Chapter 51: Qian Can

Ye Sangsang found it quite strange. Qin He had not come home, yet the Qin family had not even called the police that very afternoon?

Normally, if a child does not return home, shouldn't one report it to the police?

That is how a normal person would think, especially when a young girl goes missing. The police station does not require a twenty-four-hour wait to report a disappearance; the Qin family could have immediately notified the police to search for her.

She soon found the answer to this question.

It was because the Qin family was overly confident. They had discovered Qin He's absence yesterday afternoon.

Yet these wealthy folks believed they were deeply rooted and highly influential in the local area. They assumed that, relying on their own power, they could track down Qin He in no time.

To their surprise, after an entire night passed, they had received no news whatsoever. Qin He's phone could not be reached, and when they inquired with the Zhou family and the other two households, they were told that Qin had left right after answering a phone call yesterday afternoon.

The Qin family had even prepared themselves to receive kidnapping and ransom demands, only to find not the slightest hint of activity all morning.

With no other choice, Qin He's mother decided by afternoon to wait no longer, and she called the police despite objections.

The Qin family was furious, as this would reflect poorly on the family business.

Yet there was nothing to be done; the report had already been filed.

Events proved that their self-perceived deep roots were entirely useless.

What they had failed to discover, the police found in a flash.

After retrieving surveillance footage near the alley where Qin He vanished and conducting a grid search, they quickly located Qin He's corpse deep within the alley.

She had been intentionally murdered, her remains in a gruesome state, the methods vicious.

The Qin family held considerable influence, and the police launched an investigation with swift urgency.

Ye Sangsang noticed that upon hearing this news, Liu Ran, the chubby boy, became visibly restless, his body trembling continuously behind her.

She was almost tempted to wonder if he had developed Parkinson's disease.

After all, he was only a teenager of fourteen or fifteen, utterly incapable of hiding things.

Yet a malicious streak did indeed reside within him. He was sensitive and felt deeply inferior; otherwise, he would not have sought a sense of presence by bullying Ye Sangsang.

Yesterday, Ye Sangsang had been certain that even if he saw Qin He crying for help, he would neither step forward nor intervene. It was precisely because of everything he had just experienced that, unless one were a true saint, no one would dare take that risk to save her.

To call him malicious was fitting, for he had covered up the entire incident from start to finish, pretending he had never witnessed that scene.

It was not out of fear of retaliation, but purely because he chose to say nothing, hoping she would die and be left without anyone to collect her corpse.

Ye Sangsang pondered whether he would be able to withstand a few inquiries from the police without spilling everything.

The police were bound to come for him; the alley was full of his traces, even his fingerprints.

This was the root of his panic.

Sure enough, the moment the class dismissal bell rang, before many of the students had even left, the police were standing at the classroom door.

Before most of their classmates could react, the chubby boy Liu Ran, the instant he laid eyes on the police, dropped his schoolbag directly and bolted in a panic toward the back door.

Given the circumstances, coupled with the information they already possessed, the two police officers exchanged glances. They immediately gave chase and grabbed him just a dozen meters outside the classroom.

Ye Sangsang sighed inwardly at such weak nerve; she had overestimated him—he was simply both foolish and vicious.

Without the police even needing to question him, he would spill his guts like bamboo rolling out beans.

Like an onlooker cracking melon seeds out of curiosity, she watched through the glass window of the classroom as Liu Ran was led away from the school by the police on either side.

[Ah? Why did he run? It almost made me think he was the one who committed murder.]

[Guilt and cowardice, probably. Some people react that way by instinctively fleeing to avoid potential danger.]

[Too funny, the police officers' eyes went wide just now.]

From Liu Ran's sudden panicked flight to his swift apprehension, combined with the fact that his captors were police officers, the remaining students in the classroom instantly erupted into a buzz of chatter and discussion.

"Was Qin He's murder his doing? Just because he was chewed out yesterday?"

"He ran the moment the police showed up; I bet he's the killer."

"You really can't judge a book by its cover! I never imagined getting yelled at and having milk tea splashed on him would drive someone straight to murder."

Before the police had even interrogated him, many had already condemned Liu Ran as the murderer, and quite a few gazed at the escorted boy with expressions full of loathing.

Ye Sangsang, the actual murderer, seemed completely unnoticed and free of suspicion.

Perhaps it was because she was perceived as far too docile.

Having endured bullying for over two years without ever mustering the courage to mount a violent resistance, they tacitly assumed she would forever suffer in silence and never strike back.

Hearing the discussions around her, Ye Sangsang calmly withdrew her gaze and continued packing her books.

Yet she could sense a gaze lingering steadily upon her.

The look came from the front right, and the moment she stood up to leave, it vanished.

She didn't care, pretending to be entirely unaware of the stare.

She strolled leisurely on her way home, relishing the brief tranquility of the walk.

She knew very well that the police would not pin the crime on Liu Ran.

Once he spoke and the police cross-checked his words, the authorities would come looking for her straight away.

It was very simple: not only did Liu Ran have a motive to kill, but she, as a long-term victim of school violence, also had a motive.

As for the bullying, while the police might not find physical evidence of her abuse, they would learn of it from Liu Ran's lips.

That moment was not far off; she would go home and quietly finish her homework first.

Sure enough, halfway through her homework, the doorbell of the Lin residence rang.

Qiao Feng was sitting in the living room; hearing the bell, she put down the book in her hand and rose to open the front door.

Catching sight of the two police officers outside, she paused and asked, "What is it?" Naturally, she had already guessed the purpose of their visit.

"Hello, we'd like to ask your daughter a few questions regarding the death of Qin He," one officer said, pulling out his credentials to state his purpose.

Qiao Feng wore a warm, polite smile, gesturing for the police to step inside. She looked every bit the exceptionally well-bred, gentle mother who never raised her voice.

She led the two officers to sit in the living room, poured them tea, and then said, "She's doing her homework. I'll go call her out."

The two officers nodded.

Ye Sangsang had already heard the commotion in the living room, so by the time Qiao Feng entered, she had already turned her head.

Once Qiao Feng stated the police's objective, Ye Sangsang stood up and walked out, wearing an air of obedience tinged with a trace of timidity.

With her shoulders slightly hunched and her head instinctively lowered, she sat constrainedly on the living room sofa.

"Officer uncle, is something the matter?" Ye Sangsang asked timidly.

Standing beside her, Qiao Feng added apologetically, "This child has always been like this. We've tried teaching her countless times—please don't mind it."

This, of course, was not spoken in praise of Ye Sangsang, but rather as a direct attempt to shirk responsibility. It meant that any small-town awkwardness was no fault of hers, but merely the child's own failure to heed instruction.

The officers shook their heads to indicate they didn't mind, spread open their notebooks, and began questioning Ye Sangsang.

"Don't be afraid. We're here regarding your classmate Qin He. We'd like to ask: after you left the school with Qin He yesterday, did you go straight home? Did you go anywhere else?" the officer asked.

Ye Sangsang opened her mouth to speak, but Qiao Feng cut her in mid-sentence, "Yes, when she came back yesterday, she had already finished most of her homework and stayed home the whole time!"

This was a common flaw of overbearing parents; they would instinctively interrupt a conversation.

"We are asking student Lin Ying!" The officer looked at Qiao Feng with a sharp gaze.

Sensing the atmosphere, Ye Sangsang shrank her neck slightly and said, "It's just as Mom said. I went straight home. Feeling like a heavy rain was coming, I walked quite fast."

The police nodded slightly, which matched the surveillance footage they had retrieved.

Another officer asked, "Then did you notice anything unusual about classmate Qin He?"

Ye Sangsang shook her head with a pale face.

"May I ask why you lingered at the school for so long?" the officer asked directly.

The school administration had claimed ignorance and reported no surveillance coverage, leaving the police somewhat curious about what had actually transpired at the school. Although Liu Ran had mentioned being bullied, some parts of his account were vague.

Ye Sangsang's face turned even paler. Having already applied foundation, she now looked chalk-white, as pale as a ghost. Yet she forced herself to shake her head frantically, her visible eyes brimming with fear and terror.

The officer on the left continued to press, "Did something unpleasant happen between you?"

"N—no..." Feeling Qiao Feng's piercing stare, Ye Sangsang replied with a slight stammer.

Anyone could tell something was amiss.

Yet the police could not pursue this particular line of questioning, as it seemed unrelated to the homicide case.

Therefore, the officer on the right asked, "After you got home, you didn't go out again?"

Ye Sangsang shook her head, indicating she had not.

Because the surveillance would show that by the time Qin He reached the mouth of the alley and vanished from the camera's view, she herself was already very close to home.

The police asked a few more questions before ultimately choosing to leave.

Ye Sangsang watched them depart.

After closing the door, Qiao Feng looked at Ye Sangsang and said, "There are some things we shouldn't say, so don't say them. Do you understand?"

"Okay, Mom, can I go do my homework now?" Ye Sangsang asked after nodding obediently.

Qiao Feng smiled with a sense of relief, naturally reaching out to pat Ye Sangsang's shoulder. "Go ahead!"

Ye Sangsang flinched slightly from the pat.

Qiao Feng paid it no mind and walked off toward the kitchen.

[This mother is truly no good. When other people's children are subjected to school violence, they are terrified lest the world not know, yet she's covering it up for the perpetrators.]

[I don't know why, but I always find this kind of attitude weird.]

[She clearly noticed when she patted Sister Sang just now, yet she didn't care at all. What kind of people are allowed to be parents nowadays!]

The live broadcast room was furious watching this scene, especially realizing that this was a true story made it all the more infuriating.

They truly could not comprehend how such parents could manage to remain so utterly indifferent.

Ye Sangsang felt nothing at all, likely because her cheap excuse of a father shared the exact same disposition.

To sum it up: there was simply no love.

She returned to her room to continue her homework.

As she worked, she wondered whether the police would manage to find her as the culprit.

And as for the school bullying, how would the administration handle it?

Judging by the police's attitude today, it was evident they hadn't obtained the school's footage. Perhaps the school had lied and claimed the cameras were broken.

Things within the classroom were relatively contained; yesterday, only Qin He and another female student had participated in bullying Liu Ran.

However, the situation at the gymnasium was entirely different. Besides Qin He, there were another boy and girl, plus Zhou Qingxue, whose involvement in the bullying could not be exposed.

Most likely, the moment Qin He's corpse was announced as found, all surveillance footage related to bullying her had been erased by the school administration.

As long as they claimed to the outside world that the cameras were broken and undergoing maintenance, the police could do nothing to them.

In the eyes of the school and the Zhou family, absolutely nothing must happen to Zhou Qingxue.

As for Liu Ran, he wasn't entirely stupid; he wouldn't volunteer the whole story on his own.