The 80s Female Detective's Guide to Self-Preservation [Criminal Investigation] - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Explain! How do we see it?”

The group crowded around curiously.

Xia Qiuyuan flipped open the third-grade science book. Inside the textbook, there was a section on experimental methods—specifically, the “invisible ink” techniques used during wartime espionage. One involved citric acid, which undergoes an oxidation reaction when heated, turning the handwriting black or brown. The other used starch, which turns blue when exposed to iodine vapor.

“No wonder the first and second-grade books are clean and smooth. From third grade onwards, the pages start to look wrinkled and warped.”

“The most important thing now,” Xia Qiuyuan added, “is to distinguish which books used lemon juice and which used rice water.” She raised her hand. “Leave that to me. My sense of smell is sharp enough to tell them apart. Everyone else, get the iodine solution for steaming and some heat sources ready.”

The method was simple, but because it wasn’t something ordinary people used daily, it was easily overlooked.

As the text began to appear, a tragic story unfolded. After learning this method in third grade, Liang Xiangxue had used it to communicate with a friend named “Shen Ya.” Shen Ya was a primary school classmate who had dropped out after junior high to work in a factory and support her family.

Initially, their exchanges were innocent and sweet—mostly asking what the other had for lunch. Flipping through the pages felt like traveling back to a time of catching fireflies with flashlights on the ridges of rice paddies.

By high school, the tone shifted.

The two were separated, and Shen Ya couldn’t reply as quickly, but she clearly acted as a confidante for Liang Xiangxue. Liang had slowly realized her family was hiding the existence of a “missing brother,” and the neglect she felt at home was suffocating.

“Even if my middle school exams weren’t great,” Liang Xiangxue wrote in junior high, “as long as I work hard for the college entrance exam and get into a teaching college, I can live on campus and escape my parents. I hate living with a huge family where everyone ignores me.”

But in high school, the gap between teenage dreams and adult reality began to tear her apart. It was then that she “fell in love” with Zhao Yuanming. Or rather, from her perspective, Zhao was the only one who helped her, protected her, and promised her a home.

The ultimate evidence against Zhao Yuanming and Jin Wu was hidden in the physics book.

In the final two pages, Liang Xiangxue detailed how Zhao Yuanming had assaulted her. Terrified and lost, she had subtly reached out to her mother for help. Her mother’s response was a sneer: “If I had a daughter like that, I’d rather she die outside than ruin our family’s reputation.”

“But… it’s not the girl’s fault?” Liang had whispered.

“None of them are good people. But men don’t have to take responsibility; in the end, it’s the parents of the girls who get stuck with the mess,” her mother snapped, grabbing her purse. “If you have time for these nonsense thoughts, go study. Your father’s promotion is stalled because of your mediocre grades. Look at Old Dong’s son next door—top of his class. We had to treat people to dinner just to get you into high school! I don’t know whose low IQ you inherited!”

Liang Xiangxue had gripped her skirt, forced a pained smile, and asked, “Mom, are you coming home for dinner tonight?”

“No, I have a mahjong game with Mrs. Chen. If you’re not hungry, just read more. No one will disturb your studies tonight.”

Though nearly seven people lived in that three-bedroom apartment, for as long as Liang Xiangxue could remember, the home had felt empty. Her life was flickering out in a void of indifference.

The final blow came when she overheard Zhao Yuanming and Jin Wu joking with other boys about “sending her out” to work as a prostitute to earn money for them. With wolves in front and tigers behind, she had no choice. She lived in terror until she discovered she was pregnant. Pushed to the edge of the cliff by fate, she chose to jump.

She had entrusted the truth to Shen Ya rather than her parents. Perhaps she knew that if her parents found it, these pages of evidence would simply be buried in the dirt of the countryside, turned into trash, never to see the light of day.

With this, the investigation into the deaths of Zhao Yuanming and Jin Wu could finally be closed.

The next day, Liang Guangqi rubbed his nose, exhausted from field interviews. “Don’t even ask. I almost got beaten up. People hate us asking about their daughters. If it weren’t for the local police, I’d be a corpse on Sister Wei Min’s autopsy table by now.”

Hou Ming grunted. “Stop whining and go write the report.”

“What about you, Captain?”

“I’m going to deal with the one inside.”

Zhao Guoying, being a former cop, knew the law: they could only hold him for seven days. Without hard evidence, they’d have to let him go. When Hou Ming entered the room, Zhao was leaning back arrogantly.

“What? Found my ‘crimes’ yet, Hou?” Zhao mocked. “You bunch of government-funded wastes. I’m a law-abiding businessman. Why did you storm into my house? Tell me, what law did I break?”

Hou Ming looked at him calmly. “Did you forget to brush your teeth this morning? We’re holding you for cooperation. You’ve lied repeatedly; you know exactly what filth you’re hiding.”

The standoff lasted six days. Zhao was deprived of sleep, interrogated in shifts, but he held out, knowing he was close to the finish line. On the final night, Xia Qiuyuan and Qin Yi took the last shift.

Zhao’s eyes were bloodshot, his wrists swollen and bruised from the handcuffs. He spat insults at Qiuyuan. “Wait until tomorrow. When I get out, I’ll make sure your names are dragged through the mud in every newspaper.”

Xia Qiuyuan flipped a page in her notebook. “Is that so, Xia Guoying? Do you have anything to say about your ties to Zhao and Jin?”

Zhao kicked the metal table in a rage.

“Settle down,” Qin Yi warned. “Or we’ll apply for an extension.”

Zhao forced himself to endure. He wouldn’t let six days of hell go to waste.

“It doesn’t matter if you talk,” Xia Qiuyuan said quietly. “Just pray you cleaned up every single trail you left. Heaven’s net is vast; nothing slips through.”

The next day, Zhao Guoying was released. His wife, Liang Jingshu, came with their young daughter to pick him up.

As the couple walked toward the gate, the little girl broke free from her mother’s hand and ran toward Xia Qiuyuan on the steps. Her face was twisted in anger. “I hate you! You’re a bad person! A bad cop who arrests people for no reason!”

Xia Sui stepped forward. “The police needed your father’s cooperation. If he’s innocent, he’s out. Don’t listen to nonsense.”

“Bad person! Bad person!” the girl screamed.

Xia Qiuyuan looked past the girl to the couple. Liang Jingshu met her gaze with a look of pure, aristocratic contempt—a rejection of anyone who dared interfere with their “business.”

The little girl pointed a finger at Qiuyuan. “If you come to my house again, I’ll let Paopao bite you and kick you out!”

“Fine,” Xia Qiuyuan replied softly. “But next time your father makes a mistake, I’ll make sure he loses so completely he has nothing left to say.”

As the family left, laughing and talking, Xia Qiuyuan stood on the steps for a long time. Every criminal leaves a scent. Even the oldest fox eventually shows its tail. If not today, then tomorrow.