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墨書 Inktalez
The building was old, possibly as old as the grandmother who used to sit at its entrance. However, the government seemed uninterested in developing the area, which still retained a distinct style from the last century. The alley was paved with red bricks, but over time, they had turned black; on the shady side, green moss covered the bricks.
Everywhere in the alley were circles made of bricks, filled with things like honeycomb coal and firewood. Along the way, there were piles of dog feces left unattended, and sewage and garbage were strewn about, creating a very untidy scene. Yet, during this summer season, many elderly people gathered outside this messy alley, setting up tables and chairs to play cards.
Despite the poor environment, it did not affect the happiness of these residents.
In contrast, Qin Qingxue's home was starkly quiet compared to the lively atmosphere outside. The noise belonged to others; the sorrow was that of Qin Qingxue's family.
In this brief silence, Old Shao surveyed Qin Qingxue's home. The living room was small, featuring an aging tea table and several handmade stools. A twenty-inch television sat atop a cabinet with peeling veneer. This television seemed older than both young women present.
Above the television was a golden piggy bank that had faded over time. Even the sofa Jiang Lao was sitting on was made of hard wooden boards, making it quite uncomfortable. Old Shao looked closely; there was no door to the bedroom, leaving it impossible to close off.
There was no computer in the house, and the mobile phone set aside appeared to be one of the oldest models, seemingly capable of nothing more than making calls and sending texts.
The situation in Qin Qingxue's home was not good; being able to buy food seemed quite extravagant.
Jiang He clearly noticed this as well. He walked into the inner room and asked, "Did you give Qin Qingxue around two thousand yuan shortly before her suicide?"
At that moment, Qin Qingxue's parents were talking with school officials. They appeared somewhat wooden; after their daughter's death, they simply followed rural customs to send her off. As a principal, he had heard many stories of children dying and their families blaming the school. However, these two parents occasionally showed faint smiles while discussing Qin Qingxue's death—a polite smile at that.
Seeing this scene left Jiang He puzzled. He wondered if Qin Qingxue's parents loved their child; if they did, why could he see no emotion on their faces? Why weren’t they crying? Or were they like him, unable to control their feelings?
Jiang He found it hard to understand; there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart—when grief reaches its peak, sadness becomes unrecognizable.
The couple looked up at Jiang He. Qin Qingxue's mother glanced at her husband, and Qin Father shook his head and said, "No."
Jiang He nodded and asked again, "So did Qin Qingxue go out to work?"
Qin Father replied, "We have a ten-square-meter shop where we sell some buns and fried dough sticks. Every day we get up around two or three in the morning to knead dough and steam buns. Xue Er helped us at home to lighten our burden; she didn’t go out to work. What’s wrong? Did she take someone else's money?"
Principal Zhang observed that Qin Father seemed somewhat worried.
Jiang He shook his head and walked out of the room.
From the snacks on the table, just looking at the packaging, one could guess that each bag of snacks was quite expensive. During Jiang He's childhood, his Great-Aunt often bought him delicious snacks, and once he had seen them, he would never forget.
Jiang He estimated the price; it should not exceed two thousand yuan.
As he stepped outside, Jiang He heard Old Shao continuing to inquire about Li Wei and Yang Feiwen.
Old Shao spoke up, "So who do you think has a good relationship with Qin Qingxue? This person should be a boy, around one hundred seventy-eight centimeters tall, weighing about one hundred forty pounds..."
At this point, Old Shao noticed that Yang Feiwen's expression was not good. Yang Feiwen leaned closer to Li Wei and whispered something, while Li Wei appeared indifferent.
Li Wei said, "Oh come on, what's so surprising about it? Although Xue Er committed suicide, why did she do it? She wanted to get into a good university, work while studying, and earn money to travel and enjoy various delicious foods."
"Was her academic performance not very good?" Jiang He interjected.
Li Wei shrugged, "She was just a few points below the cutoff for a top university, but getting into a second-tier school was no problem at all. If I had scored that well, my parents would probably be celebrating with drums and banners. So I think it's unlikely that Qin Qingxue would commit suicide over this; it must be related to Zhuang Ziming."
"What happened?" Old Shao asked next. "Why Zhuang Ziming?"
Li Wei glanced at Yang Feiwen and said, "Well, Qin Qingxue actually had a boyfriend in high school."
"A boyfriend?" Old Shao's eyes lit up. "Do you know his height and weight?"
Li Wei thought for a moment and replied, "If I remember correctly, he was about one hundred seventy-five or one hundred seventy-six centimeters tall and weighed around one hundred forty pounds. That sounds quite similar to what you just mentioned."
"Go on," Old Shao nodded gently.
Li Wei continued, "In her second year of high school, the school divided classes into liberal arts and sciences. At that time, Qin Qingxue moved to Class 8. After a month or two, she got together with a classmate named Kong Anping. Kong Anping was quiet and did well academically; he was among the top five in class. They were desk mates and eventually ended up together quietly."
"Isn't it true? You and Qin Qingxue are so close that you even go to the bathroom together. Am I wrong?" Li Wei looked at Yang Feiwen.
Yang Feiwen nodded.
Li Wei continued, "And you've been together for quite a long time, right? But I heard that when you went back to school to get your grades, you two broke up, and since then, you haven't gotten back together."
Jiang He was thinking about Kong Anping. Not long ago, the information of all the students in Class 8 was laid out before the project team members, and Jiang He naturally remembered Kong Anping's details. The college entrance examination health report showed that Kong Anping was 1.77 meters tall and weighed 136 pounds. He had always been among the top five students in his class, a solid candidate for a first-tier university. The data also indicated that Kong Anping had a relatively introverted personality and was unwilling to share when faced with problems. It seemed he was quite similar to Qin Qingxue; indeed, birds of a feather flock together.
Jiang He also knew the academic standings of the two students sitting on the sofa. Li Wei was usually carefree and struggled academically but was warm-hearted and well-liked. As for Yang Feiwen, her grades were either first or second place, and she too was introverted, afraid to speak in front of large groups. Thus, despite her high ranking in class, she never dared to represent the students on stage.
However, Jiang He couldn't understand why Kong Anping would seek revenge for Qin Qingxue's death if they had already broken up.
Elder Shao asked, "So what does this have to do with Zhuang Ziming?"
Li Wei looked furious. "Think about it! Later on, Zhuang Ziming went crazy for some reason and started liking Qin Qingxue. When she didn't agree to him, he started causing trouble for her boyfriend, Kong Anping. Kong Anping is a good student; he probably wouldn't even fight back. He didn't dare provoke Zhuang Ziming. I guess if it weren't for Zhuang Ziming ruining their relationship, they might have stayed together until graduation; after all, they really looked like a couple."
At this point, Li Wei laughed happily but then became sad again when he thought of Qin Qingxue's suicide. "It's so tragic; Xue Er is gone just like that."
Old Shao understood now; it meant that Zhuang Ziming had once tried to break apart Kong Anping and Qin Qingxue's relationship. Was it because Kong Anping broke up with her that Qin Qingxue took her own life? Old Shao had encountered many such cases where young girls often didn’t understand what love truly meant and ended up taking drastic actions over one person.
But if Kong Anping was the murderer and could seek revenge for Qin Qingxue, clearly he loved her deeply; then why did they break up? And what about Song You and Shih Wenshan? Were they involved in this matter as well?
Old Shao rubbed his hands together lightly, pondering that all clues seemed to lead back to Kong Anping.
At that moment, Teacher Gu and the principal walked out from the bedroom, followed by Qin Qingxue's parents.
Principal Zhang asked, "Officer, have you found any leads?"
Old Shao countered with a question: "Do you know if Qin Qingxue was in a relationship at school?"
Teacher Gu furrowed his brow. "I really didn't know about this. Qin Qingxue, such a well-behaved child, is dating? Who's the boy?"
Shao the Elder replied, "His name is Kong Anping."
Teacher Gu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, him. He's also a good student, very well-behaved. The two of them shouldn't cause any trouble."
Shao the Elder continued, "Regardless, it's better to meet this Kong Anping. By the way, Principal Zhang, didn't you say you would get in touch with him? Where is Kong Anping now?"
Principal Zhang scratched his head and said, "We tried to contact him, but we couldn't reach Kong Anping himself. We only got in touch with his parents. They mentioned that Kong Anping went on a trip with his classmates to another province and probably won't be back for a while."
"To another province?"
If it weren't for Kong Anping, who else could take revenge for Qin Qingxue? Now that Zhuang Ziming and the others were dead, it was hard to know what they had done to Qin Qingxue. At this moment, the only lead was Kong Anping, and this lead could not be lost.
"Let's investigate." Old Shao pondered for a moment before saying, "Going to another province is indeed a perfect alibi, and things that seem too perfect always raise suspicion. This can be verified; if he's in another province, we can just video call him and find out. What’s Kong Anping's phone number? Let's call and ask."
Principal Zhang shrugged. "We tried calling before, but no one answered. That's why we contacted Kong Anping's parents; they probably are having too much fun."
"Keep trying." Old Shao's words were firm and resolute.
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