Old He arrived at Guanlan Court again a week later.
He parked his car on the roadside spot outside the gate and sat in the driver's seat. Through the window, he silently watched Xu Ruyi in the distance—it was kindergarten pickup time. Xu Ruyi held a small backpack in one hand and the child's hand in the other, strolling leisurely home. She remained bent towards the child, chatting and laughing. When something amusing was said, she straightened up and laughed heartily.
The child beamed with joy too.
Clearly, the mother and daughter were slowly emerging from the shadows.
Although, Qin Guan's case wasn't over yet.
To be precise, not only was it not over, but there had been a new development—a major one. Qin Guan had confessed in court to killing Qi Min and simultaneously accused Xu Ruyi of being involved in moving the body and even in the crime itself.
An uproar ensued.
Local media outlets widely reported it. Public attention intensified. The police bureau attached great importance to the case, and Old He naturally didn't dare rest, immediately launching a reinvestigation.
In truth, he had never truly put this case down.
Many unanswered questions had lingered in his mind.
This investigation went much smoother than the first because Qin Guan was now willing to cooperate.
Qin Guan finally changed his story. He admitted he had secretly gone to the Lotus Hotel that predawn morning. After meeting Qi Min in Room 201, they had engaged in a fierce argument. Provoked by the various misunderstandings Xu Ruyi had deliberately manufactured, he lost his temper and, in a fit of rage, choked Qi Min unconscious.
Yes, he claimed he only "choked her unconscious."
However, after the incident, seeing Qi Min motionless, his mind went blank. Thinking he had truly strangled her to death for the second time, he reenacted what he'd done at the Lakeside Charm Hotel—
He hastily and carelessly cleaned the room, discarded some of Qi Min's clothes, stuffed Qi Min's "corpse" into a Hanco suitcase, and planned to dispose of it during the predawn hours.
He found a taxi and a pedicab. He deliberately lured Li Yang to the old stadium beforehand to create an alibi, disguised himself as Li Yang to confuse the police, and even gave Qi Min's clothes to the taxi driver, instructing him to deliver them to Dewang Tobacco & Liquor Store…
In short, Qin Guan confessed to every detail.
Old He naturally tracked down the taxi driver and pedicab operator from that day again. After further identification and confrontation, they confirmed Qin Guan's account.
The note Li Yang received had been destroyed, but after much effort, Old He found the young man who delivered the note that night—he also confirmed the note and payment came from Qin Guan.
Qin Guan also identified the location near the dump site where he'd discarded Qi Min's personal items.
Qi Min's toothbrush was recovered from a sewer grate in front of a restaurant. Naturally, no trace of Qi Min's DNA could be found on it anymore, but Li Yang recognized the toothbrush at a glance—Qi Min usually used high-end brands, and this seemingly ordinary toothbrush had cost over four hundred yuan.
Qi Min's clothes were later found in a pile of uncollected garbage at the intersection.
In summary, Qin Guan's confession this time contained no lies.
To be precise, he confessed to half the crime.
He claimed the unexpected turn happened at the dump site—after discarding Qi Min's toothbrush and clothes, he took the suitcase containing her body to a construction site on Shengli Road. He planned to throw it into a deep pit before work started, but just as he dragged the suitcase to the site entrance, it suddenly moved.
"There was a significant noise inside the suitcase, scaring me out of my mind. I was already on edge dumping the body. It was still dark, and the suitcase suddenly moved. My first reaction was pure fear,"
Qin Guan said he panicked, instinctively dropped the suitcase, and ran. Only after running some distance and hiding in a nearby abandoned movie theater did he realize—Qi Min was still alive.
Qi Min had woken up inside the suitcase.
He was scared, terrified, hesitant, but ultimately decided to face it.
So he turned back, intending to open the suitcase and release Qi Min.
But this time, the suitcase was gone. Qin Guan searched the entire construction site but couldn't find it. As work was about to start, fearing discovery, he had no choice but to leave.
"Actually, when I left the Lotus Hotel with the suitcase that predawn morning, I felt someone was following me. All the way to the construction site, I kept sensing eyes on my back. And I think I saw Feng Zhi's figure. I know you'll say Feng Zhi has a solid alibi, but I really saw him. If it wasn't Feng Zhi himself, it was likely a tracker hired by Feng Zhi and Xu Ruyi. In any case, that morning, at that site, Xu Ruyi's people were definitely there."
"They seized the suitcase containing Qi Min while I was fleeing in panic. After brief consideration, they decided to play along with the plan—kill Qi Min and pin the blame on me."
Of course, this was Qin Guan's claim.
Old He understood the real reason behind Qin Guan's change of story—if things truly happened as Qin Guan described, then Qin Guan was determined to drag Xu Ruyi down with him, preferring mutual destruction over letting her escape unscathed.
And if that wasn't the case, then that construction site must be a crucial turning point—perhaps Qin Guan wanted to use the police to find evidence unfavorable to Xu Ruyi?
The problem was the timing: Xu Ruyi was lying in a hospital bed, and Feng Zhi was constantly at school.
If she was involved, how on earth did she pull it off?