First Moment posted on Weibo again, and the author was still Kong Shuiqi.
This time, Kong Shuiqi wrote a long Weibo post with the title, “For Revenge, a Lone Wolf Pursues a Killer for Twenty-Two Years, Unveiling the Tragic Past of the Ning City Poisoning Case.”
The moment he saw the title, Ji Xun didn’t immediately click on it. He tossed his phone up and down. “It seems the media has already gotten enough information. And not just bits and pieces leaked during the police investigation, but someone directly contacted the media with the story…”
Huo Ranyin’s brow was tightly furrowed as he read the content.
“How much did they write?” Ji Xun asked again.
“It’s basically true, but intentionally sensationalized, focusing on emotion rather than facts,” Huo Ranyin’s lips formed a straight line.
“As expected. The media are storytellers. If the stories they tell aren’t moving or appealing, they’d be out of a job.”
Ji Xun commented calmly. He clicked on the post. The first paragraph of the long post read:
On January 28, 2016, Liang Shan (alias) knocked on the door of Wu Liang’s (alias) home. He brought a camera and a knife, alone, seeking a justice that was half a lifetime late in an incredibly resolute manner.
…
For 22 years, Liang Shan worked as a repairman, a security guard, and a delivery man. He was a manual laborer more than once.
He never had a long-term, stable, proper job, no family, and certainly no children, because he couldn’t stop. He was always running. He ran alone in the dark, like a lone wolf on an endless road, chasing an unattainable truth.
For 8,000 days, he did not give up. Perhaps even heaven was moved by his persistence. After traveling all over the country, Liang Shan discovered an inconspicuous clue.
…
Liang Shan originally did not want to kill Wu Liang. Not everyone can cross the line of killing.
It is the boundary between human and beast.
But he knew he had no other choice. And he would not regret this choice.
What he recorded with his camera was his own criminal evidence. He took this evidence and voluntarily surrendered to the police, placing his hope in them. He knew that he alone could not find the other murderer; he needed the police. He gambled his life in a desperate move, using a tragic method to wake up the dozing police, to no longer ignore this 22-year-old, forgotten blood feud!
He used the milk candy that Wu Liang had built his fortune on with blood-stained hands to play a game with the police.
…
The netizens were successfully moved and incited.
Xin Yongchu was not a perfect victim. He shouldn’t have received so much pity and sympathy, but the media report cleverly used subtle, biased language to turn Xin Yongchu into a heroic and righteous perpetrator.
He repaid kindness with gratitude. For Tang Zhixue’s six years of care, he did not hesitate to throw away his life. A single meal’s grace was repaid with a thousand pieces of gold, dedicating the rest of his life to avenging Tang Zhixue. He was both brave and resourceful. A murderer the police couldn’t even find, he captured single-handedly. It was as if he had sharpened his sword for ten years, its frosty edge never tested, but once unsheathed, it delivered a fatal blow!
He was a modern-day knight-errant, and this was a story of good and evil being repaid and grudges being settled with satisfaction.
Xin Yongchu fulfilled the netizens’ imaginations, and so he became a symbol of justice. He was justice, and the opposite of justice was injustice. The injustice, of course, was the deceased Wu Liang—that is, Zhao Yuanliang.
Ning City was a place that wasn’t too big or too small. The long Weibo post published by “First Moment” contained both the time of the incident and the keyword “milk candy,” which was enough for netizens to dig up more information.
“It must be Little Rabbit Candy. There’s only one famous local milk candy factory in Ning City. You can find out just by asking around.”
“It seems like a murder happened at Anhe Building on the 28th. The police set up a cordon. Looking at it this way, it matches up.”
The entire case was easily pieced together by netizens just like that.
For a time, the internet was flooded with such comments.
“PTSD from Little Rabbit Candy. Thanks to the media for the exposé, I’m never eating it again.”
“Targeted poisoning of Little Rabbit Candy, then we just don’t eat it. Thanks to Liang Shan for being so measured. Good and evil will eventually be repaid, heaven spares no one. Little Rabbit Candy should just be left to die.”
“Zhao Yuanliang paid for his murder with his life. He earned so much money and lived comfortably for so many years, he deserved to die.”
“Driven to desperation, they’re all pitiful people. Can he be spared the death penalty since he voluntarily surrendered?”
The netizens’ anger did not subside after evaluating both sides of the murder case. As the discussion about sentence reduction for surrendering grew more intense, the accusations naturally began to shift towards the police who investigated the case back then:
“What are the police good for? They haven’t solved the case in 22 years, forcing the victim’s relatives to find the person and solve the case themselves?”
“That’s the work efficiency at the grassroots level. Old cases just pile up, and they’re too lazy to solve them unless someone pushes them, right? [smirking emoji] They’ve driven an honest man to murder.”
“Liang Shan is also stupid. Why kill the person himself? He should have found the media to expose it like this. With public opinion pressure, those police would definitely have a different attitude. ‘Solving cases on Weibo’ is really not a joke.”
“Hurry up, expose which county’s police it was. My 12315 mayor’s complaint hotline is already prepared for them.”
Of course, amidst the large-scale public opinion, there were also opposing views. Phrases like “wait three days for the news to reverse” were also common.
But at this moment, both the proponents and opponents had a very similar demand.
They wanted the police to come out and say something, anything.
Their burning gazes converged into an incredibly hot searchlight, shining on the corners they usually couldn’t see, the issues they usually didn’t care about, and the people or things they usually wouldn’t think of.
So bright, it seemed it would ignite the story’s curtain.
“Alright.” Ji Xun closed his phone. “Now we can discuss who exactly revealed such detailed content to the media.”
“One, an insider,” Huo Ranyin picked up, his tone also calm.
“Hm?” Ji Xun looked at Huo Ranyin. “Why is your first reaction an insider?”
“Two, Xin Yongchu’s accomplice.” Huo Ranyin finished listing the two options before leisurely adding, “It’s not a first reaction, just these two options. It’s easy to judge. What difference does it make which option is put first?”
“It makes a big difference. It reflects your deep distrust of your surrounding colleagues. It’s a spirit of inquiry for a criminal police officer to be suspicious of everything, but you should at least have some limits. Otherwise, at a critical moment, you won’t have any comrades to save you,” Ji Xun teased.
Huo Ranyin’s gaze flickered across Ji Xun’s face and then away.
He changed the subject. “The person who sent you the MP4 last time, do you have any leads?”
“Not a single one.”
“You don’t seem rushed or concerned at all. What, you’re not as all-knowing as you seem?”
“Huh? Isn’t that something you guys are supposed to investigate? I thought that as a citizen who received a suspicious and dangerous MP4, the police would stand in front of me to protect me,” Ji Xun said slowly. “Just like you did just now, standing firmly in front of me, taking on the heavy burden, blocking the wind and snow…”
“…Talk properly.” A wave of goosebumps broke out on Huo Ranyin’s skin.
Ji Xun sighed. “Sigh, you’re just too pretentious. Occasionally, during the day, you could also let go of your dignity and admit what’s in your heart—oh well, let’s get back to the case. Since someone specifically leaked to ‘First Moment,’ and seeing how ‘First Moment’ has such a complete and accurate grasp of Xin Yongchu, what do you think ‘First Moment’ will do next?”
“…” Huo Ranyin looked out the car window at the county town and had an idea.
“No matter how much of a storm ‘First Moment’ stirs up online, it is essentially a media outlet. What it will do is only what a media outlet would do,” Ji Xun continued. “The media needs attention and heat. Right now, everyone’s eyes are on Xin Yongchu—it won’t be difficult to trace it back to Yi’an County and Tang Zhixue. They will soon swarm here, and ‘First Moment,’ to maintain its lead and its popularity, will only rush to Yi’an County before everyone else…”
Ji Xun spread his hands.
“We don’t need to rush back to Ning City. We can meet them first, then talk.”
Huo Ranyin’s eyes flickered.
“Meeting with the ‘First Moment’ reporter is pointless. The bureau has already gone to their editorial department and repeatedly ordered them to cooperate with the investigation and hand over the clues immediately. Even Chief Zhou personally called, but it was useless. They keep using delaying tactics. It’s not that they won’t hand it over, they just want to drag it out past the golden 72 hours of public opinion heat before presenting the clues.”
“It’s useless for you to go, of course. You’re a police officer, you have to enforce the law civilly,” Ji Xun said.
“…And you can be uncivil if you go?” Huo Ranyin said.
“Police officer little brother, don’t play dumb,” Ji Xun held up a finger and pressed it to his lips. “You dare say that when you pulled me in to work on the case with you, you never had any thoughts in this regard? Some things are better left unsaid, shhh.”
A soft sound, like a smile held at the corner of his lips.
Huo Ranyin looked at Ji Xun, and a thought unrelated to the case flashed through his mind.
Ji Xun’s lips had a nice shape.
His fingers were also long and slender.
He raised his hand and touched that finger. Ji Xun shot him a questioning glance, still as frivolous as ever, like a passing cloud in the sky giving you a casual look. You chase it, but it laughs and goes away. Huo Ranyin applied some force and poked Ji Xun’s finger away from his lips.
“Stop messing around.”
He concealed his inner thoughts with a calm tone.
Partnering with a man who was so dead-set on maintaining a prim and proper image during the day was really difficult. Ji Xun sighed like a salted fish, shook his hand, and rested his cheek on his palm.
“In short, it’s time to act now. To prevent you from being held accountable afterwards, we need to find a place with surveillance to have an argument, then go our separate ways, to show that you know nothing about what I’m doing—ha, you really do know nothing, except that I’m going to find ‘First Moment’.”
“What do we argue about?”
“Anything. I think we could have a falling out just over the topic of eating spicy food or not, what do you think?” Ji Xun said.
“…Probably only you would think so.”
“Alright.” Ji Xun stopped the pointless chat, opened the car door, and got out. “Let’s hurry up and find some surveillance.”
Huo Ranyin didn’t move. He looked at Ji Xun and asked, “Time, place.”
The time and place to find you.
“Police comrade, don’t ask too many questions about things you shouldn’t know. How are you going to report to your superiors? As for when and where to find me, judge for yourself. I believe you can do it.”
Kong Shuiqi was a forty-year-old man, with a proper appearance, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and a Parker gold pen clipped to his pocket. His whole person exuded a scholarly air.
The long Weibo post he wrote was a real hit!
Along the way, Kong Shuiqi watched as the number of “First Moment’s” Weibo followers shot up, and his phone’s messaging apps were filled with compliments from colleagues and praise from his superiors. He couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly.
Who would have thought that an inconspicuous envelope would contain such explosive news?
It proved the saying: Schrödinger’s cat. Before you open the box, you never know if you’ll find a live cat or a dead cat, a gold cat or a silver cat.
At this moment, his phone dinged. A new email appeared in his work inbox.
He glanced at it, and his heart skipped a beat. The email briefly stated:
“Reporter Kong, the case you mentioned on Weibo is Accountant Tang’s case, right? I saw the post and figured it out. I have some information about this case. Are you buying tips?”
“Of course,” Kong Shuiqi replied in an instant. “What information do you have?”
After sending the email, he looked at the email account. It wasn’t a phone number-based email, but a registered email, so he couldn’t get more information from a phone number.
“Do you pay for tips?” the anonymous tipster asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I want ten thousand yuan.”
“…”
Obsessed with money.
Kong Shuiqi pursed his lips.
“Money is not a problem, but you have to tell me what you know first. I can’t just give you ten thousand yuan for nothing. I don’t know if your tip is worth ten thousand. What if you take the money and run? Who would I go to?”
“What if I tell you the information and you run off? Who would I go to then?” the tipster retorted.
Quite stubborn.
“I have a name and a reputation. I’m an editor at a major magazine. The monk can run, but can the temple run away?” Kong Shuiqi said.
“That won’t work either. In this day and age, the debtor is the boss. I’m from a small county town, I can’t even find the front door of your magazine, let alone demand payment,” the tipster said.
“This won’t work, that won’t work, what will work?” Kong Shuiqi was getting annoyed. Yi’an County was not far from Ning City. The reaction to his long post was huge, and his peers must already be itching to move. In the media business, it was all about storming the castle and seizing the forefront of public opinion. If he wasted time, to put it crudely, he wouldn’t even be in time for hot shit.
“I just saw the police come and take Wang Caixia away. Wang Caixia is Tang Zhixue’s mother. For so many years, on the anniversary of her son’s death, she would bring some eggs and go to the police station to ask about her son’s case…”
When Kong Shuiqi saw this, his eyes lit up.
Good news!
He was hoping the tipster would say a little more, but the tipster changed the subject. “We’re both not comfortable with online transactions, so let’s talk face-to-face. That way, both sides can be at ease.”
“Okay, time, place,” Kong Shuiqi agreed in one breath.
The agreed-upon meeting place looked like a security room or something similar.
As he followed the navigation to the location, Kong Shuiqi thought to himself that the place wasn’t hard to find. There was a very conspicuous abandoned building in front of him, and the security room looked empty from the outside.
Has the other person not arrived yet? Or are they hiding inside?
Kong Shuiqi weighed the situation and sneered inwardly with disdain.
People from small places, even leaking a bit of information is like conducting underground work. So inexperienced.
He carried his bag and strode in. This time he saw a figure. The person was sitting on a table, bouncing a basketball, and swinging their legs boredly. But against the light, he couldn’t see the person’s face for a moment. He just subconsciously felt a strange sense of wrongness, but this feeling didn’t sink in. He asked urgently, “Are you the tipster I was chatting with?”
The basketball flew past his ear and slammed into the half-closed main door of the security room.
With a loud bang, the door slammed shut.
The light in the room suddenly dimmed, and Kong Shuiqi’s mind went blank.
It’s a trap!
He turned and threw himself at the door, trying to open it to get out, but the door seemed to be welded to the frame and wouldn’t budge.
In a panic, he immediately started shouting, “Police brutality—”
“—Oh, my. I already said, I’m not a police officer, just a tipster. Does Reporter Kong want to see the police that badly?”
With a complaint, the person sitting on the table propped their elbows on their thighs and leaned forward.
He emerged from the darkness.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ji Xun.”
