Chapter 7 Gold Medal Nutrition Consultant

After saying all this, Cui Lidong was already streaming with tears. Qin Ruonan and An Changpu did not know what to say. In truth, when a person feels sad and grieving, words of comfort appear particularly pale and powerless, especially in the current situation. When a suspect who had been temporarily detained on suspicion of murder was grieving the sudden illness and passing of his mother, any consoling words spoken by the interrogating police officers inevitably carried a sense of formality and forcedness.

Qin Ruonan was all the more lacking in experience when it came to soothing other people's emotions. For so many years, she had habitually hidden her own feelings, regardless of whether they were of sorrow or joy. Her father, deeply entrenched in the mindset of favoring sons over daughters, had always regarded his daughters as burdens and worthless goods. Her cowardly mother did not even dare to draw a full breath in front of her father, and below her were a younger sister and a spoiled younger brother. Therefore, no matter how difficult things were, she had to keep them in her heart and bear them alone in silence, because there was no one she could rely on or confide in. As time passed, this almost stripped her of the instinct to show weakness. Not only was she unaccustomed to revealing vulnerability and helplessness in front of others, but she also had no idea how to react when facing such expressions in others. Thus, when Cui Lidong wept with grief over his mother's death, other than silently handing him a facial tissue, there was nothing she could do.

Fortunately for Cui Lidong at this juncture, the comforting power of a facial tissue seemed to become extraordinarily immense, perhaps because this tissue was pulled from Qin Ruonan's pocket and handed to him by her own hand.

"Officer Qin, thank you!" Cui Lidong did not use that tissue to wipe his tears; instead, he folded the tissue, put it into the breast pocket of his jacket, wiped his face with his sleeve, and said to Qin Ruonan, "I don't know how I can prove my innocence right now, but I can truly swear to heaven that I didn't kill that man surnamed Song! I didn't even have such a thought! It was he who blackmailed me because his ear was clipped! To extort money, he was even afraid that the small cut would heal properly, so he deliberately picked at the wound himself to keep it bleeding! He did it on purpose!"

"Song Chengliang deliberately worsened the healing of the wound tissue? How do you know about this?" An Changpu raised a question.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Faced with An Changpu's skepticism, Cui Lidong seemed somewhat impatient. "He rubbed the wound right in front of me and even said that he was reckless and willing to go all the way. As long as I didn't give him money, he would keep the wound infected like this and see whether people believed him or me!"

"Didn't you say before that you only suspected he did that? How come it has now become something you saw with your own eyes?" Qin Ruonan had always possessed a very good memory and still remembered Cui Lidong's previous statement clearly. Naturally, she was able to spot the flaw in his words immediately.

Although Cui Lidong was still quite displeased that the person questioning him had turned out to be Qin Ruonan, he softened his tone considerably: "I didn't dare to say it before, because I was afraid that if I said it, you would think my grudge against that fellow surnamed Song was too deep and would suspect me. Now I am telling the truth; he really went and messed with his wound right in front of me! Otherwise, I couldn't have been so confident that he was trying to frame me! I really didn't kill anyone! Up until now, no one has told me anything, and I don't even know how that fellow surnamed Song died!"

"Since you are so certain that the matter has nothing to do with you and you are completely unaware of Song Chengliang's death, why were you willing to be detained and interrogated?" An Changpu asked.

Cui Lidong smiled, a very helpless smile. "I wanted to refuse, but would my refusal have been of any use? Besides, the more uncooperative I am, wouldn't my suspicion only grow greater? I know what kind of person I am; even if I talked my lungs out, no one would be willing to believe me. So, Sister Qin, you are the only person I can trust. If even you end up thinking in the end that I am the one who killed him, then I truly have no hope left."

"Why did you specifically ask for me to be in charge? Why didn't you accept any of the police officers who are much more senior and experienced than me, and instead specifically named me to handle your case?" Qin Ruonan finally could not hold it in any longer and asked the question that had been bottled up in her heart for a long time.

Taken aback by her question, Cui Lidong looked at her blankly for a long moment before stammering, "There's no particular reason. I just felt that you were trustworthy, no other reason."

"Since you feel that I am trustworthy, is there anything you would like to proactively tell us?" Hearing him say this, Qin Ruonan did not intend to pursue the matter further.

"I... to tell the truth, I actually did follow Song Chengliang that day." Cui Lidong hesitated, seemingly feeling some misgivings about speaking out, yet realizing that remaining silent would fail Qin Ruonan's proactive opportunity to give him a chance. "I'll say it again: I never intended to kill him. Let alone killing him, I didn't even have the intention to harm him. I followed him because I wanted to catch some dirt on him, so that he would have no way to blackmail me anymore."

"Catch dirt on him? Are you very close with Song Chengliang? How did you know that by following him, you would definitely be able to catch dirt on him?" An Changpu questioned Cui Lidong's statement. As a person of normal thinking, no matter who heard it, it would be difficult to believe Cui Lidong's explanation. After all, the relationship between the two was merely that of a hairdresser and a customer. To want to track and stake out the other person just because one was being blackmailed in order to obtain dirt seemed far too childish and incredible.

"I'm not lying; it's all true. You can suspect me, and I indeed am not a good person. But precisely because I am not a good person, I can tell who else is equally not a good person," Cui Lidong gave a self-deprecating smile. "Having mixed in the streets for too long, I am particularly good at reading those lowlife characters. That fellow surnamed Song usually spoke with thirty percent truth and seventy percent water, spouting three lies with every single fart; he was by no means a simple character. You can think I'm just guessing blindly, but I think you should check his background properly, and then you'll see if I'm right or not."

"You don't need to worry about that; we will certainly investigate and understand the victim's situation." Qin Ruonan gave a somewhat tactful response, then immediately asked, "Do you have any other friends in the city?"

Cui Lidong's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately shook his head, saying, "No, I have neither relatives nor acquaintances here, and I don't know anyone."

He denied the fact that questionable "social friends" often came looking for him. Qin Ruonan and An Changpu found it difficult to confront him about it directly since they had only heard it from the barbershop owner earlier and it had yet to be verified. Whether it was the suspect or a bystander, neither side's biased words could be trusted blindly.

Therefore, An Changpu asked a question unrelated to the "social friends": "Why are you unwilling to live in the dormitory rented for you by your boss? Wouldn't that reduce some of your expenses?"

"I... am afraid of noise, cannot stand crowds, so I'm used to living alone." Cui Lidong blinked his eyes and answered quickly.

"Where is the pair of scissors your mother left you right now?" An Changpu asked again.

"In my rented place."

"Would you mind if we went to take a look?"

"I don't mind, but you must be careful and absolutely must not break them!"

It was clear that Cui Lidong truly cherished those scissors deeply. An Changpu assured him that there would be no damage whatsoever, and only then did Cui Lidong provide his address and the landlord's contact information.

When the questioning concluded and Cui Lidong was led back to the detention room, his gaze remained fixed on Qin Ruonan, containing both entreaty and expectation. Qin Ruonan did not meet his gaze, only letting out a faint sigh.

"What is it?" An Changpu asked.

"Nothing," Qin Ruonan shook her head. "I just feel very conflicted. On the one hand, I actually very much hope that Cui Lidong is innocent—after all, no one wants someone they know to be a murderer. On the other hand, I feel I shouldn't have such a thought, for fear it might interfere with my judgment."

"You don't need to think too much about it. We are police officers, but being police officers doesn't mean we are robots. He is, after all, an acquaintance, and you took on this case precisely because you were trusted. It is a completely normal reaction for you to hope not to let Cui Lidong down; if it were me, I would feel the same way. It's just that hopefully, Cui Lidong won't let down your trust in him either!" An Changpu told Qin Ruonan.

"You're right, trust is mutual. Let's go, let's head over to the fitness center and take a look!" Hearing his words of comfort—though simple, they felt deeply soothing—a trace of a smile appeared on Qin Ruonan's face. She gathered her thoughts and prepared to set off for their next stop.

The fitness center they were heading to was called the Fengyun Women's Fitness Center, which had a considerable reputation in the city. As could be seen from the name, its target consumer group was women, and its business scope covered athletic slimming, massage weight loss, and even beauty treatments. Although An Changpu and Qin Ruonan arrived there just around dinnertime, the parking lot outside the fitness center was still packed with vehicles, and it looked like there were plenty of customers.

"If you didn't look at the sign and just looked at the parking lot, you'd think this was some wildly popular large restaurant!" An Changpu expressed great astonishment that it was so difficult to find a parking space at this time of day.

Qin Ruonan smiled: "For many women who love beauty, dinner is their natural enemy."

An Changpu shook his head in slight disagreement: "Why go through all that trouble? Actually, as long as it's not to the extent of harming one's health, what does it matter if someone is a little fatter or thinner? If a man likes a certain woman, there must be many reasons for it. If he only liked her because of her good figure, then that certainly isn't true love!"

"Remember these words and say them to your girlfriend later; she'll definitely be happy." Qin Ruonan smiled bitterly, locked the car alongside An Changpu, and walked into the entrance of the fitness center.

Just as they stepped inside, the huge LCD screen in the lobby was scrolling through profiles of the premier staff members, and startlingly, Song Chengliang's photo appeared right there, as if confirming the information An Changpu and his partner had heard from the barbershop.

Directly following Song Chengliang's name was his title: Gold Nutrition Consultant of the Fitness Center.

It appeared that Song Chengliang's death had been so sudden that the center had not yet had time to take down his photo and advertisements.