estimated that when he would take the insurance next year, the cost would rise a lot.

　　He thought Lu Shichen would consider the meagre friendship between the two of them and be polite in a symbolic way, but unexpectedly he just nodded: “Okay.”

　　*

　　Zhao Yunhua climbed up the stairs and walked to the edge of the rooftop, but she still hadn’t regained her breath.

　　Nine floors was too high for her, but she didn’t dare to stop for a moment because she was afraid that the police would catch her.

　　It didn’t matter if she spent the rest of her life in prison, but if she really killed Zhou Yan by mistake, how would she face the cruel truth in the long time that was to come?

　　She stood on the edge of the roof, looking at the students taking physical education classes on the playground of Wenzhao High School.

　　Once upon a time, Zhao Tong rushed over to her with the admission notice and told her that he had passed the exam with a smile. She obviously recalled it every day, but she still couldn’t remember it clearly now.

　　When Zhao Tong told her that he didn’t want to continue studying in high school, why didn’t she ask him clearly about it? Instead, she called him a loser. Why did she do that?

　　When Zhao Tong said he couldn’t sleep, why didn’t she suspect that he was being bullied in school?

　　Zhao Yunhua recalled the scene where Zhao Tong lay in a pool of blood wearing a red dress. How humiliated her son must have been to have jumped down from the building in that way…

　　It was said on TV that the law of heaven was clear and that justice would prevail. It was all bullshit! Over the years, she had never given up on searching for the truth. She had called the police and filed a lawsuit, but all that was to no avail!

　　Zhao Tong was obviously arguing with her the day before, saying that he wanted to go to college elsewhere. Of course, Zhao Yunhua had disagreed. She had also scolded Zhao Tong for being heartless, so the mother and son broke up unhappily during that meal. Unexpectedly, the next day, while she was still at work, she suddenly received the news of Zhao Tong’s death…

　　They all said that Zhao Tong committed suicide by jumping off the building, but Zhao Yunhua didn’t believe it. How could a person who intended to commit suicide discuss with her about which university to attend the day before?

　　Zhao Tong was dead, and she had no hope in the world. She once thought about committing suicide, but without clarifying the true cause of Zhao Tong’s death and not letting the murderer get the revenge he deserved, she was unwilling to die…

　　But, was Zhou Yan whom she had strangled to death really the true culprit who forced Zhao Tong to death? The clips of Zhou Yan and her getting along flashed through Zhao Yunhua’s mind like a revolving lantern.

　　”Aunt Zhao, I’m back! Look what gift I bought for you, a scarf! Does it look good? Try it on quickly! You’re not young, and you’re old… It’s so suitable. I have an amazing sense! ”

　　”Aunt Zhao, come here and listen to this song for me?…Does it sound good? Really good? You are my first listener. Don’t fool me. If it sounds good, I will publish it!”

　　”Happy birthday, Aunt Zhao! Don’t you remember it yourself? I really like celebrating other people’s birthdays. It feels so good to accompany others to grow up by one year… When you get older, you also grow up. Who has not been a baby before?!”

　　The moment when Zhou Yan was strangled to death flashed through her mind once again, especially that look of disbelief in his eyes.

　　In fact, when she first tied the rope around Zhou Yan’s neck, Zhou Yan did not struggle violently at first, but made an indistinct sound in his throat, as if he wanted to ask why she was doing it.

　　But how could Zhao Yunhua give him a chance to speak? She hated him so much. He killed her child and lied to her for so many years!

　　Zhao Yunhua’s mind replayed the moment before Zhou Yan died, his struggling legs, his expression that was twisted to a ferocious level due to pain, and the desperate hoarse sound coming from his throat. He was once such a lively child…

　　The ‘uh-uh’ sound in Zhou Yan’s throat before he died kept ringing in Zhao Yunhua’s mind. The sound became louder and louder, almost shattering her head.

　　If it weren’t for Zhou Yan…

　　If it weren’t for Zhou Yan…

　　Zhao Yunhua raised her hands to cover her ears with a painful expression, turned back, and took a step back.

　　*

　　Similar to the situation in Huai’an District, large-scale construction was also going on around Wenzhao High School, and some old buildings were being torn down and rebuilt.

　　The abandoned chemical plant ten years ago had disappeared, replaced by a newly built building, which had now been built into grey-white rough houses.

　　After getting out of Lu Shichen’s car, Meng Zhao raised his head and glanced around. It was the hottest time of the day, and the bright sunshine made him squint his eyes.

　　He raised his hand to block the light, and a few seconds later, he saw someone short, stooped back on the roof of the building not far away. It was Zhao Yunhua!