Chapter 334: The Suspect

2022-05-20

Gu Chen barely said a word the entire way. Normally, he’d be peppering me with questions about Zhao Mingkun by now. I’m not even sure what Gu Hui should call Gu Chen by seniority, but one thing’s certain—Gu Chen would never give up if he had even the slightest doubt.

We drove for over an hour before Gu Chen finally broke the silence. “I watched Gu Hui grow up, you know. From a tiny little thing, just a child, to a little girl with long, beautiful hair. When she was a toddler, her hair was so short you couldn’t even tell if she was a boy or girl.”

He kept his eyes on the road as he spoke. “She’s only five. If it really was an accident, then maybe it was just bad luck… But if there’s the slightest suspicion, we need to keep digging. I know I’m not as skilled as you when it comes to this kind of thing, so I asked you to help me with the case.”

I nodded, let out a quiet sigh, and said, “No problem.”

After that, we fell silent again.

There’s only one road that leads out of the village, a muddy dirt track. From the main highway, you could see just how deep the mud ran—I honestly wondered if my next step would get me stuck for good. Lost in thought, I noticed Gu Chen had stopped the car and was gesturing to the back seat.

I turned to see two sets of raincoats and rain boots lying there.

“Weather forecast says there might be heavy rain in the next few days. We’ll probably need these,” Gu Chen said.

I peered out the window at the cloudy, gray sky. Rain still drizzled down. I reached back, grabbed a set of rain gear, and suited up. Then, with one foot out of the car, I caught Gu Chen’s eye and together we set out along the muddy path.

In the rain, the road was impossibly slick. I finally understood the phrase ‘every step a hurdle.’

Puddles had gathered in all the low spots, shimmering with reflected light. Suddenly a bit of trivia popped into my head: on a clear night after rain, if you face the moon, puddles seem brightest. If you turn your back to the moon, the ground itself looks brighter.

That’s because water creates a mirror reflection, while the ground scatters light in all directions. Face the light and every ray bouncing off the water hits your eyes, making puddles bright. If you’re not facing the light, you won’t see those reflections at all.

As for the ground, it throws light in every direction, so when a few rays reach your eyes, it can actually look brighter than the puddles.

I couldn’t remember what grade I learned that in—something from middle school. The walk was long and Gu Chen kept his thoughts to himself, so I let my mind wander as we trudged on. I took a step forward—and suddenly the ground gave way beneath me. I toppled forward and landed face-first, getting a mouthful of mud.

Gu Chen heard the commotion, turned on his heel, and hurried over to help.

My lower leg felt like it was trapped in quicksand. I glanced down and saw I’d stepped into a small, deep hole. Trying to pull my leg out, I realized there was no solid ground to push off—every handful just came up muddy and useless.

Gu Chen grabbed my hand and, with quite a struggle, finally managed to yank me free. Standing up, I looked myself over—honestly, I’d rolled around in the mud like a donkey. Completely covered, filthy from head to toe. No amount of wiping was going to get me clean.

“Come on,” Gu Chen said, after giving me a quick once-over. “You can borrow a change of clothes at my place.”

I shook my head and pointed to the hole in the ground. “That pit’s pretty narrow, but it’s deep. Are there really this many sinkholes on the road? With all this rain, every hole’s filled up. You can’t tell if you’re stepping on solid ground or into a puddle.”

“This village is ancient and this road might be even older,” Gu Chen replied. “We’ve always had a few pits, but not so many. It’s been raining nonstop lately, and there are hollows under the road. These storms just brought all the hidden dangers out into the open.”

I stared at the hole, wondering if Gu Hui could have fallen just like I did—one wrong step and she was trapped. That sure made the accidental death theory sound plausible. Based on what Gu Chen told me, there weren’t any real clues pointing to foul play.

Still, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone had pushed Gu Hui into one of those pits. After all this rain, any footprints would’ve been washed away—no chance of finding evidence in the mud.

I asked, “I know it’s a bit abrupt, but for the sake of the investigation…”

“I get it,” Gu Chen nodded. “They always say the dead deserve respect, but it’s fine, ask whatever you need—reasonable or not.”

I nodded again. “What kind of kid was Gu Hui, exactly? Was she the type to stay home quietly, or more of a tomboy—restless and energetic?”

Gu Chen thought for a moment before answering. “It’s been a while since I saw her, but she was always a wild little girl. You know I’m not exactly a saint myself, so I used to race around with her all the time.”

“Yeah.”

I acknowledged his answer but said nothing more. If Gu Hui really was that energetic, she might’ve run out on her own. Honestly, I was still leaning toward accidental death, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions before looking into everything properly.

Besides, from what Gu Chen’s older brother Gu Zhi said, he already suspected someone. But who? What made Gu Zhi so sure, even without any evidence? We’d have to get to Zhi Li Village to find out.

With plenty of stops and starts, by nightfall we finally reached the village and Gu Chen’s home.

Gu Chen’s parents were just ordinary villagers. They looked happy to see him return, though worry lingered beneath the surface. No doubt they never expected such a tragedy to bring their son back.

After Gu Chen explained my situation, I changed into a spare set of his father’s clothes.

A bit of small talk, then Gu Chen cut straight to the chase. “Dad, Mom, I’m here because my brother called me back. This is my colleague. Could you tell us what’s happened? Where are my brother and uncle?”

His father sighed and spoke slowly. “Four days ago, Gu Hui went missing. The next day, someone found her drowned in a roadside pit—they say it was a freak accident. You know your brother and sister-in-law both work in Dongxing City, so your uncle and aunt were watching Gu Hui. Your aunt fainted from the shock and never woke up—she died from it.”

His mother added, “Who could handle something like that? No grandparent could bear that kind of loss.”

She handed me a mug of hot water as she spoke.

Gu Chen’s father continued, “Yeah. When your brother and his wife heard, they rushed home. They just can’t believe Gu Hui’s death was an accident—they think someone killed her, but there’s no evidence and it’s still under investigation. So your uncle came to ask if you could come back, since you’d give this your all.”

Gu Chen shook his head. “How are my brother and sister-in-law holding up?”

“Your brother hasn’t slept in days, just waiting for you to show up. He even went back to that family’s house to make trouble, but without proof, there’s nothing they can do. Your sister-in-law broke down after seeing the body—she’s bedridden now, looks terribly frail.”

His father sighed again. “Your uncle is drowning in guilt. Gu Hui died, his wife followed after, and now everything’s fallen on his shoulders. Your sister-in-law keeps saying, if they’d just watched the child closer, none of this would have happened. A few times, your uncle has said he’d rather die and join his wife.”

“It’s heartbreaking. She was only five, just about to start school,” his father said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Gu Chen nodded. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, keep an eye on uncle—don’t let him do anything desperate. My brother’s got his hands full. I’ll head to his place and ask some questions. Do you want to come along?”

His father agreed. “Yeah. Honey, you stay here. I’ll go with our son and his colleague to your uncle’s place.”

“Alright, you go ahead,” Gu Chen’s mother replied, her tone quiet.

Gu Chen’s house and his brother’s were only a few hundred meters apart.

I asked, “Who exactly does your brother suspect? And why?”

Gu Chen didn’t answer, but his father spoke up, “That’s a long story. We’ll tell you everything at your brother’s place. To be honest, it started a few years ago—it’s not something we’re proud of here in the village…”