CH 153

Translated by Crooked

Edited by Dust Bunny 

CW: Discussion of suicide

After Gu Xizhou looked at the chat record, he returned the phone to Wei Ming. He understood the situation more or less. He let the school notify the student’s family and left with Fang Zhi.

After surveying the crime scene, Gu Xizhou had just returned to the police station when he saw a middle-aged woman in a black dress with eyes as swollen as walnuts sitting in the lounge, crying. Next to her, Lao Guo was softly consoling her.

“Don’t cry, where is the girl’s father?” Lao Guo asked quietly, stifling his temper. He spoke softly like he was afraid the very next moment he would provoke her to explode. 

The pitifully crying middle-aged woman lowered her head and sobbed, “I-I don’t know.”

As the woman finished speaking, Gu Xizhou got a call from Fang Zhi.

“What’s up?” Gu Xizhou asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Gu Ge, Sun Feifei’s father went straight to the school and caused a scene.”

“Wasn’t he asked to come to the police department? The body’s at the station, not the school, so what did he go there for?” Gu Xizhou’s mouth twitched.

Fang Zhi’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat. “H-he brought some relatives and a banner from somewhere, and they’re causing trouble at the gate.”

Ca atf rjwf alwf Mjcu Itl rqbxf, Xe Wlhtbe tfjgv lcafgwlaafca nblmfr ogbw atf gfmflnfg——

“Qtja vb sbe wfjc la’r cba gfijafv ab atf rmtbbi? P fcagerafv ws vjeutafg ab atf rmtbbi, jcv sbeg rmtbbi rtbeiv tjnf yffc gfrqbcrlyif obg tfg rjofas! Tbe’gf remt jc lwqbgajca qfgrbc; lo sbe rjs atfgf’r cb qgbyifw atfc atfgf lrc’a! Lbk jgf sbe ublcu ab ifa er qjgfcar offi gfilfnfv joafg tjcvlcu bnfg beg mtlivgfc ab raevs ja sbeg rmtbbi lc atf oeaegf?” 

“Don’t think you can avoid responsibility for this! You have to give us an explanation!”

“Sun Tongxue violated school regulations and rented an apartment outside. If she didn’t rent an apartment outside she wouldn’t be dead. You’re making trouble for no reason.”

“She didn’t live at school? If she didn’t live at the school, then it’s the school’s fault for lacking oversight!”

“How do you want to deal with this?” Sun Feifei’s class counselor was acting as the intermediary in the situation. He frowned and his voice sunk as he questioned them. 

The middle-aged man immediately said, “Pay restitution, you have to pay restitution!”

The counselor glanced at him and said, “That isn’t up for me to decide. After I consult with the school leaders I can give you an answer. The school president is already gone, so there’s no point to you making noise here. You can go to the police station first. I also want to go, so we can go together.”

“Don’t think you can play tricks!” The middle-aged man spat. “I won’t go, you have to give me an explanation today!”

The counselor’s expression soured. At this time, the victim’s classmates also came over and saw the banner pulled across the gate. A few students commented on it in low voices. 

“How can Sun Feifei’s family be like this? They’re not at the police department, and they ran to the school to cause trouble.”

When the counselor heard the students, his face was filled with helplessness. Many of the students on campus couldn’t explain it. Last year, there was another student who killed himself because he couldn’t graduate. If he couldn’t graduate, he had to repeat the program a year later. He had to kill himself.

That fourth year student’s guardian wasn’t bad. After his death, they requested compensation from the school. The school leaders also dealt with the matter with an attitude of ‘one thing more is better than one thing less’ and compensated him with 300,000 to settle the matter.

He was also the one to deal with the matter from last year. Every time he saw a parent making noise like this, he couldn’t help but sympathize with them, and he understood them. If a child died, it was always better to lose a little money. 

But Sun Feifei’s father didn’t go to the police station, he went straight to the school to make trouble. He couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. With parents that behaved like this, it would be better to be an orphan.

The middle-aged man had a megaphone in his hands, like he was afraid people wouldn’t be able to hear what he was saying. He blabbered on incessantly, demanding the school take responsibility.

Gu Xizhou: “His daughter died, and he isn’t coming to the station to identify the body. Instead, he ran to her school to make trouble. Sun Feifei’s roommates weren’t wrong. She doesn’t have a good relationship with her family.”

“I said don’t be noisy. The police officer is also there. If you keep it up, I can only report you,” said the counselor, frowning. 

Maybe the man was unable to raise his head high with all the students gossiping about him, so he restrained himself. He saw Fang Zhi coming over and resentfully turned off his horn.

Gu Xizhou hung up the phone and frowned with displeasure. Then he looked over at Sun Feifei’s mother. Her skin was awfully dark, and her cheeks had two red spots on them.

“Lao Guo, you go do your work. I’ll deal with this.” Gu Xizhou stepped forward and looked down at the woman. “Please follow me.”

“Okay.” 

Sun Feifei’s mother nodded at him and got up to follow him into the morgue. The plain white cloth was pulled off in an instant, revealing the tragic sight. Her tears fell down, and she covered her mouth with a sob.

Gu Xizhou lent her an arm to support her out of the room and into a chair outside. Her whole body was wracked with sobs, and she spoke as she wept. “She’s just like me, born under an unlucky star…”

The woman sobbed while spilling everything to Gu Xizhou who was accompanying her. “Feifei’s father and I don’t get along. When she was in elementary school, her dad looked for a mistress outside, and after I caught him, I wanted a divorce. My family didn’t let me take my daughter, who was a burden…”

“There are inevitably times when people will be selfish. At that time, I didn’t want to raise her either, and she was set aside for her father. That mistress didn’t want to see Feifei at home. Later, Feifei returned to the village and was always raised by her grandma. 

“In junior high, she was molested by a male teacher. She wasn’t speaking with me then, but I heard about it from an old friend from my hometown.”

Gu Xizhou asked softly, “Was it reported to the police?”

The woman shook her head. “No. After that teacher was exposed, he jumped off a building and killed himself.”

Gu Xizhou nodded faintly and comforted her with a few words. He didn’t think this Sun Feifei’s childhood was like this. 

“I’m sorry, I made you listen to my problems. Officer, can you catch the murderer?” asked the woman, clenching one of Gu Xizhou’s hands between hers.

Gu Xizhou didn’t know what to say, so he merely nodded at her.

Sun Feifei’s parents divorced when she was in fifth grade, and both parties remarried afterward. The child was thrown away by her father to be looked after by her grandmother, and there was no deep affection between her parents.

Compared with investigating the case, it was more exhausting to deal with the family of the deceased. Gu Xizhou rubbed his head and looked out at the man and woman bickering with each other. He shook his head and directly got out of the line of fire. 

He had just left the station when he saw Gu Qing, already waiting for him outside. Gu Qing stood at a distance, the sun shining down on his face.

“I’ve waited for you for a long time. Is there anything you want to say to me?” Gu Qing greeted him with a smile.