SFTD -Chapter 35 Giant Cadaveric Swelling (Final)

Director Song held up his phone and waved it toward everyone. The text message he had just received was clearly about this matter.

Captain Liu and Captain Huang both turned to look at Zhou Hai with smiles on their faces.

Zhou Hai quickly lowered his head. Were these two idiots trying to expose him by looking at him like that?

“Alright, Captain Huang, take your men and head to the Beijing airport immediately. We’ll coordinate things on our side. Let’s wait for good news. Meeting adjourned!”

The investigators could barely hide their excitement as they crowded around Captain Huang and headed outside. He turned back and waved at Zhou Hai.

“Haizi, when I get back, we’re celebrating with drinks!”

Director Liu and Director Song kept laughing. The man was getting a little ahead of himself—no one had even been caught yet, and he already felt victory was guaranteed.

Just as Zhou Hai and the others were about to leave, Director Liu called out loudly: “Forensic Doctor Zhou, don’t rush off. Come sit for a while.”

Xu Biao pushed Zhou Hai lightly from behind, and the group walked over to sit in front of Director Liu.

Fengzi had completely stopped buzzing around and looked utterly stunned.

Xiao Liang had shrunk into a nervous lump.

As for Zhou Hai, needless to say, talking with him was exhausting. Conversations with him only worked in a question-and-answer format, and that was only if he felt like answering. So Xu Biao instantly stepped in as the spokesperson for Team Two.

“Greetings, leaders!”

Zhou Hai and the others nodded in agreement toward the officials, causing Director Song to burst into laughter.

“You know, it really is exactly as Deputy Director Liu said. Other than Xu Biao, everyone in Team Two is just like Forensic Doctor Zhou—a bunch of silent gourds. You’ve been at the center for two months now, right? Any difficulties? If there are, just say the word and let Deputy Director Liu handle it. Talents like you technical experts are treasures to our bureau!”

Everyone laughed.

Zhou Hai tried hard to twitch the muscles on his face into something resembling a smile.

“Thank you.”

Director Song waved his hand.

“Alright, I won’t make things difficult for you anymore. Just now, when you were explaining all the evidence, you were eloquent and confident. Now you’re like a completely different person. Okay then, you all can head back.”

Xu Biao quickly stood up and saluted.

“Thank you for your concern, leaders. We’ll take our leave first.”

The group returned to the center and organized all the reports related to the 7.28 special case.

At eleven that night, Zhou Hai received a WeChat message from Captain Huang.

When he opened it, he saw a photograph: suspect Xu Xiangyuan, wearing handcuffs, being escorted away from the airport.

Only then did Zhou Hai truly breathe a sigh of relief. After all, everything else could only proceed once the suspect had been caught.

Three days later, Sunday evening.

Captain Huang kept his promise and treated Team Two to dinner.

Zhou Hai drove Xu Biao, while Fengzi drove Xiao Liang. One after another, they arrived at a roadside seafood stall near Qianhai.

Captain Huang had already arrived and casually ordered a few dishes. Crossing his arms, Huang Zhongsheng smiled at Zhou Hai.

“I have to say, you really know how to keep your composure. Why don’t you seem curious at all about what really happened in the 7.28 case?”

Xu Biao couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Haizi has already guessed most of it. Trust me, if you don’t tell him, he’ll never ask on his own for the rest of his life. Stop keeping us in suspense already. Tell us what actually happened. Confess leniently now, or the four of us will drink you to death!”

Huang Zhongsheng curled his lip.

“Fine, I’ll satisfy your curiosity. Here’s what happened…”

March 8th, 2014 — Noon

Wan Zhiyong suddenly received a call from Xu Xiangyuan, telling him to come to Xu Zekai’s residence at Maidao Golden Coast.

Wan Zhiyong often went there to work on design drawings. It served as a temporary office for them, so he had a key.

After changing into slippers and heading upstairs, he saw Xu Xiangyuan sitting on the floor trembling.

When Wan Zhiyong asked what had happened, Xu Xiangyuan couldn’t speak. He simply shook violently and pointed toward the bathroom.

A terrible feeling rose in Wan Zhiyong’s heart as he rushed into the bathroom.

There he saw Xu Zekai, his upper body submerged in the bathtub.

He was stunned.

At that moment, his foot kicked a baseball bat lying nearby. Seeing the bloodstains on it, he immediately understood what had happened.

Wan Zhiyong was dumbfounded.

As he turned around, he discovered Yu Lijuan on the master bedroom bed, bound with tape into an “N” shape.

She was completely naked, her head tilted slightly back, eyelids half open—obviously already dead.

Yu Lijuan had once been Xu Zekai’s girlfriend.

Although the two later separated, she did not leave the company. Their relationship had always been on-and-off, and eventually she secretly became involved with Xu Xiangyuan as well.

Wan Zhiyong had always loved her.

But compared to love, Yu Lijuan loved money more. Having grown up in an orphanage, she valued financial security above all else, so Wan Zhiyong never confessed his feelings.

However, in 2013, Xu Xiangyuan took him to England.

There, a paternity test at a hospital revealed the truth:

Back when Wan Zhiyong and Xu Zekai were born in the same hospital room, the nurses had accidentally switched their identities because the babies wore identical clothes and looked extremely alike.

Even after learning the truth, Wan Zhiyong had no desire to change the current situation. After all, they were already adults.

But Xu Xiangyuan wanted to give him part of his fortune. After all, Wan Zhiyong was his true biological son. Xu Xiangyuan’s wife had been bedridden for years, and whatever affection remained in the marriage had long faded away.

Now, seeing the woman he secretly loved die so horribly, Wan Zhiyong more or less guessed the cause.

At that moment, Xu Xiangyuan finally calmed down enough to explain what had happened.

Xu Xiangyuan had just returned to China that day and planned to visit Xu Zekai.

He also intended to meet his young lover—Yu Lijuan.

She was pregnant, and after finally managing to free up a few days, he planned to bring her back to England to await childbirth.

But the moment he entered Xu Zekai’s house, he found Yu Lijuan dead on the bed, naked and covered in injuries. An empty syringe lay tossed nearby.

Thinking of the child in her womb—his own flesh and blood—rage overwhelmed him.

At that moment, Xu Zekai staggered out of another second-floor bedroom after hearing the commotion.

Still barefoot and wearing the same clothes, he was clearly drunk and had only just sobered up.

Xu Xiangyuan demanded to know why he had killed Yu Lijuan.

Xu Zekai became even angrier.

He said she was just a woman he had already played with—she ate his food, spent his money, and threw herself at him whenever she was broke. Now that she had money, she acted like some pure and noble woman. The fact that she dared to carry another man’s child was something he absolutely could not tolerate.

He also mocked Xu Xiangyuan for pretending to be a loving father. Xu Zekai said he had long ago investigated the secret paternity test between Xu Xiangyuan and Wan Zhiyong.

The two immediately began struggling violently.

Xu Zekai stepped on water from the bathroom floor, lost his footing, and crashed face-first onto the ground.

Xu Xiangyuan, blinded by rage, grabbed a decorative baseball bat hanging on the wall and smashed it into Xu Zekai’s head.

When Xu Zekai lost consciousness, Xu Xiangyuan dragged him by the collar and forced his head into the bathtub.

After a long while, Xu Zekai stopped struggling.

Only then did Xu Xiangyuan collapse onto the floor, utterly lost.

But when he looked at the flower petals floating in the bathtub, he believed Xu Zekai’s accusations.

Yu Lijuan really had been moving between the two men all along.

Now both of them were dead, and the truth could never fully be sorted out.

Helpless, Xu Xiangyuan called Wan Zhiyong.

Wan Zhiyong had no choice but to help Xu Xiangyuan wrap up the two corpses and hide them in the kitchen freezer.

Afterward, Xu Xiangyuan hurried back to England and continued living as if nothing had happened. As time passed, he gradually lowered his guard.

Meanwhile, Wan Zhiyong impersonated Xu Zekai, constantly sending WeChat messages to Xu Xiangyun.

After several months without the crime being discovered, he decided to dispose of the bodies while staging the scene as a robbery.

In the early morning of July 23rd, he drove Xu Zekai’s car to dump the bodies, then pushed the vehicle off a cliff.

Captain Huang sighed softly before continuing.

“Yesterday we learned that Mrs. Xu—the woman receiving medical treatment in England—has now lost her financial support and faces abandonment. Xu Xiangyuan is in prison. Xu Xiangyun has no intention of taking care of her. Even her maternal relatives don’t want to accept the burden. She’s become a hot potato no one wants. I heard Dongxiang Group agreed to pay for bringing her back to China and placing her in a care facility, but no one knows how long that support will last.”

After hearing the entire story, everyone felt heavy-hearted.

A girl desperate to change her fate had used love and her own body as bargaining chips, trading and demanding constantly, only to die tragically in the end.

Xu Zekai had been spoiled rotten since childhood, and Xu Xiangyuan bore undeniable responsibility for shaping him into that kind of person.

But the most tragic figure was Wan Zhiyong.

A bright future had been destroyed by blood ties and family secrets.

Two families had been ruined.

In the midst of the silence, Zhou Hai suddenly spoke.

“The butterflies painted on Yu Lijuan’s nails… Wan Zhiyong did those, didn’t he?”

Captain Huang nodded.

“Yes. There’s no way Yu Lijuan couldn’t feel Wan Zhiyong’s affection for her. A woman who spent years moving among different men could manipulate feelings like that effortlessly.”

They all knew Captain Huang was right, but Xu Biao still unwillingly asked:

“Captain Huang… how many years will Wan Zhiyong get?”

Captain Huang drained a large glass of beer and slammed it heavily onto the table.

“I asked the prosecutor’s office. At minimum, less than three years imprisonment or criminal detention.”