Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“When I was little, Mom and Dad fought all the time. I was scared, so I hid under the table.

“Mom called Dad an uneducated, stinking thug who flirted around all day and never came home. Dad said that back then, Mom had gotten him drunk, and that was how they had me.

“They kept fighting like that until I started elementary school. Around then, Aunt Ma’s husband had just died, and she was left alone with a sick daughter. She was helpless. Dad helped her with the funeral, running around taking care of everything. One thing led to another, and they got together.”

Captain Wan handed me a glass of water. “So Ma Xiaoqin was the other woman. Her appearance caused your parents’ divorce. Yanwei, tell me the truth. Did you hate her?”

I took a sip of water. “A little, but later I thought she was really pitiful.”

Captain Ma raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

I rubbed my aching eyes. “She became a widow in her twenties, and her daughter had a heart condition. She had a hard life.”

Captain Wan sighed. “It must have cost a lot to treat An’an’s illness, right? Did your father pay for that?”

“Mm.”

I nodded. “At first, Dad really doted on An’an. Last year, to pay for her treatment, he even sold his motorcycle. But starting around then, Dad began to dislike An’an.

“He loved Aunt Ma very much, but he couldn’t afford to support the whole family, plus tuition for two kids and those huge medical bills. Dad once suggested to Aunt Ma that they send An’an back to her grandmother’s house. Aunt Ma refused. She said An’an was her whole life, and even if she had to take two more jobs, she would never spend another cent of Dad’s money.

“Because of An’an, they fought a lot. In the end, Aunt Ma agreed to have a child with Dad, and only then did they make up.”

Captain Wan wrote down everything I said in his notebook. “Thank you for your cooperation, Yanwei. This information will be very useful for solving the case.”

Useful for solving the case?

Could my dad really be a suspect?

I stood up at once. “Uncle, at most, my dad didn’t really like An’an because of money, but he would never be cruel enough to kill a child.”

“All right. I understand.”

Captain Wan patted my arm.

Just then, the young officer knocked and came in.

“Captain, we called to verify it.” The young officer glanced at me. “Zhu Yanwei really was with that female classmate named Zhou Rong today. They watched a movie and hung out by the river. He didn’t go home until the afternoon.”

Captain Wan grunted in acknowledgment and told me to sleep in the security office tonight, saying the police still needed to collect more evidence from my home.

He tucked his little notebook into his breast pocket and got up to leave.

At the door, Captain Wan suddenly turned back. “Yanwei, do you hate your dad that much?”

I froze. “Huh? No.”

Captain Wan’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, cutting straight to my arm.

“I noticed the moment I walked in that your arm was injured. Your father hit you, didn’t he?

“Also, though you kept defending your father just now, throughout our conversation, you deliberately steered the topic toward how your father disliked An’an.”

My whole body went cold in an instant. I lowered my head and denied it. “I didn’t.”

Captain Wan sighed. “Yanwei, you’re far smarter than other kids your age. A terrible original family isn’t your fault. Look at the grass growing in the shade. No matter how harsh its environment is, it still struggles to grow toward the sun. Study hard, kid. Get into a good university one day and change your fate.”

I looked at Captain Ma and nodded hard. “I’ll remember that, Uncle.”