I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 195: Chapter 193: The Online Drama

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at Wang Youxian.

There was the fear, guilt, and panic from killing Liang Qi. Then there was the anxious desperation to prove he hadn’t killed Liu Namo. They were two completely different states.

Moreover, according to Xu Yu’s confession, there was no accomplice involved in the crime.

The autopsy results... Liu Namo only had one wound on his body, and that wound was the fatal one.

There were no signs that Wang Youxian had attacked or committed the crime.

Su Miaoyi also hadn’t seen a vision of Wang Youxian killing Liu Namo.

Wang Youxian didn’t kill Liu Namo. The reason Su Miaoyi saw him was because he and Liu Namo had killed Liang Qi together.

”Why does it feel like Liu Namo wanted to drag Wang Youxian down with him even in death?” Su Miaoyi said from outside the interrogation room.

Yan Cheng looked at her. After a moment, he said, ”No matter what, no matter whose perspective you see it from, the person you see is the killer.”

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng came out of the interrogation room less than ten minutes later.

The tech department had tracked down everyone who was stirring up trouble online.

The account ”Wang Shuichimuqi” was also fully investigated.

None of them were local to Jinghai. Zhuang Yanzheng went to contact the local police in their respective areas.

That evening, Zhuang Yanzheng learned more about the situation.

”The people behind the trending topics online, the ones stirring things up—besides the Liu Family, the others were all Liu Namo’s fans,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi and Lu Zhishen were eating instant noodles in his office. Hearing his words, Su Miaoyi looked up at him with a noodle dangling from her mouth.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her, then at the noodle. ”Are you using that noodle as a bridge to communicate with your noodle cup?”

Lu Zhishen let out a laugh.

Su Miaoyi slurped the noodle into her mouth. ”Go on.”

”Those few fans of Liu Namo knew Xu Jinlan was dating him. They were extremely unhappy with Xu Jinlan and were constantly sending private messages to Liu Namo, his studio, and his management team, telling them to break up.”

”But not only did Liu Namo not break up with her, he even took Xu Jinlan on a TV show with him. That made them hate Xu Jinlan even more.”

”After Liu Namo’s death, the fans were heartbroken. All their grief and hatred focused on Xu Jinlan, so a few of them conspired to start a rumor that Xu Jinlan was the murderer. First, they wanted to ruin her reputation. Second...”

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed as he spoke.

It was a sigh filled with utter helplessness.

”Second, they actually thought that by pressuring the police with public opinion, the police would eventually arrest Xu Jinlan.” Zhuang Yanzheng clicked his tongue. ”Do they think they’re gods, that they can control everything? I just don’t get it. What were they thinking? Starting rumors that target the Municipal Bureau.”

”If you could understand them, you’d be the one online stirring up trouble and spreading rumors,” Lu Zhishen said.

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t say anything. He found he couldn’t argue with that.

”What about the Liu Family? They were pushing things behind the scenes, contacting the media, and buying trending topics,” Su Miaoyi asked.

”These fans contacted the Liu Family and told them Xu Jinlan was the murderer. I don’t know the specifics of what they said—the local police will have a detailed report on that later—but anyway, the Liu Family believed them, which led to all the subsequent moves,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, completely exasperated.

Su Miaoyi thought of Shen Yanzhou’s words.

Immense grief can make people lose their common sense.

”And then Liu Beiqing was arrested for attempted kidnapping. He won’t be getting out for a few years,” Su Miaoyi said.

”Their younger son is dead, and now their older son has been arrested,” Lu Zhishen said calmly.

Zhuang Yanzheng pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

Su Miaoyi asked again, ”What about Wang Shuichimuqi? Any news on that?”

”They asked about that too,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”The person behind it was Liu Namo’s former driver. On the day Liang Qi died, this driver drove them to Liu Namo’s apartment. After Liang Qi died, this same driver drove her body, along with Liu Namo and Wang Youxian, to the hospital.”

”The driver said that at the time, Wang Youxian was carrying someone wrapped in a blanket into the hospital. He accidentally saw the person in the blanket, and he also saw blood.”

”Not long after, he heard that Liang Qi had died of a heart attack and that her maternal grandparents had gone to the hospital to see her.”

”The Liu Family arranged things with the hospital,” Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

”And then the driver was fired,” Zhuang Yanzheng continued. ”He saw the news online, noticed it was getting a lot of attention, and wanted to ride the wave. He remembered what happened back then, created an account, and posted that information. He also figured he could blackmail Wang Youxian for some money.”

”Back when Liang Qi and Liu Namo were together, he had picked up a package for her and saw the name ’Wang Shuichimuqi,’ so he used it. He thought it would get Wang Youxian’s attention.”

”But at that time, Wang Youxian’s phone was being monitored. He wouldn’t have dared to make contact or accept hush money, otherwise he’d be exposing himself,” Su Miaoyi said.

”Exactly,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”That’s why Wang Youxian’s first instinct was to run.”

”He said he would drop a bombshell during the day but then never updated his Weibo. He was just waiting for Wang Youxian to contact him so he could extort money. In the end, they all got caught,” Lu Zhishen said.

Listening to all this, Su Miaoyi was silent for a moment. ”It’s all just karma.”

”That’s why you shouldn’t do bad things,” Lu Zhishen said.

”I’m a good person,” Su Miaoyi said.

”I’m a good person too,” Lu Zhishen said.

After speaking, they both looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at them with a stern face. ”What kind of good people come to my office to eat instant noodles in the middle of the night? Weren’t you two full from dinner?”

”Dinner is dinner, and a midnight snack is a midnight snack,” Su Miaoyi said.

”Exactly, exactly,” Lu Zhishen said.

”What do you know?” Su Miaoyi said.

”Exactly, exactly,” Lu Zhishen said.

”Then why didn’t you eat in the sketch artist’s studio? What’s the big idea, coming here to eat?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”If we ate in my studio, wouldn’t the whole place smell like instant noodles?” Lu Zhishen said.

”Exactly, exactly.” Su Miaoyi didn’t forget to chime in while drinking her broth.

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”....So your studio can’t smell like instant noodles, but my office can?”

”Well, you didn’t stop us when we came in. I just assumed you liked the smell,” Lu Zhishen said.

”Exactly, exactly,” Su Miaoyi said to her noodle cup.

”Your studio’s paintings are already marinated in the smell of spicy gluten sticks. What’s a little instant noodle smell on top of that?” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”Are the smells of spicy gluten sticks and instant noodles the same thing?” Lu Zhishen said.

”Exactly, ex—” Su Miaoyi didn’t get to finish the word before Zhuang Yanzheng tapped her on the head with some papers from his desk.

She put down her noodle cup and looked at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”No parrots allowed in the office.”

”Who are you calling a parrot?” Su Miaoyi stared at him.

”I’ve only ever heard parrots say such simple things, and on repeat, too,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze for a moment, then looked at Lu Zhishen. ”He said you’re a parrot.”

Lu Zhishen: ”...What about the little boat of our friendship?”

”It just got capsized.”

”I’m the one who capsized it,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

...