SFTD -Chapter 299 Bride Who Fell from the Building (Part 8)

Mother Zhang looked agitated, glaring as she said: “Suicide, jumping off a building!”

The young police officer tried to keep his voice gentle as he explained: “Auntie, please don’t get too agitated. The nature of the case hasn’t been determined yet, and we never said she definitely committed suicide by jumping. We asked you here just to better understand Zhang Huihui’s social relationships, including some events that happened before, so we can analyze and find possible causes together. If it really turns out that someone murdered Zhang Huihui, we can also find the culprit.”

Mother Zhang shook her head impatiently and shouted:

“You’re useless! You can’t find the reason! She can’t die! She can’t die! Ah—!”

As she spoke, she started crying again. However, there were no tears—only wailing. The young officer did not comfort her further; at times like this, comfort would only intensify the family’s grief.

After a moment, Mother Zhang stopped crying. She grabbed the young officer’s sleeve, eyes wide with hatred.

“I know now! It must be that Zhang Ziliang! He just wants that 300,000 yuan bride price we gave before—definitely him! He already came once to demand money. He even swapped brides at the wedding scene, didn’t care at all about the child in Huihui’s belly, and now he still wants money?

Not suing him for money was already giving him face! He’s a damn beast!

So it must be him who killed my Huihui! Ah! My Huihui! My poor grandchild!”

The young officer still did not try to comfort her. After crying for a while, Mother Zhang grew bored, wiped her tears, and suddenly stood up.

“I’m going to find Zhang Ziliang! Huihui is dead—he has to take responsibility! It’s all because he broke off the engagement! Even though they didn’t register the marriage, there was still a child!”

The young officer looked at her and suddenly slammed the table, shouting: “Sit down!”

Mother Zhang was startled by the sudden voice and froze, blinking blankly at him, at a loss. There was not a trace of real grief on her face.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes slightly. This woman was strange—the daughter was dead, yet all she thought about was money. It seemed she even wanted to use this as an excuse to extort money from Zhang Ziliang’s family.

Before Zhou Hai could think further, the young officer continued: “Sit properly. From now on, answer only what I ask. Don’t say anything unrelated, or I’ll take you back to the station for further questioning.”

Mother Zhang was intimidated by his tone and, for a moment, forgot to argue. She obediently sat down in front of him. Xu Jun raised his chin and gestured toward Zhou Hai and the others.

“This kid is good, right? My disciple, Da Mao. He looks lazy like a cat, but he’s great at interrogations. He even taught himself psychology—my capable assistant.”

Zhou Hai looked at Xu Jun. Fengzi couldn’t help but laugh: “If you want to do commentary, go outside and talk. We’re watching the video here!”

Xu Jun curled his lips.

“What, I just want to show off a little. Isn’t Zhou Deputy Director always showing off his Second Team? I’m just learning from the best.”

Zhou Hai gave him a cold glance and said nothing, only tapping the table lightly. Everyone quieted down.

The young officer called Da Mao opened a notebook, wrote while asking: “Where does Zhang Huihui work?”

“She is an accountant at Dongnan Jiande Health Products Food Co., Ltd.”

“Besides Zhang Ziliang, who else did Zhang Huihui have contact with?”

Mother Zhang tried to object, but under Da Mao’s cold gaze, she immediately deflated and mumbled, glancing at the crumpled tissue in her hand.

“Seems like there was some white-collar worker or manager from a company… I don’t know his name…”

Snap!

Da Mao closed his notebook sharply and looked up at her.

“It seems you don’t want to talk. Let’s go back then.”

As he stood up, Mother Zhang quickly grabbed him.

“No, no! Officer, I remember now. His name was Du Haipeng. Seems to be the son of some vice president, now working at Huicheng Technology Group as a general manager’s assistant.”

“Anyone else?”

Mother Zhang nervously twisted the tissue in her hands. She knew if she didn’t explain clearly, this wouldn’t end. She looked up at the young officer.

“Also… there was someone named Xu Mingcheng, a sales manager at Dexin Wood Industry. And also a classmate of Huihui’s older brother named Li Hongyi, a deputy director in the credit department of Bank of Communications. That’s all I know, really.”

Da Mao did not look up as he recorded everything.

“So there are more—you just don’t know their names? Would you recognize them if you saw them?”

Mother Zhang nodded, then shook her head.

“I really don’t know… the child didn’t tell me that much!”

Da Mao did not pursue the issue further. It seemed she truly didn’t know.

“Since Zhang Huihui and Zhang Ziliang had already broken off the engagement, why were you still staying at the hotel? At this time, shouldn’t you have sent the guests back home?”

Mother Zhang looked confused.

“I really don’t know the reason. Huihui just said that if Zhang Ziliang wouldn’t marry her, someone else would. She told us not to worry. Her father also asked twice, but she just told us to keep relatives for a couple more days and take them around.”

“She said when to continue the wedding? Or re-engagement? Don’t tell me you don’t know. Someone who could raise the bride price by another 500,000 at the wedding venue wouldn’t just let things go. Don’t make me repeat myself—tell the truth.”

Mother Zhang sighed.

“I really didn’t lie. She barely came out of her room these past two days, saying her stomach wasn’t feeling well and she needed to rest. Huihui told us not to worry—she had already contacted someone else. It was like giving that person a second chance. No matter what, someone would take her in. That’s all she said.”

Da Mao narrowed his eyes.

“A second chance? So they had been together before?”

“Mm… that should be what it means.”

“Now list clearly who Zhang Huihui dated first, second, and so on, including timing. Overlaps are fine. What I need here is the truth, because I will verify everything one by one. Whether we can find the person who harmed Zhang Huihui depends on how accurate your information is.”

Mother Zhang stopped hesitating, took out her phone, and showed several photos.

“This one holding the golf club is Du Haipeng. The one behind in a suit is Li Hongyi. Both of them started pursuing my Huihui last year. Huihui said she was ‘selectively cultivating options’ and just getting to know them. As for Xu Mingcheng and Zhang Ziliang, she met them four months ago. Xu Mingcheng was through work, Zhang Ziliang through a friend’s gathering. These four men—Huihui thought Zhang Ziliang was the most from a scholarly family, so she chose him. After all, our family runs a business and isn’t highly educated, so she wanted to connect with educated people. Her father and I supported her choice. As for the broken engagement, we didn’t want that to happen…”

Da Mao raised his hand, interrupting her explanation about the engagement.

“I ask, you answer. Don’t say unrelated things—it doesn’t help the case. Was Zhang Huihui already pregnant when she was going to marry Zhang Ziliang?”