Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

The neighbor said his parents moved to their daughter's house in the county town last year, and the old house had been empty for more than half a year. When Wang Shuai climbed over the wall, the corn cobs under the eaves fell to the ground with a dull thud. On the kang table in the east wing, there was still a half-eaten bowl of pickled vegetables, and the fingerprints on the edge of the porcelain bowl matched some of the patterns on the scale in the feed warehouse.

“Li Youcai was indeed injured in 2022,” the village doctor said, flipping through the medical record, the pages rustling in the wind. “His left ring finger was comminuted. I stitched it up then, and it’s definitely bent now.” He pointed to the fracture line on the X-ray. “It’s exactly the same as the characteristics of the deceased you described. He also had an old injury on his left leg, from falling while climbing a tree when he was a child, and he walked with a limp.” These characteristics, like puzzle pieces, were gradually being pieced together into the framework of the case.

Wang Shuai found an iron box under Li Youcai's bed. The passbook inside showed that the last withdrawal was on July 10th, for 7 yuan, at the county credit union. "He came to withdraw money that day," the teller recalled. "He was wearing a dark blue overall, his left hand was in his pocket, and he spoke with a slight stutter, saying he wanted to buy nutritional supplements for his parents." Although the figure captured by the surveillance camera was blurry, his height and build were exactly the same as the deceased's, and he did indeed have a slight limp in his left leg when walking.

During the investigation of Li Youcai's social connections, Wang Shuai discovered that after resigning in 2022, he had been doing odd jobs in a neighboring city, but he would return to his village every month to visit his parents. "He was still at the construction site on the afternoon of July 12," the foreman testified, "saying he had some family business to attend to and went back on an old motorcycle, without specifying what it was." On the construction site's attendance sheet, the "attendance" column for July 12 was crossed out with the words "personal leave" written next to it, the handwriting matching the signature on the construction team's roster.

The most crucial clue came from Li Youcai's motorcycle. A neighbor said it was a red Jialing brand motorcycle with a blue patch sewn onto the seat. "Around 8 PM on July 12th, I saw him riding towards the farm," Old Wang, who sells fertilizer, gestured. "There was a black plastic bag hanging on the handlebars, like a wine bottle." This detail matched the remnants of chive dumplings found in the deceased's stomach—Li Youcai's coworker said he loved eating chive dumplings from Aunt Zhang's stall at the village entrance and would buy two every evening for dinner.

Wang Shuai's walkie-talkie suddenly rang. It was a message from Zhang Hui: "Li Youcai's social security record shows that he bought Band-Aids at a pharmacy near the farm at 9 pm on July 12. The payment record is still there!" The pharmacy's surveillance camera captured him with his left hand wrapped in gauze. "He said he scraped his skin while working and bought a pack of Yunnan Baiyao and Band-Aids. At the time, he also complained to the boss that he hadn't been paid and didn't have money to buy good wine."

When Wang Shuai found Li Youcai's sister, she was selling vegetables at the county market, the weight on the scale swaying. "My brother called last Wednesday," she said, her apron stained with eggplant peel, "saying he wanted to collect a debt from Chen Jianfeng. He still hadn't paid his wages from three years ago, and they'd argued about it several times." She suddenly burst into tears. "He said if he didn't come back by Wednesday, I should go to the farm to look for him... I thought he was just joking!"

DNA sampling was conducted in the corridor of the county hospital. Li Youcai's parents sat on a bench, clutching their son's photo. "This child was honest since he was little," the old man said, tears dripping onto the photo, "but he was stubborn. He insisted on getting back the money owed to him. That brat Chen Jianfeng took advantage of his honesty and kept delaying payment..." The nurse inserted a lancet into the old man's arm, and the blood sample would be sent to the laboratory to be compared with the deceased's DNA.

Three days later, the comparison results came out. When Wang Shuai walked into Lu Chuan's office with the report, the sunlight outside the window shone on the case file of the "pigsty corpse case." "The deceased has been confirmed as Li Youcai," his voice was a little hoarse, "The STR typing of 16 loci is a perfect match, especially the Y chromosome characteristics, which are consistent with Old Man Li." The words "parentage index greater than 10000" on the report were like a thumbtack, firmly pinning all the clues together.

Zhou Qiang's phone call came in suddenly, his voice filled with panic: "I just remembered something! When Li Youcai was injured in 2022, Chen Jianfeng was also on the scene. It was his improper operation of the crane that caused the accident!" This news was like a key that suddenly unlocked the last lock—although the farm's surveillance system was broken, the crane's operation log showed that there was an abnormal start at 10:15 pm on July 12, and the operator registration column read "Chen Jianfeng".

Wang Shuai stood in Li Youcai's yard, corncobs rolling at his feet. The deceased's identity had finally been confirmed, but why was Li Youcai at the farm? Was Chen Jianfeng involved in his death? These questions, like a spiderweb under the eaves, were still waiting to be unraveled. The squeals of pigs echoed from the distant pigpen. Wang Shuai gripped the handcuffs at his waist, knowing the answers might lie hidden in the setting sun.

Wang Shuai's rubber boots trotted onto the cement floor outside the card room, cigarette butts piling up at his feet. "Li Youcai? That kid gambles like a madman," the card room owner said, wiping the greasy table with a rag. The mahjong tiles gleamed bluishly under the light. "He gambled all night here last Wednesday, lost everything, even pawned his motorcycle to Hu Zi." He pointed to a broken sofa in the corner. "He just slept curled up in there. This morning, loan sharks dragged him out to demand money, and his face was swollen from being beaten."

Old Zhang, a fellow card player, squatted on the doorstep, twirling a chipped die between his fingers. "Youcai owes Huzi 30,000 yuan, with a monthly interest rate of 5%," he spat. "Last Tuesday, when he couldn't pay it back, he was forced to sit on the card table, forced to drink half a bottle of liquor, and made to write an IOU for double the amount." On the photocopy of the IOU, Li Youcai's signature was crooked, the date was July 9th, the guarantor's section was blank, and there was only a blurry fingerprint—which matched Li Youcai's right index finger upon comparison.

On Wang Shuai's notebook, the words "usury" were circled three times. "Do Tiger's men often come to collect debts?" His pen hovered over the "threat record" column. Sunlight streamed through the broken window of the gambling den, casting dappled shadows on the IOU. Old Zhang suddenly lowered his voice: "On the afternoon of July 12th, Tiger's men came by and said they would break his leg if he didn't pay back the money. Youcai was here at the time, his face was pale with fright, and he said he could definitely raise the money that night."

While investigating Li Youcai's call records, Wang Shuai discovered a frequently appearing number. "This is the lender's number," the technician said, zooming in on the call duration. "It called 17 times on July 12th alone, the last time being at 8:23 PM, lasting 47 seconds. Cell tower location data shows Li Youcai was near the farm at the time." In the recording, there were pig noises in the background, and Li Youcai's voice sounded like he was drunk: "The money is with Chen Jianfeng, I'll go get it and pay you back... Don't touch me, I really have money..."

The loan shark company's ledgers were hidden in a corner of the warehouse. The yellowed pages bore the inscription: "Li Youcai, July 9th, 30,000, monthly interest 5%." "He also borrowed money for gambling," Tiger's accountant said, flipping through the ledgers. (End of Chapter)