Chapter 226: Chapter 222: Liu Zhi’s Future Contact

Li Haifeng pushed away the empty food container and shook his head. "Let’s put it this way, if I weren’t wearing this uniform, I’d beat the hell out of him."

Shen Xin let out a wry laugh.

It was so late that Shen Xin decided not to go home.

Da Mei and Evil Bully could find their own food at home, so he didn’t have to worry too much about them.

Before heading to the duty dorm to sleep, Shen Xin went to check on Bai Jifei.

In the holding cell, Bai Jifei was in a private room. He wasn’t sleeping. He leaned against the wall, looking completely crestfallen, as if his soul had been sucked out of him.

The next day, people from Songling arrived.

They interrogated Bai Jifei.

There were some details they needed to confirm.

Ding Junbao wasn’t one of them.

Shen Xin asked around and found out that the preliminary investigation had yielded some results.

First, the foreigner had no window of opportunity to commit the crime.

He’d met Jiang Qi when she worked at the bank. On the night of the sixth day of the lunar new year, he had dropped Jiang Qi off at the rental house and left.

He had helped her rent the house and was worried that there would be no one to look after Jiang Qi after he left.

Jiang Qi claimed that Wang Xin’ning would be coming over to take care of her.

He only left because he was reassured by this claim.

The key thing was, Wang Xin’ning knew nothing about this arrangement.

Speaking of which, the reason why Wang Xin’ning, a good friend who grew up with Bai Jifei, helped Jiang Qi stage her disappearance was rather cliché.

Jiang Qi had told her she was dying, and that she and Bai Jifei didn’t have any children.

So she wanted to set Wang Xin’ning up with Bai Jifei. She knew Wang Xin’ning was also divorced and had previously had a crush on him.

Losing her better judgment, Wang Xin’ning agreed and helped Jiang Qi plan the disappearance.

So it was obvious that Jiang Qi had also deceived her foreign friend, with the intention of thirsting herself to death.

The medical examiner had already completed a preliminary examination.

The suspected cause of death was kidney failure due to dehydration.

In a high-temperature environment without water, core organs heat up, leading to death by liver failure.

But in a cool place inside a house, death would be caused by an excessive buildup of toxins in the body, leading to organ failure.

Jiang Qi had multiple contusions, a fractured tibia, and a head injury, but none of these were likely the cause of death.

"Looks like your guess was right."

Shen Xin said to Ding Yuwei in the cafeteria.

It was just as she had speculated: she tried to thirst herself to death, but her brain wouldn’t allow it and forced her to look for water. Then she tumbled down the stairs, lost her ability to move, and finally died of thirst.

Ding Yuwei didn’t even look up, her eyes fixed on her phone.

Across from them, Zhao Tianxing craned his neck to peek and asked curiously, "Isn’t that Bai Jifei’s Weibo? What are you looking at?"

Shen Xin guessed the reason at once. "She’s probably looking for the key."

"The key?"

Zhao Tianxing had a sudden realization. "You mean for that letter Jiang Qi left for Bai Jifei, right? We asked him, but he said he didn’t know."

"She’s already dead. What’s the point of looking for it now?"

Zhao Tianxing sighed inexplicably. Then, as if struck by some profound thought, he couldn’t stop sighing sentimentally.

Shen Xin noticed this and recalled how Yu Xiaoping had intentionally avoided Zhao Tianxing during the investigation at Bai Jifei’s villa.

He figured Zhao Tianxing had probably been rejected by her and was now feeling emotional after witnessing the tragic love story between Bai Jifei and Jiang Qi.

After the meal, Shen Xin heard that the interrogation by the colleagues from Songling wasn’t going well.

Bai Jifei was being completely uncooperative, reverting to his earlier silent treatment.

In the observation room, Chen Chao frowned deeply and turned to ask Qian Zhihai, "How long has it been since this kid ate or drank anything?"

Shen Xin had also noticed that Bai Jifei didn’t seem right in the interrogation room.

He seemed completely dazed.

Qian Zhihai thought for a moment. "It’s been almost twenty hours."

He was told the news of Jiang Qi’s death last night.

It was already afternoon, so that was indeed almost twenty hours.

Chen Chao’s brow remained furrowed. He muttered, ’This guy isn’t trying to...’

He didn’t finish the sentence.

The situation became a bit troublesome toward the end of the workday.

Having not had a single drop of water all day, Bai Jifei fainted in his holding cell.

It startled everyone.

If something were to happen to him in a holding cell, everyone up and down the chain of command would be held responsible.

Outside the holding cell, Bai Jifei was restrained with straps while a colleague from the precinct’s medical office was putting him on an IV drip.

Bai Jifei struggled frantically, letting out hoarse roars. He yelled that he didn’t want to live and begged them to let him die, shouting that even if they saved him now, he would just find another chance to kill himself later.

His parents were also there.

His father was so angry he clutched his heart, unable to speak.

His mother was kneeling on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Chen Chao looked completely exasperated. He couldn’t help but say to Lv Youwei, "Director Lv, look at this mess."

First, he faked a crime scene.

Then he was clamoring to be executed.

And now, he’s hell-bent on thirsting himself to death in our precinct.

Chen Chao was incredibly frustrated.

"Don’t get emotional," Lv Youwei said with a wave of his hand. "You came up from the grassroots level too. You’ve seen all kinds of unreasonable nonsense. Just handle it the way it needs to be handled."

’It’s been a while since I’ve seen anything like this,’ Chen Chao thought.

Beside them, Zhao Tianxing muttered under his breath, "If something really happens to him here, his parents will definitely come and raise hell at our precinct."

Sun Zhao immediately shot Zhao Tianxing a glare, but he knew in his heart that Zhao Tianxing was right.

Just seeing Bai Jifei’s father clutching his heart made his own skin crawl.

Lv Youwei mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Hasn’t his case been fully investigated? Then look into sending him to a detention center."

The matter of the false police report has been clarified.

As for Jiang Qi’s death, that’s Songling’s responsibility.

So our part in the case is basically over. We just need to send him to a detention center to await sentencing.

Chen Chao nodded slightly. He’d been thinking the same thing but hadn’t said it.

Just then, Ding Yuwei suddenly walked into the holding cell area.

"Bai Jifei, I have a question for you. Was June 5th, 2007, the day you and Jiang Qi met?" she asked, crouching down.

Bai Jifei, who had been struggling, suddenly stopped.

He turned his head and stared fixedly at Ding Yuwei. After a long moment, he asked in a hoarse voice, "What do you mean?"

Everyone turned to look at Ding Yuwei.

Ding Yuwei continued, "Didn’t Jiang Qi leave a letter for you? So I’m asking you, was June 5th, 2007, the day you two met?"

"And then there are the three letters, C-M-D. They might be the first letters of a pinyin phrase. If you connect that to this date, does anything come to mind?"

CMD?

’Has Ding Yuwei found the key?’ Shen Xin quickly thought to himself.

Bai Jifei’s lips moved. Suddenly, he said, "Zhongming Island. Yes, Zhongming Island. On June 5th, 2007, my company had a team-building event. We went camping at Xisha Wetland. That’s where I first met Jiang Qi."

"Her bank happened to be holding a team-building event there too. Yes, it was Zhongming Island."

His energy suddenly returned, and he said urgently, "The puzzle! Jiang Qi must have left something for me on Zhongming Island. I have to go to Zhongming Island."