Chapter 119 A Confession (1/2)

That day was destined to be a busy day.

How big would an operation be to find evidence in a fish pond that was dated back to more than 20 years ago?

The Criminal Investigation Unit dispatched all manpower that could be spared to Kong Village.

The suspect, Old Kong, was once again escorted to the scene.

Pumping water, catching fish, digging mud… Such a huge operation drew countless numbers of onlookers.

There were those from Kong Village and the surrounding villages; they surrounded the entire police barricade tape.

However, when they heard that the police was looking for the wife of Old Kong in the fish pond, those who had fished or eaten the fish here… All of them expressed that their stomach didn't feel good.

Xiang Wan was at the scene, too. Seeing how everyone worked from before the daybreak till the sun was high up in the sky—not even able to eat or drink—she empathized with them and felt that being a police officer sure wasn't easy.

She went to the snack shop near the entrance of the village and bought mineral water for them. Everyone was given a bottle, and she even helped them to open it.

Everyone was delighted.

”Thank you, Teacher Xiang!”

”In future, the tedious task of opening bottles shouldl be our responsibility. Hahaha…”

Although they were perspiring all over, they did not forget to crack jokes.

Xiang Wan was amused by the enthusiasm her comrades displayed.

Shaking her head, she opened a bottle for herself and took a drink.

The bright sunlight pierced her eyes where she suddenly gave a quiver uncontrollably.

The weather was so hot and the water, too cold. As for the man who suddenly appeared in front of her, he had a gaze that was too gentle.

”Are you hungry?” Bai Muchuan studied her. ”Want me to get Tang Yuanchu to bring you somewhere to grab a bite first…”

”It's alright, no need for the trouble.” Xiang Wan was somewhat awkward. ”Everyone's so busy, I'm not that delicate.”

”It's already meal time.” Bai Muchuan looked at the time and adjusted his white gloves. ”I think it's going to take a while more. Are you able to take it?”

Xiang Wan casually nodded her head and took a glance at the fish pond. The water had already been pumped out, and the fish were still jumping inside the big bamboo baskets beside the pond. ”Found anything so far?”

”It has been over 20 years.” Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes. ”It's too far back in time that even if the body parts had not been digested, it would have decomposed…”

”So, what are we looking for then?”

There was a layer of mud on the bottom of the fish pond. Many of them were digging in there.

”Teeth, bones, and belongings.”

These things were the toughest as they would not be easily broken down by the microorganisms in the water.

Xiang Wan nodded her head and saw the beads of perspiration on his hairline. She suddenly felt some guilt. ”Look, although I'm here, I'm unable to be of help at all. Do get to work, don't worry about me…”

”Just keep your mouth shut!” Bai Muchuan gave her an unhappy look, his tone was as domineering but affectionate. ”Who's going to worry about you if I don't. Wait for me!”

With that, he left.

Xiang Wan did not know why he wanted her to wait for him. So she stayed there quietly and waited for further instructions.

Soon enough, Bai Muchuan came back with a hand in his pocket, while the other hand was holding something mysteriously. He walked toward her and even turned back for a look before giving her a plastic bag with something inside.

”Take this and eat first. The snack shop here has hardly anything to eat while some food did not seem hygienic enough. I asked Tang Yuanchu to get the biscuits in the car for you. Eat this to fill your stomach first…”

Ah!

Xiang Wan was nonplussed by his act.

He had left in such a stern and fierce manner. She thought that he had some other instructions for her.

In the end, he actually went to get some food for her?

She looked at Bai Muchuan in a daze, forgetting to even move.

Bai Muchuan put the plastic bag of biscuits on her hands. ”What are you waiting for? Take it!”

”Thank you!” Xiang Wan thought her hands felt a little moist from holding the biscuits.

The weather is too hot, she thought inside her head.

What's with the racing heartbeat?

She lowered her head as she looked at the biscuits with uneasiness while Bai Muchuan turned away from her.

Not too far away from them, Tang Yuanchu started to whine.

”No, boss, you can't do this! We are here working so hard, why didn't you give us some food? Didn't you see how hungry I look now?”

”Rascal!” Bai Muchuan stared at him.

”What! The biscuits actually belonged to me?” Tang Yuanchu teased, ”Tsk, tsk, tsk, indeed love is more important than brotherhood, huh…”

”What cr*p is that? If you're a female, you'll be the first to get food.”

”Nah, don't bother to explain. It's similar to how Mei Xin is not considered a female. Boss, we brothers can understand instantly…”

Understand what instantly? Everyone looked at Tang Yuanchu first, then Bai Muchuan and lastly, Xiang Wan. They seemed to understand and had a sly smile on their faces.

”You've shown so much affection that you are torturing us bachelors…” Tang Yuanchu laughed teasingly.

”Hey, hey, hey, who are the bachelors?” Everyone was unhappy and started to diss him.

”Everyone get to work!” Bai Muchuan took a look at the surface of the pond and surveyed everyone's faces. ”Brothers, work harder!” He encouraged them in a supportive tone. ”After we finish this, I'll give everyone a treat at Tanyoto restaurant!”

”…”

Everyone fell silent.

Their gazes were strange and seemed to be struggling with something.

Maybe only the fishes in the bamboo baskets understood for they seemed to be struggling with all their might.

”Boss!” At the center of the fish pond, Xie Hui's face that had mud spilled on it was smiling radiantly. ”I've found it, I've found it…”

It was a piece of bone that one could not ascertain the color clearly as it was covered in mud, glistening under the sun…

It was surely not something good, but to the police, they were acting as if they found a piece of treasure.

Everyone got excited, and a few of them focused to dig around the location as well and managed to discover a few more things…

Teeth and knuckles that had yet to decompose and more…

Cheng Zheng indeed lived up to his reputation as an expert in forensic biology. Without the help of any equipment, he could easily identify which were the dog bones, human bones, as well as which position of the bone they were in relation to the body.

One by one, the evidence were placed inside evidence bags.

Old Kong stared blankly into space; his gaze scattered, not sure what he was thinking about…

Over at the villagers who surrounded outside the police barricade tapes, they also realized what the police had found. They created a commotion, pointing and talking amongst themselves.

A layer of haze formed in Xiang Wan's eyes. She was praying earnestly that there were no other deaths…

…

This trip was rewarding.

There were several tens of pounds of uneaten fish, a heap of human and dog bones, as well as several belongings.

Nevertheless, Xie Wanwan's doll, which Xiang Wan was hoping to find, was not found.

When they returned to the office, lunch time had passed.

Everyone washed up before going to a nearby restaurant and ate there. Tang Yuanchu, who was the first one to arrive there, ordered braised fish with brown sauce as a prank as they had been digging in the smelly fish pond for the whole morning.

As a result, at the two tables of more than ten detectives, only Cheng Zheng was able to eat half of the fish calmly.

This was a feat!

Everyone looked at him with admiration, but he was expressionless throughout and left when he finished.

Xiang Wan watched his back view and suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to laugh.

This Cheng Zheng was even more doomed to a lonely life than her…

Everyday might jolly well be a horror movie for any girl who might be living with him in future?

”Stop daydreaming!” A big hand waved in front of her. Xiang Wan turned and saw Bai Muchuan's seemingly displeased face.

”What's up?” she asked.

”You won't get full just by watching him.” Bai Muchuan pointed to the rice inside her bowl. ”Finish it!”

”I can't eat anymore!”

She had eaten two pieces of biscuits earlier on. As she was new to the police force, she was not used to their working lifestyle and did not have much appetite.

Bai Muchuan put on a cold face. ”There's still work to do in the afternoon. If you don't eat, you won't have enough energy to work later.”

Xiang Wan paused for a while. ”What work?”

Bai Muchuan: ”Interrogate Kong Guangming again.”

”I see…”

”You gotta eat.”

Xiang Wan pouted as somehow, she felt he was behaving like… her parent from a feudal family.

She kept quiet and ate slowly. When she thought of the case, the food tasted flavorless to her.

…

As there was a breakthrough to the case, Commissioner Wang called specially to convey his appreciation for all officers who had been working at the fish pond for half a day.

Bai Muchuan gave a simple update about the progress of the case to him, and then he brought Xiang Wan with him to the interrogation room.

By this point, Old Kong's defensive mentality had collapsed. He basically spilled everything out.

”Kong Qingping is not my flesh and blood. I actually knew that a long time ago.” Old Kong still sat on that same wooden chair, hands being handcuffed and head slightly drooping. The first thing he told the police was the matter he cared most about.

Maybe the limits of his psychological endurance was broken, when he talked about the past, he was no longer agitated.

”The woman was not content with her life. She told me she was going to work in a restaurant, but refused to tell me which restaurant it was. Every time she came home, she had heavy makeup on her face. She did not look like someone who was working in a restaurant at all. The villagers were all talking behind me, saying that she was working as a prostitute.

”She stayed at home after she was pregnant with Kong Qingping. I was thinking, regardless of whether he was my own child or not, I would just take care of him. With my family background and situation, I would never get a good woman anyway. No matter what, she had never despised me because of my poor family background.

”Alas, humans are strange! Although I had thought so, yet I was unable to get over it. It had become a knot in my heart. That period after she gave birth, we quarreled every day. She had a bad temper as well, and she angered my mom so much so that she nearly jumped into the fish pond…

”It was not easy to survive that period. When the baby was a month old, she told me she wanted to leave me. She said that she couldn't live with me anymore…

”We didn't register our marriage. If she's taking the baby away with her, I feel that I'll never be able to see her again. So, of course, I couldn't agree with that. That night, I drank a little more than usual. We quarreled and I beat her up… Never did I expect that she took it too hard and drank pesticide…

”It was in the middle of the night. I never thought that she would really end her life. When I woke up the next day, she was already dead with white foam all over her mouth…

”I was too scared and called for my mom… My mom told me that we couldn't let anyone know that someone died in our family. Otherwise, I would get a death penalty… My mom told me to just tell everyone that she had ran away with her lover…

”That day, everything was a mess. The baby was crying as nobody fed him and I was totally clueless… Later on, my mom took out the butcher knife we used to slaughter pigs. We chopped her up into pieces, and cooked her. She told me we can feed her to the dog slowly and dispose her bones into the fish pond…

”The dog ate the meat… in less than two days, it died as well. So we put the dog as well as her remains into the fertilizer bag and sank them into the fish pond…