Xu Dayuan shook his head. He was unfazed by Cui Guanglin’s fury and continued to stare calmly into Cui Guanglin’s eyes.
"We are police officers, and it’s pointless to hide anything in front of us. It has co to this, is there any point in concealing the truth?"
Cui Guanglin sighed, his gaze fixed on the cigarette in Xu Dayuan’s hand.
"Could you give one?"
Xu Dayuan handed Cui Guanglin a cigarette and considerately lit it for him. Cui Guanglin took several deep drags and then began to cough wildly; it was clear that he didn’t know how to smoke and was rely trying to use it as a way to soothe his emotions.
As his coughing subsided, the cigarette dwindled to an end. Xu Dayuan handed him a paper cup to discard the butt, and only then did Cui Guanglin speak:
"I know there is a mirror behind this glass, and Zhou Ning is watching from the next room. All these questions you’re asking, they’re all from him. Let him co over, and I’ll confess everything. I really admire him."
Xu Dayuan crossed his arms and nodded slightly:
"He is our forensic doctor here, not a criminal investigator. I can ask about his intentions, but if he doesn’t want to co over, I can’t force him."
Cui Guanglin shook his head.
"If he doesn’t co, I won’t talk. I know without him, you can’t find in this case!"
Mr. Zhao grabbed Zhou Ning’s hand, clearly worried.
Zhou Ning shook his head; he had stayed out of sight earlier and had let He Shancun handle things to avoid any suspicion.
Since Cui Guanglin wanted to see him, he had nothing to worry about. After all, this man would never be released, posing no threat to Xiaoyu. Whether it be the 3.10 case or the Red Dress serial murders, it was just a matter of scale.
"Don’t worry. If he can make a confession, that would be ideal, saving us a lot of trouble."
"I know, but still be careful. After all, Doctor Lu hasn’t given us the final test results, and this guy is extrely dangerous, especially given his exceptional knowledge in chemistry. If he has sothing up his sleeve that we don’t know about..."
Zhou Ning patted his arm, touched by Mr. Zhao’s concern.
"Don’t worry. The day we rescued Xiaoyu, we disrupted his plans. He won’t have ti to do anything."
With that, Zhou Ning quickly left the room and knocked on the door of the interrogation room, then straightened his police uniform.
The door opened, and Xu Dayuan nodded to Zhou Ning, who followed him inside. Instead of sitting in the interrogator’s seat, he went straight up to Cui Guanglin.
"You wanted to see ?"
Cui Guanglin nodded.
"I want to know how you suspected . Is it just because I didn’t agree to Xiaoyu’s mother’s request for a physical examination? Or did you suspect after checking the records from the provincial hospital?"
Zhou Ning stared at Cui Guanglin, smiling faintly.
"Before I answer your question, I want to ask, which Cui Guanglin are you right now? Are you the one who seeks parental approval, the people-pleaser? Or the responsible one who likes research, the gentle and ambitious one who also likes Xiaoyu? Perhaps you’re the one who’s extrely insecure, with a propensity for cruelty? Of course, there might be more personalities I haven’t discovered, or perhaps they have other nas?"
Cui Guanglin was stunned, his facial expressions changing dramatically between surprise and panic, and he finally threw his head back and laughed maniacally. He shook with laughter until tears stread down his face.
Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning did not interrupt his emotional outburst.
After what seed like a long ti, he finally stopped, wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, and looked up.
"I never expected that the one who understands best would be a forensic doctor, and one who almost beca my uncle by marriage. I’ve never thought about this classification of mine, but I do know that there are many people living inside my heart."
During my childhood, whenever I ntioned wanting to see my parents, my grandparents would say that they were busy with work and then they’d offer a pile of reasons—all similar—about how hard it was to raise two children, that they had to struggle and earn money wasn’t easy, telling that I had to beco soone accomplished and honor them when I grew up.
At that ti, I believed them. Hence, I excelled in my studies and strived to be the best in everything, if only to earn a mont’s concern from them. But even this didn’t bring their attention. Even during the Spring Festival, which we’d get to et once every two or three years, they were as polite as distant relatives.
No one ever asked if my small stature compared to my peers was due to poor nutrition, nor did anyone explain why I looked different from others, and no one ever took to the hospital.
As for the peculiarities of my body, I discovered them when I saw a neighbor’s child taking a sea bath in the sumr. I didn’t dare to explore further, for I had seen those pictures in biology class. It seed if I just ignored it, didn’t let anyone find out, I could evade the reality.
That obedient Cui Guanglin, that’s when he erged. He was studious and likable, a favorite among the neighbors. Yet he was still a failure; his appearance did not earn him a bit more attention from our grandparents or parents, so I isolated him, only letting him out when needed.
Zhou Ning asked the clerk for a bottle of mineral water, twisted off the cap, and handed it to Cui Guanglin. Cui Guanglin took it and drank half the bottle in one go. He was truly thirsty after all; the day and night of fatigue tactics had taken the most out of him.
"Afterward, was it when you were hospitalized for appendicitis surgery that you discovered how you were different?"
Cui Guanglin nodded.
"In the Spring Festival of 2004, they didn’t co back for the holidays, so I went to Ningzhou for fun. On New Year’s Eve, I suddenly had a stomachache. The hotel staff called 120 for , and I signed the papers myself and underwent ergency surgery.
Afterward, the doctor told to get a thorough check-up and ntioned the difference in my body. They said I could undergo surgery to remove the female reproductive organs, but that it’s a major operation that required a family mber’s signature.
When I saw that diagnosis, all my childhood experiences suddenly made sense to —it wasn’t that being excellent would earn their esteem. In their eyes, I was just a freak, soone they wanted to abandon; they and Cui Guangxu were the real family.
Being left with my grandparents was simply leaving to fend for myself, but I survived. Although I didn’t receive their education, I inherited their profession and beca a teacher at a decent school.
I was angry, confused, and resentful, but I didn’t know how to vent these feelings. That’s when another person ca into my mind. I always tried my best to lock him up deep inside, using morals and all the conventions of society to keep him chained up in my heart.
Until the winter break of 2006, I t a girl wearing a red woolen dress. That’s when everything was shattered. He ca out, you know? He was released from the depths of my heart, and no shackles could control him."
Zhou Ning exhaled, understanding what he was hearing. This was the first case of the Red Dress Serial Murders. Xu Dayuan interjected from the side.
"Winter break, don’t you rember the date?"
Cui Guanglin frowned and waved Xu Dayuan off.
"Shut up, don’t interrupt !"
Xu Dayuan flinched, took a step back, and raised his hands. Zhou Ning quickly stepped forward.
"It’s okay, keep going. I understand. He ca out, and you couldn’t control him!"
Cui Guanglin nodded vigorously, his eyes fixed on Zhou Ning. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable, as if even ntioning that person terrified him, and his voice dropped a notch.
"Right, he ca out, and I couldn’t control him. But I rember that day clearly, February 24, 2006 because it was my birthday. I wanted to go to Wenquan Town.
When passing through Xifu Town, I felt hungry and decided to look for a place to eat. It was getting dark, the road was difficult and very congested. I had no choice but to turn into a small lane after being boxed in by the car in front, and then I was stopped by that girl.
She said she was a student and asked if I could give her a lift. I knew she was lying. Despite her young age, the cheap perfu she wore, her poor Qindao accent, I knew what her profession was, especially her brownish-red curly hair and petite figure which reminded of my mom.
What happened after that is a blur because I was locked up. You get ? I was placed in a small dark room by the Cui Guanglin who had been let out, while he tied up that woman and drove her to a run-down yard, where he tortured and killed her. All I could hear were the girl’s screams.
When he threw back out, the girl was dead. I was terrified, quickly put on my pants, washed my hands and her body with windshield cleaner. Then I checked the navigation; this place was at the edge of the city and the countryside. I threw the body into a ditch by the road and covered it with dry grass.
Then I drove off, stayed in Wenquan Town for five days, and didn’t drive back ho until then. It wasn’t until mid-March that I heard the news from Qindao Daily News that they had found an unidentifiable corpse. The only distinguishable feature was a red woolen dress. I cried, knowing I could no longer contain him."
Cui Guanglin wept, his tears and snot running freely, completely losing the indifference and detachnt he had shown earlier, as if he had beco a different person. Zhou Ning watched Cui Guanglin, feeling certain that he wasn’t just putting on a show.
This person had compartntalized all the different aspects of himself, forming different personalities, describing the violent Cui Guanglin as ’him’ to lessen his own sense of guilt.
"And then? Why choose February and August? I’m sure it’s not because of the school breaks. Since February 24 is your birthday, tell , is August soone else’s important day?"
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