Skin - Chapter 8

Both boys remained silent.

Meng Zhao couldn’t explain why he wanted to beat Lu Shichen at that time. Was it just because of the dog? That didn’t seem to be the case, but he knew that if he was given the choice again, he would still punch Lu Shichen without hesitation.

　　The incident ended with each handing in a self-reflection essay which was two thousand words long. They didn’t speak to each other on the way back to the classroom. But the moment he stepped into the classroom, Meng Zhao heard Lu Shichen sneer lightly, whispering in his ears. He whispered two words: “Wild Dog.”

　　Meng Zhao clenched his fists again, but in front of everyone in the classroom, he controlled his temper.

–·–·+·–·–

Returning to the present, Meng Zhao lay on his bed at night, realising that the incident of the injured dog seemed to be the beginning of his feud with Lu Shichen.

　　He originally thought that the person who started the conflict was Lu Shichen, but after sorting it out once again, it turned out that the person who started was himself.

　　‘Well done’, Meng Zhao said to himself when he closed his eyes, he should really go and punch the person who deserved to be punched mercilessly.

Chapter 8

　　The next morning, Meng Zhao arrived at the city bureau at 7:30.

　　Because there was still an unsolved case, everyone in the criminal investigation unit consciously arrived a little early.

　　Even Zhou Yan’s friend Wang Nuo, who had made an appointment to come over at eight o’clock, sat down in the city bureau lobby half an hour early.

　　”I couldn’t sleep last night. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it was him,” Wang Nuo couldn’t wait to sit down and start talking, “This Liang Chuan is a villain. Not only did he plagiarise Zhou Yan’s work, but he also tried to bite back. He even dared to say that Zhou Yan copied him…”

　　”Wait a minute,” Zhou Qiyang had to interrupt him, “The Liang Chuan you are talking about, does he also live in this city now? Does he know Zhou Yan in real life?”

　　”We all know each other. We are both from the same university. Liang Chuan was our senior. He was pretty good to us when we were in school. Zhou Yan also trusted him. He often used to show him new works and ask him for his opinions. Who knew that, six months ago Zhou Yan would suddenly discover that several songs which he had composed during college had been copied by Liang Chuan.

　　”The two of them had a fall out. After hearing about it, we all advised Zhou Yan to go to court to sue him. But Zhou Yan still considered their friendship and originally wanted to reconcile privately and let Liang Chuan apologise publicly. I didn’t expect Liang Chuan would refuse to admit it. In addition, he had many Weibo fans and often came to Zhou Yan’s Weibo to scold him. Zhou Yan was so angry that he decided to find a lawyer for help.”

　　”The murderer must be Liang Chuan,” Wang Nuo said firmly, and he smashed his fist on the table in anger, “Other than Liang Chuan, it is impossible for Zhou Yan to be enemies with anyone else. If the lawsuit is taken to court, Liang Chuan knows that he would definitely be ruined. He knows how many of us would testify for Zhou Yan when the time came. He knew he was bound to lose the lawsuit.”

　　”However, the lawsuit hasn’t started yet, right?” Meng Zhao asked, “Do you know which law firm Zhou Yan contacted?”

　　”I know. He was looking for Hao Ze, because he wanted to find the best law firm.”

　　Meng Zhao was very familiar with Hao Ze Law Firm. It was the largest law firm in Mingtan City and was well-known throughout the country. That wasn’t why he knew about it but because the founder of the law firm was Lu Shichen’s father, Lu Chengze, who helped Meng Zhao handle his uncle’s case.

　　After seeing off Wang Nuo, Meng Zhao called several of his men over: “Cheng Yun go to Hao Ze to meet Zhou Yan’s attorney and bring back the relevant information. Ren Bin go and meet Liang Chuan. Check if he has an alibi. Xiao Zhou, come over with me to pick the lock.”

　　”Okay, Brother Zhao!” Zhou Qiyang picked up his ancestral rusted wire and followed Meng Zhao.

　　Several generations of Zhou Qiyang’s family made a living by picking locks. However, in his generation, due to poor skills, he could not make a living by picking locks. So, he could only devote himself to criminal investigation.

　　However, as long as it was not an extremely complicated password lock, an ordinary household lock like the one at Building 7 was a piece of cake for Zhou Qiyang.

　　With a ‘click’, Zhou Qiyang straightened up and said, “Done.”

　　”Sure enough, you’re good at it.” Meng Zhao opened the door and walked into Zhou Yan’s old house.

　　Because new buildings were built in front of it and behind it, the old house seemed to have very poor natural lighting. Although it was a very bright morning, the whole room still seemed gloomy as soon as they entered the door.

　　The room was fully furnished and fairly neat. Meng Zhao walked to one of the bedrooms. It was probably the bedroom where Zhou Yan used to live, because there was a computer desk next to the bed, which looked newer than other furniture.

　　Meng Zhao opened the drawer of the computer desk. There were some music scores handwritten by Zhou Yan and a few books. In addition… Meng Zhao took out the black notebook at the bottom, with “Wenzhao High School” written on the cover. It looked like the kind of prize notebook one would get by winning a prize at a school event.

　　Meng Zhao picked it up and flipped through it. It was already full of words. It seemed that Zhou Yan had the habit of writing a diary. He took the notebook in his hand, planning to take it back to the bureau to see if there were any usable clues.

　　”Brother Zhao.” Zhou Qiyang called from the bedroom next door.

　　Meng Zhao walked over with the notebook: “What’s wrong?”

　　”Look at this wall,” Zhou Qiyang stood beside the bed, facing the wall, “it seems to have been newly painted.”

　　Meng Zhao looked at it. Indeed, compared with the other three walls, it was obviously better, and the smell of paint also had not yet dissipated.

　　”Was this window open since the beginning?” Meng Zhao looked at the screen window next to him.

　　”Yes, I haven’t touched it.” Zhou Qiyang said, “The murderer probably opened the window to disperse the smell after painting the wall. No wonder the smell was not strong when they first entered the house. But… there was something on this wall. Could it be that Zhou Yan wrote music scores on the wall?”

　　Meng Zhao looked around the room. What did the murderer plan to hide? According to Zhou Yan’s stepfather, Zhou Yan did come to live in the old house occasionally when he was in college, but if he wrote music scores on the wall…

　　”Contact Wang Nuo,” Meng Zhao said to Zhou Qiyang, “ask if any of their friends had ever been to Zhou Yan’s house.”

　　Zhou Qiyang immediately dialled Wang Nuo. At the same time, Cheng Yun also called him, and Meng Zhao walked to the living room to answer it.

　　”Brother Zhao, I arrived at Hao Ze Law Firm. I just met Zhou Yan’s lawyer. The lawyer said that Zhou Yan had approached him three months ago. The two of them had a brief conversation at that time. Because Zhou Yan had clear evidence, even friends as witnesses, so there should have been no problem in winning the case. However, Zhou Yan himself seemed hesitant. It seemed that he had been trying to privately reconcile with Liang Chuan, probably because he didn’t want to completely break their friendship… But Liang Chuan promised to apologize to him publicly. But that was the case only on the surface, in fact he kept stalling for time. Zhou Yan was so angry that he decided to sue him. Just last Monday, Zhou Yan went to Hao Ze to talk to his lawyer. He had decided to fight the lawsuit, and the court even sent summons to Liang Chuan this Monday.”

　　Monday…that was, two days before Zhou Yan was killed, Meng Zhao asked: “When was the date written on the summons?”

　　”April 28th, almost half a month later.”

　　”I understand.” Meng Zhao said.

　　”Brother Zhao, I asked Wang Nuo,” Zhou Qiyang also finished the call, “Wang Nuo is just a chatterbox… He said that none of them had ever been to Zhou Yan’s house. He said that Zhou Yan probably felt that the house was too shabby and a bit embarrassing, so he never let them come over. After moving to a new house, they often went over to get together.”

　　Meng Zhao nodded: “Let’s go back and see if there is anything on Ren Bin’s side.”

　　Walking downstairs, Meng Zhao was about to get in the car when he caught a glimpse of Lu Shichen walking his dog not far away.

　　It was not early in the morning, he had already been working for nearly two hours, and the other person was still leisurely walking his dog. The gap…

　　But it was good to meet Lu Shichen. He happened to have a question for the other party. Because he was afraid that Lu Shichen would disappear in the blink of an eye like last time, Meng Zhao quickly opened the car door and got in. He said to Zhou Qiyang: “I’ll be back in a moment. Wait for me.”

　　Before Zhou Qiyang could react, Meng Zhao had already started the car and driven away.

　　”Hey…” Zhou Qiyang couldn’t catch up and muttered in confusion, “What’s going on with his hurry? It’s not like he’s chasing his wife…”

Chapter 9

　　After catching up with Lu Shichen, Meng Zhao stepped on the brakes and slowed down the car. While slowly following Lu Shichen, he pressed down the window, put his head out and shouted: “Hey!”

　　Lu Shichen stopped and turned around to see that it was Meng Zhao. He began walking towards him with his dog in hand.

　　”It’s leisurely enough.” When Lu Shichen came closer, Meng Zhao saw clearly that Lu Shichen had sweat on his forehead and the tips of his hair were a little wet. He must have gone for a jog nearby. No wonder he was in good physical condition. Lu Shichen probably exercised a lot.

　　”Have you been to Building 7?” Lu Shichen quickly guessed why Meng Zhao appeared here. “Are there any new clues?”

　　”A little bit.” Meng Zhao didn’t intend to reveal the progress of the case to him. He handed Lu Shichen a piece of paper full of the writings he found in Zhou Yan’s bedroom, “Do you still remember the handwriting on the note left on your door that day? Identify it.”

　　Lu Shichen took it and looked down: “It looks the same.”

　　”Well”, Meng Zhao took back the piece of paper, “By the way, I forgot to ask you a question yesterday. Who have you been in contact with recently? Can you make a list?”

　　”You want to start with the dog hair?” Lu Shichen thought for a moment, “It’s probably a bit difficult, but I can make a list. How will I give it to you after I make it?”

　　”Send it to me through WeChat.” Meng Zhao touched his phone and looked up the QR code for Lu Shichen to scan for him.

　　After receiving Lu Shichen’s friend application, Meng Zhao casually asked: “Why are you walking the dog by yourself? Where is your girlfriend?”

　　Lu Shichen was operating his mobile phone. Hearing his words, he looked up at Meng Zhao. The other party had obviously regarded Qiao Yu as his girlfriend. He simply explained: “That wasn’t my girlfriend.”

　　‘Not a girlfriend?’ Meng Zhao was stunned. ‘That day, she had been dressed too unrestrainedly and came out of the bathroom early in the morning. If it wasn’t his girlfriend… then was she a sex partner? Tsk… I didn’t expect that Lu Shichen was not going to hide anything in this regard. People who have spent several years abroad are really open-minded.’

　　”Added.” Lu Shichen reminded him.

　　Meng Zhao looked down and saw that he had received a friend request from Lu Shichen.

　　”Oh Brother Zhao, I’ve finally caught up with you,” Zhou Qiyang panted and finally arrived after chasing after him. When he saw Lu Shichen who had just visited the city bureau yesterday, he asked Meng Zhao in a low voice, “What’s going on?”

　　”Nothing,” Meng Zhao said, “Get in the car.”

　　”Hey, it’s no big deal?” Zhou Qiyang opened the car door and sat in. “The way you hurried, I thought you had met the girl of your dreams.”

　　Meng Zhao: “…”

　　Zhou Qiyang said while fastening his seat belt: “There are flowers and grass on the roadside, be careful if Lao Xu goes to bite you.”

　　Lu Shichen raised his fingers and knocked on Meng Zhao’s half-opened car window: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

　　”Okay, send the list to me as soon as possible.” Meng Zhao warned.

　　As they drove towards the bureau, Meng Zhao followed Zhou Qiyang’s words and asked, “Why would Old Xu bite me?”

　　”Brother Zhao, are you pretending to be stupid?” Zhou Qiyang became more energetic. “Everyone in the bureau knows that after this case is solved, you will be immediately promoted to the position of captain. After the promotion, you will no longer be Lao Xu’s driver. With a promotion and salary increase, Lao Xu will arrange a blind date with his daughter. And then, you can get married. Lao Xu has already created a one-stop path for you, don’t forget your brother when you get rich in the future.”

　　Meng Zhao sneered: “How come there are so many rumours? And I didn’t know arranged marriages were so popular these days.”

　　”What do you mean by arranged marriage…? Xu Yan is definitely interested in you, is it possible that you don’t have any feelings for her?”

　　Xu Yan is Director Xu’s daughter. Meng Zhao never thought that the two of them could be paired together. The year when he first joined the Municipal Bureau, Xu Yan was still wearing school uniform and studying in the third year of high school. In addition, Xu Yan and Meng Ruoshu were classmates in high school. In his eyes, Xu Yan was no different from Meng Ruoshu.

　　”You really don’t feel anything?” Zhou Qiyang saw that Meng Zhao remained indifferent, “I’m really curious, Brother Zhao, what kind of person do you like? Could you please tell me?”

　　”Someone mature,” Meng Zhao didn’t know what kind of people he liked, so he casually picked some characteristics opposite to Xu Yan, “Okay, stop talking nonsense, why don’t you think more about the case while you have time?”

　　Zhou Qiyang pouted at the side. No one could tell Meng Zhao’s criteria for choosing a lover. Meng Zhao didn’t seem to show any special interest in anyone of the opposite sex. Of course, he had no interest in the same sex either. He seems to be only interested in criminal suspects.

　　Thinking of it, Zhou Qiyang felt that Meng Zhao had to pay attention to the rhythm of being an orphan.

　　Before they even reached the office, he heard someone say emotionally from far away: “How could it be possible that I killed Zhou Yan? Are you police officers so ignorant of evidence when handling cases? I was live broadcasting that night, and you are asking me how I killed Zhou Yan? Don’t bring and unjustly accuse someone!”

　　”Is that Liang Chuan?” Zhou Qiyang whispered to Meng Zhao.

　　Meng Zhao approached the back door of the room, stopped, and listened to what was going on in the room.

　　”Don’t get excited yet,” it was Ren Bin’s voice. “I asked you to come here just to cooperate with the investigation. No one has wronged you. You said you were live broadcasting on the night of the 3rd. From what time to what time?”

　　”From 8pm to 11pm.” The voice in the room was actually tinged with a hint of crying, “There is no time in the live broadcast replay, you can go to the platform to check.”

　　”I will definitely check it later…”

　　Before Ren Bin finished speaking in the room, he was interrupted by Liang Chuan: “Why do you think I killed Zhou Yan? Those fans of Zhou Yan also attacked me online. You police are wrongfully accusing people who had conflicts with Zhou Yan. I must not be the only one who had conflicts with him, so are they all murderers?” The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and in the end he couldn’t hold back his tears. “Besides, I have apologised to Zhou Yan in private, and he wanted to make me apologise publicly. If I did that, then it would make it impossible for me to continue in this industry…”

　　”Okay, okay,” Ren Bin cried so hard, “You didn’t expect that you would have to bear the consequences for plagiarism? Stop talking unnecessary nonsense. I asked you to come here to cooperate with the investigation. The city bureau is already very busy and there is really no one free enough here to wipe your butt. If you want to cry, then go home and cry.”

　　Zhou Qiyang glanced at Meng Zhao, suppressed a smile and gave a thumbs up: “Brother Bin has a neat style.”

　　Meng Zhao also laughed. Ren Bin was best suited to deal with that kind of messy and troublesome people. He was sure to hit him right away. He raised his hand and hooked Zhou Qiyang’s neck and walked forward: “Okay, stop eavesdropping and check this Liang Chuan. Which platform was he live broadcasting on? Go to the platform and find out if he was live at the time of the incident.”

　　”Yes,” Zhou Qiyang quickly followed Meng Zhao, “Brother Zhao, I have a bold guess. If Liang Chuan didn’t do it, then could it be one of his fans? The kind that’s too crazy in love. Come on…”

　　Ten minutes later, Ren Bin entered the criminal investigation office. As soon as he entered the door, he complained: “Oh my god, you haven’t seen Liang Chuan! That 1.8 metre tall man cried in front of me like a little girl. Such a person, how could everyone like him? Compared to him, Zhou Yan is really handsome and looks like Pan An. I really can’t figure out how he had just three million. By the way, Captain Meng, this Liang Chuan said that he was live broadcasting at the time of the incident… ”

　　”Well, I just heard it at the door,” Meng Zhao took over, “Zhou Qiyang has already gone to check.”

　　”To be honest, I don’t think it’s Liang Chuan who committed the murder. He is too cowardly and has poor mental quality. His style of dealing with trouble is to hide and drag it on. He doesn’t look like someone who could do such a thing. What do you think?”

　　”Wait until Zhou Qiyang comes back,” Meng Zhao was standing in his office fiddling with his cell phone, “Brother Bin, I’ll give you a job.”

　　”What?” Ren Bin walked towards Meng Zhao and looked at his mobile phone screen, “Purui Pet Care Center… Hey, I’ve heard about this place. It is said that a bath for a dog is worth the price to die for.”

　　”It should be.” Meng Zhao had never been to that place, but thinking about Lu Shichen’s watch that blinded his eyes under the light the previous night, that place was in line with Lu Shichen’s character. “Wasn’t there dog hair on the body?”

　　”Yes, but haven’t we ruled out the owner of the dog for the time being?” Ren Bin asked. Seeing that Meng Zhao paused and did not continue, he added, “What’s wrong?”

　　Meng Zhao paused not because he suddenly got stuck, but because he thought what Ren Bin said was quite interesting. The owner of dog hair… logically should be the dog, but Ren Bin obviously wanted to refer to Lu Shichen. But there was a possibility that they didn’t think about.

Lu Shichen was indeed a bitch.