SFTD -Chapter 83 Don’t Insult Beasts (Part 4)

Captain Huang looked conflicted. “Don’t even mention it. Yesterday this case was spread online by a journalist. It was posted with photos of the fire scene and rescue operations—criticizing poor rescue response, disorganized command, police inaction, and chaotic gas management in old residential areas, demanding the government give an explanation. Now the internet has exploded. Especially residents living in the tube buildings in Dongcheng District—they even went to the government office to sit in protest, saying their buildings are old and need maintenance.”

Zhou Hai looked blank for a moment. The topic had shifted too abruptly, and he struggled to follow at first. After thinking it through for a while, he finally understood.

“That exaggerated? That’s clearly someone using the incident for their own agenda.”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Captain Huang said. “That’s the power of the internet. Whether it’s true or not, the impact is already there. Now a lot of people are like this—while eating meat from the bowl, they curse the cook after putting down the chopsticks. Whenever something happens online, true or not, they first criticize it heavily, then repost it everywhere. At that point, the truth doesn’t matter anymore—it’s just gossip for their idle time.”

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, pressing the horn twice hard.

“Has the bureau given a deadline for solving the case?”

Captain Huang nodded and tossed a file bag to Zhou Hai. “Yes. Only three days. Take a look first—this is the summary of today’s surrounding investigation.”

Zhou Hai opened it. It was the victim’s information. The more he read, the more complex it became.

The female victim was named Xu Caiyu, 35 years old, from Yanghai.

She had already been married three times, making her family situation extremely complicated. Her daughter was from her first husband. However, the child’s father had died in a maritime accident before the child was even born.

The ship involved had been bought with borrowed money, leaving heavy debts behind.

To survive, she later married the crippled younger brother of her late husband. Together they raised the child and gradually paid off most of the debt, and later had a second child.

But life turned again for the worse. When the child was only one year old, the crippled husband died from illness caused by years of overwork.

Rumors spread in the village that she was “fated to bring misfortune,” killing two husbands in succession. Creditors came knocking, and in desperation she sold her home and property to repay debts, leaving her hometown with two children to work in Dongnan City.

Uneducated and unskilled, she worked two jobs while raising her children. From morning till night, after rent and food, almost nothing remained. Life grew harder and harder.

She eventually remarried—this time to a man whose wife had died. But domestic violence soon became constant. For the sake of her children, she endured it.

This man was named Zhao Baogui, 50 years old, with no children.

He had originally been idle and unruly, once imprisoned for three years due to assault. After release, his wife had died, and he met Xu Caiyu. They began living together, but neighbors reported he had a violent temper and often beat and scolded her.

Zhou Hai grew increasingly puzzled as he read. What kind of enemies could such a struggling, impoverished family have?

Was it Zhao Baogui’s old enemies seeking revenge through arson?

“These materials were gathered from the victim’s neighbors?” Zhou Hai asked.

“Partly from a neighbor downstairs—a community committee woman gave some details. The rest came from household registration data and assistance from Yanghai local police for verification.”

“The neighbor said they were noisy. Zhao Baogui had a bad temper and often yelled and smashed things at night. Nobody dared interfere. But yesterday, there was no noise at all.”

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes. “When did he usually start yelling and breaking things?”

“I asked. Usually around nine or ten at night. He drank at night—any delay, the food being cold, or missing dishes would set him off.”

“……”

Zhou Hai fell silent.

Such a life story was both tragic and suffocating. Xu Caiyu’s life was worthy of sympathy, yet also painfully helpless—constantly remarrying just to keep her children fed. As a poorly educated rural woman raising two children, survival itself was difficult.

In the end, the dead deserved respect. Zhou Hai sighed and stopped thinking further, as the car had already arrived at the First Affiliated Hospital.

The two quickly went to the burn department.

Zhou Hai had rushed out earlier and was still wearing a white lab coat with casual sandals, but this odd outfit didn’t look out of place in a hospital.

They found the officer stationed there and Captain Huang quickly asked about the situation.

Zhou Hai waited in the doctor’s office for the attending physician. While idly looking at the desk, he noticed the medical record of the girl admitted last night. Her name was Zhang Chunyan.

Her face and head showed no burns, but there was swelling and scattered blisters of varying sizes.

On the chest, there was a 6×11 cm crescent-shaped lesion, yellow-brown in color with patches of gray-white. Under the scab, coarse vascular networks were visible. The surface was moist and non-elastic.

Breathing was normal, no distress. Heart sounds were normal, no murmurs. Lung sounds were clear.

Both hands showed yellow-brown burns, forming a ring-shaped eschar around the wrists.

Her right arm had a closed fracture of the ulna and radius, which had already been surgically reduced.

Zhou Hai froze. The boy had no injuries at all—why was the girl so severely injured? Then he recalled the wooden window in the bedroom swaying in the wind.

A realization struck him. Was the child trying to reach out of the window, or trying to close it tightly?

At that moment, Captain Huang and a doctor entered. Zhou Hai quickly put down the file.

“Hello, sorry for looking at the medical record without permission. We want to understand the girl’s condition.”

The doctor was very friendly and patted Zhou Hai’s shoulder. Zhou Hai noticed his badge—his surname was Dr. Jiang.

“No problem. Officer Huang already explained. You can ask whatever you need. The patient is stable. The surgery went well last night and she woke up this morning. You can go ahead and talk to her.”

“Doctor Jiang, what about the boy who came with her?”

“He was just frightened, had some abrasions on his forehead. He’s much better today and is in the same room as his sister. Very well-behaved.”

“Didn’t you say both parents are dead?” the doctor asked casually.

Captain Huang glanced at Zhou Hai and nodded. “Yes. Both are dead.”

Zhou Hai looked at the file again. “Let’s go see the girl.”

He then added, “Please have a nurse take the boy to another room first.”

“No problem.”

They walked to the ward.

Although it was the burn department, Zhang Chunyan’s injuries were not severe. When they entered, the boy was standing by the bed on tiptoe, staring at his sister. Seeing strangers, he instinctively moved closer to her.

A nurse approached with a gentle smile, holding a lollipop.

“Little one, let’s go play in the next room. The doctor needs to check on your sister. It won’t hurt her, okay?”

The boy thought for a moment, then nodded after looking at his unconscious sister.

“Okay… but be gentle. My sister will feel pain. She cried last night.”

Doctor Jiang couldn’t help laughing. “Such a little adult, worrying about his sister. Don’t worry, we’re just checking the wound, not changing the dressing. It won’t hurt.”

But the boy still looked uneasy. He sighed deeply—far too mature for his age—and followed the nurse away.

Dr. Jiang smiled awkwardly. “What a unique kid.”

Zhou Hai watched the small figure leave, deep in thought.

“He seems very attached to his sister.”