Chapter 161

"He seems to really hate Ding Zhuangzhuang," Mu Mian whispered to Fang Rui. "But Ding Zhuangzhuang was the one who was abandoned. Why would he hate Ding Zhuangzhuang?"

Fang Rui also found it strange. Chen Yuankun had said he didn't know he had a twin brother, so why would he show such disgust towards Ding Zhuangzhuang?

Moreover, even though Chen Yuankun knew the police were present, he still displayed that kind of smile. It was very likely that he couldn't control his emotions and inadvertently revealed his true feelings.

Fang Rui thought of another possibility, "Could it be that what he hates is his mother?"

In the hospital room, Chen's Mother threw herself onto Ding Zhuangzhuang, crying heartbrokenly: "My son, it's all mother's fault. Mother is so sorry. My son..." Chen's Mother wanted to call his name, but she didn't know it, so she could only stop there.

Ding Zhuangzhuang maintained his vacant expression, extending his left hand to pat Chen's Mother's face intermittently.

Chen Yuankun stepped forward and grabbed Ding Zhuangzhuang's hand, "Brother, have you been well all these years?"

Ding Zhuangzhuang's body trembled, and he fearfully withdrew his hand. Sёarᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Brother, come home with us. We'll take good care of you from now on."

The duty nurse came in to change Ding Zhuangzhuang's IV drip. Seeing his family members had arrived, she reminded them: "Why did you family members take so long to come? Those two police officers outside have already paid several tens of thousands in medical fees for you. You should pay them back quickly. It's not easy for police officers to earn their salary, don't make them pay out of their own pockets."

Chen's Mother didn't respond and continued holding Ding Zhuangzhuang while crying.

Chen Yuankun also stood there without answering.

"Are you all deaf?"

Chen's Mother glared at the nurse, "You're the one who's deaf."

The nurse suddenly seemed to understand something and rolled her eyes at both of them.

After Chen's Mother finished her intense crying, rationality took over again.

Ding Zhuangzhuang's mind was now damaged, and if she took him home to care for him, she would have to look after him for the rest of his life. Moreover, Ding Zhuangzhuang had an unlucky birth chart that would bring misfortune to his parents, which made Chen's Mother even more reluctant to take him home.

Chen's Mother walked out of the hospital room and said to Fang Rui and Mu Mian who were standing in the hallway: "Officers, we'll be leaving now."

Mu Mian asked in confusion: "He needs someone to take care of him now. Aren't you going to look after him?"

Chen's Mother looked somewhat embarrassed and said, "I need to watch over our supermarket. I have to go back."

"Is your supermarket more important than your son?"

"He... he's not really my son."

"You gave birth to him," Mu Mian emphasized angrily.

Chen's Mother was left speechless. Her expression became more guilty, and for a moment, she considered taking Ding Zhuangzhuang home to care for him, but she knew the children's father would never agree. He might even throw both her and this mentally challenged son out of the house. Moreover, if Chen Yuankun had such a mentally challenged brother, it would affect Chen Yuankun's future prospects.

Chen's Mother hardened her heart and said, "I never raised him, so he's not my son."

"If it were Chen Yuankun lying in there, would you take care of him?" Fang Rui questioned.

Chen's Mother glanced at Chen Yuankun and said urgently, "Yuankun is different. I raised him myself, and no matter what condition he's in, we would take care of him. But that person in there, I... I feel like a stranger to him."

After hearing his mother's words, Chen Yuankun turned to look at Ding Zhuangzhuang in the hospital room. His expression was blank as he coldly observed the man who looked identical to him.

"Let's go home," Chen Yuankun said.

"Yes, I need to go back and make dinner for your father. If I'm late, he'll scold me again." Chen's Mother didn't dare look at Fang Rui and Mu Mian anymore, and said quietly, "Officers, we'll be leaving now."

After they left, Mu Mian said angrily, "They might as well not have come at all!"

"She came to ease her own guilty conscience."

Recalling the scene in the hospital room, Fang Rui analyzed, "When Chen Yuankun grabbed Ding Zhuangzhuang's hand earlier, Ding Zhuangzhuang showed an expression of fear. Could it be that Chen Yuankun did something to him?"

"Then they must have known each other before," Mu Mian remembered the recurring timeframe. "Could they have met six months ago? Many important events happened six months ago."

Although Ding Zhuangzhuang was a suspect, he had just escaped mortal danger and couldn't be detained yet. Fang Rui assigned two officers to watch his room.

Fang Rui had Li check the surveillance footage near both Ding Zhuangzhuang's and Chen Yuankun's homes to see if they could find evidence of the two meeting.

The most crucial thing now was to break Chen Yuankun's alibi.

The next morning, the salesman who had been in the video conference with Chen Yuankun on the night of the incident returned from his business trip. Fang Rui and Zhang went to find him at his office in the factory.

This was a small-scale building materials factory that mainly produced various types of steel bars and metal construction materials, with only about a dozen employees. The salesman was called Li Deming, and his office was very basic.

"Officers, look at the meeting records. During that time period, I really was in a video conference with Manager Chen." Li Deming opened his computer to show them the meeting time and list of participants.

Zhang asked, "Isn't he just a purchasing agent? Why do you call him Manager Chen?"

"Oh, 'manager' is just a respectful term, it doesn't represent his actual position. Besides, he has the authority to make purchasing decisions. He decides whose goods to buy, so if he's not a manager, what is he?"

"Isn't Manager Wang his superior?"

"He's Manager Wang's right-hand man. Manager Wang listens to everything he says."

"You really didn't record the video conference?" Fang Rui asked.

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Li Deming was an old hand at this, and he laughed it off, "No, I was so flustered by his complaint at the time that I forgot to turn on the automatic recording function."

"Wouldn't you be more likely to record the video when there's a complaint involved, to keep evidence? You've been in this business for so long, you shouldn't be this careless. Or was something said in the meeting that shouldn't have been?"

Having his pretense exposed, Li Deming was stunned for a moment before admitting, "Officers, I did record the video, but some of the content involves industry secrets. Please don't let this leak out."

"Where's the video?"

Li Deming opened his computer's D drive and clicked on a folder named "New Files" which contained various audio and video recordings. He clicked on one of them and the video began to play.

On the other end of the conference was Chen Yuankun, who appeared to have just taken a shower with a towel wrapped around his head. The background was his home with bright lights on. During the meeting, he would occasionally stand up and walk around.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chen Yuankun was very angry and started berating Li Deming. When Li Deming got tired of being scolded, he reminded him, "Chen Yuankun, you took a ten percent commission from me. When there's a problem, you should help me solve it properly instead of yelling at me."

Chen Yuankun was taken aback, and his attitude improved considerably. Their communication became much smoother afterward.

Near the end of the video, Li Deming said, "Manager Chen, another batch of goods will arrive tomorrow. There are some defective items in that batch that look unsightly, but the quality is fine. Give me the inspector's contact, I can handle him."

Chen Yuankun frowned slightly but didn't reply and ended the video call.