Season 2 Episode 24: The Edge of Seventeen Murder Case

  Ma Shengli was wearing only a small underpants from head to toe, being pressed on the sofa, his arms and legs were all tied up, unable to move. On his neck, there were four small knives with their tips already piercing through the skin.

  Shengli Ge's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, after being in the business for so long, he naturally knew why they were looking for him. He hastily swore an oath to explain: "Liu Ge, that thing with Xiao Bei, really has nothing to do with me! If I had half a false word, my whole family would die!"

  Liu Ziguang went up and kicked Ma Shengli's chest, scolding: "Still saying it has nothing to do with you? I ask you, are those little rascals Pi Hou, Ants, and Gao Gan mixed up with you?"

  Ma Shengli swallowed hard, thinking to himself that this time he was done for. These few young whippersnappers had secretly done something so big and now the other party had come knocking on their door. As the eldest, he couldn't shirk his responsibility.

  "Liu Ge, those few are quite good to me, but I really don't know about this matter. Even if you kill me, I still have nothing to do with it, not even half a cent." Ma Shengli's tears were almost out, thinking that he was more wronged than Dou E.

  Liu Ziguang also understood that this matter had little to do with Ma Shengli, but he was also responsible for being too lenient. This time, he absolutely could not let him off lightly. He pulled Ma Shengli up and said, "Let's go, take me to find those few."

  Ma Shengli hastily put on a robe and slippers and got into Liu Ziguang's car, who led the way to the home of the three young men.

  Mechanical Vocational High School is a notorious school for gangsters, with boys involved in organized crime and girls working as escorts. It's infamous throughout Jiangbei City, and due to the complex web of power struggles, no single leader has ever truly controlled the school. Ma Shengli had only managed to recruit a few third-year students as his underlings.

  Pi Hou is called Hou Xiaoyong, and the ant is called Ma Yi. These two people are the ones who stole Liu Ziguang's bicycle that day. Later, they were caught by Bei Xiaoshuai and had their arms broken. Ma Shengli also knew about this matter, but he didn't say anything. On one hand, it was because his subordinates were not clean-handed and crossed boundaries to do things, so being caught and punished was normal. On the other hand, it was also because of limited power, and they didn't dare to confront Liu Ziguang.

  Perhaps because of the inaction of the eldest, Pi Hou and the ant took matters into their own hands. There was a student who had a good relationship with them, named Wang Wenjun, also known as Gao Pian Gao Gan, which is the third person in the QQ space photo, also the culprit who killed Zha Bei Xiao Shuai.

  Ma Shengli, although the boss, was also unclear about the home addresses of these people under his hands. He made several phone calls and finally asked for Pi Hou's address. A group of people rushed over and found his home in the dormitory building of Jiangbei Fertilizer Factory. Liu Ziguang personally went upstairs to catch him.

  Through the peeling wallpaper and crumbling corridors, the smoke from the coal stove made it hard to breathe. This old-style dormitory building didn't have a toilet, so residents had to go downstairs for both big and small business. At the entrance of Hou Xiaoyong's home, Liu Ziguang saw a middle-aged man coming out to use the restroom, who should be Hou Xiaoyong's father judging by his appearance.

  "Hello, are you Hou Xiaoyong's parent? I'm a teacher from the vocational school...” Before Liu Ziguang could finish speaking, the middle-aged man wearing a worn-out sweater enthusiastically said: "Ah, Teacher is here! Quickly come in and sit down, Xiaoyong is at home. I'll be right back after using the restroom." He then hurriedly went downstairs while holding his stomach.

  Liu Ziguang pushed open the door and entered, the interior space was not large, less than twenty square meters, with two beds and several old-fashioned wardrobes. The two beds were separated by a curtain, and on the small bed, someone was still lying there, rubbing their eyes and getting up, Liu Ziguang took a look, it was actually Hou Xiaoyong!

  Without saying another word, he was dragged forward by his hair and thrown to the ground. Two people rushed in from outside, with a snow-white scabbard and a warrior's knife pressed against Hou Xiaoyong's neck, frightening him so much that he trembled with fear, and his pants were instantly wet.

  "Do you know why I'm looking for you?" Liu Ziguang asked.

  "No...I don't know." Hou Xiaoyong's arm was still in a cast, courtesy of Bei Xiaoshuai. No wonder Hou Xiaoyong's father wasn't surprised to see Liu Ziguang impersonating a teacher - he just thought it was the teacher coming to visit his student.

  "Gao Gan stabbed Bei Xiaoshuai, and to this day, no one knows whether he's dead or alive." Liu Ziguang said, staring intently into his eyes, while also capturing any subtle expressions on Hou Yong's face.

  Shocked, fearful, and helpless, Hou Xiaoyong's expression was similar to Liu Ziguang's. The eighteen-year-old boy was tongue-tied and couldn't utter a word, only violently trembling, with pitiful eyes looking at Liu Ziguang and the two men holding knives to his neck.

  "Put on your clothes and come with me, I won't make it difficult for you, I just want to get things clear," said Liu Ziguang.

  Two men forcibly put the sportswear on Hou Xiaoyong, who was lying on the bed, and made him wear his shoes. They then carried him out of the room. Just as they reached the door, Hou Xiaoyong's father returned with a plastic bag of fried dough sticks in his hand. Seeing Liu Ziguang, he greeted him: "Teacher, have you eaten? Let's have breakfast together."

  Liu Ziguang said, "Hou Xiaoyong was injured at school. I'll take him for a re-examination now, so I won't bother you anymore." After saying that, he led the person straight downstairs. Hou Xiaoyong's father looked at their backs and scratched his head, thinking to himself, "No, my son said he was injured outside two days ago?"

  As soon as the monkey got on the car, he told everything. He and the ant were beaten by Bei Xiaoshuai after their arms were broken, and they didn't dare to tell their families, so they said they were injured in a bike accident. They also found Victory Brother to cry and complain, but Victory Brother didn't take care of them at all. So they vented their grievances in front of several good friends, saying that following others was not as good as being on their own, and they wouldn't be bullied without a way out. The speaker was unintentional, but the listener had a motive. He didn't expect Gao Gan to really take action.

  Liu Ziguang would not easily believe his one-sided words, and everything had to wait until Gao Gan was caught before it could be said. However, Pi Hou said that Gao Gan's home was very remote, and only ants knew the way, so they went to find the ants again.

  Ants are children of single-parent families, their mother ran away with someone, and their father is a businessman who is always on business trips outside. The process of catching him was relatively simple, directly kicking in the door, taking the person from bed, and interrogating them directly. The answer obtained was the same as that of the skin monkey. This case was not instructed by these two people to Gao Gan, but Gao Gan took the initiative to help.

  The ant was a bit tougher than the skin monkey, but under Liu Ziguang's intimidation, he quickly revealed Gao Gan's address. This man lived on the edge of Hejiazikou, not easy to find.

  Hechazi River is a polluted river in Jiangning District, where all the sewage flows into. Although the city has covered some of it with cement boards, this part remains open to the air. The thick, dark green water flows slowly, emitting a strong stench during summer, and swarms of mosquitoes fill the sky. A large group of people who make a living by collecting waste live here, building many shanties with bricks and covering them with asbestos tiles.

  The murderer who killed Bei Xiaoshuai actually lived in such a dirty and dilapidated place, no wonder nobody recognized him. Several cars stopped by the riverbank, Liu Ziguang got out of the car, gazing at the tattered shack with smoke drifting lazily from it, shaking his head silently. The environment here was even worse than Gaotushan.

  Nothing more was said, and the person was pushed down, walking with difficulty on the narrow road between the asbestos tile sheds, finally arriving at Gao's home.

  This is a low shed, in front of the door there is a stove made of broken bricks, a middle-aged man with white hair is fanning the wind with a winnow, inside the stove are broken wood and old newspapers, burning black smoke, that rotten iron pot is cooking something unknown.

  Seeing Ma Yi coming over, the middle-aged man lifted his weathered face and smiled: "Little Ma, are you here to see Wen Jun? Sit down and wait for a while, he's gone out to empty the toilet, he'll be back soon." The accent was not from Jiangbei local area, but from Henan province.

  Ma Yi was at a loss for words, while Liu Ziguang was very natural: "Hello, you are Wang Wenjun's parent, right?" He said, extending his hand.

  The middle-aged man suddenly became unnatural, his two hands rubbing hard on his pants, his face also flushed red, hesitantly extending his hand to shake hands with Liu Ziguang, and then turning his head to shout into the dark shed: "Girl, the teacher is here, come out quickly."

  With a cough, a middle-aged woman with a haggard expression came out, busily moving a stool for Liu Ziguang, pouring tea, and apologetically saying: "These years have been troublesome for Teacher to take care of our Wenjun, my husband and I are too busy working, and we haven't even gone to school to see him, really sorry about that."

  Liu Ziguang smiled and said: "Wang Wenjun still has a high prestige among his classmates, but he is a bit irritable and introverted."

  The middle-aged man sighed, fumbled out a cigarette, which was a one-yuan packet of unfiltered Daqianmen, and thought about offering one to Liu Ziguang but felt embarrassed. It wasn't until Liu Ziguang asked for one himself, lit it up, and praised its strength that the man's expression turned pleasant.

  "Our Wen Jun, has been good at studying since he was a kid, always one of the top few in his class from primary to junior high school. Later when it came time to take the high school entrance exams, because of household registration issues, even though he got into No. 1 Middle School, he still couldn't attend. Alas, we're busy every day, sorry to our kid. Teacher, come with me." The man said, leading Liu Ziguang into the house.

  The cupboard was filled with a pungent smell, the bedding had not been washed for a long time, and the table was littered with leftover food and dry rice balls. A layer of dust covered everything, but on the wall hung a dazzling array of certificates, all framed in various shapes and sizes, polished to a brilliant shine. These certificates recorded Wang Wenjun's growth from childhood to adulthood, leaving Liu Ziguang sighing in amazement.

  "My wife and I, we both came from rural Henan to work in Jiangbei City as waste collectors for over a decade. Our child was 8 years old when he followed us here. Originally, he was a cheerful kid back in the countryside, but after coming to the city and starting school, he became increasingly introverted. Except for chatting with a few friends, he rarely speaks at home. I know it's because he's ashamed of us, so we've never been to his school."

  As he spoke, the man wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

  In the distance, Wang Wenjun appeared with a pail in hand, still wearing that little windbreaker and jeans, looking very neat and tidy, which was quite out of place among the junk piles at Hejiazhuang.

  "High pole! Run fast!" Suddenly, Ma Yi's voice came out from under the eaves. Wang Wenjun was startled and stopped on the spot, just in time to see Liu Ziguang emerge from his house with a fierce glint in his eyes.

  Wang Wenjun threw down the toilet and ran away with his head turned back.