You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 313 Glory in the Darkness! (Brought to Justice)

Yang Jinwen took a tape recorder out of his briefcase.

He replaced the cassette tape with a blank one, placed it on the small table near the car window, and pressed the switch with a 'click'.

The tape recorder slowly turned, like a pair of black eyes, watching Zhang Chen across from him.

She began by saying, "I was sold to Gaowa Township by my mother in 90, when I had just come of age."

After my father died, my mother remarried. She married two men, but she didn't have a good life with either of them.

I originally lived with her in someone else's house. At first, nothing happened, but as I got older, the man she married started to have his eyes on me.

My mother didn't care and let that person bully me. Luckily, I had a grandmother who took me home and threatened the man with a knife, saying she would kill him and burn down his house in the middle of the night.

The man got scared, afraid that my grandmother would really set fire to his house.

I was taken home by my grandmother and stayed with her until I became an adult, after which she passed away.

At this time, my mother found me and tricked me into going out to work. She took me on a bus, and after a day's journey, we arrived in Gaowa Township.

She said there was a family that owned a mill and paid a good wage. She said that she and her daughter could earn a lot of money, and their lives would be much better in the future.

I truly believed my mother; I couldn't believe any mother would harm her own daughter.

But I was wrong. When I realized I had been sold, I was already in hell.

My mother took the money and left without even glancing at me. No matter how much I begged her, she ignored me.

Next, I was chained up by Li Fuzhong and suffered his humiliation every day.

Besides him, there was also Li Mian; they took turns bullying me.

For the past five years, I've felt like I've been living in hell.

I had three miscarriages and was going to die.

Xiao Lan saved me. She is Li Mian's wife and is also deaf and mute.

She couldn't speak, but she told me not to think about dying, and that she would find a chance to help me escape.

That's what she did too; she would secretly slip me eggs to eat every day, or give me a sweet potato.

After I recovered a bit, she saved up some money. One night, she sawed off the iron chain for me, stuffed the money into my hand, and told me to leave.

Just as I was about to run away, Li Fuzhong spotted me. He and his son beat me so badly that I was covered in bruises, and Xiaolan was also beaten so badly that she couldn't get out of bed for half a month.

After that, I thought Xiaolan wouldn't dare to help me anymore.

But who knew that she said she was also abducted and trafficked, that she was deaf and mute and illiterate, and that even if she escaped, she wouldn't be able to survive.

Moreover, she gave birth to a son for this family, and the son is already quite grown up.

She said she would definitely help me, even if it meant dying for me.

I became pregnant again in early 94, and I didn't know who the father was.

I didn't want the child; I felt it was dirty. But Xiaolan told me I had to give birth to the child. She said that once the child was born, Li Fuzhong and his son would lower their guard, and I would have a chance to escape.

I had no choice but to grit my teeth and endure it. As my belly grew bigger day by day, and I watched the child wriggle inside me, I even had the illusion that I wanted to keep the baby.

I thought, even if I escaped, where could I go? Back to my hometown, only to be sold by my mother again?

Moreover, Li Fuzhong and his son no longer tied me up, so I could move around freely, and I ate better than before.

During that time, I became increasingly reluctant to run away, especially after the child was born; the urge to escape gradually disappeared.

But who knew that after I gave birth, the father and son locked me up again and continued to chain me up.

I then realized that they didn't treat me like a human being at all, and that my child was being raised by Xiaolan, who only brought the child to me when she was breastfeeding.

From that moment on, I was determined to escape.

With Xiaolan's help, I ran away again.

But this time, I had no money on me, only the ID card that Xiaolan had stolen for me.

She gestured with her hands, telling me to leave quickly and never come back, to carry her hope with me and live bravely.

I ran all the way, thinking about my child, but I never looked back.

I ran from dark to dawn, for a whole day and night, until I reached the train station.

Having nowhere to go, I had no choice but to hop on any train.

When there was no food, I picked up leftovers from other people's meals, and when I saw ticket inspectors, I would hide from them.

I was so hungry that I sat in the aisle and slept for a very long time. When I opened my eyes, the train had arrived in an unfamiliar place.

When a policeman on the train tried to arrest me, I jumped off the train. I saw "Dannan County" written on the platform and thought, I've run far enough that no one can find me anymore.

Then I begged my way through the county town for more than a month. Unable to find anything to eat, I had no choice but to try my luck at the coal mine.

After that, I met Aunt Wang, who gave me a meal and also got Yuan Dajun to take me in.

From the beginning of 95 until the end of the year, I worked in a coal mine. Although it was very hard and I almost died in the mine, I survived.

I thought I was safe, I thought I could live like this forever.

But when I washed my face and cleansed myself of the past, I fell into another hell.

Yuan Dajun said he liked me and wanted to make me happy, but he deceived me.

I gave myself to Tao Jianye and to Ge Qi.

I jumped from one heated kang bed to another.

Xiaolan's words have always inspired me to live on, to live bravely!
So, I found Yuan Dajun's younger brother, Yuan Lang, and seduced him. I knew he owed a lot of money and was jealous of his brother Yuan Dajun, so I asked him to help me kill Yuan Dajun.

At first, he was unwilling, but I let Yuan Dajun know that Yuan Lang and I had a relationship.

Yuan Dajun is a very jealous person. Although he treats me like a plaything that he can lend to others to abuse, he will not allow me to do anything without his permission.

Finally, Yuan Lang decided to kill him, and together with me, we killed Yuan Dajun.

We disposed of the body; we cut it apart with a coal crusher.

Yuan Lang had also killed someone, so he didn't dare to do anything to me, and I was free.

Later, I met Zhong Aihua, and we got married.

In my entire life, there's only one person I've ever loved, and that's him.

I thought I could live happily ever after, but the devil found me again.

Last December, it was snowing heavily when Xiaolan suddenly found me.

I was terrified. Xiaolan knew my address; I had written to her with it.

She is deaf, mute, and illiterate. How could she suddenly appear in front of me?

She was very weak, wearing only a shirt and summer sandals. Despite the cold weather, her body was burning hot, but her face was frozen purple.

She collapsed as soon as she entered the room. She kept gesturing to me and said that she was dying. She had taken a train for more than ten hours to get here. She said that her daughter, Mengmeng, had been sold by Li Fuzhong and his son.

I was furious; I felt like God was determined to get me. Xiaolan came desperately to tell me this, but she died after saying only a few words.

Before leaving home, she drank pesticide in an attempt to force Li Fuzhong and his son to bring Mengmeng back.

At that moment, my mind was in a daze, and all I could think about was revenge; I wanted to kill them!
I packed my bags, went downstairs, and prepared to kill one more person before leaving.

When I was about to take a taxi, my mind cleared up a little. I suddenly realized that Xiao Lan's death at home would definitely implicate Zhong Aihua.

I wanted to go back and take Xiaolan's body away, but as I walked back, I saw his car parked downstairs in the apartment complex; he had already returned.

It was only then that I realized there was no turning back!
No matter what, I have to find Mengmeng.

So I dialed a public phone and found Tao Jianye.

Actually, I didn't want to kill him, but I knew he had a gun.

I need that gun.

If I want to get the gun, he has to die.

We arranged to meet at one of Yuan Dajun's residences, the very house where they had met me…

After a lengthy narration, Zhang Chen fell silent.

Later, she mustered her courage again and said, "I found the gun while Tao Jianye was taking a shower, and I killed him!"

They cut his body open piece by piece, preserved it with salt, and wrapped it in a bed sheet.

After daybreak, I went to the train station and boarded the train to Deyang.

I arrived in Gaowa Township on January 24th and stayed in a guesthouse. The following night, I returned to the place that had bound me for five years.

It was very dark at the time, and Li Fuzhong's family was all asleep.

I know how to get in. There's a door next to the woodshed, blocked by dry firewood; you can get in through that door.

I took a machete from the mill and also had a gun in my hand.

After entering the house, I killed Li Fuzhong, slashing his neck several times.

This is the person who bullies me, who keeps bullying me...

Then, I found Li Mian in another room, put the bloody knife to his neck, and woke him up.

I never imagined that the person who bullied me for five whole years would be so afraid of me when they saw me again.

I asked him where he sold Mengmeng, and he answered me.

I didn't let him go; I killed him.

That night, the moonlight on the mountain was very bright, but it couldn't shine into the house.

After killing two people, my mind is in a daze.

I went to the main room, opened the door, and let the moonlight in.

At that moment, a figure appeared behind me. Without thinking, I took out my knife and slashed at him. After slashing him several times, I realized that the person was Xiaolan's son, Xiaodai.

I didn't know it would be him. I went berserk and killed him by mistake.

He's a good boy, I shouldn't have..."

Zhang Chen spoke through tears.

She sobbed, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and continued, "Later, I set a fire, set the house on fire, and then went down the mountain back to the guesthouse."

The next day, I went to find my daughter, Mengmeng.

She lives not far away, in the next county town.

I found that family and wanted to get Mengmeng back.

However, I saw that Mengmeng was doing very well; the couple treated her like their own daughter.

I thought it was just my imagination; how could luck have come my way?

So I rented a room next to their house and lived there for a month, confirming that Mengmeng was doing well.

I know I can't take her with me. I'm a murderer, and I won't have a good ending.

Finally, I left and embarked on my escape once again.

I took the train to Jiangcheng because I had been here once in 96 and used the name 'Yin Hong' to obtain an ID card.

I knew things might change in the future, so I bought another fake identity. A local from Jiangcheng, named 'Xu Liu'.

I've lived here for six months under the identity of 'Xu Liu,' and I'm still here now.

After the long explanation, Yao Weihua and the others had a lot of questions to ask.

At this moment, Yang Jinwen reached out and turned off the recording.

Why did you choose to turn yourself in? How did you find us?

"First, I killed the wrong person. Xiaolan's child, Li Dai, is innocent. My conscience won't let me live with him, and I've been thinking about turning myself in for a long time."

Secondly, I don't want to run away anymore; I don't want to live like this anymore.

I went to the police station to turn myself in. I heard from them that there were criminal police officers from Anan City who were tracking down a fugitive, but they hadn't found him and were planning to leave this morning.

I figured they must be looking for me, so I rushed to the train station.

When Zhang Chen said this, his eyes were fixed on Yang Jinwen.

Yao Weihua interjected, "Did you already know one of us?"

Zhang Chen replied, "I don't know you. I don't know who the police officers from Annam are. I can only find you by shooting."

She lied!

Yang Jinwen felt as if something had seized his heart, causing it to clench.

She's lying; she's helping herself!

She fired so many shots just to help herself!
Looking into her resolute eyes, Yang Jinwen felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if it were being stabbed!

Cai Ting then asked, "When you were at the mine, you told Granny Wang at the Yuan family coal mine that you had killed someone before. Who did you kill?"

Zhang Chen raised his left hand and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.

"You don't think I killed my mother, do you? I didn't, I didn't kill her."

When I was talking to Aunt Wang, what I was thinking was…

She revealed the shocking scars on her wrists, one ring after another, a testament to her painful past.

Her eyes had never looked so hard.

"I've killed myself, countless times!"

(End of this chapter)