In the interrogation room, Li Hua was handcuffed to the interrogation chair.
On her face, there was no sign of excessive surprise or panic. She looked up at Tao Zhenshan across from her without averting her gaze, as if she were quite looking forward to his questions.
"Inviting you here again and changing the interrogation venue, I believe you know that our investigation has uncovered substantial evidence. I’ll give you a chance to speak up voluntarily."
Li Hua continued to look at him but shook her head.
"There’s nothing to say," she said.
Tao Zhenshan grabbed several photos, laying them out in front of Li Hua. They were fingerprint comparison charts.
"Using a special thod to extract fingerprints, we found your prints on the plastic sheeting under Zheng Chuguang, Yu Guangyao, and Zhang Qiujiang. This proves you participated in the dumping of the bodies. It’s just that the technology back then was not sufficient to extract DNA for comparison.
I know sothing must have happened back in the day. I’m not referring to the question of whether these three caused your sister’s car accident, but rather the harm inflicted upon you in your childhood. If you don’t want to talk about killing, how about we talk about that?"
Li Hua paused, the words seeming to sting her, her breathing turning a bit labored. She tried to shift her posture, wanting to raise her hand to tidy her hair, but as she lifted her hand, the handcuffs struck her forehead, and she stopped moving.
"Was it Zhu Yufen who told you?"
Tao Zhenshan shook his head, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of Li Hua.
"Before coming to the interrogation room, the director of the forensics departnt at our technical division told us a story.
A girl had been humiliated and hurt by a minor, even left with a permanent disability, yet that person wasn’t sentenced to death—didn’t even spend many years in prison. That girl sought help from many departnts, but in the end, she chose to take her own life on the day he was released.
We found the room on Hongqi Road No. 29, and we know what Zhu Yufen went through. We don’t know about your experiences, but we’re aware that the harm you suffered was no less than Zhu Yufen’s.
In another hour, Ai Qingsong’s flight will arrive. We know he took over the job from your sister Li Fang, blocked those three n and their associates from so illegal operations, and was later retaliated against and forcibly removed from his position in 2000.
We picked him up from Hushang Tumor Hospital. Do you know what the doctors said?
You’re a professional; you must understand that he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer, but that’s just a tastasis. His most severe condition is lung cancer. The doctors said surgery is not an option unless he undergoes a transplant, but even with a transplant, the hopes of living through the surgery are less than 10%. I don’t want to say much; give it so thought for yourself."
Zhou Ning folded his arms. He suddenly didn’t want to listen to this case’s interrogation anymore and took a step back. Xu Dayuan’s hand was already on Zhou Ning’s shoulder.
"Listen carefully; we’re in a society ruled by law now. All actions must be based on compliance with regulations. I understand her actions, and I’m not such a high-minded person. If my siblings went through sothing like this, perhaps I would act even more ruthlessly. But people must take responsibility for their actions. If everyone plays the role of a judge, society would be in chaos."
Zhou Ning nodded, feeling a bit more at ease in his heart.
In the interrogation room, Li Hua fell silent for a while before raising her head.
"My family has been in the shipping business since before the founding of the country, one of the earliest forms of trade. The capital in our overseas accounts hasn’t been touched. In the sumr of 1979, my father’s company was established next to the Hongqi Road Community, at that Hongqi Road No. 29 you’ve been to.
The building originally was a printing factory that couldn’t sustain its operations. My father bought it outright to use as an office. Initially, there was only one building on the north side of the yard; the rest was added later. Our house was on the east side, and I also started attending Experintal Primary School in September 1979.
I beca my sister’s little shadow, going to school and coming ho together. However, on April 15, 1980, I didn’t find my sister after school. Her class had activities she had forgotten to tell about, and I waited and waited.
It was dark, and my sister still hadn’t co. So, I started walking ho alone, but just as I was about to leave the first-floor corridor of the school, I heard so boys shouting behind , asking who I was. I said I was Li Hua from the first grade, second class.
They approached with smiles, asking how I was related to Li Fang. I said she was my sister. I was too young to understand the malice in their eyes, and then they grabbed saying they’d take ho, suggesting one of the "brothers" give a piggyback and sleep for a while."
I just went with them, but I wasn’t taken ho. Instead, I was taken to a pitch-dark storeroom. I was so scared that I cried continuously. They stripped naked, then touched all over, and wouldn’t let cry. One by one, they removed their trousers, making take them in my mouth...
When I was sent back ho, they kept threatening . They said that if I dared tell any adults or my sister, they would chop up and feed to the dogs. I was terrified, but little did I know this was just the beginning of the nightmare. When I arrived ho, I received no care from my parents; instead, I was scolded.
Later I found out that my sister had skipped a grade and gone directly to middle school, so I began commuting to and from school by myself. Nearly every week, I would be taken to that storeroom. I was covered in injuries, and when my mother saw them, she scolded without asking how I got hurt. Later, she even moved in with my sister next to the middle school, leaving in the care of a nanny.
Those dark days continued for two months before they finally ended. But by then, I was battered and bruised, even having difficulty walking. My private parts had been violated with a tree branch, which had pierced my uterus. It was only when I was found unconscious by my nanny that I was taken to the hospital.
Unfortunately, the infection was severe. To save my life, my uterus and parts of my intestines had to be removed. It was then that my parents realized what had happened to . I started telling them about everything from the ti my sister didn’t pick up from school. As soon as I began speaking, my mother accused of lying. As I relayed the process, my father wanted to call the police, but my mother objected.
Eventually, the police were not called because they believed it would tarnish our family’s reputation. Then I transferred schools and went directly to Qindao to study. However, the ordeal I went through haunted every night until I t Brother Ai, whose consoling words gave the courage to keep living.
I checked my sister’s classmates’ directory, and the three nas that ca up were Zheng Chuguang, Yu Guangyao, and Zhang Qiujiang. I had no connection with them, but in 1993, when my sister died in a car accident, I returned ho and encountered Brother Ai, who recognized at first sight.
He asked how I was doing, and I couldn’t help it; I cried and said I wasn’t doing well. We talked a lot, and when I asked about those three n, he said I should try to forget. I told him I couldn’t. I didn’t want to live like this; I wanted them brought to justice.
He told that those guys were now doing well. Their relationship was not just between the three of them, but an entire web of connections—and even my sister’s death was no accident. I was shocked at how much he knew. He said he might be the next victim.
I said we should do sothing, we can’t just wait for things to happen. He smiled at and agreed, saying he would call if he planned to do anything. He also ntioned another girl who had a similar experience to mine. I was really surprised and asked who she was.
But our conversation was interrupted by my parents. My mother was almost hysterical by then; her favorite daughter had died, and she saw everyone as a murderer, even trying to choke . But Brother Ai Qingsong stopped her, saying he had so things he wanted to discuss with my father.
As for the content of their discussion, I had no idea, but afterward, my father’s despondent state changed. He started looking into the accident with the traffic police and even hired a forensic doctor from Qindao to perform an autopsy on my sister. But it seed like all the investigations rely covered up the truth.
That’s when I understood how powerful the network Brother Ai ntioned was. In October, when I accompanied my dad to get the report, I unexpectedly ran into Zheng Chuguang. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach instinctively. I didn’t tell my dad because he was consud with the investigation of my sister’s death and had no energy for anything else.
Zheng Chuguang dragged away, interrogating , asking why I had transferred schools. He wanted to "play" with , asking if I liked playing with him alone or preferred playing with all three of them. I was so scared I couldn’t move. He took my pager, noted the number, and threatened to expose everything if I didn’t respond to his pages.
After Zheng Chuguang left, I dared to move. I went to find Brother Ai, who then took to et Zhu Yufen. To my surprise, our eting place was my forr house—Hongqi Road No.29. After hearing everything she had been through, we finally ca up with a plan.
Sister Yufen told that besides what she had gone through, there was sothing else she had to tell . Zhu Kelin wanted my dad’s company, and she could help protect it if I wanted to. Thinking about everything my parents had done to , I refused.
On November 3, 1993, Zheng Chuguang sent a ssage. He wanted to call him back, so I used the phone at the guard post of No.29 and told him I was at No.29. If he wanted to see , he should co, but he shouldn’t bring the other two.
I didn’t expect Zheng Chuguang to actually co. Perhaps he still thought I was the sa little girl who couldn’t fight back. I gave him a glass of wine laced with sleeping pills. I told him it was drugged and dared him to drink it. He didn’t hesitate—after all, he had never tried foreign liquor before and wasn’t guarded.
While he was groggy on the bed, Brother Ai Qingsong and Sister Yufen ca. I said I would do it. I lifted the axe and smashed his head. He didn’t move at all. Brother Ai helped chop off his head, and after cleaning up the scene, I was at a loss about what to do next.
Brother Ai shared the evidence he had gathered, and that’s when I learned that he indeed had a hand in my sister’s car accident. After all, my sister was always so headstrong, never wanting to rely on my father for anything. But she seed to forget that even the car she drove was provided by him.
After two days of preparation, under pressure from , Brother Ai borrowed a car. On the night of the 5th, without involving Sister Yufen, the two of us went to the Baisha River Central Bridge. We draped the plastic wrap that enclosed his body under the bridge and positioned his corpse in a kneeling pose. We thought that if anyone investigated, they would look into my sister’s car accident.
His head, along with the axe, was packed away and buried in front of Cui Yushang’s grave. Sister Yufen said it was a way to appease her brother’s spirit. As for Yu Guangyao and Zhang Qiujiang, I used the sa thod to lure them over. Yu Guangyao was drowned in a bathtub, while Zhang Qiujiang was injected with adrenaline and then suffocated with a down jacket.
That’s how it all happened. It was all planned by ; I am the mastermind. You can arrest and judge . They were coerced into participating by . As for Sister Yufen, she just watched the whole ti, never laid a hand on anyone—she was coerced by to lend this place. I plead guilty."
After finishing her story, Li Hua closed her eyes tightly, clearly restraining her emotions—not out of anger but happiness. A smile ford at the corners of her lips, as if she felt her mission was accomplished.
Tao Zhenshan pursed his lips tightly, walked over to the clerk, glanced at the transcript, then carried it over to Li Hua.
"No additions, then sign here."
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