Chapter 63: The Deceased

Chapter 63 The Deceased

Upon arriving at the construction site, someone was already waiting at the entrance and quickly approached them, saying, "The chief engineer and the other police officers are in the office."

Shen Qingye thanked them and quickly walked forward, pushing open the office door to find Yue Lingchuan and others already there, with a few unfamiliar faces standing in the room.

The chief engineer was surprised to see Shen Qingye but quickly masked his curiosity, turning back to Yue Lingchuan and speaking politely, "Police Officers, to be honest, I just found out that someone from our site has indeed gone missing in the past couple of days."

He nudged a middle-aged man in his forties beside him and introduced, "This is Ding Guibing, Old Ding. He's a foreman at our site, and the missing person is one of his workers. You can ask him directly if you have any questions."

Ding Guibing promptly extended his hand, "Hello, Police Officer, hello!"

Yue Lingchuan shook his hand, expressed his thanks to the chief engineer, and then turned to Ding Guibing, saying, "Tell us about the missing person, specifically."

Ding Guibing immediately responded, "Yes, yes! The missing person is Feng Yuxue, a fellow villager of mine. He's been working with me on projects for years. He's been missing for about two or three days... the day before yesterday, in the morning, I didn't see him at the site. I asked the people he lived with, and they said they hadn't seen him since last night. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, figuring he might have come back late, and Old Cao—the one he lived with—had gone to bed early. But Feng didn't show up all day. That's when I began to suspect something was amiss. After work, I went to his place and found his door still locked. I couldn't get in touch with him either. I thought perhaps something urgent had happened at home, and he had to rush back, so I decided to wait a couple more days." And then they arrived.

Yue Lingchuan summarized, "So, he was definitely with you the day before, but didn't show up on the morning of the 24th?"

Ding Guibing nodded, "Yes, he was definitely with us the day before, working and leaving together. Everyone saw him."

Yue Lingchuan thought for a moment, "Before he went missing, did he say anything about going somewhere?"

Ding Guibing thought for a moment and shook his head, "Not really. But a while before he went missing, his mother seemed to be sick, and her health wasn't great. He was worried about her while working here and mentioned it to us several times. When I found out he was missing a couple of days ago, I thought maybe something had happened to his mother, and he had to rush back without telling us."

Yue Lingchuan thought again, then asked, "Where is the person he lived with?"

Ding Guibing quickly nudged the person beside him, "This is him, Old Cao, Cao Yuanjin."

A man in work clothes, looking nervous and stiff, stepped forward awkwardly and smiled uneasily, "Hello, Police Officer."

Yue Lingchuan spoke gently, "Don't be nervous, just tell the truth."

He nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, go ahead."

"Are you sure Feng Yuxue didn't come back on the 23rd?"

Cao Yuanjin thought for a moment, uncertain, "I believe he didn't come back. I didn't see him when I went to bed. It was almost ten o'clock! The next morning, I got up around six, and when I went out, his room door was still locked, so I thought he might not have come back all night."

Yue Lingchuan asked, "Was anything in the room touched?"

Cao Yuanjin shook his head, "No, it was just as it had been the night before when I woke up the next morning."

Yue Lingchuan exhaled, took out his phone, tapped on it, and showed the screen to the two men, "Take a look, is this what he was wearing on the 23rd?"

Ding Guibing and Cao Yuanjin both leaned in, looking at the small screen, both somewhat surprised.

Yue Lingchuan asked, "Does it look familiar?"

Cao Yuanjin quickly focused, looked carefully for a while, and nodded firmly, "Yes, that's it!"

"Feng always preferred these durable canvas pants. And here," he pointed to the left knee area, "When he was wearing this outfit, he accidentally fell at the site and scraped his knee. He didn't want to throw it away, so he borrowed a needle and thread from an old lady nearby and patched it up to keep wearing it..."

As he finished speaking, looking at the photo, he suddenly realized something and looked up in shock, "You... Police Officer, why are you here?"

The photo only showed the lower body, and the image was somewhat blurry. Cao Yuanjin couldn't make out the details clearly, but he felt that the legs looked a bit strange.

Yue Lingchuan glanced at him, put away his phone, and said, "If we're not mistaken, Feng Yuxue may have been killed."

Cao Yuanjin's eyes widened instantly, "Killed?"

Ding Guibing exclaimed, "He died?"

The project manager standing next to him also looked stunned. Shen Qingye carefully studied their expressions, confirming their shock seemed genuine, before slowly looking away.

Yue Lingchuan said, "This morning, someone in Wuping Village, not too far from here, reported finding a body in their pond. According to the examination, the time of death was about three to four days ago. This matches the time frame you gave for Feng Yuxue’s disappearance."

"This..." Ding Guibing swayed slightly, his face turning pale, "How is this possible? How could he just die like that?"

He was the one who brought Feng Yuxue here, and now the man had died under mysterious circumstances. How was he going to explain this to Feng's family?

The project manager’s expression turned grave, "Wuping Village... is that the Wuping Village thirty miles away?"

Yue Lingchuan nodded.

The project manager hissed, "That far... what would he be doing there?"

Luo Kaiyang said, "He didn’t go there on his own. Someone killed him and left his body there."

Ding Guibing suddenly looked up, "Are you saying he was murdered?"

He blinked, then murmured belatedly, "Right, right... there's no reason for him to die on his own. He had elderly parents and kids depending on him..."

Yue Lingchuan said, "Right now, we need to verify if the deceased is actually Feng Yuxue."

He turned to Cao Yuanjin, who was standing in front of him, "Where’s his place?"

Cao Yuanjin quickly replied, "His place isn’t far from here, just a twenty-minute walk."

The project manager, understanding the situation, immediately said, "Xiao Cao, you go back with the officers first. We’ll consider today a full workday for you. Cooperate fully with the investigation."

Cao Yuanjin naturally had no objections and hurriedly said, "Oh, right, officers, please follow me."

...

In the car, Cao Yuanjin pointed the way while saying, "I don’t have the key to Lao Feng’s place, but the landlord lives upstairs. We can ask him to open the door later."

Yue Lingchuan acknowledged with a nod.

Five minutes later, the car pulled up in front of a run-down building. Shen Qingye carefully surveyed the surroundings. This appeared to be an old neighborhood that hadn’t been torn down yet, with walls yellowed from age.

As they walked inside, the hallway was narrow and dimly lit, with rusted iron stair railings. Passing by the first and second floors, Shen Qingye glanced inside. The layout was like a school dorm, with rows of tiny rooms, and each doorway was piled with trash.

Shen Qingye followed quietly to the third floor, where Cao Yuanjin led them through the corridor and opened a shabby door, inviting everyone inside.

He nervously rubbed his hands and said, "Officers, please wait here for a moment. I'll go upstairs to call the landlord."

Yue Lingchuan agreed and gave Zhou Qiming a look. Zhou immediately stepped forward and said, "I'll go with you. It’s not right to ask the landlord to open someone else’s door without a proper reason."

Cao Yuanjin nodded, "Right, right, I was careless."

The two left the room together, and Shen Qingye took another look inside. The living room was dark, with no sunlight filtering in, making it feel gloomy. The space was cramped, about ten square meters, and felt more like a partitioned-off activity area. On the left side of the room sat a long, beat-up sofa that had clearly seen better days. In the middle was a square table with a few chairs, scattered with pickles, preserved vegetables, and some leftover buns.

The living room floor was also messy, with a broom tossed carelessly and leftover trash scattered around. The whole place was a textbook example of a single man’s living quarters, with nothing unusual.

As Shen Qingye was observing the surroundings, footsteps echoed in the corridor. She looked up and saw Cao Yuanjin and Zhou Qiming returning, followed by a man in his sixties.

The man looked annoyed, grumbling under his breath. Shen Qingye faintly heard him grumbling about how such a thing could happen and hoping that no one had died in his house.

After entering, he glanced at Yue Lingchuan and the others, then quickly walked to the inner room. He fumbled through a large ring of keys, finally selecting one, and quickly unlocked the door.

"Officer, this is... uh, Feng Yuxue's room," he said with a nervous smile. "So, I guess I’m not needed here anymore, am I? Can I go?"

Yue Lingchuan glanced at him. "Hold on. Wait until we finish our inspection."

The landlord had no choice but to wait to the side.

The bedroom was even smaller than the living room outside, probably less than ten square meters in size. It only had a bed, a bedside table, and a small wardrobe. There was also an electric kettle on the floor. Aside from two quilts and a water cup, there were few personal items, making it much cleaner than the living room.

Shen Qingye walked along the wall, tapping it lightly as she inspected it, then turned to the landlord. "This house was originally one room, right? You split it into two rooms?"

The landlord nodded. "Yes, yes. It was originally one big room. I split it up to make it easier to rent out."

Shen Qingye nodded in understanding and walked over to the bedside table, opening the two drawers to take a look. They were completely empty.

Zhou Qiming approached the bed, took out an evidence bag, and collected some stray hairs from the pillow to match with the deceased's DNA. He also lifted the mattress and pillows to gather more information for clues.

Wei Zhengyi opened the wardrobe door and searched through the few pieces of clothing inside. Suddenly, he called out, "Here! There's something in the pants pocket!"

Everyone quickly gathered around and saw him pull out a bundle of items from the pocket. When unfolded, it turned out to be loose bills, totaling a few hundred yuan, along with an ID card.

Yue Lingchuan took the ID card and looked at the details: Feng Yuxue, 43 years old, originally from Anhui Province.

Zhou Qiming said, "He didn’t take his ID or the money. It’s pretty clear he didn’t go home."

Luo Kaiyang and Jiang Cheng added, "There’s nothing unusual in the room, no useful information."

Shen Qingye scanned the room, her eyelashes drooping slightly. She didn’t hear anything unusual here either.

Yue Lingchuan looked at the photo on the ID card, placed his hands on his hips, and took a deep breath before speaking. "We’re fairly certain that the deceased is Feng Yuxue."

Cao Yuanjin, who had already anticipated this, was still unsettled upon hearing it.

Yue Lingchuan turned to him and asked, "The deceased was killed by a blow to the back of the head. The killer acted without hesitation. Do you know if Feng Yuxue had any enemies?"

Cao Yuanjin paused, then gave a wry smile. "Who would Feng Yuxue have as an enemy? He was known for his good temper, always honest and kind. He was always cheerful when talking to anyone. Some coworkers might have thought he was naive, but no one truly hated him."

Everyone frowned upon hearing this. Zhou Qiming asked, "Do you know if he had any recent conflicts with anyone? Or did he unintentionally offend someone who might have held a grudge and resorted to such extreme measures?"

Cao Yuanjin hissed, thinking hard. "Conflicts... Ah!" His eyes lit up. "I do remember someone!"

Wei Zhengyi quickly asked, "Who?"

Cao Yuanjin replied, "There’s a guy named Su Jinfu who works with us. He’s always been slick-talking and lazy at work. More importantly, he has a bit of a gambling problem. He often gathers with coworkers to play cards. Once he starts, he can’t stop and ends up losing all his money. When he’s broke, he borrows from coworkers. But everyone knows what he’s like—lending him money is like throwing it into the water. Most people refuse. A few have lent him money, but over time, they couldn’t get it back and started giving him the cold shoulder.

"Feng Yuxue had lent him money several times before, but never got it back. I advised him to stop lending money, saying it was better to save it for his wife and kids. At first, he listened, but his good nature was also his downfall. He’s too soft-hearted and can’t resist when people sweet-talk him. Su Jinfu took advantage of this, always hovering around him, making promises and sweet-talking him. Feng Yuxue couldn’t resist and would always lend him a bit. In total... I estimate it’s around two to three thousand yuan. Su Jinfu would repay him in small amounts, a hundred or two at a time, far less than what he borrowed. Feng Yuxue was too embarrassed to press him for the money."

Cao Yuanjin shook his head. "Then, last month, around mid-month, Feng Yuxue got a call from home saying his mother was sick and had been hospitalized. She needed treatment, medicine, and even surgery, which would cost a lot. Feng Yuxue had already spent all his savings, but it still wasn’t enough. He went to Su Jinfu to ask for his money back. That scoundrel promised to repay him as soon as he got his paycheck. But on payday, he disappeared. The next day, Feng Yuxue found him, and the guy only managed to cough up two hundred yuan. When asked about the rest, he said he couldn’t resist and gambled it all away the night before, leaving only this two hundred yuan."

He sighed. "Feng Yuxue couldn’t accept that and kept pressing him to repay. But Su Jinfu insisted he had no money. Finally, Feng Yuxue threatened to call the police if he didn’t repay. That’s when Su Jinfu panicked and asked for more time, promising to gather the money and repay him eventually. But they waited, and nothing happened."

He looked at Yue Lingchuan. "If you’re asking who Feng Yuxue had conflicts with, I can only think of him. Maybe... he didn’t want to repay and was afraid Feng Yuxue would really call the police, so he decided to kill him?"

Everyone exchanged glances. Shen Qingye asked, "Where is Su Jinfu now?"

Cao Yuanjin scratched his head. "He should still be at the construction site. I saw him there yesterday."

He was still there yesterday?

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged glances and quickly walked out: "Let's head back to the site!"

"Wait up!" Cao Yuanjin hurriedly followed them.

The car raced toward the site, and in less than five minutes, they returned to the place they had just left.

They thought they’d found a clue, but to their surprise, Ding Guibing looked surprised when he heard their purpose: "Su Jinfu?"

He said, "Su Jinfu... didn’t show up today?"

"He didn’t come?" Luo Kaiyang was shocked: "He’s not here?"

Noticing their reactions, Ding Guibing quickly looked around and called out to the workers behind him: "Where’s Su Jinfu? Did Su Jinfu come today?"

The workers glanced over, but no one answered.

Ding Guibing asked again: "Has anyone seen Su Jinfu today?"

A burly guy shook his head: "No, I haven’t seen Su Jinfu all day."

Others piped up: "Yeah, he didn’t come. Didn’t see him at lunch either."

"Anyway, we didn’t see him."

"Probably pulled an all-nighter playing cards and couldn’t get up this morning?"

The place got noisy for a bit. Hearing their words, Shen Qingye felt a twinge of concern and looked at Ding Guibing: "Does Su Jinfu often skip work?"

Ding Guibing wiped his sweat and smiled bitterly: "Yes! Officers, you see, Su Jinfu has always been lazy and doesn’t care much about work. Sometimes when it’s windy or rainy, he just doesn’t come; sometimes he might play cards until midnight and can’t get up in the morning, so he doesn’t come. Whether he shows up or not is entirely up to him, and everyone’s used to it."

Luo Kaiyang asked: "You don’t keep tabs on him when he’s this unreliable?"

Ding Guibing said: "How can we manage that? We pay daily here. If he doesn’t come for a day, he doesn’t get paid for that day. Besides, we’ve known each other for a long time, and the site’s big and understaffed, so it’s not easy to just kick someone out."

Zhou Qiming asked: "Does he have a phone?"

Ding Guibing nodded: "Yes! He spoils himself, always wants the best food, drinks, and things. As soon as he earned a little money, he bought himself a phone!"

Zhou Qiming raised his head: "Give him a call."

Ding Guibing quickly agreed, took out his phone, and dialed the number. After waiting for a long time, no one picked up.

He looked at everyone: "No one’s picking up."

Cao Yuanjin said: "Maybe he got wasted last night and passed out at home?"

Yue Lingchuan pondered for a moment: "You’re sure Su Jinfu showed up yesterday?"

Cao Yuanjin nodded firmly: "Absolutely!"

Ding Guibing also said: "I saw him yesterday too, he definitely came."

Yue Lingchuan asked again: "Was there any difference in him yesterday compared to usual?"

"Difference..." Cao Yuanjin thought for a moment: "Hmm... does being particularly bad-tempered count?"

Shen Qingye focused her gaze: "How so?"

Cao Yuanjin said: "Su Jinfu isn’t usually a very good-tempered person, and conflicts with coworkers happen from time to time. But yesterday he seemed especially irritable, getting angry at the slightest inconvenience. Yesterday, when I accidentally got cement on him while working, he immediately started arguing with me, he was really on edge."

Ding Guibing added, "Indeed, Su Jinfu got into arguments with a lot of people yesterday, and no one could talk him out of it. He nearly came to blows. I thought he was in a bad mood because he lost at cards, but now that I think about it, he wasn’t usually this hot-headed..."

Yue Lingchuan’s expression grew serious, "And before that? Were there any other signs?"

"Before that... he was in an unusually good mood a few days ago..."

Wei Zhengyi asked, "How good was his mood?"

"Well... he was laughing and joking with everyone, acting all chummy, and seemed pretty full of himself. Everyone thought it was odd, and who could’ve guessed that in just a few days, he’d turn into the mess he was yesterday."

Everyone looked at each other, growing more and more confused.

Shen Qingye asked, "Do you have any idea where Su Jinfu lives?"

Cao Yuanjin shook his head, "I’m not sure, but some of the guys have played cards with him..."

Upon hearing this, Ding Guibing immediately turned around and called out, "Dahai, come over!"

The tall man who had just spoken ran over, his eyes scanning Yue Lingchuan and the others, unable to hide his curiosity, "What’s going on, Brother Ding?"

Ding Guibing said, "Take these officers to Su Jinfu’s place. I remember you played cards with him before, right?"

"Wait, police?" Zhao Dahai didn’t react at first, and after a few more glances, he was slapped hard by Ding Guibing before he realized, "Oh, right, right, right, I’ve been to his house to play cards. Officer, follow me."

As he spoke, he shuffled out awkwardly.

Yue Lingchuan instructed Zhou Qiming to stay with Luo Kaiyang and Wei Zhengyi to look around the area for any possible weapons, while he took Shen Qingye and Jiang Cheng to follow Zhao Dahai.

...

Zhao Dahai seemed a bit nervous the whole way, basically answering whatever Shen Qingye asked.

"Do you often play cards with Su Jinfu?"

"Well... not all that often, just a couple of times when I first came here. Later, when I saw the stakes were too high, I stopped in time and didn’t dare to continue."

"They played big?"

"Yes, at least a few yuan per hand, sometimes even tens of yuan."

"Who did he play with?"

"I’m not sure about that. Maybe some of his neighbors? And some people from other contractors, it’s a mixed bag, and I don’t know them."

"Did Su Jinfu win a lot when he played cards?"

"Sometimes he’d win a bit, sometimes he’d lose everything he had. But I guess he lost more often, otherwise why would he keep borrowing money from everyone?"

"How was his temper?"

"Card players, aren’t they all like that? Happy when they win, cursing when they lose. It all depends on their luck."

Shen Qingye understood and made small talk with him for a bit. After more than ten minutes, they still hadn’t reached their destination.

Yue Lingchuan, who was driving in front, couldn’t help but look back at him and asked, "Are you sure we’re not lost?"

Zhao Dahai said confidently, "I’m sure, I know my way around."

Jiang Cheng said, "This is not close to the construction site. How did he usually commute to work?"

Zhao Dahai said, "Oh, he has an e-bike. He usually rides it to and from work."

An e-bike?

Shen Qingye and Jiang Cheng exchanged glances, both suspecting something.

The construction site isn't close to the disposal site, so carrying a body there on foot seems unlikely. But if Su Jinfu had a means of transportation, wouldn't it be much easier to transport the body?

Shen Qingye asked, "What does the e-bike look like? Would you recognize it if you saw it?"

Zhao Dahai replied, "Yes, I remember it's a red one with a box at the back."

Hearing this, Shen Qingye breathed a small sigh of relief.

Five minutes later, Zhao Dahai finally said they were there. Shen Qingye stepped out of the car, looked at the four-story building in front of her, and followed Zhao Dahai forward.

"From what I recall, Su Jinfu always parks his bike in the stairwell when he comes back... There it is!"

Everyone followed his pointing finger and saw a red e-bike parked under the stairs leading from the first to the second floor.

Everyone quickly crowded around, carefully examining the bike. Because it was red, any bloodstains would blend in.

Shen Qingye speculated on how the murderer might have transported the body. She focused on the footrest at the front of the bike, examining it carefully, until she suddenly paused at a spot towards the back:

She cried out excitedly, "Here it is!"

Everyone quickly leaned in to look, and there, on the black footrest, a small patch of dark red bloodstain, almost the same color, had already dried.

Yue Lingchuan said in a deep voice, "Call Captain Xu."