Chapter 30: The Taste of Blood

2022-05-20

A few days later, we got some news—Hu Jiajia had been sentenced to life in prison.

The video evidence on the USB drive worked in her favor. Principal Zhang assaulted her first; Hu Jiajia killed him afterward. We firmly believe Hu Jiajia suffered a mental breakdown and extreme emotional turmoil at that time—it wasn’t some premeditated murder. So, her life was spared.

Deep down, Gao Rui is still a gentle person. Even though he spoke harshly to Hu Jiajia before, I think that was just to help her let go. That USB drive? It was Gao Rui’s parting lifeline for her. He’s a smart guy—he made sure she had one last shot at survival.

As much as Principal Zhang acted tough, there are still more good people than bad out there.

That’s the best answer to what Gao Rui said before.

It was the best news we’d heard in days.

“This outcome isn’t so bad.” I nodded heavily.

Team Leader Shao sighed, then said, “Kid, don’t think I didn’t notice how you wrote your report. You played some clever word games to excuse Hu Jiajia, trying to pull at the reader’s sympathy for her. You really think people would fall for that? You need to fix that habit, remember who you are.”

I shook my head. “But that’s how it happened. Doesn’t Hu Jiajia deserve some sympathy? Should I feel sorry for Principal Zhang instead?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Guan Zengbin giving me a thumbs-up. At least someone’s on my side.

“What you need isn’t sympathy. You need to report the facts as they are.” Team Leader Shao set his teacup down. “I know you came up the hard way, but that’s not an excuse. You get me?”

I was about to argue, but Team Leader Shao went on, “Take Lin Shu’s case—you just ignored the underground money.”

“You knew about that?” I scratched my head.

Team Leader Shao slapped the table. “Why don’t you put that clever mind of yours to good use for once?”

“Then what about Lin Shu’s grandma? What happens to her? Is she supposed to pick through trash the rest of her life? She’s lost a hand, and…”

Mary raised her hand, pressing her right index finger to her left palm. “Alright, alright, Wu Meng, don’t underestimate us. Team Leader Shao’s already considered things way more than you have. Sure, the money has to be confiscated, but we can always donate in our own name! I mean, I am a genuine rich and beautiful heiress, you know!”

“You’re definitely rich, but I don’t see much beautiful or fair-skinned about you,” I joked, but inside, I was relieved.

I couldn’t help but admire the team leader. Turns out, just when I thought I controlled it all, he already knew everything and handled it more smoothly than I ever could.

Still, I was holding on to one last clue. Even Team Leader Shao probably didn’t know about this yet.

There’s someone who’s always lurked on the edge of our case. Because we were so focused on solving things, we never had time to look into him. But he’s a real suspect. Following this lead might pull up an old case, so I hadn’t stirred the waters. Now, though, it’s time to dig in.

I’d already set someone to watch him, and he’s still on the job right now.

“There’s a suspect I haven’t mentioned, since we’ve been tied up on Zhang Mingliang’s case,” I said while the whole team was in the office. “Who is it?” everyone asked.

I looked around, took my time before saying, “It’s Old Zhang.”

“Old Zhang?”

Guan Zengbin expected me to drop some big shot’s name, not just the guy guarding the gate.

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Why would an old man guarding a construction site be suspicious? Just because he ate a stray dog or something? That’s not your business. Need me to call animal protection? If dog lovers find out, they’ll want to eat him alive.”

I gave up. “Can you talk any more? That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what is it?” Guan Zengbin shook her head.

I cleared my throat and focused. “Remember how Old Zhang described what happened that day? He saw a bucket full of dog blood, so he picked it up. But just then, Zhang Mingliang’s blood had sprayed into it. He thought someone had stolen his dog blood for graffiti, so he didn’t care and even tasted the blood.”

“Yeah, and he said he froze right then and there. The next day, after thinking it through, he called the police,” Gu Chen added. “Is there a problem with that?”

I glanced at Guan Zengbin. “How do you tell the difference between human blood and dog blood?”

“Just by looking, not much difference. By smell alone, neither’s easy to tell apart. Testing in the lab’s easy, though—the hormones and antibodies show right away,” she replied.

I snapped my fingers. “That’s just it! All Old Zhang did was dip his finger in, taste a bit, and immediately felt something was off. He called the police the very next day…”

Now Guan Zengbin saw what I meant. Her eyes went wide. “So you’re saying Old Zhang can tell the taste of human blood from dog blood?”

“Bingo!” I patted her shoulder. “Even if it didn’t taste like dog blood, who would instantly expect it was human? But Old Zhang realized it at once—just too late, so he waited until the next day to call the police. Isn’t that odd?”

“Why not bring him in and question him, then?” Mary asked.

I shook my head. “I’ve already got someone tailing him. He can’t run far.”

“You set this up ages ago?” Team Leader Shao asked. “How come I didn’t know?”

I shook my head. “It’s not one of our people—it’s a thief.”

I called the thief and told him to send over anything he’d found lately, and had Xiao Liu take over his shift.

An hour later.

“Someone said this is for Wu Meng. The guy was really sneaky—dropped this off and ran. Should we grab him?”

Clearly, he’s still spooked by this place. Guess it’s a good thing I grew up in a rough neighborhood—I’ve got friends in low places in every city now…

“No need,” I waved it off.

It was a file folder, holding a stack of papers and an ID card. The name on the card was Zhang Xueyou, the photo of a middle-aged man, and from the features, it was clearly Old Zhang. That thief really did his homework—even got Old Zhang’s ID.

“Zhang Xueyou,” I muttered. “That’s a decent name.”

The rest were several documents.

Turns out Old Zhang isn’t local—he’s from out of town. He just arrived a few months ago.

The file says Zhang Xueyou spent the past year in Qingcheng. That’s quite a coincidence, since not long ago we wrapped up a case in Qingcheng—Lin Shu’s case. Who would’ve thought Old Zhang was from there too.

According to the info, Old Zhang has no kids and comes from a small southern town called Bagu Town. That’s practically the other end of the world from Qingcheng and Dongxing City. Who knows how he traveled so far.

While living in Qingcheng, Old Zhang ran a pretty large recycling shop. But because his buying prices were always lower than anywhere else, literally nobody went there. Yet, he never seemed bothered by that. Whether he had customers or not didn’t seem to matter.

And he kept that shop open for a whole year without going under. From the looks of the quality cigarettes he smoked every day, who knows where he got his money. But two months ago, the shop suddenly closed, supposedly because he couldn’t make ends meet.

After that, Old Zhang came to this city. About a month ago, he got hired to watch the construction site gate. The pay isn’t great, but it’s an easy gig.

The file even included photos—pretty detailed stuff.

At the end, a couple notes: This was all thanks to Sister Mao helping out.

Looks like I owe her another favor. Then again, I get why she did it—just currying favor with me, really.

I gave everyone a look through the documents. Team Leader Shao asked, “What do you think?”

“Old Zhang’s no ordinary guy. He kept a shop running at a loss for a year, slashing prices to keep people away. That place was probably a front for some shady deals. We need to check it out.”

Just as I finished, my phone rang. It was Xiao Liu.

“Hey, Wu Meng,” Xiao Liu said, “I didn’t see a soul out here—your contact isn’t very reliable.”

“No one?” I asked, puzzled.

“Nope. Not even a stray dog.” Xiao Liu sounded certain.

When I frowned and my face darkened, Mary asked, “Wu Meng, what’s wrong?”

I really wasn’t in the mood to banter with Mary. I quickly told everyone, “Looks like Old Zhang isn’t an average guy after all. In just the short gap when the thief left and Xiao Liu took over, he slipped away. He must’ve realized he was being tailed. That was my mistake.”

“After him,” Team Leader Shao said firmly. “If he ran, there’s definitely something up.”