Chapter 62: Leniency for Confession, Severity for Resistance

Zhou Jiwen was indeed very meticulous. His questions were exceptionally detailed, and his gaze was sharp.

“When did the conflict between you and the Zhou family begin?”

“In the first lunar month, when their family opposed me becoming the temporary accountant for the village.”

“Why did they oppose you?”

Jing Xi shook her head, indicating she didn’t know. “The village was hiring a temporary accountant, and the Long family designated me for the position. But Zhou Wenwu said that women shouldn’t handle money, so he objected.”

“How many people in your village agreed to your appointment?”

“Around a dozen people—everyone except Zhou Wenwu.”

Zhou Jiwen nodded. “Zhou Wenwu’s wife, Li Fenghua, claimed that you hit her and tore her pants. What happened?”

Jing Xi let out a helpless chuckle. “Because Zhou Wenwu opposed me becoming the village’s temporary accountant, the land lease procurement contract for this year wasn’t signed. Their family didn’t get that share of the profit, so they blamed everything on me.”

“Then Li Fenghua came to my house, cursing and provoking me. She even tried to hit me. I just defended myself, and in the process, her pants got torn accidentally. As for hitting her—I believe she didn’t have any actual injuries. If she wants me to compensate for her pants, I can do that, but I won’t admit to anything else.”

Zhou Jiwen didn’t express any opinion, but his gaze softened slightly. “After that day, did any other conflicts arise?”

Jing Xi nodded. “A good neighbor of mine was building a pigpen, and I went to help cook. One day, they came looking for me, demanding that I give up the accountant position to Zhou Shu and even pay them compensation. I refused. Li Fenghua tried to hit me again, and her son, Zhou Shu, kept threatening me verbally. Later, the village chief arrived and warned them, so they left.”

Zhou Jiwen asked, “And after that? Did anything else happen?”

Jing Xi thought for a moment. “There was one strange incident. One day, I went to pay respects at my aunt’s grave. On my way down the mountain, I felt like someone was following me, so I quickened my pace. Suddenly, someone rushed at me and knocked me to the ground. I was caught off guard, got scraped, and passed out from fright. But when I woke up, there was nothing around. I thought I might have imagined it.”

“Later, when I went home, I cleaned myself up and went out to buy some antiseptic from the small shop. That’s when I overheard people saying that Zhou Shu had been beaten up or something.”

Zhou Jiwen observed Jing Xi carefully. Her expression remained calm, her speech was fluent, and her voice was soft and gentle—she didn’t seem like a troublemaker.

After finishing his notes, Zhou Jiwen asked, “So when Zhou Shu was attacked, you were on the mountain visiting your aunt’s grave? Can you tell me the exact time?”

Jing Xi replied, “It was Qingming Festival, definitely in the morning. But I can’t remember the exact time. I went up the mountain around eight or nine in the morning. The graveyard is quite far, and the round trip took about an hour and a half. By the time I got home, it was already lunchtime.”

Zhou Jiwen remained expressionless.

This timeline didn’t quite match when Zhou Shu was found.

Zhou Shu was discovered around three or four in the afternoon.

According to the Zhou family, someone had found him near the forest. When he was discovered, his clothes were disheveled, his face was pale, and he was unconscious. He also had some scratches on his body. A kind passerby had used a cart to bring him back and inform his family.

One thing was certain—Jing Xi and Zhou Shu had been in the same forest.

Zhou Jiwen glanced at Jing Xi’s injury. According to her account, someone had attacked her from behind, and she had blacked out on the spot.

Their investigation at the scene had confirmed that there were obvious drag marks on the ground.

But the biggest question wasn’t whether Jing Xi did it, or even when or why—

It was how a woman like her could have possibly overpowered a grown man with such a drastic difference in strength.

Zhou Jiwen had looked into Zhou Shu. He was a known thug in town, a troublemaker.

In his view, the real suspect was likely someone else.

For thugs, getting into fights was commonplace, and it didn’t necessarily mean there was a deep grudge.

But if Zhou Shu really had gotten into a fight, blaming Jing Xi for it wouldn’t be impossible—especially since she had a clear financial dispute with the Zhou family.

After asking a few more irrelevant questions, Zhou Jiwen let Jing Xi go.

Without evidence, he couldn’t just arrest someone at will.

Jing Xi sincerely expressed her gratitude, “Thank you, Officer Zhou! I believe that you and your team will be able to handle this case and find the real culprit. Even though I didn’t do it, if you ever need my cooperation, I’ll do my best to assist you!”

Zhou Jiwen nodded. Looking at Jing Xi’s delicate and quiet demeanor, he found it even more unlikely that she was the one who had beaten Zhou Shu.

The strength difference between men and women was considerable, and Jing Xi was so thin and frail.

Besides, Zhou Shu wasn’t an easy person to deal with.

“I’ll walk you out.”

As they reached the entrance, Jing Xi suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right! Officer Zhou, do you know about Hong Qifu’s case? And what about Wu Dazhuang?”

Zhou Jiwen, of course, knew. “I’ve heard my colleagues at the station talk about it.”

Jing Xi hesitated. “I’m not sure if I should say this.”

“Go ahead. Do you have a lead?”

Jing Xi fidgeted with her fingers. “I once overheard a conversation between Wu Dazhuang and Zhou Shu. They were trying to convince Zhang Jianjun to go gambling with them, planning to set him up and cheat him out of his money. At the time, I didn’t realize that the person Wu Dazhuang was talking to was Zhou Shu. I rarely saw him in the village, so I didn’t know which family he belonged to. It wasn’t until later, when he brought his family over to cause trouble for me, that I finally recognized him!”

Zhou Jiwen immediately understood.

This Zhou Shu might be a loose end from another case!

It wasn’t uncommon for one case to unravel another.

Especially when it came to small-time crooks like them—they were always up to some shady business.

None of them were clean.

Zhou Jiwen grew excited. “Comrade Jing Xi, this information is very important to us! Did you hear anything else?”

Jing Xi shook her head. “That’s all. They stopped talking once they noticed me. I only overheard that part by accident. Wu Dazhuang even threatened me once. I was terrified at the time! Luckily, he was arrested for his crimes—serves him right!”

Zhou Jiwen nodded. “Thank you for providing this lead. I’ll pass this information on to the officers handling the Hong Qifu case. If we need anything else, we’ll get in touch with you.”

Jing Xi bid him farewell.

As she left, she couldn’t help but feel relieved that this era had no surveillance cameras or fingerprint identification.

Otherwise, denying that she had beaten Zhou Shu would’ve been impossible.

Meanwhile, after receiving Jing Xi’s tip, Zhou Jiwen immediately relayed the information to Officer Li Tao, Officer Chen, and Officer Liu.

Hong Qifu’s case involved multiple industries and numerous suspects, so the investigation was still ongoing and hadn’t been closed.

If more leads could be found, even more criminals could be brought to justice!