Chapter 74: Zhou Guo: The Willing Sacrifice

2022-05-20

Everyone hides both kindness and cruelty in their hearts. That day, the darkness in Zhang Dequan finally broke free.

He saw reflections of his late wife in his daughter, though he knew she was never truly the same. He beat Zhang Xue, trying to snap himself awake.

Not a single night had ever brought Zhang Dequan real peace.

He stubbed out another cigarette in the ashtray, let the smoke curl from his mouth, and said, “That’s enough. This is good. I’ve never felt as calm as I do today. Time’s almost up. If there’s nothing else, I just want a moment of quiet before it ends.”

I quickly pulled one of my shoelaces free, tying a knot with practiced ease right in front of Zhang Dequan.

He watched me, puzzled. “Wait, were you ever a sailor too? Where’d you learn that kind of knotwork?”

The question hit me like a bolt of lightning. My head nearly exploded.

Zhang Dequan looked worried as my face changed. “Are you okay?” he asked quickly.

I shook my head and threaded the shoelace back through the holes. “Nothing. I’m leaving now.”

I pushed the door open and stepped out. My thoughts were in chaos. Maybe Zhou Guo was just another pawn—he’d never really been considered one of the core five from the start. Someone else had to be the real mastermind behind all this.

“Gu Chen, bring Zhang Xue in.”

By the time I finished my last pack of Golden Leaf, Zhang Xue finally appeared in the interrogation room. She looked uneasy at first, but her nerves steadied quickly. I stared at her—behind that pretty, delicate face, what sort of person really hid beneath?

She asked in a flat voice, “Why did you call me here?”

Taking a few breaths to steady myself, I replied, “We’ve figured out who was really behind everything. Zhou Guo was just your pawn from the very beginning. You planned to use him all along. The two of you had to take Line 1 together—but Zhou Guo’s location made things easier. Still, I overlooked one thing. You always left campus early, long before your classes were done, so only you know what you did with that extra time.”

Zhang Xue just blinked and stayed silent.

I went on, “After Zhou Guo stole the potassium cyanide, he handed it to you first. Not Lin Rou. You kept some, and gave the rest back to Zhou Guo, asking him to pass it on to Lin Rou. That way, no one knew you’d ever possessed the poison except for Zhou Guo himself.”

“You handed the cyanide off to Gao Rui, and took his watch in exchange. Then you killed Wang Yiman and took her puzzle piece.” I looked right at Zhang Xue. “You even taught Wang Yiman a suicide method—with a way to save herself if she lost her nerve, right?”

Her lips trembled a moment but she said nothing.

When she didn’t give in, I pressed on. “You claimed Zhou Guo taught you his knotting technique—said it was from some African style. That’s a lie. You picked it up from your father, a sailor in his youth, who only ever used sailor knots. You learned by watching him while growing up.”

“Should I bring your father in here to face you?” I slammed my hand down on the table.

Zhang Xue let out a sigh and shrugged. “You’re careful. I was careless. When you asked, I gave you a panicked answer and didn’t even catch my mistake. Didn’t expect it to work out in the way it did, that you’d think Zhou Guo was the killer.”

I sneered. “After killing Wang Yiman, you joined the investigation yourself and rooted out the suspects in your school. You knew that if you left any more direct evidence, it would all unravel. So, when it came to Li Zhinan and Ma Liliang, you didn’t get involved in their deaths at all.”

Gu Chen nodded. “That explains why Gao Rui and Wang Yiman died so painlessly and with dignity, but Li Zhinan and Ma Liliang’s deaths—even if painless—were much more humiliating. You’d pulled away and left no contact at all.”

I looked at Zhang Xue lost in thought and pressed on. “You reached out to those four, told them about your own past, and they sympathized—they promised to help your plan. That’s how you got your hands on sixteen million.”

“Last night on the rooftop, I saw the bank cards in your hands too.” I glared at Zhang Xue.

She asked in a whisper, “If you knew, why didn’t you arrest me then?”

I gritted my teeth. “I thought maybe if that sixteen million could free you all from your broken homes, let you escape the darkness, it would be worth it. But if you hadn’t done what you did to Zhou Guo, I would have let you walk!”

She sat up straight. “What are you talking about?”

I spelled it out. “At the start of the semester, you met Zhou Guo—the simple guy everyone in class picked on. You learned his mother was paralyzed, and that’s when your plan began, didn’t it? Later, you met Gao Rui, then bumped into Wang Yiman, Li Zhinan and Ma Liliang on Line 1.”

“Within a year, all of them, one by one, revealed their thoughts of wanting to die.” I said calmly, “Mary couldn’t trace anything online, because none of them posted about it in cyberspace. You’ve always been different—thoughtful, a deep sadness mixed with stubbornness.”

“That’s why you became friends, and you told them, if they were ever planning to die, you hoped they’d let you help. They all agreed.”

“Then you set your plan in motion—with Zhou Guo’s mother. Convincing someone’s mother to end her life isn’t easy, so you started leaving school early to visit her at home after taking Line 1. She saw you as her son’s friend, but from the very start you had other intentions.”

Zhang Xue started trembling.

I was worked up. “You became like family. To get close, you even helped his mother with cross-stitch! The day she killed herself, there was a cross-stitch piece on the table—but it wasn’t hers. The needlework was way too sloppy, obviously made by a beginner!”

“That was the day Zhou Guo’s mother died. Zhou Guo never suspected, really believed it was suicide. He never knew what you’d done behind the scenes.” I went on, “With his mother gone, there was nothing left in his life—except for you. You held him in the palm of your hand.”

I slapped the table again, “It was all your scheme. You made Zhou Guo fall for you just so you could use him. With a scapegoat in place, the investigation would’ve stopped, since it looked like suicide, not murder!”

“You kept trophies from the others, not for memories, but to frame Zhou Guo. Does a family like his really eat imported cookies? That biscuit tin and everything inside were gifts from you. The money was already in your hands—Zhou Guo was just there to take the blame!”

I pointed at Zhang Xue.

She nodded, then shook her head, “Yeah, so what if he fell for me—fell for someone heartless, someone he never should have. Only someone with his nature would keep quiet, do exactly as I said. I told him, after he killed himself, I’d join him, and he actually believed it!”

“But!” She raised her voice, “I just wanted enough money to start over somewhere nobody knows me. Is that wrong? Did I personally kill anyone? All of them wanted to die anyway.”

She was trembling now. “Even Zhou Guo—he willingly died for me! My mother tried to kill herself countless times and failed. All I wanted was to help the others die without pain, not like her. Tell me, was I really wrong?”

I shook my head. “I was ready to let all of you go, but you made the worst mistake by making Zhou Guo your sacrifice. No one deserves that. He didn’t have to die, he never wanted to. Do you really think he was that naive? You really believed he bought your story about dying for love?”

As I spoke, I pulled out the letter Zhou Guo left for us. “In the end, Zhou Guo saw everything clearly—he knew exactly what he meant to you. He took all the blame just to protect you. He wasn’t stupid. He just loved you, that’s all.”

“But why, why did you have to do this!” Tears spilled down Zhang Xue’s cheeks. “Zhou Guo took the blame for me, so why do you still have to arrest me? Can’t we even have a single day of happiness? We were so close to escaping hell—why did you have to drag us back in?”

She sobbed uncontrollably. For Zhang Xue, it must have felt like once her father’s case ended, she could take her four million and vanish into some small city, living rich and free at last.

But I can’t allow that. A person’s life should never be controlled by someone else. Even if Zhou Guo had given his silent permission, I still couldn’t accept it.

“Why, why!” Zhang Xue screamed again.

I gave her a small smile. “Because I won’t let someone like you climb out of hell on the backs of those you’ve sacrificed. I refuse to watch you gain happiness by stepping over others’ suffering.”