Good and Evil Chapter 149: Sworn Sister, The Last Woman Seen, Pyramid Scheme

Zhao Hua and his team's investigation in City G yielded virtually nothing. Most of Chen Zhi's former colleagues had completely forgotten him and could not even remember who he was. However, from their inquiries and visits, a few conclusions could be drawn:

First, Chen Zhi indeed had no romantic partner and was completely single.
Second, prior to the incident, Chen Zhi genuinely intended to resign and change careers.
Third, Chen Zhi was known to be very honest and had no direct conflicts or disputes with company colleagues or superiors. Whether there were any behind-the-scenes issues remained unknown.

Since Zhao Hua's investigation in City G proved fruitless, Ning Yanran ordered them to return from City G to City S. Meanwhile, Zhang Lei, who had traveled to Chen Zhi's hometown, sent back new information.

Using various channels, Zhang Lei managed to locate several of Chen Zhi's close former classmates to gather details.

According to their recollection, Chen Zhi was among the top students academically during their school days. However, unlike other top students who were often arrogant and looked down on others, Chen Zhi was reported to be kind-hearted, exceptionally pure, and rather quiet.

After graduating from university, these classmates had frequently kept in touch, chatting, gossiping, and sharing trivial daily matters. They would curse the damned life, vent their frustrations about company leaders and colleagues, and pour their hearts out to one another. When Chen Zhi initially went missing, they did not pay much attention to it. After all, entering society was different from school. In school, everyone focused solely on studies, but once in the workforce, there were too many things to consider: work, life, responsibilities, money, housing, savings, and so on. Everyone was simply too busy.

A full year after Chen Zhi's disappearance, they began to sense something was amiss and made inquiries everywhere. Regrettably, no one knew where Chen Zhi had gone. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that, a year later, Chen Zhi had long since been murdered.

According to their memories, within that circle of classmates, Chen Zhi shared a particularly close bond with a female classmate named Liu Fang. Of course, they were not boyfriend and girlfriend; rather, they maintained a platonic relationship as sworn older sister and younger brother. Because Chen Zhi was born in winter, he was younger than most, so he had addressed Liu Fang as his sworn elder sister. Among their peer group, Liu Fang was likely the one most familiar with Chen Zhi's situation.

Upon acquiring this lead, Zhang Lei and his team immediately utilized various methods to locate Liu Fang and subjected her to questioning and investigation.

Liu Fang was already thirty-five years old. Following her university graduation, she had also secured a job at a state-owned enterprise—not in City G, but in another city. After starting work, she developed mutual affection with a colleague, and the two began dating. After three years of romance, they married. Presently, Liu Fang was the mother of two children, though she was now divorced, living alone with one child while custody of the other had been awarded to her husband.

However, Liu Fang had divorced two years prior, and as matters stood, her situation bore no direct connection to Chen Zhi's death.

According to Liu Fang's account, she indeed shared a very close relationship with Chen Zhi because her parents had previously given birth to a younger brother who was two years her junior, but he had tragically passed away at an early age. Chen Zhi bore a striking resemblance to that late brother, which led her to establish the sworn sibling bond with him during their school years. She knew Chen Zhi worked at a state-owned enterprise in City G, but she was also aware that he was unhappy with his job there.

Such unhappiness stemming from work was a process every person transitioning from campus to society had to experience, and Liu Fang herself had gone through it.

Liu Fang recalled that shortly before his disappearance, Chen Zhi had placed a phone call to her.

During the call, Chen Zhi told Liu Fang that he truly could no longer bear to stay in City G. He was entirely alone and isolated there, without a single person to confide in. He wanted to return to his hometown in City N to work, but worried that his parents would object. Torn with indecision and hesitation regarding his next move, he had called to ask for Liu Fang's advice.

After all, by that time Liu Fang was on the verge of marriage, and her work experience and social perspective far surpassed Chen Zhi's. Over the phone, Liu Fang comforted Chen Zhi while advising him not to resign until he had secured another job. Only by finding a fallback option beforehand could he leave himself a way out.

Liu Fang's advice was entirely sound; most people contemplating a career change would make the same choice: secure a new job and negotiate a salary first before handing in their resignation to the original company. That way, one wouldn't have to fret over the anxiety of being temporarily unemployed after quitting.

Chen Zhi mentioned over the phone that he wanted to visit City S, which bordered City G, because another old classmate of theirs, Su Jiayi, was working in City S. Chen Zhi had recently been in touch with Su Jiayi and learned through chatting that Su Jiayi was doing very well in City S—good job, high pay, and a relatively relaxed workload. Therefore, he wanted to go and take a look.

Although Liu Fang was close to Chen Zhi, her relationship with Su Jiayi was merely ordinary. They had not kept in touch much after graduation, yet she had vaguely picked up on some news, knowing Su Jiayi worked in City S and seemed to be engaged in a highly lucrative profession. As for the exact nature of Su Jiayi's work, Liu Fang had no idea. However, she did know that Su Jiayi was also living alone in City S, sharing a similar circumstance with Chen Zhi—each living independently in an unfamiliar city.

After listening to Liu Fang's account, Zhang Lei reported the information back to Ning Yanran and Xu Lang.

Upon hearing the report, Xu Lang instructed Zhang Lei to first investigate Liu Fang's whereabouts during the period of Chen Zhi's disappearance, as well as to look into Liu Fang's ex-husband. After all, Liu Fang was the person closest to Chen Zhi, and her wedding had coincided precisely with Chen Zhi's disappearance. People often said women were prone to jealousy, but men were actually much the same. When a woman about to marry him maintained such a close relationship with an old classmate, it was inevitable for a man to harbor suspicions.

In addition, Xu Lang ordered Zhang Lei to immediately find a way to locate Su Jiayi. This woman was very likely the last person to see Chen Zhi alive; only by finding her could they truly uncover how Chen Zhi traveled from City G to City S, and how he met his end.

Having received Xu Lang's instructions, Zhang Lei sprang into action without delay.

First, Zhang Lei thoroughly questioned Liu Fang regarding her whereabouts eleven years prior—the exact period when Chen Zhi was murdered.

Initially, upon hearing Zhang Lei's line of questioning, Liu Fang grew extremely indignant and agitated, as the police's implication that she might be linked to Chen Zhi's death was glaringly obvious. However, after her outburst of anger and excitement, Liu Fang gradually calmed down and detailed her itinerary for that period eleven years ago to Zhang Lei.

The results proved deeply disappointing; Liu Fang indeed had nothing to do with Chen Zhi's death. Ever since their university graduation, the two had never met again. Liu Fang's city and Chen Zhi's City G lay at opposite ends of the country, separated by thousands of kilometers. Furthermore, throughout the timeframe surrounding Chen Zhi's death, Liu Fang had been consistently reporting to work at her company—a fact Zhang Lei subsequently verified by visiting Liu Fang's workplace, confirming everything matched her statements.

Moreover, because Liu Fang was preparing for her wedding at the time, she was entirely absorbed in organizing the ceremony and lacked the time to leave her locality. This was corroborated by Liu Fang's family, relatives, friends, and her ex-husband's side of the family, all confirming that she had indeed not left the area during that period.

An investigation into Liu Fang's ex-husband revealed that he, too, had never left the local area for City G or City S during that timeframe, and had in fact never even visited those cities to this day. Both in terms of time and location, neither Liu Fang nor her ex-husband had the opportunity to commit the crime.

Zhang Lei then conducted detailed inquiries into Chen Zhi's other classmates, both close and distant. The investigations established that none of them had traveled to City G or City S around the time of the incident, nor did they possess the opportunity or motive to commit the crime. Consequently, the police shifted their focus entirely onto Su Jiayi.

After navigating various complications, Zhang Lei and his team finally tracked down Su Jiayi's current city of residence—she was right there in City S. Consequently, Zhang Lei's team returned from Chen Zhi's hometown of City N to City S, while Ning Yanran and the others immediately took action, locating Su Jiayi at a factory where she was employed and bringing her back to the public security bureau for questioning.

Su Jiayi was the same age as Liu Fang, turning thirty-five that year. She was of modest height, around 1.6 meters tall, with a round face, a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, and faint, hard-to-notice freckles dotting her complexion. A wedding band adorned her finger, suggesting she was married.

Inside the interrogation room, Xu Lang looked at Su Jiayi, who appeared slightly apprehensive and slightly pale, and asked directly, "Are you Su Jiayi?"

Su Jiayi nodded and replied, "Yes, I am Su Jiayi. Is there something the two officers need from me? I haven't done anything illegal."

Xu Lang stared at Su Jiayi expressionlessly and continued, "Do you know Chen Zhi?"

"Chen Zhi? Are you talking about my university classmate Chen Zhi?" Su Jiayi asked with a puzzled expression.

Xu Lang nodded. "Yes, exactly him."

"What's wrong with Chen Zhi? Has he broken the law?" Su Jiayi asked, growing increasingly nervous under Xu Lang's gaze as her hands instinctively rubbed against one another.

Without answering her question, Xu Lang asked instead, "When was the last time you saw Chen Zhi?"

Prompted by this, Su Jiayi lowered her head to think carefully before looking up to say, "I remember the last time I saw Chen Zhi was over ten years ago. Right, around August 1998. I don't remember the exact date, though."

Hearing this, Xu Lang raised an eyebrow. According to Zhao Hua's investigation in City G and the recollections of Chen Zhi's father, Chen Xingzhou, the last phone call Chen Zhi made to Chen Xingzhou was at the end of July 1998, and Chen Zhi's workplace holiday began in early August. From then on, no one ever saw Chen Zhi again. It seemed Xu Lang's previous hypothesis was correct: the final person to see Chen Zhi alive was indeed Su Jiayi. Therefore, Xu Lang pressed on, "Where did you meet? Was it in City G or City S?"

"In City S. Chen Zhi came from City G to visit me. Why? Has something happened to Chen Zhi?" Su Jiayi grew even more anxious.

Still withholding an answer, Xu Lang asked, "Did Chen Zhi come to City S just to visit you?"

Su Jiayi first nodded, then shook her head. "Chen Zhi coming to City S to see me was one reason, but the other reason was to look for a job here. I was the one who introduced him to a job at the time."

Xu Lang gave a slight nod; everything was falling into place. He continued, "What kind of job did you introduce to Chen Zhi?"

Throughout the interrogation, Xu Lang closely monitored Su Jiayi's facial expressions. When first brought into the police station, Su Jiayi had appeared deeply nervous and unsettled—a standard, normal reaction for an ordinary citizen entering a police facility for the first time. Moreover, she had answered every question Xu Lang posed without hesitation, seeming entirely truthful. However, when Xu Lang inquired about the specific job she introduced to Chen Zhi, Su Jiayi lowered her head in apparent shame, catching Xu Lang off guard. Could Chen Zhi's death genuinely be linked to the woman sitting before him?

After roughly ten minutes, during Xu Lang's third inquiry, Su Jiayi finally lifted her head and spoke with a look of profound shame: "Pyramid scheme."

"What? A pyramid scheme?"

Su Jiayi's answer caught Xu Lang completely off guard, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded. Yet, overcoming his initial shock, Xu Lang quickly reasoned it out. No wonder Su Jiayi had hesitated for so long when asked about the job earlier—it was a pyramid scheme.

Seeing Xu Lang's astonishment, Su Jiayi hurriedly explained, "Officer, when I introduced Chen Zhi into it, I didn't know it was a pyramid scheme! Besides, I got out of it ten years ago, and Chen Zhi left long before that, too."

Upon hearing this, the furrow in Xu Lang's brow, which had only just relaxed, knitted together once more. He looked at Su Jiayi and demanded, "You're saying Chen Zhi left the pyramid scheme long ago?"

Su Jiayi nodded frantically. "Yes! Not long after I introduced Chen Zhi into the organization, the leader in charge of us arranged for him to move to another residence. At the time, our company had a rule that acquaintances weren't allowed to see each other, so we never crossed paths again after he entered. Later, I heard from our leader that Chen Zhi didn't want to continue working there, so I said that if he didn't want to stay, they should just let him leave."

"And then?" Xu Lang pursued.

"Then the leader told me Chen Zhi had already left, so I didn't ask any further," Su Jiayi continued.

"When did you get out?" Xu Lang asked.

"March 2000."

"After getting out, didn't you ever check up on Chen Zhi's whereabouts?" Xu Lang pressed.

Su Jiayi shook her head, a look of shame washing over her features. "No. Because I only found out later that the company I was in was actually a pyramid scheme. After my family rescued me, I assumed Chen Zhi had gotten out long ago. Since I was the one who dragged him into it in the first place, I felt terribly embarrassed and guilty for betraying his trust, so I never dared to contact him. Officer, everything I'm saying is the truth."

Xu Lang remained silent for a long moment before asking, "What was the name of the leader in charge of you all in the pyramid scheme?"

Su Jiayi thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know his real name. I only knew that everyone called him Director Wu, or referred to him as 'Parent'."

Hearing this, Xu Lang gazed intently at Su Jiayi with his dark, profound eyes for a long while, eventually concluding that she was likely telling the truth. However, he now needed to verify whether Su Jiayi's claims held water.

Rising from his seat, Xu Lang cast a meaningful glance at Zhao Hua, who had accompanied him, and walked out of the interrogation room.

A short while after Xu Lang departed, Su Jiayi asked cautiously, "Officer, what happened to Chen Zhi? Did something happen to him?"

Glancing at the moderately attractive middle-aged woman, Zhao Hua sighed and said, "Chen Zhi is dead."

"Ah? What did you say? Chen Zhi... Chen Zhi is dead?" Su Jiayi stared blankly at Zhao Hua, her mouth agape in absolute disbelief.

Remaining silent, Zhao Hua simply gave a faint nod.

Su Jiayi stood frozen for a long time, unable to process the news. "When did Chen Zhi die?" she managed to ask.

"Eleven years ago. We found his dismembered remains at an abandoned snake farm in City S," Zhao Hua replied.

"Eleven... eleven years ago? That means... that means..."

Hearing Zhao Hua's reply, Su Jiayi was struck dumb on the spot. It finally dawned on her why Xu Lang had immediately questioned her about Chen Zhi upon entering, and why he had asked about events ten years prior. Chen Zhi was dead, and he had been killed right here in City S. Realizing that the last person Chen Zhi saw before his death was none other than herself, she understood that she could not possibly wash her hands of his demise. At that thought, tears burst forth from Su Jiayi's eyes in a torrent. At first, she tried wiping them away with the back of her hand, but the tears only came faster and more fiercely. Ultimately, Su Jiayi collapsed onto the cold floor, wrapping her arms around her knees and breaking into uncontrolled sobs—leaving Zhao Hua, who still intended to gather more information, utterly bewildered.

Staring at the woman slumped on the ground wailing hysterically, Zhao Hua had no idea what to do next. Continuing the interrogation was out of the question; in her current state, Su Jiayi was incapable of answering any questions. Yet, leaving her to cry on the floor was equally untenable. For one, the ground was freezing—it was winter, and sitting on the floor for extended periods was harmful to one's health, especially for a woman. Secondly, making a witness break down in tears during questioning could easily lead outside media or uninformed onlookers to mistakenly assume Zhao Hua had mistreated her. After all, Su Jiayi was currently only a person of interest, and whether she had any actual connection to Chen Zhi's murder required further investigation to determine.

Left with no alternative, Zhao Hua also stood up, left the interrogation room, and fetched a female officer to comfort Su Jiayi.