(1) Body Parts

Qi Xia has three older brothers.

All of Qi’s family friends say that Father Qi and Mother Qi are fortunate for having three sons, but what they don’t know is that the couple didn’t value sons over daughters, they always longed for a daughter.

When Mother Qi was pregnant with her fourth child, she specifically went to burn incense and pray to Buddha, hoping for a daughter so that she could have both sons and daughters.

Heaven was kind, and the fourth and fifth children were both daughters.

The three older brothers were a bit older and took extra care of their two younger sisters. In the 1970s, although Father Qi faced some troubles, it was not severe. Qi Xia had a much happier childhood than her peers.

Qi Juan, who was born a few years later than Qi Xia, was the youngest among all the children and was especially pampered.

Qi Juan was very attached to Qi Xia.

She liked to drag her along to play jump rope, liked to study with her, and believed whatever her sister said was right. Whenever their parents needed to discipline Qi Juan, they would send Qi Xia to do it.

Qi Juan was so protected that she wasn’t very brave, afraid of the dark, and would not dare to walk home alone at night. When she was in high school, her older siblings took turns picking her up from school.

Qi Xia had already gotten used to having a little one tagging along behind her.

“You and your sister have a good relationship.”

“We are biological sisters, growing up together since childhood. How could it be bad?” Qi Xia crossed her long legs and calmly sipped her tea. “After she graduated, she wanted to go out and experience life, but our parents didn’t agree. She secretly ran away, and our parents were very angry. They had a big fallout over it, and for these years, she hasn’t dared to come back.”

Last night, when Mother Qi spoke to Qi Xia, her words were full of worry and longing for her daughter.

Shen Wanwan asked, “But she just went to live in another city. Your parents still can’t forgive her?”

“They have old-fashioned ideas and are afraid that if we go out, no one will take care of us. Among all of us siblings, only Qi Juan is living away. I tried to test our parents’ attitude, and they still can’t accept it. They insist that Qi Juan come back to live before they’ll see her.”

This was completely different from what Shen Wanwan had heard.

Shen Wanwan looked toward the room where the couple stayed. “Are Uncle and Auntie home? Can I talk to them?”

“They went to my aunt’s house. If you want to meet them, you can arrange a visit another day. I can ask them to stay home and wait for you,” Qi Xia replied, her response flawless.

If Shen Wanwan hadn’t overheard the conversation between Qi Xia and her mother, she would likely have believed her words, but since she had heard it, Shen Wanwan was sure that Qi Xia was lying.

Why would she lie?

Continuing the questioning would only waste time. Shen Wanwan and Cui Luo got up, preparing to leave.

As they reached the door, Shen Wanwan noticed Qi Xia’s coat hanging on the coat rack.

She glanced at the label and stopped. “Yang Chunling is at the hospital. If you’re worried, you can go visit her.”

Qi Xia leaned against the wall, her composure unshaken. “Although I don’t care if Cheng Liang finds a woman, I’m not kind enough to visit a mistress.”

Shen Wanwan asked, “Aren’t you curious about why Yang Chunling is in the hospital?”

Qi Xia lifted her gaze.

Shen Wanwan smiled brightly, “There might be more disturbances in the future, thank you for your hard work.”

Over the course of the morning, Shen Wanwan and Cui Luo met with nine of Qi Juan’s classmates and old friends.

They all said that they hadn’t seen Qi Juan in recent years, and when she left, she hadn’t even said goodbye to them.

The news of Qi Juan going south to try her luck was also relayed by the Qi family.

Upon hearing this news, Tao Jiang immediately contacted her colleagues in the southern city and went to look for her using the address and contact information provided by Qi Xia.

The bureau’s system was still underdeveloped, and small pagers had not yet become widespread, making it difficult to locate someone.

This was also one of Qi Xia’s clever moves, as long as Qi Juan didn’t show up, the police couldn’t verify her statements.

Zou Guodong sighed deeply, “This person can just run off if she wants to, where are we supposed to find her? Old Zhu, can you stop drinking tea and share your thoughts with us?”

Zhu Jianhua, with his reading glasses perched on his nose, leisurely read the newspaper.

Hearing this, he pushed his glasses up, casually replied, “It shouldn’t need me.”

“What do you mean by that? You’re still one of us, and now you’re not thinking straight? Just set aside your personal grievances with Captain Tao and help us selflessly, I…”

Zhu Jianhua gave him a disdainful glance. “What I mean is, Wanwan should know.”

“Wanwan? You’re putting everything on a rookie who just got here? Are you still a man, with any sense of masculinity?”

Zhu Jianhua didn’t even bother giving him another look.

Shen Wanwan leaned her head between the two of them, “Brother Zou, actually, I do have a person I’m suspicious of.”

“I know, Qi Juan, right? You suspect she’s taking revenge. It makes sense for her to kill her older brother, then kill him again. It’s reasonable.”

Shen Wanwan said, “The person I suspect is… Qi Xia.”

Zou Guodong nodded again, “Right, Qi Xia, what…?”

Tao Jiang looked over.

Shen Wanwan said, “It’s Qi Xia, actually, you’ve all suspected it, haven’t you?”

Tao Jiang ignored Shen Wanwan’s question, “Go ahead, tell us why you suspect her.”

“The brand of the clothes.”

“The brand?”

Shen Wanwan said, “I noticed that Qi Xia only wears a few brands of clothes, and one of those brands is the same one that Yan Bing gave Yang Chunling for her sportswear. This brand isn’t too expensive, but it’s not cheap either, and it matches Qi Xia’s usual spending level. And, like Brother Zou, I suspect that the mistake of killing the wrong person wasn’t an accident. I believe someone deliberately misled things. The original target should have been Qi Xia, and without her help, it would have been very difficult to succeed.”

Tao Jiang said, “I’ve considered what you said, but right now…”

Before Tao Jiang could finish speaking, Cui Luo, who had just received a phone call, excitedly greeted, “Captain Tao, Yang Chunling has woken up!”

Qi Xia was summoned to the pretrial office.

She calmly surveyed the small room and the three people sitting behind the long table across from her, making it difficult to tell who was actually being interrogated.

However, Tao Jiang was not someone who would let things slip easily. As soon as he spoke, his calm and deep voice reclaimed control, “Do you know why you were called in? If you confess now, we’ll consider it as a mitigating factor.”

Qi Xia remained unfazed, “Captain Tao, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”

“Tao Jiang said, “Qi Xia, Yang Chunling has woken up. We showed her your photo. Normally, she shouldn’t have seen you before, but after seeing your picture, she said that you two are friends. Doesn’t that sound strange?” Tao Jiang, unusually not playing the bad cop, spoke gently, “She also said your name is Yan Bing, and that you’ve known each other for a few months.”

Qi Xia crossed her arms and remained silent.

Tao Jiang continued, “We showed your photo to the shop you often called. The owner remembers you but didn’t realize you were Yan Bing. Oh, and the owner also said that every time you called, you would specifically mention when you’d call again. Were you trying to avoid Yang Chunling calling you first?”

“I…”

“If you still don’t want to speak, it’s fine. Let me tell you something straight—our team is currently going door to door with your and Cheng Li’s photos. Once we confirm that you two have met, you should understand the consequences.”

Qi Xia neither denied nor admitted anything.

She just looked at Tao Jiang indifferently, as if she didn’t care about the so-called consequences.

Tao Jiang glanced at Shen Wanwan.

Before coming in, Tao Jiang had given Shen Wanwan the opportunity to ask questions.

Shen Wanwan asked the question she had been planning, “Don’t you want Qi Juan to come home?”

Qi Xia’s eyelids twitched slightly, and an unusual light flashed in her eyes.

“What you’re doing shows that you care about your sister. I think your sister may have already… Are you sure you want to keep up the pretense, making it so she can never return home? You said before, she’s timid, afraid of the dark, and doesn’t dare walk alone at night. I think, she must really want to come home.”

Qi Juan was a well-behaved girl with a timid nature, and she had never thought of leaving home.

Her greatest wish was to find a stable job, then find a suitable husband, and build a happy family.

But this beautiful dream was shattered by Cheng Li.

Cheng Li had an older brother supporting him and shamelessly bullied young women.

Some were introduced by friends and met at the dinner table, others were intentionally brought in front of him, and some he didn’t know at all, but just because they were beautiful, he developed improper thoughts.

Qi Juan belonged to the latter category.

She didn’t know Cheng Li at all, but on the day she wore a bright red dress, he dragged her into an alley.

After the humiliation, Qi Juan had no idea how to cope and could only turn to her sister.

Qi Xia found out that the person who had hurt Qi Juan was Cheng Li, whose reputation had already been completely ruined.

Qi Xia urged Qi Juan to report the incident, but the man was the one who committed the crime, while it was the woman’s reputation that would be destroyed. Qi Juan was afraid that if she reported it, the rumors would drown her out.

Qi Juan refused to report the incident and didn’t want to tell their parents.

Qi Xia was worried about her sister’s situation, but since her sister strongly opposed it, Qi Xia couldn’t take matters into her own hands.

She could only stay with her sister as much as possible, helping her move on from the incident as quickly as possible.

A month after the event, Qi Juan’s reaction gradually returned to normal.

Qi Xia thought her sister had gotten over it, so she returned to focusing on her work, during which she met Cheng Liang.

Cheng Liang, dressed in a suit and exuding charm, played the role of a successful man in front of others.

He even wanted to get Qi Xia’s contact information. Qi Xia was furious, but for her sister’s sake, she had no choice but to pretend she didn’t know anything.

There was no way she would give him her contact details, as she didn’t want to have anything to do with Cheng’s family.

What she didn’t expect was that Qi Juan left behind a suicide note.

It turned out that her sister had been stuck in a dead end all along, and the final calmness was just because she had chosen the path to death and had no fear left.

Qi Xia didn’t know where her sister had gone. In the letter, Qi Juan said that she couldn’t bear to make her parents bury their daughter while they were still alive, so she would leave far away and let them think she was out working like any other student.

Qi Xia searched for Qi Juan for two years. During that time, she kept track of all the unidentified female corpses found in nearby cities, but she found nothing.

The vast land was endless, and she couldn’t find her.

All Qi Xia could do was tell her parents a kind lie.

“I want to avenge Xiao Juan, I want to report the case, but shortly after Xiao Juan left, Cheng Li got into trouble. He killed someone and was able to escape—it’s ridiculous. I married Cheng Liang because I wanted to find Cheng Li, but after marrying him, I realized there was no difference between him and Cheng Li. One uses money, the other uses violence. Cheng Liang even knew what Cheng Li had done and often cleaned up his mess.”

“Cheng Li would visit Cheng Liang every six months, and only they knew about it. Cheng Liang would give him a sum of money, allowing him to continue living on the outside. Cheng Liang kept this a secret from his parents, so of course, I had no idea. Later, after getting drunk, he accidentally spoke the truth. The reason Cheng Li stayed this time was because of the child. He’s older now and wants to live a stable life, but it’s laughable. After hurting so many people, he still wants to move on. Tell me, how could I not kill him?”