My yoga students: They're all amazing women.

Kui Zi picked up a large piece of donkey meat and put it in his mouth. He sighed with satisfaction and said that this tasted just right. This trip was worthwhile.

Lin Feng also picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks. It tasted really good, but he was still thinking about what had just happened, so he chewed it half-heartedly.

"Where do you think she'll go?" Lin Feng placed his chopsticks on the bowl.

With his mouth stuffed with meat, Kui Zi mumbled, "If it were me, I definitely wouldn't let them live. That Zhao Cuicui probably knew something she shouldn't have known, which is why she ran away. Do you think Lu Hao and his gang would let her go?"

Lin Feng picked up his teacup and took a sip, his gaze inadvertently sweeping towards the direction of the kitchen entrance.

A woman in her forties was carrying a large plastic bag full of vegetables in each hand, using her back to push open the kitchen door and walk inside.

She was short and slightly plump, with short hair and an old scar on her left cheek that stretched from her cheekbone to her chin. Her skin was dark and rough, and she looked no different from the local middle-aged women who worked in the fields year-round.

Lin Feng's gaze lingered on her face for a moment.

He had seen Zhao Cuicui's file photo, which showed a young woman with long hair, a round face, and fair skin.

The woman in front of him had short hair and a much thinner face; he had no recollection of the scar at all. But the mole under her eyebrow—a small, round mole located about three-tenths of the way down her right eyebrow—was in almost the exact same spot as the one in the file photo he remembered.

Lin Feng put down his teacup and whispered a few words to Kui Zi. Kui Zi chewed on the donkey meat, glanced at the woman, then turned back and said, "It can't be that bad, the difference is too great. The woman in the photo is a fair-skinned young girl, but this one looks almost fifty, and she even has a scar on her face."

Lin Feng seemed thoughtful after hearing this, and the two continued eating.

After a while, the woman came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands with her apron as she walked towards the door. Lin Feng looked up and called out to her.

"Zhao Cuicui".

The woman's steps abruptly halted. The empty vegetable basket in her hand wobbled, her pupils contracted sharply for a moment, and she stood rooted to the spot.

Then she quickly lowered her head, pretending not to hear, and quickened her pace toward the kitchen.

Kui Zi had already stood up and walked a few steps in front of her, blocking her way.

The owner, a bald man in his fifties, rushed out from behind the stove with a cleaver in hand, shouting loudly in heavily accented Mandarin, asking them what they were doing and why they were stopping his wife.

Lin Feng stood up and raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm. "We are not Lu Hao's people."

The boss's hand, holding the cleaver, froze in mid-air. Zhao Cuicui stood in front of Kui Zi, her fingers gripping the edge of her apron tightly.

Lin Feng briefly explained their purpose, mentioning what Lu Hao had done at Jinbihuihuang back then, and mentioning Xiao Fang's name. When Zhao Cuicui heard the name "Xiao Fang," her shoulders trembled violently, and the fingers gripping her apron shook slightly.

Lin Feng then said that he was the chairman of the Shuke Group in Hehai City and had a business feud with Lu Hao. He had come to Guangnan specifically to look for clues. He promised to keep it a secret if she was willing to help.

After explaining, fearing the other party wouldn't believe him, he even produced some photos to prove his point and that he was also investigating the matter.

Zhao Cuicui lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before walking into the courtyard inside the kitchen.

The donkey meat soup simmering on the stove was bubbling away, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of pickled cabbage and meat.

Sitting in a chair, Zhao Cuicui slowly began to speak, her voice hoarse and dry, carrying a thick Guangnan accent.

"You can't beat him. I've been hiding for so many years just to survive. You rich people talk about causing trouble for Lu Hao today, but you might be sitting at the same table with him tomorrow."

Lin Feng looked at her. The scar on her left cheek gleamed a faded, pale red under the dim kitchen light, its edges somewhat uneven.

A young woman with such a scar on her face is essentially disfiguring herself. Who would be so cruel to themselves? The answer is self-evident.

"Shen Ping, the director of the Provincial Public Security Bureau, is my girlfriend's uncle. Even if Lu Hao's backer is the mayor of Zijin City, so what? Do you think I can fight him?"

Zhao Cuicui looked up at Lin Feng, her bloodshot eyes, worn from years of hard work, lingering on his face for a long, long time.

The steam from the kitchen condensed into fine droplets on her forehead. She raised the back of her hand to wipe her forehead, hesitated for a moment, and then began to speak.

That night, after finishing her night shift, she returned to her dormitory and planned to take a shower and go to sleep. Not long after she went in, she heard a loud crash as the dormitory door was violently kicked open.

She peeked through the crack in the bathroom door and saw Lu Hao, reeking of alcohol, grabbing Xiao Fang's hair and throwing her onto the bed.

Xiao Fang struggled and cried desperately, but Lu Hao slapped her several times and then tore off her clothes. Zhao Cuicui was so frightened that she trembled all over and covered her mouth tightly with her hand, afraid to make a sound.

I took out my phone, just about to call the police, when I saw a terrifying scene.

As she spoke, Zhao Cuicui's fingers trembled. Through the crack in the bathroom door, she saw Xiao Fang resisting too fiercely, and Lu Hao was choking her with both hands.

After a short while, there was no more movement.

Zhao Cuicui turned on the camera and secretly filmed a video. Then she saw Lu Hao get up from Xiao Fang.

Zhao Cuicui was so frightened that she closed the door and dared not speak. After a while, she heard a loud bang downstairs. Later, she learned that Xiao Fang had committed suicide by jumping off the building.

Actually, it was all Lu Haoqian's doing; he raped and murdered the victim and then threw him downstairs.

"When I found out the other party was Lu Hao, I was so scared that I bought a train ticket that night and ran back to my hometown in Guangnan. On the way, I received a call from the manager, but I didn't dare to answer it and just threw the phone away. When I got back to my hometown, I was afraid that he would send people to kill me to silence me. I hurriedly sent my family to other places and stayed here. Later... I cut my face with a knife, cut my hair, married my current husband, and hid in this donkey meat restaurant."

Her voice began to tremble as she spoke. She wiped her eyes with her apron, took a deep breath, clutched the apron in her hand, and looked up at Lin Feng.

"Is that video still available?"

Zhao Cuicui remained silent for a long time, then turned around and went into the back room. From the deepest part of an inconspicuous cabinet on the wall, she pulled out a small iron box wrapped in several layers of oil paper.

I opened the metal box and found a very old button phone inside, its casing worn beyond recognition. With trembling fingers, I pressed the power button; the screen flickered several times before lighting up, and the battery was down to only 10%.

"In the years since Xiaofang left, I haven't slept well for a single night. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. I hate myself for being so cowardly, for not standing up for her. I don't deserve to be called a human being. But I really don't dare to call the police... You can take this phone. If I can get justice for Xiaofang, then my life won't have been in vain."