Chapter 28: Yao Chang

Just as she stepped out of the reception room, Qin Ruonan was stopped by Tian Mi.

"This is for you," Tian Mi said with a smile, handing her a small palm-sized hot water bottle.

"What’s this?" Qin Ruonan frowned slightly, looking at Tian Mi with some confusion.

Tian Mi pointed to Qin Ruonan’s waist. "I noticed you seemed uncomfortable there, so I got you a hot water bottle."

Qin Ruonan was a little surprised. She accepted it and managed an awkward smile in return, slipping the hot water bottle into her jacket pocket before turning and heading into the interrogation room.

Inside, An Changpu had already begun questioning Yao Chang, and the atmosphere seemed anything but cordial.

An Changpu sat with a stern face, glaring at Yao Chang, who looked equally sullen. Yao Chang was a stocky, slightly overweight man, his hair styled in a way that suggested "local support for the central government," but after his earlier scuffle with Qin Ruonan, his hair was disheveled, a crust of dried blood marked his nostril, and the swelling on his cheekbone had yet to subside. He looked every bit the worse for wear.

The moment he saw Qin Ruonan, a hint of fear flickered in Yao Chang’s eyes, mixed with a trace of anger.

An Changpu motioned for Qin Ruonan to sit. The anger in his expression left it unclear whether he was more upset with Yao Chang or with her. He watched, puzzled, as Qin Ruonan sat down with deliberate slowness. Noticing his gaze, she discreetly pressed her arm against the pocket holding the hot water bottle.

"Speak up," An Changpu said only after Qin Ruonan had settled in, addressing Yao Chang. "Why did you assault a police officer just now?"

Yao Chang kept his eyes on Qin Ruonan, rubbing his bruised cheekbone. The sting made him suck in a breath. "Assault a police officer? Look at her—she’s perfectly fine! Now look at me, look at my face! Clearly I’m the one who got the worst of it. Don’t make it sound like I bullied a woman!"

"Don’t use gender as an excuse to change the subject or twist the facts," Qin Ruonan replied with a cold, mocking smile. "Care to say who started it? I identified myself, you bolted. When I chased after you, you turned and attacked. And in the end, the one who started the fight got subdued. How can you even bring up gender? With your skills, you’d need to be a lot better to even think of bullying women!"

An Changpu cleared his throat, signaling for Qin Ruonan not to get bogged down in this argument. She shot him a dissatisfied glance but, in the end, refrained from further ridicule.

Once it was clear Yao Chang had nothing more to say after being rebuffed, An Changpu pressed on. "What exactly have you done to make your conscience uneasy? Why panic at the sight of the police?"

Yao Chang looked up at An Changpu, as if trying to read something from his expression. But An Changpu remained calm and severe, giving nothing away. At last, Yao Chang replied darkly, "A few days ago, I beat someone up. Maybe a bit too hard. She came looking for me just now, and I thought her family had called the police, so I tried to get away. Who knew she’d chase me like her life depended on it? I figured if I didn’t take her down, I’d never escape today!"

At this, he seemed suddenly embarrassed by the memory of trying—and failing—to overpower the female officer before him. He shut his mouth, his face darkening with humiliation.

"You didn’t go easy on that person, did you? Otherwise, would she have fought back so desperately? Did you ransack her home the way you did Lu Min’s?" An Changpu asked, his tone light, but he casually dropped Lu Min’s name.

Yao Chang was startled to hear Lu Min’s name, unsure how to react. After a moment’s silence, he tested the waters: "Did you bring me in here with all this fanfare because of Lu Min?"

He tried to smile as he spoke, but the pain made him wince, his cheek twitching, his eyes now tinged with contempt.

"So you haven’t forgotten Lu Min," An Changpu observed, noting the scars of varying depths across Yao Chang’s face—evidence, no doubt, of past brawls.

Yao Chang snorted, curling his lip away from his injured left cheek, and sneered, "Forget him? I couldn’t if I tried! Owes me money and acts like he’s in the right, and now he’s turned into a woman but still hasn’t learned to handle things properly—acting like a real sissy! After all this time, he actually went to the police? And I never even gave him more trouble after that!"

His use of the slur "sissy" to describe Lu Min made Qin Ruonan, who had been silent, suddenly slap her palm on the table. The loud bang startled not only Yao Chang but An Changpu as well.

Seeing her darkened expression, Yao Chang snorted in defiance but sensibly held his tongue.

Qin Ruonan, following An Changpu’s earlier cue, refrained from further provocation, listening instead as the conversation unfolded. Judging by how fiercely Yao Chang had resisted arrest on Jiangkou’s new street and by the disdain in his tone when Lu Min was mentioned, she suspected that if he was telling the truth, his claim of beating someone for debt collection recently was far more serious than he let on. Compared to that, the Lu Min incident seemed almost trivial to him.

"Who did you injure recently? How badly were they hurt?" Qin Ruonan asked.

Yao Chang shot her a glare. "I can’t tell you that."

"Why not? Is it that you’re afraid, or that you just can’t say?"

"You think I’m stupid? Oh, no one’s pressing charges, so I should confess on my own accord? You give me too much credit!"

"Yao Chang, what exactly is the debt situation between you and Lu Min?" An Changpu shifted the focus back to Lu Min, not pressing further about Yao Chang’s recent violence.

Yao Chang seemed unconcerned about the matter with Lu Min and replied offhandedly, "He borrowed a hundred thousand from me back then, still owes about forty or fifty thousand. That’s about it. Let’s be clear—I know what’s what, so don’t try to scare me or play games. I charge high interest, sure, but it’s a willing deal between both sides, so don’t blame me alone. At most, it’s against the law, not a crime! Nothing for you criminal police to get involved in!"

An Changpu took Yao Chang’s bluster in stride, smiling faintly as he countered, "You seem to have a good grasp of things. But tell me—if someone died, would it be our business then?"

Yao Chang’s expression froze. He looked from An Changpu to Qin Ruonan, anxiety creeping in at last.

"What are you two getting at? Did something happen to him? Don’t try to pin this on me! I had nothing to do with it! He still owes me money—killing him would mean I’d never get it back! Don’t accuse an innocent man!" His tone was defensive, verging on hostile.

"We won’t accuse anyone unfairly," An Changpu replied. "But I doubt ‘innocent man’ is the best way to describe you. Since you say Lu Min’s case has nothing to do with you, why don’t you recall for us your whereabouts over the past month?"

An Changpu then told him the date of Lu Min’s confirmed death, as determined by the forensic team.

At first, Yao Chang seemed confident, but as he heard the date, uncertainty clouded his face. After a moment’s inner struggle, he finally spat out, "Anyway, I had nothing to do with Lu Min’s death! As for what I was doing then—I’m not telling you! Believe me or don’t, it’s up to you! Investigate all you want, but you’ll never find me to be the killer!"