171: I just want a clue, that's all.
She angrily dialed Ye Lin's number. "Hello, it's me. You wanted to see me, didn't you? Same coffee shop, I'll be there in half an hour."
After saying that, she hung up the phone directly, full of temper.
Ye Lin was still drinking porridge when Meng Qiu's sudden, baseless outburst left him a bit confused.
However, willingness to meet was a good thing.
Ye Lin quickly stuffed two bites of steamed bun, greeted Yu Haifeng, and left.
A little after 9 o'clock, Ye Lin arrived at the coffee shop, where Meng Qiu was already seated.
Seeing Ye Lin enter, it was truly like enemies meeting, with Meng Qiu's eyes practically spitting fire.
"What's wrong, Student Meng? You look very angry. Weren't you quite composed yesterday?" Ye Lin didn't care if she was angry; the angrier she was, the better, as he could get more clues.
"You're despicable! You're lewd!" Seeing Ye Lin's rogue-like expression, Meng Qiu grew angrier the more she thought about it, and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"I finally made it to my senior year, why do you have to mess with me? I still have to support my family." Meng Qiu complained, tears starting to stream down her face.
She looked so pitiful that even a heart of stone would soften.
However, Ye Lin remained unmoved, looking at Meng Qiu with a mischievous grin, not saying a word.
"Pervert!"
A low curse came from the nearby counter, and Ye Lin turned his head to see that it was the barista who had cursed.
But seeing Ye Lin turn to look, the barista quickly lowered her head and started making coffee. She had cursed because she was too angry just now, but she didn't dare to actually stand up for herself. She was here to work and couldn't afford to offend anyone.
However, the barista's curse also reminded Ye Lin that perhaps he was playing the villain a bit too realistically, so it was better to quickly interrupt this farce.
"Alright, stop pretending. Your acting skills are useless on me," Ye Lin said calmly to Meng Qiu.
Meng Qiu, with tear-filled eyes, secretly glanced at Ye Lin and found that he really showed no emotion, only a mocking expression.
Immediately, she stopped pretending. The sorrowful expression on her face vanished, and she quickly wiped her tears with a napkin from the table. Then, with a determined look, she faced Ye Lin, "Tell me, what do I need to do for you to give me my graduation certificate?"
Graduation certificate?
It seemed this was Pan Dahai's trick. It was simple, yet seemed very effective.
"I just need some clues, it's that simple," Ye Lin said.
"Okay, then I'll tell you what I know, and then you tell our school to give me my graduation certificate on time."
"No problem, I'm not interested in your graduation certificate."
"Also, you pay for the coffee." Meng Qiu took a fierce sip of coffee. A cup of coffee cost over 20 yuan, which she couldn't bear to spend.
Ye Lin shouted, "Waiter, another slice of millefeuille cake. I'll pay."
"Is that good enough?" Ye Lin said with a smile.
This reasonable attitude slightly improved Meng Qiu's impression of Ye Lin, and her expression became less resistant.
"Ask away."
"You know Liang Jing, right?"
"Yes, how could I not know someone from the same dance troupe?"
"Were you performing together on the day she died?"
"Yes, we had a performance at Qiang Teng Group that day."
"Was there anything unusual?"
Meng Qiu answered without even thinking, "No, nothing unusual. I left after the performance and didn't notice anything."
Ye Lin put down the pen in his hand, stared at Meng Qiu again, and slowly said, "Do you think I've spent all this effort just to hear you say you don't know anything?"
"No, Officer, I really don't know anything." Meng Qiu looked innocent, as if she truly knew nothing.
"Meng Qiu, I'm not afraid to tell you, I investigated you before coming here. There are only a few people who have been in this dance troupe for over three years, and you are one of them. Over these three years, so many girls have committed suicide or left, why do you think you won't be next?"
Meng Qiu still maintained a 'dead pig not afraid of boiling water' attitude, "I told you, I was doing it for money."
"Alright, for money, is it? Then you don't care about your life? With your astuteness, you wouldn't be unaware of why these girls committed suicide, would you?" Ye Lin pressed.
"Officer Ye, how would I know why they committed suicide?"
"If you didn't know, you would have left long ago. It's precisely because you were confident that you chose to stay, right?" Ye Lin directly hit the core of the issue.
"I didn't say that. I just simply wanted to earn money."
Ye Lin sneered, stopped talking, and got up to leave, "Since you don't want to graduate, I won't make things difficult for you."
Seeing Ye Lin about to leave, Meng Qiu finally realized that she seemed to have a handle in his hands.
She quickly grabbed Ye Lin, her tone softening, "Officer Ye, I've told you everything I should have. You can't make me lie, can you?"
"What I want is the truth, not made-up stories. If you're unwilling to speak, I can find the other few people who remained in the dance troupe. I won't force you," Ye Lin said indifferently.
Meng Qiu cursed inwardly, 'Not force me? Then why are you withholding my graduation certificate?'
Seeing Ye Lin's confident demeanor, Meng Qiu finally conceded. After all, her graduation certificate was too important to her.
"I can talk, but you can't say it was me who told you, and after I'm done, you can't hold up my graduation certificate anymore," Meng Qiu mumbled.
"I'm a very trustworthy person, you can rest assured." Ye Lin sat down again.
Meng Qiu lowered her head and was silent for a while, then began.
"Actually, our dance troupe did help many students in need, but because most of the girls in the troupe are young and pretty, naturally some people would target us."
"After every performance, President Gu would come backstage to give us flowers and say encouraging words. He would also choose one or two girls who performed particularly well and give them special rewards."
"What do you mean by special rewards?" Ye Lin asked.
"I don't know. President Gu always made them stay behind alone," Meng Qiu said.
"So, these girls who committed suicide, including Liang Jing, all received special rewards, didn't they?"
"Mmm." Meng Qiu nodded.
"So, they were kept behind and assaulted by Gu Qiang, is that right?" Ye Lin pressed.
"I don't know that. I never received a special reward myself." Meng Qiu looked innocent.
"You do know, because someone once called the police, and that person told you about it, right?" Ye Lin asked sharply.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything." Meng Qiu clearly began to panic.
"You know. Zheng Xiao called the police three years ago and then disappeared. She was your good friend. She told you, didn't she?" Ye Lin didn't let Meng Qiu off the hook, continuing to question her loudly.
Actually, this was also Ye Lin's own guess, because last time, when Zheng Xiao was mentioned, Meng Qiu's expression was clearly off; she definitely knew something.