“Even if I can convince my superiors to reopen the investigation, the chances of finding the real culprit are slim.”
“Second Brother, I know how difficult it is, but this matter is incredibly important to me.”
Shen Zhiqiu explained the connection between Li Guoshun’s death and her mother Ye Yunshuang’s. “If we make progress on Uncle Shunzi’s case, whether Shen Daqiang was the one who killed him or not, his reaction will expose something about my mother’s death. He’s not careful enough to hide it.”
“Zhiqiu, no matter the outcome, I’ll help you.”
Yue Mingli thought for a moment before looking at her. “If I get off work early tomorrow, we’ll go to Li Guoshun’s house in the evening. Also, can you check if your forensic examiner friend can come back? I need to speak with her.”
“Okay, thank you, Second Brother.”
Shen Zhiqiu immediately called Li Xing to arrange tomorrow’s trip. Li Xing agreed.
Back in her bedroom, Shen Zhiqiu lay in bed, reminiscing about her childhood.
From the earliest memories she had, her mother always carried the scent of herbal medicine. Every time her father came home, he would bring back several packets of medicine, insisting her mother take them.
This led to countless arguments between them—always the same few words: “Can’t bear children,” “son,” “doing this for your own good.”
After every fight, her mother would cry, holding her close, stroking her hair while choking back sobs. “Qiuqiu, don’t ever get married. Don’t ever have children… and most of all, never… give up your job.”
She couldn’t recall the exact circumstances, but from Shen Daqiang’s later words, she pieced it together.
Her mother had once held a good job after graduating from university. But after giving birth to her, her health deteriorated, and that job was handed over to Shen Daqiang.
Instead of being grateful, Shen Daqiang used it to assert control over the household.
Her second uncle had once said: “Shen Daqiang is the definition of a man who bites the hand that feeds him. That’s why I can’t stand him.”
“Any real man has at least some dignity. A man who lives off a woman has already sold his pride—what else can you expect from him? People like that have no bottom line.”
But back then, her mother had been blinded by Shen Daqiang’s sweet words, determined to marry him.
By the time she saw his true nature, it was already too late.
[What’s Mommy thinking about? Why does she look so sad?]
Hearing Ya Ya’s thoughts, Shen Zhiqiu quickly sat up, wiping away her tears before turning to her daughter’s crib. She picked her up gently.
“Ya Ya’s awake? You didn’t even call for Mommy, just playing quietly by yourself? Are you hungry?”
She kissed Ya Ya’s soft cheek. The little girl stretched out her tiny arms, her small hand brushing over Shen Zhiqiu’s eyes, trying to wipe away her tears. “Wah—wah—”
“Is Ya Ya telling Mommy not to cry?” Shen Zhiqiu’s nose stung as she choked back a sob.
Ya Ya waved her little fist, her face full of worry. “Wah—!”
“Mommy’s okay.”
Shen Zhiqiu pressed her cheek against Ya Ya’s and whispered, “Mommy just… misses Grandma.”
[I miss Grandma too. It’s because of her that I got to stay with Mommy for so long.]
In her past life, when she was just a wandering spirit, it was Grandma who had secretly protected her.
Later, it was Grandma who, at the cost of her own soul dissipating, transferred her into the body of a recently deceased calico cat—allowing her to keep living and return to her mother’s side.
[Grandma said it was that old witch who pushed her down, trying to kill her and the baby together. Luckily, the neighbor’s little brother saw it.]
[She thought that bastard grandfather had broken things off with the old witch, which was why she gave her job to him. But he’d been lying the whole time.]
[By the time she found out that bastard grandfather and the old witch were tampering with her medicine, it was too late. But she secretly hid the prescription and the leftover herbs, asking that little brother to bury them under the old locust tree by the gate.]
[It’s just a shame that the little brother got dragged into it. Grandma and him were innocent, but that bastard grandfather accused them of having an affair and even got his gang of friends to bully him.]
…..
Shen Zhiqiu quickly noted down this information.
The next day, she, Yue Mingli, and Li Xing indeed dug up the prescription and medicine remnants—wrapped in oilcloth—from beneath the old locust tree in front of her former home.
“Zhiqiu, we’ll need to take these to an experienced traditional medicine practitioner. They’ll know what’s wrong at a glance,” Li Xing suggested.
Shen Zhiqiu immediately thought of Dong Hesong. She carefully rewrapped the items. “Xing’er, I’ll go tomorrow.”
Next, they visited Li Guoxiang’s home. Yue Mingli questioned him in detail about Li Guoshun’s situation, especially the circumstances of the day he was found dead.
As an apprentice, Li Guoshun had to arrive at the workshop half an hour to an hour earlier than the regular workers to clean the machines and tidy up.
This was standard practice—Li Guoxiang had been an apprentice himself and knew the routine. But that day, Li Guoshun had left two hours earlier than usual.
Li Guoxiang hadn’t thought much of it, but Old Lady Xu, a light sleeper, had seen him. She asked Li Guoshun why he was leaving so early, but he didn’t answer.
Later, someone discovered Li Guoshun dead in the workshop, his skull cracked open against a machine.
At that hour, most workers hadn’t arrived yet. The factory security team, inexperienced in handling such situations, panicked and failed to preserve the crime scene.
By the time the police took over, the scene had been severely contaminated—covered in footprints and fingerprints, making it impossible to discern anything useful.
The officers could only rely on witness statements, but no one knew anything.
In the end, Li Guoshun’s death was ruled an accidental workplace injury.
…..
That morning, Yue Mingli went to see the officer who had originally handled Li Guoshun’s case. The two had crossed paths before, and the officer was forthcoming, even showing him the original case file.
The forensic report inside contained a critical detail: Li Guoshun had multiple bruises on his body, particularly on his wrists and thighs.
This matched the injuries found on a girl who had been raped and murdered by the Liu Da and Liu Gui brothers.
“Brother Li, you said Shen Daqiang often bullied your brother. Do you know exactly how?” Yue Mingli asked.
Li Guoxiang’s eyes burned with anger. “He beat him! If Shunzi made a mistake, he’d hit him—or deliberately pick on him, making him run errands nonstop.”
“Back in the day, masters disciplining apprentices wasn’t unusual. But this was the new era—who still used their hands? Shen Daqiang is a piece of trash!”
“I thought since we were neighbors, entrusting my brother to him meant he’d look out for him. Instead, he dared lay a hand on him!”
“Sometimes he didn’t even do it himself—he’d get his gang of friends to help!”
“Brother Li, who exactly were these ‘friends’ of Shen Daqiang’s?”
