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墨書 Inktalez
Once the suspect was identified, the process of gathering specific evidence around him, commonly referred to as "from person to object," became relatively easier. We investigated Zhang Dongcheng's ticket purchase records and discovered that he had bought a ticket back to Yuzhou City on July 2nd. On July 5th, he purchased a ticket returning to the city where his university was located. When we informed his father, Zhang Fushun, of his death, he once again bought a ticket back to Yuzhou City.
During the questioning at the bureau, Zhang Dongcheng presented the ticket for his second return trip, allowing him to evade suspicion. Little did anyone know that he had actually remained in Yuzhou City before and after the victim's death. A comparison of the murder weapon revealed that Zhang Dongcheng's finger length matched, and he was not left-handed.
The interrogation was challenging at first; facing our inquiries, Zhang Dongcheng merely smiled foolishly and did not utter a word. No matter how much we "coerced and tempted" him, he remained tight-lipped. Meanwhile, Wang Guihua had been crying since learning of Zhang Dongcheng's arrest; her eyes were swollen and her face haggard.
This situation persisted until Captain Shi pulled out a photograph.
It was a picture of a young man against a bustling background filled with people. The young man was none other than Zhang Dongcheng. Captain Shi slammed the photo down on the table in front of him and said in a low, powerful voice, "This is the only thing left by your father whom you killed!"
Zhang Dongcheng was startled by Captain Shi's action and slowly lowered his head to look at the photo. He cried out loud. This was a picture taken after his college entrance examination when his father took him on a trip. It was his father's first time traveling far from home, and he seemed even more nervous than Zhang Dongcheng.
This simple worker looked at the vast square and exclaimed, "My goodness, it's really huge!"
Afterward, Zhang Dongcheng confessed without hesitation. Let’s reconstruct what happened at that time.
On July 4th, Zhang Fushun learned that his son would be returning home for summer vacation and had already bought a ticket. It had been months since he last saw his son, and he felt incredibly excited. He asked Fat Man, the contractor, for a day off to be home as soon as possible to reunite with his son.
To save money, Zhang Fushun chose not to take a bus. While walking through a commercial street, he saw an array of goods in shop windows and various clothes on display. He clenched the wages he had received over the past few months in his pocket and thought about how long it had been since he bought clothes for his wife.
The expenses for their son's college education were substantial; all their money had to be squeezed from both of them. He noticed the fashionable young salespeople inside the store and suddenly remembered how beautiful Guihua had been over twenty years ago when they first met. He gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, unexpectedly spending two hundred yuan to buy her a piece of clothing.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he asked, "Do you have this in the largest size?"
That piece of clothing was later torn by him; that night, Guihua wore it while holding him down as he struggled in the pigpen.
Zhang Fushun walked to the station and boarded Li Tang's vehicle. Normally quiet, today he surprisingly struck up a conversation with the driver about how his son would be coming home tonight and would likely take this same bus! His wife had already prepared hot pot ingredients for dinner.
Li Tang chuckled teasingly, "It's only morning now; your son won't be back until tonight. Why are you so anxious?"
Zhang Fushun smiled but said nothing.
Guihua complained to him: "Why did you buy this piece of clothing? It's something young girls wear! If I wear this outfit, won't people in the village laugh at me? Besides, can I even feed pigs in this?" Her tone was full of complaints, but she couldn't hide her smile as she added, "Look at this!"
"Erguotou!" Zhang Fushun also smiled.
Guihua said, "I know you like this stuff, but you should drink less tonight."
Zhang Fushun did not speak in flowery phrases about the passage of time; he simply squatted in the yard and said, "In summer, it gets dark late."
His son, Zhang Dongcheng, had finally returned, riding in Li Tang's car. Li Tang noticed the young man with a suitcase and had previously chatted with Zhang Dongcheng, saying, "Your father took my car this morning..." Little did Li Tang know that this remark would lead to his own demise later on.
That evening, the family of three enjoyed a warm hot pot dinner. Midway through the meal, Zhang Fushun picked up a bottle of Erguotou, a potent liquor. As he drank deeply, he forgot what day it was and casually grabbed a farming tool nearby and began to act.
Zhang Dongcheng had always been a sensible child. He had long forgotten when his father started drinking heavily or when he began to hit his mother. His understanding often translated into compliance, which was accompanied by weakness. His mother could endure it, and so could he for many years, but today he did not want to tolerate it any longer. Each time he returned home to a cheerful atmosphere, it ultimately turned into a scene of domestic violence.
Until Zhang Fushun said, "Divorce."
Zhang Fushun turned his back to Zhang Dongcheng. In a moment of desperation, Zhang Dongcheng struck his father at the back of the neck with all his might. Zhang Fushun fell to the ground, knocking over the condiments on the table, which splattered across half of his head. He slipped into unconsciousness while both of them stood there in shock. Wang Guihua said, "I don't want a divorce."
They dragged him into the pigpen. Half an hour later, they heard Zhang Fushun's cries. His head, covered in seasonings, was seen as a delicacy by the old sow. When they arrived, the sow was gnawing at his head. Without hesitation, Zhang Dongcheng donned white gloves issued by the school and stabbed Zhang Fushun with a fruit knife.
With each stab, he recalled how for years Zhang Fushun had violently beaten his mother after drinking. He remembered waking up in terror from nightmares in the middle of the night. Everyone harbors a beast within them; today, Zhang Dongcheng's beast finally broke free from its cage. That night, they disposed of Zhang Fushun's body in a dry well and covered it with heavy stones. Afterwards, Zhang Dongcheng took care to erase any traces and appeared quite rational. He then purchased a ticket back to school.
It wasn't until the body was discovered that the police contacted Zhang Dongcheng.
He understood that it was only a matter of time before the police investigated Li Tang. Therefore, upon returning to Yuzhou City, his first action was to kill Li Tang and then act as if nothing had happened when he arrived at the police station. That night, Wang Guihua got into Li Tang's car and did not let anyone else in until they drove off the last street without surveillance.
However, when they reached Niulan Mountain, someone approached them—someone he recognized.
Zhang Dongcheng sat in the back seat of the driver's side and slowly pulled out a green skipping rope from his pocket. He said, "I'm sorry you saw me that day." Li Tang was confused as the rope tightened around his neck. Wang Guihua witnessed everything; she snatched the rope from Zhang Dongcheng's hands and pushed him out of the car. "Dongzi," she said, "your life is still long ahead of you. Your mother has no education; this is all she will ever be."
Zhang Dongcheng realized that his mother intended to take all the blame upon herself.
During interrogation, Wang Guihua stated, "Zhang Fushun was a good husband."
That night, Zhang Dongcheng wandered aimlessly along the road toward town. The sky darkened without even streetlights illuminating the highway as he cried uncontrollably. Later on, drivers who worked night shifts would boast about hearing someone crying on that unlit road late at night—ethereal and ghostly.
A university student—someone who was once held in high regard in his village—had become a murderer. Perhaps all his pride stemmed from insecurity; all his bravery arose from cowardice. At this point, the case was fully unraveled: Zhang Dongcheng was identified as the principal offender while Wang Guihua was deemed an accomplice; together they had killed someone who was both a father and husband. To cover up their crime, they killed another innocent person.
What kind of person was Zhang Fushun? Villagers called him a good man; workers at construction sites described him as honest; Wang Guihua claimed he was a good husband—all this before he began drinking heavily. With the truth revealed, villagers were incredulous: Niulan Village’s only university student had also become its only murderer in hundreds of years.
The village chief remarked, "Zhang Fushun has been drinking heavily for five or six years now; he originally didn't drink at all and suddenly became an alcoholic for reasons unknown—he would always get drunk whenever he drank. This shows that alcohol is truly not a good thing."
"His third uncle is back; he's looking for you to drink!" someone shouted from afar to the village chief.
The village chief turned around and said to us, "Ah, what a good family of three, one dead and two gone inside. Such is life!" Then, without looking back, he walked off into the distance, shouting, "Alright, I'll be there soon, but you all can't drink first!"
I sighed; Captain Shi was preparing to wrap things up and head back. At that moment, a boy around fourteen or fifteen tugged at my sleeve. Confused, I looked down at him as he whispered, "Police uncle, I want to tell you something! I've been thinking about it for a long time!" This story, I had never shared with anyone, not even the person involved.
Six years ago, he was just a child. That day, he went to play with Brother Zhang Dongcheng. When he pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw Zhang Fushun standing there in a daze, expressionless, as if he had become a living corpse. He peered through the window and saw Wang Guihua and Zhang Dongcheng lying naked on the bed; Zhang Dongcheng was on top of Wang Guihua, moving slightly.
He had kept this incident bottled up for six years.
Six years ago, Zhang Fushun began drinking heavily.
I trembled slightly and forced a smile. The boy shrugged and ran off into the distance. I had no idea how Zhang Fushun had managed all these years. I didn't know how many times such things had happened or how many times Zhang Fushun had contemplated the word "divorce" over those six years.
The book that Zhang Dongcheng brought back later became one I read many times. It contained a line that struck me:
"Life is nothing but an alternation of waiting and enduring; sometimes it’s waiting within endurance, hope within despair. When there’s nothing left to wait for, just endure one last time; at worst, it’s death—a complete release."
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