Good and Evil Chapter Twenty-One: Questioning the Victim

Good and evil are often separated by only a thin line.

After listening to Cai Fenfen’s account, Xu Lang asked her for more details, while Ning Yanran kept her head lowered, pen in hand, scribbling and sketching on a blank sheet of paper, her purpose unknown.

Through Xu Lang’s careful questioning and Cai Fenfen’s precise recollections, an image of the suspect gradually took shape in Xu Lang’s mind: a man, somewhere between twenty-two and twenty-seven years old, around 1.72 meters tall, with a strong and powerful build, likely a manual laborer. When committing his crimes, the suspect would first attack the victim from behind, rendering her briefly unconscious before carrying out the assault. If the victim regained consciousness and resisted, he would silence her with violence, covering her mouth or beating her into submission. During the assault, he always used a condom, ensuring that no direct evidence—no bodily fluids—would be left behind at the scene. Afterwards, he would rob the victim of her phone, wallet, and other valuables to prevent her from immediately calling the police.

The most crucial feature, one the victim remembered most vividly, was that the suspect bore a striking resemblance to a popular celebrity—a detail that would provide a direct lead in the investigation.

When Xu Lang finished his questioning, he noticed that Ning Yanran was still engrossed in her drawing, which piqued his curiosity. He gently nudged her arm and asked, “What are you doing?”

Ning Yanran paid him no mind and continued her task. Before long, she finally set down her pen and handed the sheet of paper to Cai Fenfen. “Is this what the suspect looked like?” she asked.

Cai Fenfen took the paper, glanced at it, and nodded quickly, tears once again streaming down her cheeks. Xu Lang leaned in and saw a sketched portrait of a man. Seeing the likeness, his gaze at Ning Yanran changed. He hadn’t realized she was so skilled at drawing portraits; while perhaps not an official expert, her sketch matched Cai Fenfen’s description remarkably well.

After seeing the portrait, Cai Fenfen’s eyes brimmed with immense hatred and deep-seated fear. Her hands trembled as she held the drawing, and tears flowed uncontrollably.

Realizing there was nothing more to ask, Xu Lang stood up and left the dorm room. Ning Yanran rose as well, leaving her contact information on a slip of paper, which she handed to Cai Fenfen. “If you remember anything else, call this number. My name is Ning Yanran.”

Cai Fenfen took the paper, looked up, and grasped Ning Yanran’s hand tightly, her tearful eyes pleading, “Officer Ning, you have to catch that man. Please, if you don’t, I don’t know how I’ll go on with my life.”

Ning Yanran met Cai Fenfen’s gaze and, after hearing her story, nodded firmly. “We will do our best to find the suspect as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Cai Fenfen repeated her gratitude three times.

At a loss for words, Ning Yanran simply patted Cai Fenfen’s shoulder, then picked up the sketch and interview notes and left the room.

Exiting, Ning Yanran found Xu Lang leaning against the corridor wall, smoking. She walked over, her tone fierce. “I want to catch this culprit myself,” she declared, waving her fist for emphasis.

Xu Lang glanced at her, then at the portrait in her hand. “Did you study this?” he asked.

Caught off guard, Ning Yanran followed his gaze and replied, “I studied this in college.” She paused, a little embarrassed, and added, “This is actually my first portrait.”

Xu Lang was surprised—he hadn’t expected such accuracy from a first attempt, and he found himself impressed. He, too, had once wanted to master the skill of criminal sketch artistry, but lacking any talent for drawing, his attempts were nothing but scribbles. In the end, he had given up.

They walked side by side out of the women’s dormitory. Ning Yanran put the portrait away and asked, “Who should we talk to next?”

Xu Lang flicked his cigarette end away. It traced a graceful arc in the air before landing neatly in a distant trash can.

“Let’s go through them one by one,” he replied.

Ning Yanran had no objection.

Cheng Xi was a white-collar worker at an IT company in City S. Young and attractive, she was also highly capable. Shortly after joining, she landed a major contract that brought the company considerable profit. Not long ago, she secured another deal worth over three million, which pleased her manager enough to throw a company party in her honor.

According to Cheng Xi, on the night of the 18th, they first had dinner at a hotel, then—at her coworkers’ insistence—went to a karaoke bar, singing and celebrating until after midnight. When it was time to leave, Cheng Xi hailed a taxi from the KTV and set off for home. However, as the cab neared Changdong Road, it broke down. With no other options, she got out, realizing the walk home was only about fifteen minutes. She paid the fare and started home on foot, but on the way, she was attacked and robbed—of both her possessions and her dignity.

At this point, Xu Lang interrupted her. “Do you remember the taxi’s license plate?”

Cheng Xi shook her head. She’d had a lot to drink that night; though normally she could hold her liquor, under relentless toasts from colleagues, she became quite tipsy. By the time she was heading home, she was barely steady on her feet—how could she remember the license plate?

Xu Lang frowned, unwilling to give up. “Try to think. Not even a little?”

Cheng Xi was silent, thinking hard for a long while. “I can’t remember exactly, but I think the last two numbers were 38.”

“Do you remember what the driver looked like?” Xu Lang pressed on.

Cheng Xi thought for a moment. “He was a man in his forties, a bit overweight, balding. Oh, and he stuttered.”

Hearing her description, Xu Lang glanced at Ning Yanran, who quickly jotted down these details.

“Could you tell us what happened next?” Xu Lang asked.

Cheng Xi nodded and continued. After getting out of the taxi, she walked for seven or eight minutes. The cab was gone from sight. Normally, she would have already reached the end of Changdong Road, but that night, the alcohol got to her. As soon as she got out, the night air made her nauseous, and she stopped by the roadside to vomit. Feeling a bit better, she stood up to continue home—when suddenly, a shadow leapt out from the darkness and attacked her from behind.

Already drunk and weakened by vomiting, Cheng Xi fell to the ground, her senses blurring. The assailant dragged her to the roadside and raped her. She resisted as best she could, but her strength was sapped by drink. She slapped and scratched at him, managing to claw his chest with her nails.

At this, Ning Yanran’s eyes lit up and she interrupted. “May I see your nails?”

Cheng Xi extended her hand. Her skin was fair, and her fingers long and elegant—the kind of hand that, if not in IT, would suit a pianist.

Ning Yanran inspected her nails closely but found them clean and neatly trimmed. There was nothing under them, which left her disappointed.

Xu Lang didn’t bother to look; he’d already noticed Cheng Xi’s hands were clean when he first saw her. It had been six days since the attack—who wouldn’t wash their hands in that time? Even the most careless young men wash their hands and face in the morning, let alone a young, attractive professional woman.

Cheng Xi continued. After scratching the attacker, he slapped her hard and then continued his assault. When he finished, he took all her belongings: an LV bag, a platinum necklace, two rings, a ladies’ watch, her phone, and wallet. Then he fled the scene.

After the attacker left, Cheng Xi sobered immediately. In the dim light, she saw his face clearly—a man in his thirties, strikingly similar to a famous actor from war dramas. She noticed the resemblance because her parents were fans of such shows.

Afterwards, she ran home barefoot, pounded on the door, and her mother answered, shocked at her disheveled, dirt-covered state. She rushed into the bathroom and scrubbed herself for over three hours. Only when her parents, worried for her safety, knocked frantically did she finally emerge, collapsed into her mother’s arms, and wept bitterly. The next day, she reported the crime to the police and took a week off work, isolating herself at home. She didn’t know what to do—she dreaded her colleagues finding out, and since breaking up with her college boyfriend, she’d never dated again despite receiving many confessions from young men at work. Now, she couldn’t imagine going out or back to work; she simply locked herself in her room, coming out only for food or to bathe, and spent most of her time silently crying.

While Cheng Xi spoke, her parents didn’t come into the bedroom, but Xu Lang could clearly hear her mother’s suppressed sobs and her father’s sighs from the living room.

“Can you describe the suspect in more detail?” Xu Lang asked.

Sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, Cheng Xi looked up at Xu Lang with a flash of anxiety, then quickly looked away and replied softly, “I was drunk, so I can’t remember clearly. He was in his thirties, very strong, looked a lot like that actor from TV dramas.”

“Anything else?” Xu Lang pressed.

Cheng Xi thought for a moment. “I don’t know if it was the alcohol or something with my nose, but I smelled metal on him.”

“Metal?” Xu Lang and Ning Yanran exchanged puzzled glances.

Seeing their confusion, Cheng Xi explained, “Not long ago, I had a business deal at a factory, and there I smelled that same metallic scent.”

“What kind of factory?” Xu Lang asked.

“A machining plant—the kind with big machine tools.”

Xu Lang immediately understood: the metallic smell she referred to was likely the odor of machine lubricant oil.

“What’s the name of the factory owner you worked with?”

“Du Chun.”

“Du Chun? I haven’t heard of him,” Ning Yanran remarked.

Cheng Xi fell silent, so Xu Lang explained, “Du Chun owns a small machining plant in City S, producing mechanical parts. The factory isn’t large, but it’s profitable.”

“How do you know all this?” Ning Yanran asked curiously.

Xu Lang rubbed his nose and said nothing. Recently, his firm had taken a case for Du Chun, who suspected his wife of cheating. Xu Lang’s colleague Du Ziqiao had investigated and indeed found evidence of an affair; after learning the truth, Du Chun divorced his wife, and they were still in the midst of a legal battle.

“Is there anything else you’d like to add?” Xu Lang asked, not wanting to dwell on that topic.

Cheng Xi shook her head, still hugging her knees in silence.

With nothing more to ask, Xu Lang and Ning Yanran left Cheng Xi’s room.

As they were leaving, Cheng Xi’s mother, eyes red from crying, grabbed Ning Yanran’s hand and pleaded, “Officers, you must find that monster! My daughter is still so young—how is she supposed to live after this?”

Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. Ning Yanran could only comfort her, saying, “Auntie, don’t worry. We’ll do everything we can to bring him to justice.”

But no matter what Ning Yanran said, Cheng Xi’s mother refused to let go. At last, Cheng Xi’s father pulled her away, and Xu Lang and Ning Yanran were able to leave.

Next, they visited the other victims: Li Xinxin and Li Xin’er, a third-year university student.

Li Xinxin worked as a hostess in a bar. When Xu Lang found her, she was napping in her dorm. Unlike the other victims, Li Xinxin did not appear especially traumatized; she continued working as usual after the incident.

During questioning, Li Xinxin recounted the entire event in detail. Ning Yanran was left speechless, while Xu Lang simply rubbed his nose and kept quiet.

Li Xinxin was less concerned about being assaulted than about her stolen property—especially a necklace in her bag. She claimed it was a gift from a customer, worth tens of thousands. This left the officers exasperated.

When they left her residence, Li Xinxin even asked when they would catch the culprit and recover her necklace.

Ning Yanran could only promise they would do so as soon as possible before hurrying away with Xu Lang.

Once outside, Ning Yanran fumed, “What kind of person is that? She’s not worried about her reputation, but only cares about a worthless necklace!”

Xu Lang looked back at her apartment and replied, “Didn’t you realize what her job is?”

“Isn’t she just a bar hostess?” Ning Yanran answered without thinking.

Xu Lang rolled his eyes. “She’s an escort. Didn’t you notice she reported a robbery, not an assault? She only came to the police because of the necklace.”

At this, Ning Yanran recalled that Li Xinxin’s file indeed listed “robbery” as the crime. Furious, she stomped her foot and walked away.

Xu Lang shook his head at her retreating figure, saying nothing.

The interviews with the first three victims went smoothly, but they encountered difficulties with the third-year student, Li Xin’er.

Li Xin’er came from a single-parent family and lived alone with her mother. After the attack, both withdrew into their home, weeping together. Li Xin’er hadn’t been to school since the incident.

When Xu Lang and Ning Yanran arrived, Li Xin’er remained behind her bedroom door, refusing to open it despite repeated calls. Her mother, meanwhile, vented her anger at the officers, blaming them for not catching the perpetrator and berating the police for incompetence.

Xu Lang listened patiently to her tirade, saying nothing. Ning Yanran wanted to defend them, but Xu Lang held her back. Only after Li Xin’er’s mother exhausted herself did Xu Lang begin his questioning.

Eventually, with much persuasion, Li Xin’er’s mother convinced her to open the door, and the interview could proceed.