The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 33

Suspicion – 03

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"The location Chen Chen sent over is a bit remote..." Gu Yanta looked at the location on his phone, then started his new Jeep. It was still an army green colour, so the name "Little Green" carried over from before.

Lu Zheng, clearly still not fully awake, leaned against the passenger seat, feigning sleep.

"Hey, how come you didn't drive your Benz for this move?" Gu Yanta leaned over and buckled Lu Zheng's seatbelt.

"Oh, I returned it to my brother. Anyway, I'll just hitch rides with you from now on, it'll save on fuel costs." Lu Zheng spoke with his eyes half-closed.

"Wow, you're really generous! That saying really fits, the richer you are, the stingier you get!" Gu Yanta laughed in exasperation. "Not only saving fuel costs but also scoring a free driver, right?"

"Mhmm, exactly." Lu Zheng replied with a perfectly justified expression.

"Then I can't let you ride for free," Gu Yanta nodded seriously, "There's gotta be some kind of compensation, right?"

Seeing Lu Zheng remain silent, Gu Yanta acted even more arrogant. "You can use my car, but you've gotta let me use it too."

"How?"

Before Lu Zheng could react, Gu Yanta leaned in and rubbed his face back and forth against Lu Zheng's.

"Just like this."

Lu Zheng touched his now-reddened, freshly rubbed cheek and snapped irritably, "Next time, can you at least shave your stubble clean? My face is almost scratched raw!"

Gu Yanta laughed and hit the accelerator, speeding toward their destination.

More than half an hour later, they arrived at the Prosperity Food Processing Plant located in the Xiazhou District Science and Technology Park. Prosperity Group, a major domestic brand specialising in meat production and processing, had invested in building this large-scale plant in the Yuchuan Technology Park several years ago. The facility integrated production and sales, providing numerous jobs for Yuchuan City and even the entire province.

As they approached the factory gates, they saw several police cars from the city bureau parked out front. Chen Chen stood to one side, gesturing animatedly while speaking with a man who looked like a manager. Gu Yanta and Lu Zheng stepped out of the car.

"Boss, Consultant Lu, you're finally here!" Chen Chen strode up to them in quick steps.

The middle-aged man, who seemed to be the manager, followed closely behind and introduced himself. "Leader, hello, I'm the on-duty manager here, my surname is Wang. Here's the situation..."

"Explain as we walk. Lead the way," Gu Yanta waved his hand.

Under Manager Wang's guidance, the group made their way to the factory's cold storage area. A row of heavy steel doors remained tightly shut, except for the door to cold storage number four, which was wide open. It was the height of summer, and the heat was oppressive. The icy air escaped from the door of the cold storage, forming a thick white fog.

"Leader, when our staff came to work this morning and opened the cold storage door, this is what we saw. We haven't touched anything at the scene and were waiting for you to arrive!" Manager Wang gestured inside the cold storage.

"Why is there still so much fog even though the cooling system is off?" Chen Chen waved his hand to clear the thick fog in front of him. His glasses were completely fogged up, obscuring his vision.

"The weather is hot, so the cold air won't dissipate for a while," Manager Wang quickly explained.

Forensic investigators and material evidence technicians were already working inside. The three of them entered the cold storage room and saw a woman's naked body curled up in a corner. She looked young, with her shirt and underwear scattered around her. Her limbs were contracted, her skin pale, and there were varying degrees of frostbite on her body. Faintly visible on her back were bright red post-mortem lividity marks. The most bizarre detail, however, was the serene smile on her face, as though she had died peacefully.

"She was obviously frozen to death. In extreme cold, people often exhibit paradoxical undressing behaviour. Some may even experience hallucinations, which can result in a post-mortem smile like this," Gu Yanta remarked after briefly examining the body. He turned to Manager Wang and asked, "Who is this girl? Is she one of your employees?"

"No... no..." Manager Wang shook his head vigorously, like a rattle drum. "Her name is Ouyang Xue, a student from Yuchuan Agricultural University majoring in food science and engineering. Our company has a partnership with her university, and they send students here for summer internships every year. She'd only been here for three days."

"Where's the surveillance room?" Gu Yanta interrupted Manager Wang's rambling. "Take us there."

"This way." Manager Wang gestured for them to follow.

"Lu Xiaozheng, the deceased's roommates will be arriving shortly, stay here and question them, Chen Chen and I will check the surveillance," Gu Yanta instructed Lu Zheng.

"Just go already," Lu Zheng waved impatiently.

While the forensic and material evidence teams continued their work at the scene, Lu Zheng surveyed the large cold storage room. There was nothing unusual about cold storage number four compared to the others, all were used to store frozen meat. Ouyang Xue was a university student who had only been interning for a few days and probably wasn't even familiar with the layout of the factory. Why would she venture into the cold storage room alone in the middle of the night? And how could she have frozen to death inside? If this was an accident, it seemed far too implausible.

A commotion outside caught his attention, and Ma Qin came running in. "Boss, Consultant Lu, the deceased's roommates have arrived!"

Three individuals entered, Ouyang Xue's roommates, Wang Shan, Liu Le, and Bai Xiaoting. By this time, most of the cold air had dispersed. Upon seeing the body from the cold storage entrance, all three girls turned their heads away, not daring to look directly. One of them was so terrified that her legs gave out, and she could only slump against the wall, crying softly, while another softly comforted her.

The forensic team sealed the body in a body bag and carried it away. Once Lu Zheng saw that the girls' emotions had somewhat stabilised, he stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm a psychological consultant with the City Bureau's criminal investigation team, my surname is Lu. Could I ask you a few questions?"

Lu Zheng's tender face, coupled with his gentle tone, made him seem less like a police officer and more like a fellow student. The three girls visibly relaxed, their tension easing slightly, and nodded to show their willingness to cooperate.

"How long have you been interning here? Are you adjusting well?" Lu Zheng didn't dive directly into questions about the deceased, instead, he started with casual small talk.

"Today is only our third day," replied a pretty girl with long hair. "Hello, I'm the dorm leader, my name is Wang Shan."

"Have you all been staying together? Even back at school?" Lu Zheng asked.

"Yes, we were in the same dorm at school, four to a room. For this internship, the dorm arrangements followed our usual setup, four to a room," Wang Shan explained.

Wang Shan seemed relatively calm, frequently comforting another girl who was more emotional. It was clear she played a stabilising role in their dorm.

"How's your dorm relationship overall?" Lu Zheng continued.

"We've lived together for three years and have always gotten along well," Wang Shan answered calmly.

"Right... our dorm is very close. Xiao Xue... she was closest to me... How could this happen..." The girl crouched in the corner, crying from the beginning, finally spoke up. Her crying wasn't going to stop.

"What's your name?"

"I... I'm Bai Xiaoting."

"When was the last time you saw the deceased after finishing your internship yesterday?"

"Let me think..." Bai Xiaoting's words were interlaced with sobs. "It should have been after dinner. The four of us ate together in the cafeteria, then Xiao Xue said she wanted to go for a walk. I said it was too hot and went back to the dorm to enjoy the air conditioning. After that, I never saw her again."

"You said your dorm is very close. She didn't return all night, and none of you were worried?" Lu Zheng raised his head, his gaze sharp.

"Of course, we were worried! Around eleven p.m., I saw she still hadn't returned, so I called her several times, but her phone was off!" Bai Xiaoting cried out. "Sister Shan and I even went out to look for her, but we're new here and don't know the area well. We looked around nearby but couldn't find her, so we had to go back."

"Officer, you're not suspecting us, are you?" Wang Shan put her arm around Bai Xiaoting's trembling shoulders as the latter continued sobbing. "Ouyang Xue wandering around alone during the internship and ending up in trouble, what does that have to do with us, her roommates? I told her ages ago that the factory area was dangerous and not to wander about, but she wouldn't listen. Besides, we've lived together for three years, and our dorm has always been harmonious. If anyone had a motive for murder, wouldn't it have come up long before now?"

"Ri... right, and anyway, the three of us were in the dorm all night yesterday. Apart from going out to look for her, we didn't go anywhere else!" Bai Xiaoting's voice was a little hoarse from crying.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, this is just a routine inquiry," Lu Zheng's tone returned to its usual calm neutrality.

Lu Zheng glanced at the other short-haired girl, Liu Le, dressed in a tomboyish style. She was tall, likely close to a hundred-eighty centimetres, with long limbs. She wore a black baseball cap pulled low over her face At a glance, one might mistake her for a slender young man. She had remained silent throughout, standing coldly to the side.

"Can we leave now?" Wang Shan asked while gently comforting Bai Xiaoting. "If you need to investigate anything, you police officers can check the surveillance footage and see that the three of us stayed in the dorm all night yesterday."

Lu Zheng snapped his notebook shut with a crisp noise. "Alright, let's stop here for today. If we need anything else, we'll contact you, please continue to cooperate. Thank you."

Bai Xiaoting was still sobbing uncontrollably as Wang Shan held her shoulder, patting it lightly. Liu Le, with a blank expression, followed behind as the three left together.

At that moment, Gu Yanta and Chen Chen emerged from the surveillance room with a look of deep hatred and resentment.

"Fuck, such a huge factory, and they aren't willing to install a few decent cameras! Hardly any of them are working properly. There are only a few images that can be used for reference, the rest are all crap!" Gu Yanta said angrily.

"The richer they are, the stingier they get, I heard interns here not only don't get paid but actually have to pay for the privilege!" Chen Chen added, equally indignant.

Lu Zheng, as a prime representative of the "richer means stingier" stereotype, was speechless.

"How's the situation on your side?" Gu Yanta lit a cigarette and held it between his fingers.

"I asked them, but I think people in the deceased's dorm are not normal."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: January 5, 2025 by Angel

Edited: February 11, 2025 by Angel