Skin - Chapter 21

Seeing Lu Shichen’s brows furrowed slightly, with an expression that was hard to explain, Meng Zhao was about to respond to him with a sarcastic comment. Unexpectedly, Lu Shichen said nothing. He really looked carefully at the stores in front of me.

　　After a while, Lu Shichen raised an arm and pointed at one of the noodle restaurants: “That one.”

　　”Are you sure?” Meng Zhao glanced in the direction he was pointing. Compared with other shops that were blackened by oil smoke, the noodle shop did look much neater. He had really taken a lot of effort in choosing…

　　Meng Zhao was a little surprised, he couldn’t help but want to laugh. He turned on his toes and walked towards the Internet cafe: “Then it’s settled, let’s go to the Internet cafe first.”

Chapter 23

　　As soon as he entered the Internet cafe, Meng Zhao was overwhelmed by the smell of cigarette smoke.

　　The interior of the Internet cafe was long and narrow with dim lighting, and there seemed to be no ventilation at first glance. No wonder he felt a little breathless as soon as he stepped in.

　　More than ten years ago, such kinds of Internet cafes were very popular and opened in the streets. B now with the popularity of home computers, they have gradually been replaced by Internet cafes with better conditions, and they are almost hard to find.

　　”Do you want to use the computers? ID card, first.” A lazy voice came from behind the computer near the door, but only the voice was heard but no one could be seen.

　　Meng Zhao moved forward and saw the young network administrator sitting on the computer chair behind the computer.

　　He took out his police card, and the man immediately sat up straight: “Brother, we are doing regular business here, and we haven’t broken any laws…”

　　”I didn’t say you broke the law,” Meng Zhao put away his ID card, “I came here to check whether a person named Zhao Yunhua came here on the night of the 11th.”

　　”Oh… let me check,” the network administrator responded immediately, “We have all the registration records here.”

　　The network adminstrator typed quickly, then turned the screen towards Meng Zhao: “Yes, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on the 11th… Huh? It’s that aunt…”

　　”Do you have any impression of her?” Meng Zhao saw what the young man was thinking about it and said, “Just say whatever comes to mind.”

　　”Oh, I have an impression…” The young man raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, “The main reason is that most of the people who come here are acquaintances. The aunt looked like she was in her forties or fifties. I have never seen such a person come here. Yes, and she left shortly after getting in, which was quite strange… By the way, what’s wrong? What did this aunt do?”

　　Meng Zhao did not answer his question, instead he continued to ask: “Which computer was she using?”

　　”That one. The one by the wall,” the young man stood up and pointed, “Forget it, I’ll take you over to have a look.”

　　Following the young man to the computer, Meng Zhao raised his head and looked at the cameras around him. It so happened that there was a camera diagonally opposite which was facing the computer screen. As long as the pixels were better, they should clearly be able to see the content on the screen.

　　”How long can that camera retain the recordings?” Meng Zhao raised his chin in the direction of the camera.

　　”That…” the young man hesitated, “that broke down several years ago…”

　　Meng Zhao: “…” Sure enough, things definitely wouldn’t go smoothly.

　　”Is it possible for this computer to save the browsing history from that time?”

　　”The records will be cleared every time the computer is shut down…it cannot be saved.”

　　”Then, lend me this computer for now. I’ll take it back and see if I can restore the records. I’ll return it to you in a few days.”

　　”Oh… okay.” The young man didn’t seem to dare to object.

　　”Also, when Zhao Yunhua was here, did anyone help her with the computer?.” Meng Zhao looked around at the people and asked the network administrator, “Was there anyone sitting nearby?”

　　”Yes, yes…” the network administrator pointed to the seat next to Zhao Yunhua, “The configuration of that machine is good, and there is Huang Mao who often sits there. By the way, he seemed to be here that night, but he is out now since it’s time to eat.”

　　”Where has he gone? Is it nearby?” Meng Zhao raised his hand and patted the network administrator on the back. “Come on, point it out to me.”

　　The two people walked to the door of the Internet cafe, and Lu Shichen followed. The network administrator was searching for that person in the crowd. Meng Zhao turned around and looked at Lu Shichen: “Isn’t the environment inside quite uncomfortable? If you can’t stand it, just wait outside. ”

　　Lu Shichen said: “No.”

　　”I found him,” the network administrator ran towards them, stretching out his arms to point out the man, “He’s at that barbecue stall, the one wearing the grey T-shirt. Should I call him over for you?”

　　”No,” Meng Zhao walked towards the barbecue stall, “I’ll just go there.”

　　The barbecue stall was smoky, and Huang Mao was feasting on a handful of meat skewers.

　　Meng Zhao pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, taking out his ID and flashing it at him. Lu Shichen also pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.

　　As soon as he saw Meng Zhao’s ID, the expression on Huang Mao’s face suddenly as if the meat skewers in his hand were no longer tasty.

　　”I…I haven’t done anything wrong recently.” He put down the skewers in his hand.

　　”It has nothing to do with you.” Meng Zhao found that the people on Huaxing street were not too decent. “I have a question for you.. Did you notice a woman in her forties or fifties sitting next to you on the night of the 11th?” As he questioned, he also pulled up Zhao Yunhua’s photo on his phone and showed it to Huang Mao.

　　”Oh…” Huang Mao looked at the photograph, breathed a sigh of relief, and took another bite of skewers, “that aunt, I remember her.”

　　”Did you notice what she was doing on the computer at that time?” Meng Zhao took back his phone and asked.

　　”I just took a look. She seemed to be watching some video…” Huang Mao scratched his hair, “Hey, I just took a look and didn’t pay much attention.” He handed the meat skewers to Meng Zhao, ” Brother, would you like some?”

　　”Thank you for offering, I’ll have to refuse. Can you recall the scene in the video?” Meng Zhao looked at the yellow hair, “Even if it’s just a blink of an eye, you should have been able to notice something, right? Just tell us whatever you can recall.”

　　”The video…” Huang Mao recalled with some difficulty, “It seemed to be the roof of a building or something? There were a few people who seemed to be fighting or something… Oh, I really didn’t see it clearly. The video was shot from far and it was blurry. It was like a secretly recorded adult movie…”

　　‘People fighting on a roof…could it be the video of Zhao Tong being forced to commit suicide?’ Meng Zhao recalled the content from the article posted on the public account, which said that Zhao Tong was forced to commit suicide on the roof of a chemical factory…

　　”Did you notice the expression on the woman’s face at that time?”

　　”That aunt…” Huang Mao swallowed the meat skewers in his mouth, “She seemed to be crying.”

　　”Um?”

　　”Yes, she cried… I heard her crying while looking at the screen.”

　　Lu Shichen noticed that Meng Zhao’s eyebrows were slightly knitting up, and through the wisps of white smoke floating from the barbecue grill, he noticed that Meng Zhao’s eyes seemed to be very different from usual.

　　He observed Meng Zhao, trying to find the corresponding emotion from his past experience. He could barely tell that it was supposed to be an emotion similar to ‘sadness’.

　　It was a very subtle expression, Lu Shichen judged calmly, and it seemed that it could not be learned through repeated practice.

　　Meng Zhao lowered his head and thought for a moment. Although the clues were fragmentary, they were enough to help him make a guess.

　　The small paper box found in Zhao Yunhua’s home should have contained a USB flash drive given to her by someone. Because Zhao Yunhua did not have a computer at home, she went to the Internet cafe after receiving the flash drive that night. Then, she saw the contents of the video. It helped her confirm that Zhou Yan was the one who had forced Zhao Tong to death.

　　‘However, if Zhou Yan was innocent in the whole incident, then was the video on the flash drive fake? Or was there another reason behind Zhao Tong’s death?’

　　Moreover, if, as Huang Mao said, the video was blurry and shot from somewhere far away, then how did Zhao Yunhua see clearly that among those people, Zhou Yan was the one who had forced her son to death?

　　An idea flashed through Meng Zhao’s mind… Yes, sound! Zhao Yunhua and Zhou Yan’s relationship was no different from that of an ordinary mother and son, and she must have been extremely familiar with Zhou Yan’s voice. The person who sent the USB flash drive did not even need to forge the video footage, as long as the voice was processed into Zhou Yan’s voice, it was enough to mislead Zhao Yunhua. Moreover, Zhou Yan often broadcasted live online, and it was very easy to fake his voice…

　　”That…” Huang Mao interrupted Meng Zhao’s thoughts, “I really can’t remember anything else. After all, I only glanced at it briefly.”

　　”That’s enough, thank you,” Meng Zhao turned to look at Lu Shichen, “Shall we go?”

　　Lu Shichen was already looking at him, so they looked at each other for a moment, but Lu Shichen quickly looked away and agreed.

　　Although it was only for a moment, because they were close enough, Meng Zhao noticed that Lu Shichen’s eyes had the look of observing animals in cages.

　　After standing up and walking out of the barbecue stall, Meng Zhao turned to look at Lu Shichen and asked, “Why were you looking at me just now?”

　　He tried to observe the changes in Lu Shichen’s expression, but Lu Shichen did not let him grasp the situation this time. He said expressionlessly: “I think you just thought of something. According to our deal, I need to know your speculation.”

　　‘This person is quite good at raking up the trouble.’ Meng Zhao shot back: “The content of the deal is that I will reveal the details of the case to you. I didn’t say that I would also tell you my speculation, right?”

　　As they spoke, the two walked back to the Internet cafe again.

　　Meng Zhao walked in and asked the network administrator to help him disassemble the computer used by Zhao Yunhua. He lifted it up and said to Lu Shichen, “Let’s go, I can only put it in your car for now.”

　　”I’ll do it.” Lu Shichen walked towards him and reached out to take it.

　　”Hey, no, no, this thing is quite light.” Meng Zhao picked up the computer, “It doesn’t require two people to carry it.”

　　”Put it here first,” Lu Shichen raised his hand to stop him, “Let’s come back and get it after dinner.”

　　Meng Zhao looked at him: “Huh?”

　　”Didn’t we decide to eat at that noodle shop in front?”

　　”Oh… that,” Meng Zhao couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of it, “I was just kidding with you, did you really believe it?” He walked out of the Internet cafe, “No matter what, I can’t let a person like you bear this kind of suffering.”

　　After walking behind the car, Meng Zhao put the whole computer into Lu Shichen’s trunk, then opened the door and got into the car, showing the aura of a domineering president: “Tell me, what do you want to eat?”

　　”You decide, I’m not familiar with this place.” Lu Shichen said.

　　Lu Shichen was unexpectedly easy-going in such regard, but Meng Zhao couldn’t let him be too complacent. Finally, after the car drove onto the main road and travelled about two kilometres, he pointed to a French restaurant on the side of the road: “This is it. ”

　　When Meng Zhao walked in, he knew that the meal would probably drain him of his half month’s salary. However, since the person he was treating was unrelatable, he subconsciously chose an equally unrelatable restaurant.

　　And if a restaurant wants to create an ungrounded atmosphere, he would obviously have to pay a high price…

　　He thought that by choosing a restaurant with a high standard, Lu Shichen would give him some face and there would be some change on his paralyzed face.

　　But unexpectedly, Lu Shichen showed a lack of interest. He didn’t even finish flipping through the menu and only ordered the main set meal on the first page.

　　As for Meng Zhao, he was originally not very interested in Western food. He couldn’t understand how a cruel and disgusting ingredient like foie gras could be promoted into a top-notch delicacy.

　　It would have been better to eat at that noodle shop instead. Meng Zhao forked a piece of foie gras and swallowed it tastelessly.

　　But he had to admit that the ambience of the restaurant and the food did match Lu Shichen’s temperament. Meng Zhao looked at Lu Shichen seated opposite to himself and remembered a word that Meng Ruoshu often mentioned when recording videos – cold-blooded style.

　　‘Tsk, it’s really a talent to be able to appear frigid even while eating.’ Meng Zhao thought.

　　Lu Shichen appeared indifferent to the expensive meal. It made Meng Zhao wonder whether it was actually worth his money or not.

　　”By the way, how’s the condition of your car?” Meng Zhao finished the last bite of foie gras and took a sip of the ice water to relieve his tiredness. “Do you want me to cooperate with the insurance?”

　　”No,” Lu Shichen replied briefly, turning the topic to the case again, “Will the investigation of the campus bullying case be reopened?”

　　Meng Zhao put the glass on the table: “Maybe.”

　　”The real murderer should be somehow related to that case, otherwise the video from that year would not have been obtained.”

　　Meng Zhao turned the cup on the table: “However, I’m not sure if it was actually the video from back then.”

　　”Are you saying that the video seen by Zhao Yunhua might have been forged?” Lu Shichen looked at him, pondered for a moment and said, “It was probably not forged. Because, although the condition of the pixels were very poor, it’s impossible for Zhao Yunhua to make a mistake in recognising her son. The possibility of the murderer forging it is too low because it involves a lot of risk, but the sound…”

　　”That’s the truth, but…” Meng Zhao paused intentionally.

　　Lu Shichen followed his words and asked, “What?”

　　”I remember what Huang Mao just said. He said that the picture quality of the video was too blurry and it seemed to have been recorded from somewhere far away, just like a secretly recorded adult movie. There was no mention of pixels. Could it be possible…” Meng Zhao looked at him and suddenly realised , “By the way, have you done any research on the adult movies that he mentioned? I don’t know, Lu Shichen.”

　　Lu Shichen: “…”

Chapter 24

　　After dinner, it was already dark. When Meng Zhao went to the front desk to check out, Lu Shichen went to the parking lot to get the car.

　　”The bill has already been settled.” The waiter informed him while opening the bill.

　　”No way, is there any mistake?” Meng Zhao turned his head and looked at the words on the bill. Lu Shichen’s name was actually signed on it. Could it be that Lu Shichen signed it when he went to the bathroom? Meng Zhao had clearly agreed that he would pay for the meal, so what did his actions mean now…

　　Meng Zhao walked out of the restaurant and Lu Shichen had already arrived at the entrance with his car.