Card Room (Rebirth)

Yu Hanjiang came to Xu Fangfang’s house. The hearse just happened to be picking up her grandfather’s body. Xu Fangfang had cried for a long time yesterday. Yu Hanjiang waited patiently for her to bid farewell to the old man’s body before walking forward and showing his police officer ID. “Hello Miss Xu, I have some questions I want to ask you. I hope you can assist in the investigation.”

The man in front of her wasn’t wearing a police uniform but was dressed in casual clothes. A dark gray sweater and light gray long coat set off his tall and upright figure.

Xu Fangfang was obviously stunned when she saw the police officer’s card. “Police? Why are you looking for me?”

Yu Hanjiang directly asked, “Do you know Wang Wei?”

A trace of panic flashed in Xu Fangfang’s eyes and she quickly shifted her gaze. “I don’t know him.”

“Think again.”

Xu Fangfang shook her head firmly. “I don’t know.”

“Miss Xu, I hope you can think about it before answering.” Yu Hanjiang brought up Wang Wei’s photo from his mobile phone, put it directly in front of Xu Fangfang and spoke softly, “Wang Wei, 28 years old and a deliveryman. You and him used to be a couple. You celebrated your 24th birthday on October 8th last year and he gave you a necklace, the one you are wearing around your neck. Then he suddenly broke up with you.”

Yu Hanjiang calmly watched the girl in front of him. “Do you want me to continue speaking?”

“……” Xu Fangfang’s body trembled violently as she recalled the past. She crouched down in pain and hugged her head, her voice choked up. “How do you know this?”

“The police naturally have a way to investigate. Miss Xu, please come with me.” Yu Hanjiang whispered.

“Fangfang, who is looking for you?” An old lady walked into the room and asked in a hoarse voice.

“Elder, I’m the group leader of the criminal police force. How much do you know about Wang Wei?” Yu Hanjiang walked up to the old lady and asked.

“Wang Wei is a very sensible and filial child. I have high blood pressure and he often buys medicine and delivers them to me. Sometimes it is inconvenient for us elderly people to move our old legs so he sends us food… why are you asking about him? Officer, he wouldn’t have done anything wrong!” The old lady was puzzled. She obviously didn’t know that Wang Wei had died.

“……” Xu Fangfang held back her tears and choked out, “Grandma, don’t worry. Wang Wei is fine. The police came to me because they are investigating something about the takeaway company. I will go with them and come back.”

She helped the old lady back into the house before going out to meet Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang asked his colleague to drive her back to the police department to make an official transcript. In the interrogation room, Xu Fangfang controlled her emotions/had already calmed her emotions. She told Yu Hanjiang about her experience of meeting Wang Wei and breaking up.

Three years ago on a rainy night, Xu Fangfang was on the night shift at the hospital. That day, an old man with an acute myocardial infarction needed to be rescued. She was too busy to eat dinner and didn’t feel hungry until midnight. She called for takeout and the delivery man was Wang Wei.

The man was young and handsome. He delivered food in the rain and his clothes were wet, but his smile was simple and honest. He handed the takeout to her and said, “Night shift? It is hard work. I hurried to deliver it and the food is still warm. Hurry and eat it.”

Xu Fangfang opened the takeout boxes. The steaming food really did look like they were just cooked. The delivery man was obviously quick and the heavy rain couldn’t stop him.

Xu Fangfang’s heart was warm and she spoke casually. “Aren’t you also on night shift delivering takeout? You are riding in the rain. Pay attention to safety!”

This was one of the few warm things that Xu Fangfang felt in the middle of the night.

A month later, the two of them naturally got together. Due to the company’s arrangement, Wang Wei was transferred to the farmer’s market area that was far from Xu Fangfang’s work. He couldn’t send her takeout anymore but it just so happened that the home of Xu Fangfang’s grandparents was nearby. Therefore, Wang Wei often gave food to the two elderly people and was soon acknowledged by Xu Fangfang’s family.

Yu Hanjiang recorded up to here and frowned. He asked in a low voice, “You have such a good relationship and Wang Wei seems to be a trustworthy man. He suddenly wanted to break up. Didn’t you feel any doubts?”

Xu Fangfang lowered her head and spoke softly, “I was very tired after the night shift that day. He sent a message saying he was bored with me after being together for so long and fell in love with another woman at work. What could I do? No girl would forgive her boyfriend for falling in love with another. His reason was enough for me to break up with him.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “Did he propose to you?”

Xu Fangfang shook her head. “No.”

Yu Hanjiang found the consumption records from a shopping mall. “This diamond ring was bought by Wang Wei from a department store on November 13th last year. It is worth 10 million gold coins. The inside of the diamond ring is engraved with ‘WW&FF’. It is clearly a diamond proposal ring for you. He bought an expensive diamond ring on the 13th but said he wanted to break up with you on the 17th. How do you explain this?”

Xu Fangfang’s face was pale and she tightly clenched her fingers.

She didn’t expect the police to investigate so quickly and to even find Wang Wei’s spending records. Buying a diamond ring on the 13th and then wanting to break up on the 17th on the grounds of ‘I like another’. No matter what, it didn’t make sense.

Before Xu Fangfang could organize her thoughts, she heard Yu Hanjiang say lightly, “Wang Wei is dead. You should know this?”

Xu Fangfang suddenly looked up, her voice trembling. “W-What? He, he is dead?”

Yu Hanjiang pushed the result of the fingerprint comparison to her. “Wang Wei’s body was found in a garbage dump on February 2nd. I know this is a bit cruel to you but I hope you can cooperate with the police to solve this case as soon as possible and find the real murderer who killed Wang Wei. You are still lying up to now. Do you want Wang Wei to die with remaining grievances?”

There were many photos of the scene in the appraisal report, including one of Wang Wei’s hand. The cut off hand had charred traces but the five fingers were well preserved. The police compared the DNA and fingerprints and confirmed that the hand belonged to the takeout deliveryman Wang Wei.

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, “Wang Wei’s hand, are you familiar with it?”

Xu Fangfang, “……”

The visual impact of the clear photos of the body part caused Xu Fangfang to completely collapse. The hand that once held her gently was now chopped off and most of it burnt…

Xu Fangfang pressed a hand against her stomach, sobbing and retching. Yu Hanjiang asked a policewoman to take her to the bathroom to vomit. Xu Fangfang almost vomited out all the contents of her stomach but she didn’t eat anything this morning and could only vomit out acid water.

10 minutes later, Xu Fangfang returned to the interrogation room, her face as pale as paper and her shoulders trembling constantly. Yu Hanjiang calmly looked at her. “Did you figure it out clearly? Are you going to continue hiding it or will you cooperate with us to find the real culprit who killed Wang Wei?”

Xu Fangfang, “……”

The female colleague looked at her sympathetically. Yu Hanjiang’s interrogation method was really cutting straight to the heart by using a photo of the corpse to stimulate Xu Fangfang. If Xu Fangfang really loved Wang Wei then seeing photos of his corpse would indeed cause a mental breakdown.

Xu Fangfang no longer insisted on her previous words and was white-faced. “You… can you really help me find the real culprit?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Of course. The police pays attention to evidence when handling cases. We won’t mislead you like someone else and direct your hatred toward Shao Qingge, who had a kidney transplant. In fact, you know that the culprit isn’t Shao Qingge but the one who operated on Wang Wei.”

Xu Fangfang’s eyes widened. Her mouth was so wide that a duck egg could be stuffed in it. She couldn’t believe that Yu Hanjiang actually knew so much. The latter still looked calm, with no fluctuations in his voice. “In the hospital, you almost acted against Shao Qingge. Isn’t it because Shao Qingge’s kidney actually comes from Wang Wei?”

Xu Fangfang’s lips trembled. “H-How do you know this?”

Yu Hanjiang was just guessing but Xu Fangfang’s words made his guess become true.

On the way to Xu Fangfang’s house, his colleague had sent him Wang Wei’s bank records. The result confirmed that Wang Wei’s bank account only received his monthly salary and no additional income. The savings in his account wasn’t enough to buy such an expensive diamond ring.

Shao Qingge’s father once mentioned that Shao Qingge’s kidney was bought for 200,000 yuan and it was a cash transaction. The investigation records of the department store showed that the limited edition ‘I only have you in this life’ diamond ring was bought in November last year and was indeed engraved with the letters ‘WW&FF’ as Liu Qiao said.

Did Wang Wei’s cash come from the Shao family? He sold his kidney and bought this diamond ring after getting a lot of cash. Then Xu Fangfang learned about it from somewhere and wanted to get revenge. This logical relationship made sense.

At the same time, Yu Hanjiang’s mobile phone received a WeChat message from Xiao Lou. “The results of the DNA comparison have come out. Chief Shao’s kidney tissue genes are exactly the same as those obtained from Wang Wei’s corpse.”

Yu Hanjiang put down the phone and looked at Xu Fangfang. “Miss Xu, tell me what you know. What did Wang Wei do in November last year? Also, who told you that the beneficiary of his kidney is Shao Qingge?”

Xu Fangfang gritted her teeth hard. Then after some ideological struggle, she spoke with a quivering voice. “I-I always thought that Brother Wei broke up with me because he fell in love with another woman. That’s what he told me at the time. Therefore, I blacklisted him in a fit of anger. It wasn’t until half a month later that I learned the reason he said this to me was because he was desperate.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and encouraged her to go on.

Xu Fangfang took a deep breath to sort out her thoughts and said, “In November last year, we were ready to get married. I went to the department store with him and the sister working there recommended me this diamond ring. I thought it was pretty and tried it on. I really liked it. Then she told me the price and I was shocked. I hurried away with Brother Wei. After leaving the department store, Brother Wei asked me if I liked the diamond ring. I said I liked it but we couldn’t afford it, so let’s buy a simple ring. He didn’t say anything and I didn’t pay attention to it.”

“I didn’t know at the time that his mother had stomach cancer and needed surgery. Fortunately, it was in the early stages. The doctor said that early gastric cancer is easier to treat. However, the cost of surgery was very high. His parents don’t work and he didn’t have much savings at home. It might be because of this that he thought of… selling his kidney.”

At this point, Xu Fangfang was crying. “I don’t know where he saw the information but he must’ve been deceived! After selling the kidney, he used part of the money for his mother’s surgery, part of it to buy the diamond ring and the rest to prepare for the wedding…”

“However, not long after the operation was completed, serious complications occurred. His mother said it took him a long time to go to the toilet and he found blood in his urine. His mother urged him to go to the hospital for treatment. He was afraid I would find out so he specifically went to another hospital for a check-up. As a result, he found out he was suffering from renal failure and severe urinary system infection. He was worried he would hurt me so he deliberately broke up with me.”

Xu Fangfang buried her face between her hands, her entire face smeared with tears and her eyes red and swollen from crying. Yu Hanjiang sighed in his heart and handed her a pack of tissues.

After her mood calmed down a bit, Yu Hanjiang asked, “Did you learn all this information from his mother?”

Xu Fangfang choked up and nodded. “Yes, his mother gave me the ring. After the diagnosis, he left the city. We weren’t able to find him until January this year when his friend told us that Wang Wei was dead.”

Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert. “A friend? Where did the friend come from?”

Xu Fangfang opened WeChat and found a portrait of a blue sky and white clouds. “He said he was a friend and colleague of Wang Wei. Wang Wei only contacted him during this time. He also showed me the chat history of the two people. Wang Wei’s condition progressed very quickly and he suffered every day. He couldn’t bear it and committed suicide, leaving a suicide note.”

Yu Hanjiang took Xu Fangfang’s phone and looked at the chat history between her and the other party.

The WeChat ID of the person with a blue sky and white clouds was ‘Clear Sky’. The chat photos and will between them and Wang Wei were probably from photoshop. Wang Wei would never commit suicide. This person also told Xu Fangfang that Wang Wei’s kidney was donated to Shao Qingge, the only son of the Shao family. It was the people from the Shao family who deceived Wang Wei. This caused Wang Wei to experience severe surgical complications and he died in pain.

This passage was clearly pointing the finger at the rich Shao family.

Xu Fangfang lowered her head. “A few days ago, Shao Qingge actually lived in the ward where I was working. It was really like the will of Heaven! I was too extreme at the time and I felt that Shao Qingge killed Wang Wei. In addition, my grandfather’s death was a big blow to me. I didn’t want to live any longer and I wanted to pull Shao Qingge with me.”

Yu Hanjiang’s back was slightly cold. If Xiao Lou hadn’t acted fast enough then maybe Chief Shao really wouldn’t have woken up this time.

He calmly said, “You are a medical student. You should know that if a kidney transplant is done well, it won’t have a big impact on the person who has the kidney removed. The culprit isn’t Shao Qingge who bought the kidney. It is the person who performed the operation on Wang Wei!”

Xu Fangfang lowered her head in shame. “I know. I actually understood it after going back so I am willing to cooperate with your investigation. That is all I know. There is nothing else to hide.”

Xu Fangfang’s testimony provided Yu Hanjiang with many clues.

First, Wang Wei was the victim of organ transplantation. The people from the illegal clinic weren’t well qualified which led to serious complications after surgery. Wang Wei wanted to escape from reality and left the city. It was likely the illegal clinic was worried he would reveal the secret so they killed him.

Secondly, the person who contacted Xu Fangfang shouldn’t be from the illegal clinic. They wanted to hide it so desperately. How could they contact a loved one of the victim? The person with the ID of Clear Sky might also be a victim or a loved one of a victim. They had channels to find the whereabouts of the organ trafficking and were full of hatred for the beneficiaries of the organ trafficking.

It was possible that this person was related to the first ‘Cheng Shaoyu dismembered case’ because Cheng Shaoyu was the beneficiary of a heart transplant.

Xu Fangfang couldn’t leave for the time being. She had at least ‘attempted’ to kill Shao Qingge. Yu Hanjiang couldn’t let her return to the hospital and continue to threaten Chief Shao. After Xu Fangfang was temporarily detained, Yu Hanjiang sent the results of today’s investigation to the group.

Xiao Lou speculated, “This Clear Sky knows a lot. They can accurately locate the donors and recipients of all the organ transplant cases. They knew that Chief Shao’s kidney came from Wang Wei and should naturally know where Cheng Shaoyu’s heart came from.”

Yu Hanjiang agreed. “We can reverse the investigation and find the source of Cheng Shaoyu’s heart. This Clear Sky might be a loved one of the victim. The victim had their heart removed and was killed. This made Clear Sky full of hatred for Cheng Shaoyu who used their loved one’s heart to continue to live. Thus, they carried out a cruel revenge on Cheng Shaoyu—dismembering and throwing away his body parts.”

Shao Qingge had a headache. “This means that the murderer of Cheng Shaoyu is probably this Clear Sky or someone with a close connection with them. In addition, the organ trafficking organization that has killed countless people hasn’t been found yet?”

Yu Hanjiang stated, “They are well informed. The emergence of Cheng Shaoyu’s case definitely aroused their vigilance. The personnel should’ve been evacuated. However, I have locked down their probable nest.”

Then Yu Hanjiang arranged the next plan. “Liu Qiao, immediately withdraw to the hospital. Xiao Lou, fully investigate the source of Cheng Shaoyu’s heart. Chief Shao, check your father’s assistant as soon as possible. Xiao Ye, Old Mo and the Long Qu couple, gather at the food street opposite the farmer’s market at dinner time. After dark, we will explore Antai Garden together.”

Everyone typed in the group chat. “Received!”

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality