In the morning, the police station was dealing with the robbery that occurred the previous day.
Around noon, it was lunchtime, but the cafeteria was closed for the weekend, so the only options were to order takeout or eat outside.
Luo Fei was about to ask Zhang Haiyang and Liu Haiquan if they wanted to order takeout when Zhou Weimin walked into the office with a smile, inviting them out to eat.
The four of them didn’t go to a restaurant; instead, they found a roadside food stall.
Four dishes and a soup: twice-cooked pork, shredded pork with green pepper, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, dry-fried shredded potatoes, and sour bean soup with string beans. These were all common home-cooked dishes, nothing fancy, but the flavor was quite good.
"Just now, Zhao Donglai, the captain of the criminal police, called me. He said the case involving Su Xiao has been solved. Tang Hu, who murdered Su Xiao, confessed everything and has been handed over to the prosecutor’s office. Zhao Donglai called to let you know and to thank you as well." Zhou Weimin said while they were eating.
"Chief Zhou, how was the murderer caught? Was it the Jiangzhou City criminal police who caught him?" Zhang Haiyang asked as soon as he heard that Tang Hu had been caught, as he also contributed to the case.
Zhou Weimin nodded, "Yes, this Tang Hu had certain anti-detection methods. He bought a bus ticket to Jiangzhou City but didn’t take the long-distance bus there. Instead, he hired a taxi to Jiangzhou City, leaving the police empty-handed at the bus station."
"However, who knows what Tang Hu was thinking, or perhaps he was just foolish. He used his own ID to book a room at a hotel, and the Jiangzhou City police found his hotel registration information in the police system. They captured Tang Hu at the hotel immediately."
Luo Fei asked curiously, "Chief Zhou, since Tang Hu has already been handed over to the prosecutor’s office, he should have confessed to the reason and details of the murder, right?"
Zhang Haiyang and Liu Haiquan also stared curiously at Zhou Weimin, eager to learn the story behind the murder case.
"Tang Hu confessed. According to him, he and Su Xiao met online. After chatting for some time, they discovered both were from Ningjiang County and agreed to meet up since they were both in the county town."
"At their first meeting, both were quite pleased with each other. Over the following period, they met several more times and chatted pleasantly. Within about a month, they confirmed their relationship and became a couple."
"At this time, Su Xiao didn’t know Tang Hu was already married with a child. As for Tang Hu, he simply wanted to have some fun with Su Xiao, who was quite pretty according to him. He never planned on staying long-term with Su Xiao."
"This related to Tang Hu’s identity. On the surface, Tang Hu was the boss of Yumin Supermarket, a youthful and wealthy man. But in reality, Tang Hu was a son-in-law who married into the family. The real owner of Yumin Supermarket was his wife. They had a prenuptial property agreement, and Tang Hu had no shares. To put it bluntly, Tang Hu was just an employee. If he were to leave his wife, he would have nothing."
"That’s also why Tang Hu never considered staying long-term with Su Xiao. But Su Xiao was unaware of this. As time went on, she became more and more deeply involved. Although Tang Hu was not a remarkable person, he had good looks and was nominally the boss of Yumin Supermarket. Plus, Tang Hu was quite good at sweet-talking women, making Su Xiao fall deeply for him."
"After about a year of their relationship, Tang Hu’s excitement about Su Xiao had faded, and he understood the saying ’long walks in the dark will meet ghosts.’ He was planning to end their relationship. Just the day before Su Xiao’s accident, Tang Hu told her they should break up over the phone."
"Tang Hu never expected Su Xiao to refuse to break up, no matter what he said. Tang Hu, at this point, couldn’t indulge Su Xiao any longer. He immediately blocked all of Su Xiao’s contact information, hoping this would make her give up and remove her from his life."
"But Tang Hu never expected that Su Xiao liked him too much. Seeing that Tang Hu had deleted all her contact information, she directly went to the supermarket to find Tang Hu. This behavior almost scared Tang Hu to death. He knew that if his wife found out he had another woman outside, he would be kicked out with nothing. Having gotten used to living in luxury, Tang Hu couldn’t accept such a result."
"Fortunately, it didn’t develop into the worst situation. When he saw Su Xiao, he pulled her out of the supermarket immediately. It was broad daylight and in public, so to make sure Su Xiao would leave, Tang Hu promised to visit her that night and have a proper chat."
"Around 1 a.m., after finishing his work at the supermarket, Tang Hu told his wife he was going out to drink with his good buddies, then left. He didn’t go straight to Orchid District to find Su Xiao but sat in the car for a long time, pondering how he would talk to Su Xiao. He wondered what reason to offer if Su Xiao still refused to break up."
"Eventually, around 2 a.m., Tang Hu entered the district to find Su Xiao, who had been waiting in her room. As soon as Tang Hu entered the room, he started explaining to Su Xiao what he scrupulously thought over in the car. He told Su Xiao that he was a philanderer, would have other women in the future, couldn’t provide her happiness and joy, and hoped she would understand."
"But who would have thought Su Xiao, after listening, believed Tang Hu was a good man and insisted on staying with him. This frustrated Tang Hu greatly. Over the next period, Tang Hu used all his excuses and reasons, but Su Xiao just refused to agree to break up."
"At this point, feeling extremely agitated, Tang Hu smoked a cigarette. Seeing Su Xiao was unmoved and still refused to break up, Tang Hu resolved to confess the truth. He thought Su Xiao’s refusal was because she believed him to be a good man worthy of trust, who was also wealthy. If Su Xiao knew he was married with a child and had no money, she would surely agree to break up."
"So Tang Hu confessed the truth to Su Xiao, telling her he was married with a child and the supermarket wasn’t his. Su Xiao initially thought he was saying this to break up with her. But the next moment, Tang Hu took out his phone and showed her his family photo and marriage certificate. When Su Xiao saw the photos, she finally believed Tang Hu was telling the truth."
"At that moment, Su Xiao was completely devastated. She never imagined the man she had loved deeply was actually married and had a child. She couldn’t accept this fact, her world collapsed, and she hysterically yelled and berated Tang Hu."
"Su Xiao’s voice was too loud, and Tang Hu was afraid it might attract people, so he went over to persuade her. But no matter how he comforted and persuaded her, Su Xiao wouldn’t listen. She continued to cry loudly and curse Tang Hu, which made Tang Hu panic. He went up and covered Su Xiao’s mouth with his hand, trying to quiet her down. Su Xiao struggled, but Tang Hu kept holding her mouth tightly, trying to calm her down and stop her crying."
"Around four to five minutes into this, Tang Hu thought Su Xiao had calmed down because she stopped struggling. He released his grip, but to his surprise, Su Xiao slowly slumped down when he let go."
"Tang Hu didn’t react immediately; he thought Su Xiao was voluntarily lying on the ground. Only when Su Xiao collapsed entirely did Tang Hu realize something was wrong. He rushed over to check and found Su Xiao was no longer breathing."
"At this moment, Tang Hu was utterly blank. He never intended to kill anyone; he always thought murder was something that happened only in movies and television dramas. But at that moment, he had accidentally killed his lover. It took Tang Hu about half an hour to slowly accept that he had committed murder. However, what came next was fear. Tang Hu was terrified; he was still young and had plenty of life ahead. He didn’t want to ruin his youth like this."
"So Tang Hu forced himself to calm down; he wouldn’t just sit there waiting. He decided he had to save himself. After thinking for a long time, Tang Hu decided to disguise Su Xiao’s death as a suicide. He carefully checked the room, erased all traces of himself, and finally threw Su Xiao’s body out of the window. Only then did Tang Hu flee the scene."