154: The opportunity to perform, the spearheads overlap again
“But maybe she didn't know, what I liked was that pure innocence that came from a mountain village, Police Officer, you don't know, when I saw her, my heart would be especially peaceful, as if my soul had been sublimated.”
Sun Jinghua wanted to interrupt him, but Ye Lin stopped him. Although these things were unrelated to the case, they were his remembrance of the deceased, so giving him a little more time wouldn't hurt.
“In her sophomore year, she joined the Qiang Teng Group's scholarship program. Through part-time work, she earned some money, and her inferiority complex wasn't as severe, so she slowly opened up.”
“At that time, she would occasionally agree to chat with me. She loved literature, and although I didn't understand it much, listening to her excitedly talk about it made me feel just as happy.”
Wu Ziyue's face showed an intoxicated expression, as if he was recalling the days he spent with Liang Jing.
“Her family wasn't well-off, but every time she went out with me, she insisted on splitting the bill. She said she didn't want to be a man's accessory. Sometimes, when she went out for part-time work, she'd get little gifts or snacks, and she'd share them with me.”
“She was just…”
“Do you understand? A very self-respecting and kind girl.” Wu Ziyue became more and more agitated as he spoke, and his eyes gradually welled up.
Ye Lin and the others didn't speak, allowing him to calm down slowly.
“Originally, everything was so beautiful.”
“But one day, she excitedly told me that she had received a performance task for her part-time work. She would get 200 yuan for one performance. She was very happy, and I was happy for her too.”
“That night, to celebrate her earning money, I specifically waited for her at the school gate. The performance was supposed to end at 8 PM, and she should have returned to school around 9 PM, but I waited until past 11 PM before she arrived.”
“At that time, she was very haggard, her face pale, her eyes lifeless, and she looked like a walking corpse.”
“I was terrified and asked her what on earth had happened?”
“But she ignored me and just went straight back to her dorm.”
“Later, I repeatedly asked her out, but she kept ignoring me. Only once, I blocked her at school and refused to let her leave.”
“That's when she said one sentence, saying that she was no longer clean and didn't deserve me.”
At this point, Wu Ziyue couldn't help but cover his face and cry, “I'm useless, I'm useless!”
“At the time, I said I would get revenge, but she said those people had a lot of power, and if I went, I might not even be able to graduate.”
“I backed down then. My family background isn't very good either; I needed to graduate. I'm useless!”
“Wuwuwu—”
A grown man actually cried in front of Ye Lin and the others. Ye Lin could feel his deep self-blame, a self-blame for his own weakness.
After calming down a bit, Wu Ziyue choked out, “Maybe Liang Jing also saw my weakness. She sneered and then left, and never contacted me again after that.”
“Police Officer, she must have been wronged. You must find out the truth, and those who harmed her, you must not let them go!”
Looking at Wu Ziyue's emotional state, Yu Haifeng said in a deep voice, “Comrade, please rest assured. As long as someone has broken the law, we will definitely not let them go.”
“Then do you remember if she told you who exactly harmed her?” Ye Lin pressed.
“She didn't say. She just said we couldn't afford to offend them,” Wu Ziyue said.
“What about the date? Do you remember what date that performance was?”
“September 15th. I remember it very clearly. I will never forget that day.” Wu Ziyue directly stated the date. It seemed to have truly hit him hard.
September 15th, that's two months ago now, which is consistent with the two-month pregnancy result for Liang Jing.
It seems that Liang Jing was assaulted that night and then accidentally became pregnant.
Yu Haifeng and Ye Lin exchanged glances, both having thought of this point.
“We've noted the time. Did Liang Jing say where she was going to perform or provide any other information that could help us?” Yu Haifeng asked.
Wu Ziyue thought for a moment and replied, “She was participating in the Qiang Teng Group's assistance program. That night, it seemed to be the Qiang Teng Group's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala.”
Ye Lin once again circled the words “Qiang Teng” on the paper... After returning to the bureau, Yu Haifeng gathered everyone to begin reviewing the case.
Zhao Jianfeng and the others had also extricated themselves from the previous case. The entire team's energy was now focused on Liang Jing's suicide case.
Yu Haifeng first introduced the day's situation, setting the tone for suicide, and then it was time for free discussion.
“Lin Zi, please begin your performance.” Yu Haifeng was now very accustomed to this mode: he would speak, then Ye Lin would analyze, and then everyone would get to work.
Ah, having a capable subordinate is quite good; it saves time and effort.
Ye Lin rolled his eyes at Yu Haifeng. “I really thank you for that. You're the Team Leader; you make me do everything.”
He cleared his throat and said, “Everyone already has a general understanding of the case. I'll be more direct now.”
“First, two months ago, Liang Jing participated in the Qiang Teng Group's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, during which she was assaulted and became pregnant, leading to her death by jumping off a building, a double tragedy. This might be the fuse for her jump, but it's not the direct cause.”
“Second, on the day of the jump, Liang Jing went out after receiving a phone call, and when she returned at 11 PM, she had engaged in sexual activity.”
“Therefore, the immediate priority is to find out who called her and what she went to do.”
“Little Wang, has Liang Jing's phone been recovered? Have the call records from that day been retrieved?” Ye Lin looked at Wang Longxin, who was in charge of contacting forensics.
“It's recovered. We didn't find anything useful inside. These are Liang Jing's call records from that day. There was indeed a call to her around 5 PM. I checked, and it was an internal call from the Qiang Teng Group,” Wang Longxin replied.
It's Qiang Teng again. Two months ago, she was assaulted after performing for Qiang Teng, and this time, before jumping, Qiang Teng called her again.
“Team Leader Yu, we need to go to Qiang Teng,” Ye Lin said with certainty.
Yu Haifeng's face showed difficulty. The leaders had previously said not to establish a Special Task Force for Qiang Teng. If they went to investigate Qiang Teng again now, he was afraid the leaders would be displeased.
Seeing Yu Haifeng's hesitation, Ye Lin persuaded, “Team Leader Yu, we're just making a normal visit to understand the situation; it's nothing major. Besides, as Police Officers, should we not investigate if there's a problem?”
“That's right, Team Leader Yu. It's only natural for the police to investigate cases. As long as we follow procedures, what is there to fear?” Zhao Jianfeng echoed.
Old Zhao was also a veteran of the Criminal Police Team, older than Yu Haifeng and more experienced, but because he was relatively straightforward, he never got promoted.