Good and Evil Chapter Ten Liu Changhong's Account
In the stillness of the night, with only the two of them alone in a room, spending day after day together, it was only natural, according to Liu Changhong, that after drinking that night, the two of them ended up in bed together.
Hearing this, Xu Lang exchanged a glance with Zhao Hua. Both noticed that Liu Changhong seemed uneasy as he recounted this part of the story. Xu Lang immediately sensed the truth—most likely, that night, Chen Zhiyan had not willingly given herself to Liu Changhong. It seemed more a case of Liu forcing himself upon her, though Chen Zhiyan did have some feelings for him, so she only put up a halfhearted resistance before yielding. The two ended up together, but Xu Lang did not interrupt Liu Changhong’s account.
What happened next was easy to imagine; there was no need to elaborate. The moment they crossed that line, both had broken moral boundaries—Liu Changhong had cheated, and Chen Zhiyan had become his mistress. As the business at the char siu shop flourished, Liu Changhong opened another shop on Changhong Road, appointing Chen Zhiyan as manager there. This served both to have her manage the new shop and to facilitate their clandestine meetings.
Once Liu Changhong finished his story, Xu Lang asked, “Does your wife, Sun Xiaomei, know about this illicit relationship with Chen Zhiyan?”
Liu Changhong lit another cigarette, shook his head, and replied, “She doesn’t know. After our child started kindergarten, her mother took care of the child, and she returned to the char siu shop to manage the business.”
Xu Lang continued, “How long have you maintained this improper relationship with Chen Zhiyan?”
Liu Changhong, cigarette between his fingers, thought hard before answering, “About five or six years, I’d say.”
“Your wife didn’t suspect a thing in all that time? She never became suspicious?” Zhao Hua asked.
Liu Changhong took a puff, exhaled a smoke ring, and said slowly, “To be honest with you, ever since my wife gave birth, we’ve lived separately. Her attention has been entirely on our child and the char siu business; she’s all but ignored my existence.”
Hearing this, Xu Lang asked, “Where is your wife now?”
Liu Changhong hesitated, then looked up at Xu Lang and said, “She’s at the char siu shop, why?”
Xu Lang didn’t answer, but Zhao Hua spoke up, “We visited the char siu shop on Mingri Road. Your wife wasn’t there, and the shop hasn’t opened for several days.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Changhong immediately protested, “Impossible! My wife would never be away from the shop. Since opening, the char siu shop has hardly ever closed except during the New Year. How could it have been shut down for days?”
Zhao Hua didn’t argue but asked instead, “When was the last time you saw your wife, Sun Xiaomei?”
Noticing Zhao Hua’s serious expression, Liu Changhong’s heart filled with dread. He asked, “Officers, what’s happened to my wife? Please, don’t scare me.”
Zhao Hua glanced at Liu Changhong, then turned to Xu Lang, who remained silent, fixing his gaze on Liu Changhong.
Zhao Hua turned back and continued to press, “According to residents near the Mingri Road char siu shop, Sun Xiaomei hasn’t been seen for several days. We suspect she is missing.”
“What?!”
Liu Changhong’s mouth fell open. He wanted to protest, but words failed him. At last, he pressed his lips together and said, “The last time I saw my wife was five days ago. We argued about our child, and I went out to play mahjong.”
Xu Lang asked, “After your quarrel with Sun Xiaomei, did you go straight to play mahjong, or did you visit Chen Zhiyan first, then go to the mahjong parlor?”
Liu Changhong opened his mouth as if to speak, then hesitated.
Bang!
Zhao Hua slapped the table, shouting, “Liu Changhong, tell the truth!”
Startled, Liu Changhong hastily replied, “I went to see Chen Zhiyan first, and only went to the mahjong parlor the next day.”
“Do you have anyone who can vouch for you?” Xu Lang asked.
“My mahjong friends can all testify for me,” Liu Changhong responded immediately.
Xu Lang turned to Zhao Hua, who nodded and then leaned in to whisper, “When we found him, we questioned the mahjong parlor owner. He did indeed arrive four days ago and has been playing mahjong there ever since.”
Xu Lang addressed the camera in the interrogation room, “Bring in the surveillance footage.”
Noticing that Xu Lang wasn’t speaking to him, Liu Changhong followed his gaze and saw the camera blinking red. He glanced at it briefly before looking away.
Soon, Lü Xing entered with a laptop. Placing it on the table, Xu Lang opened the surveillance video, enlarged the image of the woman who appeared in it, and turned the screen toward Liu Changhong. “Is this your wife, Sun Xiaomei?”
Liu Changhong took one look and nodded, “That’s her. That’s definitely her.”
Zhao Hua looked from the footage to Liu Changhong. The image was blurry, the face indistinct even when enlarged. How could Liu Changhong be so sure this was his wife? Zhao Hua asked, “How can you be certain that’s your wife?”
Liu Changhong raised a hand and pointed at the screen, “That top— I gave it to her as a birthday present this year.”
All three men looked at the red sleeveless round-neck top the woman was wearing.
Xu Lang closed the laptop and handed it to Lü Xing, then asked, “Does Sun Xiaomei normally wear nail polish?”
As Lü Xing left with the laptop, Liu Changhong was momentarily stumped by the question. After a long pause, he seemed to remember something. “Yes, at the beginning of the month—her birthday. I recall she got her nails done, painted them red.”
After answering, he asked anxiously, “Officers, what’s happened to my wife?”
Xu Lang and Zhao Hua glanced at each other. Now, they were fairly certain that the woman captured on camera and the finger with nail polish found at the char siu shop both belonged to Sun Xiaomei.
Xu Lang pulled a photo from the stack of files on the table and slid it to Liu Changhong. “This was found at the Changhong Street char siu shop.”
Liu Changhong looked down at the photo. At first, he didn’t recognize what it was. After a long moment, realization dawned, and his face turned ashen. He looked up, his lips trembling, his speech faltering. “Is...is this...is this a human finger?”
Xu Lang nodded and slid over another photo he’d shown Liu earlier. “All these were found in the char siu shop. We now suspect this is your wife Sun Xiaomei’s body.”
“What?!”
Liu Changhong’s mouth dropped open again. He looked at Xu Lang, then at the photo, which showed a bare skull—only bone, no flesh. He stared at it for a long time before finally raising his head. “You’re saying this is my wife’s corpse?”
Xu Lang nodded, saying nothing.
“No, that’s impossible. I argued with her just a few days ago—how could she become like this in so short a time? Impossible. Absolutely impossible,” Liu Changhong insisted.
Xu Lang regarded him steadily. “It was fished out of the stewing vat in the char siu shop.”
At this, Liu Changhong fell silent, his face growing even more ghastly. As a char siu shop owner, he knew all about stewing vats—and he knew that if a human head were thrown in, it wouldn’t take long for the body to end up like this. He lowered his head, trembling as he picked up the photo, mumbling to himself, “This can’t be...this can’t be...”
Xu Lang continued, “We only suspect, for now, that this is Sun Xiaomei’s remains. We’ll need further examination to be certain.”
“It can’t be her, it can’t. Officers, you must have made a mistake. How could it possibly be her?”
Xu Lang and Zhao Hua exchanged glances. Xu Lang comforted him, “It’s only a suspicion at this point. We hope it isn’t Sun Xiaomei.”
“You must be mistaken, you must! How could my wife end up like this?” Liu Changhong became hysterical, shouting loudly.
Xu Lang stood up, walked over, patted Liu Changhong on the shoulder, then picked up the pack of cigarettes on the table, lit one, and handed it to him.
Liu Changhong took a deep drag, finally regaining a measure of composure.
Seeing that he’d calmed down, Xu Lang returned to his seat and asked, “Did Sun Xiaomei and Chen Zhiyan have much contact with each other?”
Liu Changhong shook his head, voice low, “Not much. Ever since Zhiyan started at the Changhong Street shop, the two hardly saw each other.”
“How did you handle the accounts for the Changhong Street shop?” Xu Lang asked.
“Every two weeks, Zhiyan would bring the ledger to the Mingri Road shop, and we’d reconcile the accounts there.”
“After you and Chen Zhiyan got together, did she ever ask you to divorce your wife?”
“No, Zhiyan is a good woman. She never made such a request.”
“Did you know she’s pregnant?”
“Who? Who’s pregnant?” With the cigarette still between his lips, Liu Changhong looked up, confused.
“Chen Zhiyan,” Xu Lang said slowly.
“Impossible. We always took precautions. She can’t be pregnant,” Liu Changhong retorted immediately.
Xu Lang placed Chen Zhiyan’s hospital report in front of him.
Liu Changhong read it. In black and white, it stated that Chen Zhiyan was pregnant, already two months along. His mouth fell open, the cigarette dropping from his lips, the burning tip landing on his leg and making him jump. He sprang up, dropped the report, and began frantically patting his leg.
Xu Lang retrieved the report from the table and asked, “Chen Zhiyan didn’t tell you she was pregnant?”
Sitting down again, Liu Changhong rubbed his face hard and shook his head. “No.”
After a while, as if remembering something, he suddenly looked up at Xu Lang. “Did something happen to Zhiyan too?”
Xu Lang met Liu Changhong’s eyes and saw genuine concern there. He shook his head. “She’s fine.”
A long sigh of relief escaped Liu Changhong, and his tense body relaxed. But Xu Lang’s next words made his heart leap back into his throat.
“We suspect she killed Sun Xiaomei and dismembered her body.”
Liu Changhong stared at Xu Lang in shock, seeking confirmation.
But Xu Lang’s expression never changed; Liu Changhong could discern nothing from his face. He ran a dirty hand through his hair, mumbling, “How can this be...how can this be...”
Xu Lang watched the murmuring Liu Changhong in silence, asked no more, then stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.