Controlled Experiment Chapter 40

Game of Death – 16

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Du Yusheng was woken by the alarm clock.

He opened his eyes dully and only then realised he had spent the entire night sleeping on the sofa, fully clothed.

A sofa was no bed, and Du Yusheng's head was buzzing, a consequence of a poor night's sleep.

He had two things to do today: one was to investigate Chen Xin's home, and the other was to review the surveillance footage around the scene of Old Qian's incident. As for the surveillance at Huan Island Hospital, there was no longer any hope of discovering anything useful, the killer had been clever enough to enter through the ventilation shaft and managed not to leave a single trace.

After changing his clothes and washing up quickly, Du Yusheng prepared to head out.

Before leaving, he paused for a moment at the door, glancing thoughtfully at Li Yao's door.

Having heard that Li Yao was working today and wouldn't be home, Du Yusheng suddenly had a strong urge to sneak in again while the place was empty. He looked down at the watch on his wrist. This watch was part of a matching set, the other had been given to Li Yao. Du Yusheng turned the dial slightly, he was waiting for the day Li Yao would wear it and discover his little secret.

His mood, affected by the watch, softened his impulse to break in. Without lingering further, Du Yusheng made his way to the underground parking garage.

By the time he arrived at Chen Xin's building, Xiao Bai had already been waiting downstairs for quite a while.

He was in a bureau vehicle, sitting inside drinking soy milk, his eyes occasionally glancing up towards the windows above, afraid their target might leave.

Du Yusheng parked and walked over to tap on his window.

"Not eaten yet?" Du Yusheng asked.

Xiao Bai opened the door and got out, leaning against it as he nodded, and still sipping his soy milk.

"Just drinking soy milk?" Du Yusheng teased. "You think that'll fill you up?"

"No, I've just bought breakfast." Xiao Bai reached through the car window to retrieve a bag of steamed buns and waved them in front of Du Yusheng's face with a grin. "This is called a sip of soup before the meal, it protects the stomach and intestines. Drink the soy milk first, then eat the main course, it aids digestion..."

Du Yusheng didn't bother listening to the second half. He simply snatched the buns out of Xiao Bai's hand and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Perfect timing, I haven't eaten either."

Xiao Bai watched helplessly as both of his buns disappeared into Du Yusheng's mouth. His face flushed red with frustration and he couldn't get a word out.

Du Yusheng snorted through his nose. "You said it yourself, a sip of soup before the meal protects the gut. My stomach's solid, I'm not worried, I'll take the hit for you."

Xiao Bai swallowed the words "fuck you".

Du Yusheng tossed the plastic bag into a nearby garbage bin, snatched the soy milk from Xiao Bai's hand and took a swig, his eyes glancing up at the windows above.

"Have you done the prep work?"

Well then, no soy milk left either.

What's gone can never come back.

Xiao Bai nodded in resignation. "I told his wife that if she didn't cooperate, we'd detain her."

Du Yusheng grunted in response, wiped his mouth, and stepped into the elevator.

=========

For a wealthy businessman, Chen Xin's home could indeed be described as modest.

It was a three-bedroom apartment with a single living room. Although the living room faced the sun, it wasn't large and was connected directly to the kitchen. Compared to those of other wealthy businessmen, the study where Chen Xin worked was also quite small. Most of the furniture inside wasn't new, nor made of luxurious materials, they were just standard pieces from the furniture market. Judging by the designs, they were a bit dated, more like items they hadn't had the heart to throw away when moving.

At first glance, the home looked more like it belonged to an ordinary middle-class family.

The only valuable-looking items were two porcelain pieces displayed in a glass cabinet.

Du Yusheng wasn't an archaeologist and certainly couldn't date antiques, but just by the way they were placed in that glass case, they should be worth a lot.

He called a few people over to start searching each of the rooms.

Du Yusheng pulled out a chair and sat down in the living room, right next to Mrs Chen.

Mrs Chen was dressed very plainly and sitting rather nervously on the sofa, her eyes darting now and then toward the officers moving back and forth.

Du Yusheng cleared his throat softly.

"You've only just moved here, haven't you?" Considering Mrs Chen's unease, Du Yusheng explained, "We're just here to ask a few questions. Just answer truthfully, that's all. As for whatever disputes you had with Huan Island Hospital, compensation or otherwise, that has nothing to do with me, so don't worry, just say what needs saying."

Hearing this, Mrs Chen's tense nerves loosened a little.

She poured herself a glass of water.

"We used to live in a villa near Huan Island. Later, Old Chen lost money in business for a few years, so we sold the villa and used what was left to buy this place."

A villa on Huan Island...

Du Yusheng suddenly thought of someone.

"Did you know Luo Daheng?"

Mrs Chen froze, clearly not expecting Du Yusheng to ask about that name.

"... Isn't, isn't he dead?" Mrs Chen said after a moment. "I heard that he was killed by his son?"

Du Yusheng neither confirmed nor denied it, he simply asked, "Did you know him while he was still alive?"

"Yes." Mrs Chen thought for a moment, then smiled faintly. "They knew each other quite early on, it's been years, back when Old Chen's business was doing well. Later... well, you understand. In that circle, if you have no money, you have no status. After we moved, we didn't really keep in touch."

There were two cups of tea on the table. Du Yusheng picked one up, sniffed it, frowned, and put it back without taking a sip.

In truth, he didn't know much about tea. In Du Yusheng's view, there were only two kinds of tea: good and bad. If it was better than the tea Old Master Du provided, then it was good tea. If it wasn't as good, then it was bad. But then Qin Yan had put it quite plainly, Your family's tea plantation only yields a few handfuls a year, who could possibly compare to that?

Resting his fingers on the rim of the cup, Du Yusheng said, "Did the two of them have any recent contact or meet up? Or rather, did they ever do anything together in the past?"

"What do you mean by do anything together?" Mrs Chen became a little agitated. "Old Chen always did honest business. Whether or not they kept in touch, how would I know? I never got involved in his business dealings at all. Officer Du, Luo Daheng is already dead, does he have anything to do with this?"

"Then I'll just ask something you do know." Du Yusheng licked his lips and said, "Chen Xin owed a lot of money, to the factory, to the workers, why didn't anyone go cause trouble at the hospital?"

Mrs Chen sighed and shook her head. "They did cause trouble, they came to the house. But when they saw it was just a woman here... I didn't even know at first that Chen Xin had suddenly gone to the hospital. Later I figured he was just trying to lie low, so I didn't interfere. When people came asking, I just said I didn't know, covered for him, otherwise..." Mrs Chen's eyes reddened slightly as she spoke. The woman who'd once been forceful at the hospital now couldn't bear the weight of those memories. She pressed her lips together and shook her head repeatedly.

"... That's how it was. I couldn't protect him," Mrs Chen choked out the second half of the sentence.

Du Yusheng looked away, a little unable to watch, and handed her a tissue.

"But you still gave the address to Gu Qingyu, didn't you?"

"I had no choice," Mrs Chen said. "He said he would pay me back, and I was so happy that I told him. I haven't told anyone else except him."

She didn’t tell anyone else. Gu Qingyu isn't the killer, so how did the killer know Chen Xin wasn't at home and that he was in the hospital?

Du Yusheng gave Mrs Chen a long look before asking, "Did you see anyone around the house before or after Chen Xin died?"

Mrs Chen shook her head. "Aside from the milk delivery and couriers, no one came looking for him."

Du Yusheng rubbed his fingers together, stood up, and walked over to the window. He opened it, and right across from them was Old Qian's home.

The air was turning cold, and every breath Du Yusheng exhaled turned to mist.

It was then that Xiao Bai's call came through.

Du Yusheng took out his phone, his eyes fixed on Old Qian's apartment across the way. Xiao Bai was currently inside it.

The distance was quite far, so he could only make out Xiao Bai's silhouette from afar, he couldn't clearly see what he was doing with his hands.

"You there?" Du Yusheng asked.

Xiao Bai gave a grunt of acknowledgement over the phone and said with a laugh, "Brother Yu, I've got a pair of binoculars here. Forget about you, I can even see the two antique vases behind you."

"That clear?"

Du Yusheng hadn't expected the binoculars to give such a clear view. It was probably because the two apartments faced each other directly in a straight line, without any obstructions, which made visibility much better.

"Then can you see what I'm saying?" Du Yusheng opened his mouth and mouthed a few words silently.

Xiao Bai had been peering into the binoculars quite intently. After concentrating for a moment to make out the words, he swore, "Fucking hell," and lowered the binoculars.

What Du Yusheng had mouthed were the four words: The soy milk's good.

If not for Li Yao's orders and the fact that Du Yusheng was his superior, with his fucking personality Xiao Bai would have flown across the gap and beaten him senseless, until he passed out.

Steadying himself, Xiao Bai picked up the phone again and said, "You're saying the killer murdered Old Qian in order to take over this apartment, and then used the binoculars to spy on Mrs Chen and Gu Qingyu talking, so that's how he learned Chen Xin was in the hospital? No way." Xiao Bai rejected the idea immediately. "Simple words I can make out clearly, sure, but when it comes to things like hospital room numbers, even if I can see them, I wouldn't be able to make them out properly."

"You got it half right," Du Yusheng scratched his nose with a grin. "The killer likely used the binoculars to confirm whether Chen Xin really wasn't home."

"And just for that, he killed Old Qian, added an extra life to the count?"

"You trying to understand the psychology of a murderer now?"

Xiao Bai cursed again.

Du Yusheng went on, "As for how the killer found out which ward Chen Xin was in, once he confirmed he wasn't home, he very likely followed Mrs Chen, but it seems she didn't notice. I asked her about it, she said the day before Chen Xin died, she did go to the hospital to see him in secret."

"... But Old Qian and Chen Xin died a day apart."

Du Yusheng nodded toward the window and said, "It's very likely the killer stayed the night in Old Qian's apartment after he was already dead."

Xiao Bai felt his throat tighten, a wave of nausea rising up in him.

Du Yusheng hung up the phone and glanced around at the colleagues working inside Chen Xin's home. Judging by the looks on their faces, there was nothing in the apartment more valuable than Mrs Chen's testimony. Du Yusheng wandered into the study, recalling the shoes with red clay residue he'd seen in Chen Xin's hospital room. He still felt there had to be some connection between Luo Daheng and Chen Xin that he hadn't uncovered yet.

There had been nothing in Old Qian's stomach, it was clear he hadn't originally been part of the killer's intended targets.

Excluding Old Qian, Du Yusheng still couldn't make sense of it all.

There were two potted plants in Chen Xin's study. Their owner clearly hadn't taken much care of them, simple and hardy greenery speckled with insect-bitten patches.

Du Yusheng pulled open a drawer in Chen Xin's study, inside was a stack of project briefs. As Du Yusheng flipped through them, a photograph slipped out. The colours were faded and the shot was clearly dated, it had the feel of something taken many years ago.

There were seven people in the photo, and Chen Xin stood at one end. Du Yusheng didn't recognise all of them, but Luo Daheng was also there, standing right beside Chen Xin. The group looked young, still a little green around the edges, and their clothing was plain. Du Yusheng reckoned this photo had been taken before they'd become successful businessmen, back at the start of their ventures.

Being cautious, Du Yusheng took a photo of it with his phone before handing it over to the forensics team.

Seven people. Two of them were already dead.

If there wasn't something supernatural going on, he'd be damned.

By the time Xiao Bai returned, Du Yusheng was outside by the door having a smoke.

As soon as he spotted Xiao Bai, Du Yusheng instinctively stubbed out the cigarette.

Xiao Bai waved the thing in his hand. "Got the surveillance footage, come have a look."

Du Yusheng nodded.

With a few people crammed in, the estate's security office instantly felt a bit crowded.

Du Yusheng gave Xiao Bai a look, signalling him to start the footage.

Old Qian had died sometime between nine and eleven at night, so the surveillance they pulled was from that time frame.

As it was a school district apartment, the foot and vehicle traffic at the entrance mostly consisted of students and their parents. Later in the evening, it was mostly couples or young people out enjoying themselves, or those working late. They scanned through the footage from several time slots, but Du Yusheng didn't find anything particularly suspicious.

Du Yusheng glanced over at Xiao Bai. "Adjust the starting time and watch again."

From the afternoon all the way to between nine and eleven in the evening, there was still nothing suspicious to be found.

According to the security guard, there hadn't been any unfamiliar faces either.

Scratching his chin, Du Yusheng felt increasingly irritated.

He rewound the surveillance footage by two hours, back to five in the afternoon.

On screen, a milk delivery vehicle appeared. A young delivery man pedalled a bike into the residential complex and vanished from view shortly after.

Du Yusheng paused the footage, glanced at the security guard, and asked, "Aren't milk deliveries usually done in the morning?"

The security guard chuckled. "Some office workers prefer it fresher, so they request afternoon deliveries. That way, they've got fresh milk to drink when they get home in the evening."

Du Yusheng instinctively glanced at Xiao Bai.

The latter hadn't caught on yet and looked blankly at him as Du Yusheng dragged the timeline forward a few hours.

"You didn't notice?" Du Yusheng tapped the screen and said, "That milk delivery guy went in, but he never came out."

As he listened to Du Yusheng, Xiao Bai immediately pictured the face of the milk delivery man they'd seen that day.

"Pull up the footage from the next day," Du Yusheng said.

The next day's footage was the day of Chen Xin's death.

The first person to appear on the screen in the morning was Mrs Chen. Five minutes later, the milk delivery man appeared, riding his bike with the company's logo on it and slowly passing through the surveillance view, leaving the estate.

Xiao Bai felt a chill creep down his spine. "He was in the complex for at least ten hours... What was he doing?"

"Good thing it's winter, the outside temperature is colder than a fridge." Du Yusheng sneered coldly, "Otherwise, that whole load of fresh milk would've gone sour by now."

Du Yusheng lit a cigarette and stepped out of the security room.

At this stage, the most suspicious figure was undoubtedly the milk delivery man. Ten hours to deliver milk, at that rate, even a local courier would've arrived long ago.

"Contact the milk company, I don't need to spell it out, you know what to do," Du Yusheng said.

Xiao Bai nodded and pulled out his phone, preparing to make the call.

But before he could dial, Du Yusheng stopped Xiao Bai. After a brief hesitation, he pulled out his own phone and opened the group photo he had secretly taken from Chen Xin's study.

"I found this in Chen Xin's project file," Du Yusheng said. "Seven people, two of them are already dead."

Xiao Bai froze as he stared at the image. "It's not two dead, it's three."

Du Yusheng froze.

"This person," Xiao Bai pointed at the man in the centre of the photo. "His surname was Jing, he was an arms dealer. He died a long time ago."

‿︵‿︵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: June 11, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 26, 2025 by Angel