The technical department tried to match the surveillance footage with photos in the ID system but only found a match for Chen Yuankun.
"Strange, why can't we find this person?" Li wondered.
Fang Rui suggested, "Could it be that he never had an ID card, or his ID photo hasn't been updated for a long time?"
"That's possible! If it's the former, that would be troublesome - an undocumented person would be hard to find. But these days, undocumented people should be quite rare, right?"
Fang Rui decided to visit Chen Yuankun's home to look for clues.
Chen Yuankun's parents owned two storefronts and ran a small supermarket near the urban village.
Fang Rui and Zhang went to the supermarket run by Chen Yuankun's parents. His father was out purchasing stock, and only his mother was watching the store, arranging items on the shelves.
The back wall of the supermarket was covered with various certificates and awards - academic achievements, competition awards, and even an award for car model design. It was clear that Chen Yuankun was an exceptional student.
Zhang explained their purpose to Chen's mother.
Chen's mother's hand trembled, dropping the beverage bottle she was holding, which rolled slowly to Fang Rui's feet.
"Officers, my Yuankun is a good child. He couldn't possibly commit a crime. He's been well-behaved since childhood, excellent in his studies, and is a graduate student at a prestigious university. How could he be involved in a murder case?"
Fang Rui picked up the bottle and handed it back to her, "Auntie, we just want to ask you about some details. How many children do you have?"
"I only have Yuankun now."
Fang Rui asked, "Are you sure you only gave birth to one child?"
Chen's mother's expression became flustered, and she said quietly, "Yes, just this one child."
"Did you perhaps give birth to twins?"
"I... I..."
"Xiuying, what are you standing there for? Get back to arranging the shelves!" Chen's father interrupted harshly as he entered carrying a box of goods.
With her husband's backing, Chen's mother became more assertive, denying, "No, I never had twins!"
Fang Rui reminded them, "We have DNA samples from another child. With a DNA test, we can quickly determine if he's your child, so you'd better not lie."
Chen's mother instantly panicked, looking helplessly at her husband. But Chen's father was also stunned, saying in surprise, "That child is still alive?"
Realizing his slip, he tried to cover it up, "We never had any news of him, we thought he had died."
Chen's mother, seeing this, covered her face and began crying, "Yes, I had twins. But we gave the other child away. It was all because of that fortune teller's nonsense! When I gave birth to them, I almost died in labor, my father died in a car accident, and our small shop was destroyed by a flood. We consulted a fortune teller about what was happening.
The fortune teller said the twin brother was bringing us bad luck, and if we didn't send him away, our family would never know peace... so I gave him away..."
Zhang angrily said, "That was your child, and you gave him away just because of some fortune teller's words?" Zhang thought these people were too superstitious!
"Too many disasters happened then, we didn't dare take the risk, we couldn't afford to! What mother would willingly give up her child? I had no choice!"
Chen's father remained silent.
Fang Rui asked, "Did you have any news of him afterward?"
"No."
"Don't you know who you gave him to?" Zhang demanded.
"I... I..."
"You didn't actually give him to anyone, you abandoned him, didn't you?" Fang Rui asked. What he really wanted to ask was, did you try to kill him?
Chen's mother cried even louder, "I was out of my mind then. On a cold winter day, I left the baby by the roadside, but when I went back to look for him later, he was gone. I've lived with regret all these years. Officers, do you know where he is?"
Zhang replied helplessly, "We're looking for him too."
Fang Rui asked, "Does Chen Yuankun know he has a twin brother?"
"No! We've kept it from him all this time."
Chen's mother grabbed Zhang, pleading, "Officer, if you find him, could you take me to see him? I want to see him, to know if he's doing well."
Chen's father scolded her, "Crying, always crying, you'll cry away all our good fortune! If the police are here, that harbinger of disaster must have done something wrong. You still want to see him? Aren't you afraid he'll bring death to you?"
Zhang couldn't help but retort, "No matter what, he's your flesh and blood. Not raising him is one thing, but calling him a harbinger of disaster - you don't deserve to be parents!"
Zhang and Fang Rui were driven out of the supermarket. They then drove to Wang Yonghua and his wife's home.
Wang Yonghua's home was in an upscale community in the city center. After ringing the doorbell, a young woman opened the door. She was Wang Yonghua's wife, Li Meijia.
After learning why Fang Rui and Zhang were there, Li Meijia gave a contemptuous smirk and invited them in.
"Officers, I knew you'd come looking for me. When a husband dies, the primary suspect is always the wife, even if that wife was thousands of miles away shopping in Paris at the time." Li Meijia said with a smile.
"You were shopping in Paris on the evening of the 23rd?" Zhang asked.
Li Meijia countered, "Haven't you already checked my alibi?"
"..." They had already ruled out Li Meijia as the direct perpetrator. She had flown abroad on the 21st and only returned early morning on the 24th.
Fang Rui noticed that the apartment seemed newly renovated, with new furniture and freshly painted walls. The living room featured a massive display case, filled not with books or artwork, but with various model cars.
"As soon as I heard about his death, I had all the old furniture thrown out," Li Meijia explained. "I wanted to erase every trace of him from this house."
"Are you interested in cars?" Fang Rui asked casually.
"No, but the man I love is."
Li Meijia poured tea for Fang Rui and Zhang, then sat across from them. She took out a pack of cigarettes, offered them to Zhang and Fang Rui, and after they declined, lit one for herself.
"Wang Yonghua liked cars?" Zhang asked in surprise. "I wouldn't have guessed he had that hobby."
Li Meijia rolled her eyes, "Officer Zhang, are you trying to mock me?"
"...Aren't you going to try to hide your affair?"
"Would you not find out even if I tried to hide it?" Li Meijia tapped her cigarette ash. "I only need to keep up appearances in front of Wang Yonghua's family and his lawyer. Once I get his assets, I'm getting married right away. I want the whole world to know I made him a cuckold."
Zhang realized that Wang Yonghua's death had made Li Meijia a winner in life.
"What's your boyfriend's name?" Fang Rui asked.
"Ding Zhuangzhuang."
"Do you have any photos of your boyfriend?"
"My boyfriend is very introverted and doesn't like having his picture taken. Besides, I couldn't keep photos of us together - if Wang Yonghua's family found them, they could use my affair to contest my inheritance."
"Is this him?" Fang Rui found the photo of the man from the surveillance video on his phone and showed it to Li Meijia.
Li Meijia's expression changed dramatically upon seeing it. She was clever enough to realize immediately that the man in the photo was a suspect. Just as she was about to deny knowing him, Fang Rui said, "Ms. Li, your expression has already given you away."
"Officers, my boyfriend is a very kind person, he's even a vegetarian, he couldn't possibly kill anyone! There must be some mistake!" Li Meijia explained frantically. But clearly, she couldn't even convince herself with this explanation.
"Where is he? Take us to him. We have DNA evidence, and once he cooperates with a DNA test, we can quickly determine if he's the killer or not."
