[Su Xiaohua’s boyfriend Old Li mentioned is called Cao Ji’an, and he is 33 years old this year. Ten years ago, his father was a well-known entrepreneur in City R. He was probably arrogant and domineering because of his family’s power and influence. He wasn’t a good student, but his family paid for him a university spot. The year he graduated from university, Su Xiaohua had just entered university. He fell in love with Su Xiaohua and began to pursue her.]
[Later, the two of them got together, and many people in school knew about it. Cao Ji’an didn’t hide it from others either, often taking Su Xiaohua to various occasions, declaring his ownership of Su Xiaohua.]
[According to the records of bystanders at the time, in this relationship, Cao Ji’an was more invested, while Su Xiaohua was like a silent vase being carried around by Cao Ji’an.]
[After Su Xiaohua disappeared, Cao Ji’an’s fingerprints were found on the weapon. The police investigated Cao Ji’an’s purchase records and finally found the knife on the shopping list. It was a bone-cutting knife, very sharp. According to Cao Ji’an’s description, he bought it to make pork rib soup. But according to the testimony of the nanny, Cao Ji’an was a young master who never did any household chores, let alone cooking, especially pork rib soup.]
[After rounds of interrogation by the police, Cao Ji’an finally admitted that his original intention in buying that knife was to blackmail Su Xiaohua. He said he treated Su Xiaohua well, but Su Xiaohua always wanted to leave him, so he could only think of using this method to keep Su Xiaohua.]
[The police immediately continued to question Cao Ji’an for more information. At that time, Cao Ji’an suddenly cooperated and admitted to killing Xiaohua.]
[But later, after the legal team his father hired met with Cao Ji’an, Cao Ji’an suddenly changed his mind, saying that he did not kill Xiaohua. Because only part of the body was found, it couldn’t be determined whether Su Xiaohua was dead or alive. This case, which had clear evidence, was eventually determined as a case of injury.]
The escape system paused,[and then something interesting happened. Cao Ji’an’s father once spent money to get through the prison system, hoping to reduce Cao Ji’an’s sentence and get him out as soon as possible. But for some reason, Cao Ji’an seemed to be stimulated in prison and never behaved properly, so there was no hope of a reduced sentence. He spent the full ten years in prison.]
[Then there is his father’s company. The Cao family’s enterprise was the leading company in City R at that time. After this case occurred, the Cao family’s enterprise began to decline. In just a few years, the Cao family’s enterprise went bankrupt, and his father went from being a listed company CEO worth hundreds of millions to an old man with heavy debts.]
[There are two children in their family. Cao Ji’an is the second child, and he has an older sister. Because the younger brother is a criminal, his sister is also affected. She often encounters setbacks in her work and is almost forty years old and still unmarried. As for Father Cao, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer two years ago. Because there was no money, he even applied for social assistance once. But social resources are limited, and the applicants for assistance are all subject to verification. Because he was a debtor, the application was unsuccessful, and he passed away last year.]
[In your human terms, this might be called retribution, right?]
Bai Lixin walked on the road, with a map S419M enlarged for him in his mind.
There was a coordinate on the map, where Cao Ji’an and his family currently live.
The time limit for the copy is fifteen days, and it is currently the fourth day.
He entered this copy at night. He was trapped in the office building and, with the help of a man he didn’t know whether was an exorcist or a psychic, managed to leave the building. He got a ride with Black and White Wuchang to revisit the old place in the underworld. It took about 24 hours in total, and when he returned to the real world, it was already the second day.
On the second day, he went to the police station to investigate Xiao Hua’s case file. There, he not only obtained Xiao Hua’s case file information but also got a ghost body police dog, Gan Tai, and then took a taxi to R University.
On the third day, during the day, he walked around R University, found the office and dormitory of the victim Shen Shukuang who was dismembered and died tragically. He had a pretty clean living circle, and it basically coincided with the information in the case file of the dismembered and dead case, so there was no progress for the time being.
On the third night, he found the rented apartment where Xiao hua lived ten years ago, discovered Old Li who has been secretly filming people, followed the police back to the public security bureau, and got new clues.
In the case files from ten years ago, there was no mention of that website.
There was also no information about filming intimate videos or photos in the interrogation records of Cao Ji’an.
These clues were only recently discovered today, ten years later. But they were too weak to be of much use. They were only based on the landlord Li Chongming’s testimony, unless actual evidence could be found.
However, it seemed like an invisible wall stood before the investigators, as if some force was obstructing them from obtaining the evidence. All proof of Su Xiaohua’s personal rights being violated had vanished.
The video evidence disappeared, and neither Old Li nor Cao Ji’an ever mentioned these incriminating details ten years ago.
Thinking about it, this was quite logical.
To avoid harm, perpetrators would try their best to hide their crimes.
With the video evidence gone, they certainly wouldn’t voluntarily admit to having filmed the videos.
Cao Ji’an’s relationship with Su Xiaohua was very delicate.
In the information from ten years ago, witnesses who knew them had said that Cao Ji’an was arrogant, conceited, and looked down on others, and no one at school dared to provoke him. He then fell in love with the newly admitted Su Xiaohua.
Cao Ji’an publicly pursued Su Xiaohua, sending flowers, blocking the school gate with his flashy sports car, and clinging to her in elective classes. Unlike the uninhibited and high-profile Cao Ji’an, others perceived Su Xiaohua as a low-key and somewhat self-conscious girl.
She habitually covered half her eyes with thick bangs and walked with her head down, as if trying to minimize her presence.
Cao Ji’an pursued Su Xiaohua for a month, but she didn’t agree to date him.
But a month later, for some reason, Su Xiaohua suddenly became Cao Ji’an’s girlfriend.
Cao Ji’an continued to pick up Su Xiaohua at the school gate with great fanfare, often taking the freshman Su Xiaohua out. Originally a good girl and top student in her department, Su Xiaohua seemed to start declining academically after becoming Cao Ji’an’s girlfriend, skipping classes and missing school.
There was another intriguing phenomenon.
Cao Ji’an was quite good-looking, and with his family’s wealth, despite knowing his poor character, many people still secretly admired him. Seeing a girl from the countryside become Cao Ji’an’s girlfriend, many students at the school collectively ostracized Su Xiaohua.
Su Xiaohua spent two years at university without making many friends.
After Su Xiaohua disappeared, the police first investigated the school. They asked all the teachers and students, but none of them knew where Su Xiaohua lived.
In the end, it was Ran Jingjing who told them Su Xiaohua’s residence.
Ran Jingjing was Su Xiaohua’s only friend, a high school classmate who, though not attending the same university, also lived in City R and often visited Su Xiaohua.
After Su Xiaohua’s disappearance, Ran Jingjing insisted that Cao Ji’an was the murderer. Based on Ran Jingjing’s testimony, they saw the situation from another perspective.
The reason Su Xiaohua agreed to Cao Ji’an’s pursuit was due to a “hero saves the beauty” incident.
Su Xiaohua was cornered by some thugs in an alley, and it was Cao Ji’an who saw it and rushed in to protect her. Cao Ji’an was slightly injured as a result, and Su Xiaohua naturally took on the responsibility of taking care of him.
After spending time together, Su Xiaohua was moved by his actions and agreed to Cao Ji’an’s pursuit.
Originally, Su Xiaohua thought that Cao Ji’an, who appeared to be a bad boy but had a kind heart, could bring her happiness like a prince charming.
However, after they started dating, Cao Ji’an’s vile nature suddenly surfaced. Su Xiaohua felt tormented and tried to break up with him.
Cao Ji’an refused to break up, resorting to threats and beatings to stop her. It was then that Su Xiaohua realized the “hero saves the beauty” incident was just a play orchestrated by Cao Ji’an.
Under Cao Ji’an’s oppressive power, Su Xiaohua could only continue to play the role of his girlfriend, often crying to Ran Jingjing.
However, Ran Jingjing never mentioned the video blackmailing. Perhaps Su Xiaohua was unwilling to reveal such a shameful matter, and even hid it from Ran Jingjing.
Based on the clues provided by Ran Jingjing, the police found the thugs who had threatened Su Xiaohua. They confessed without hesitation. With witnesses in hand, Cao Ji’an admitted to his acts of beating and threatening Su Xiaohua.
From Cao Ji’an’s actions, he was the one with the most motive for the crime, and all the evidence pointed to him.
But even in the end, the police never found Su Xiaohua.
Ten years had passed, and Ran Jingjing was now thirty years old, running her own law firm and seemingly having moved on with her life.
The case that had been sealed for ten years was reopened, and a new character emerged from the landlord Li Chongming’s testimony.
This person had filmed several explicit videos of Su Xiaohua before Cao Ji’an. Who could this person be?
Escape System:[Su Xiaohua was born in a rural area. She showed exceptional academic talent from a young age. Her parents feared that schooling in the countryside would hinder her education, so they asked Father Su’s distant cousin in City R to help transfer Su Xiaohua to a school in the city.]
[Su Xiaohua transferred to City R in her first year of high school and stayed with this distant cousin, whom she called “Uncle.” This uncle’s name was Su Hong, and his hobby was photography.]
At this moment, Bai Lixin had already arrived near where Cao Ji’an lived. After hearing the information provided by the escape system, he repeated: [A hobby in photography?]
Escape System:[Didn’t Li Chongming just say that the videos of Su Xiaohua were professionally shot? Maybe that Su Hong was the one who filmed them.]
Bai Lixin:[…]
Su Hong, Su Xiaohua’s distant uncle, was only twenty years old when Su Xiaohua disappeared. The police finally found him based on Su Xiaohua’s social network circles.
Su Hong’s statement to the police was as follows:
[Su Xiaohua did stay at my house during high school, but after she got into university, she moved out and rarely came back. I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.
Her parents sold their cow to pay for her schooling in City R. It wasn’t easy for her to attend school. Feeling sorry for her, I took her in. When she was admitted to university, I repeatedly warned her to focus on her studies during university, to be grateful, and to find a good job after graduation to repay her parents’ upbringing.
As a result, she didn’t listen and ended up meeting a scumbag.
Comrade police, if I had known she had a puppy love, I wouldn’t have agreed in the first place!]
S419M: [It’s not just Su Hong around Su Xiaohua who knows photography. While in college, she worked several jobs to make money, one of which was as a model in a personal photography studio. The photographer there was also professional. Maybe it was him?]
The person S419M mentioned was also questioned by the police back then.
The photographer’s name was Liang Yifan. He said that at the time, he had posted a part-time job advertisement online, and Su Xiaohua approached him to work as a part-time model. Liang Yifan only took a set of photos for her to use as studio illustrations, and there was no further interaction.
In this bizarre case, Su Xiaohua’s social circle was very simple.
In total, there were only a few people associated with her.
Su Xiaohua’s parents, Su Hong, school teachers and classmates, boyfriend Cao Ji’an, best friend Ran Jingjing, employers, and colleagues from part-time jobs.
Escape System: [Liang Yifan didn’t have much interaction with Su Xiaohua, probably just a professional relationship. I still think Su Hong is more suspicious.]
S419M: [Sometimes, the less likely it seems, the more likely it is, right? Why did Su Xiaohua choose to work as a model, among all part-time jobs?]
Bai Lixin hadn’t spoken yet, but the two systems already had different opinions.
After hearing the arguments from the two, Bai Lixin decided to be a peacemaker.
[Liang Yifan seems suspicious. Considering Su Xiaohua’s personality, she was somewhat introverted and had low self esteem, and even avoided eye contact with others. People like her wouldn’t normally seek jobs that require facing the camera. If she was so reluctant to be seen, how could she become a model?]
[Why did she choose to be a model in the first place? Liang Yifan might have lied.]
S419M snorted, [See, I told you he’s very suspicious!]
Bai Lixin: [Su Hong is also suspicious. Su Xiaohua was academically excellent from a young age. She entered a key high school in City R at the age of 15 and attended City R University at 18. According to Li Chongming, Su Xiaohua lived with him for nearly two years, from freshman to sophomore year.]
[When Li Chongming saw Su Xiaohua for the first time, he recognized her as the person in the video. Su Xiaohua should have just entered college then, so those videos must have been taken before her freshman year. At that time, she was living with Su Hong, whose hobby was photography.]
Escape System: [Humph! Su Hong is still more suspicious!]
Bai Lixin: [There’s something strange in this process. Have you noticed?]
Both systems spoke simultaneously: [What?]
Bai Lixin: [Whether from Cao Ji’an, surrounding students and teachers, or Su Hong and Su Xiaohua’s parents, it’s evident that Su Xiaohua was in poor financial condition. Universities provide dormitories, which are not only safe and close to classrooms but also cheaper. Considering Su Xiaohua’s financial difficulties, why did she move out of the dormitory and spend more money on renting a house?]
Escape System: [Could it be because she was afraid of living with other students?]
Bai Lixin: [According to the investigation of Su Xiaohua’s case files, the police responsible for the case at the time were very diligent. Thanks to these records, some clues from that time were presented to us. According to the records, Su Xiaohua could communicate normally with classmates and answer teachers’ questions fluently. She was just introverted, not autistic, so she wouldn’t be afraid of living with other students.]
[In addition, although Su Xiaohua worked part-time, the money she earned barely covered her living expenses and rent. If she lived in a student dormitory, she might have had more money left over from her part-time job, so we can also rule out that she moved out to earn money.]
Escape System: [You mean that Su Xiaohua moving out by herself is a big suspicious point? But she’s been missing for ten years, and we can’t find her. How do we know why she moved out?]
Bai Lixin: [Then we’ll have to explore it ourselves. Finding the answers to these few points may bring us one step closer to finding out what happened to Su Xiaohua.]
“Take this five hundred yuan; it’s your salary for the past two days. You don’t need to come anymore starting tomorrow.” A conversation caught Bai Lixin’s attention.
He looked over and saw a fruit stall by the roadside, with two people standing at the door. One was a woman in her fifties, probably the proprietress of the fruit stall, and the other was a middle-aged man in his thirties with a thin face.
The middle-aged man held five hundred yuan in his rough, dark hands, his fingertips trembling slightly. “Why? I’ve been working hard these past few days. I just arrived, so it’s inevitable that there are areas where I’m not skilled. I can improve.”
The proprietress looked somewhat embarrassed and even a little scared. “Xiao Cao, you’ve been doing well. The main reason is that my stall has been busy these past two days, but it’s already over. My small business only earns enough for my own expenses, and there’s really no extra money to pay you a salary. Otherwise, you can go find another job elsewhere?”
The thin-faced middle-aged man suddenly clenched the money in his hand, his facial features tightening, his expression distorted. After a moment, he took a deep breath and relaxed his expression. “I understand, Boss. I wish you prosperity in your business.”
The man’s back was slightly hunched, and he limped as he walked.
It wasn’t until the man was far away that another woman of similar age to the proprietress emerged from the shop.
Woman in flowery clothes: “He’s gone?”
Proprietress: “Yes, he’s gone.”
“Did you see his expression just now? So fierce.” The woman in flowery clothes peeked at the direction the man left and quickly retracted her head. “He’s a murderer. Won’t he come back for revenge in a fit of anger?”
The proprietress said anxiously, “But I also need to make money from my business. I didn’t know when I hired him that he was a murderer. If I had known, I wouldn’t have hired him at all! You see, since he came to my shop these days, my shop has no business! Do you know what people outside are saying? They say that I hired a murderer as a shop assistant, and all the apples are bad, so no one comes here to buy fruit anymore.”
