Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1210: Chapter 51: Life Is But a Dream

For a moment, Chen Mingming felt that if the car could slow down a bit more, or if the destination were a bit farther, it might be a good thing.

The father and son chatted leisurely in the car.

They would discuss the details of the case and also talk about trivial, unrelated matters, or sigh at changes in familiar places.

It was a peculiar feeling, as if the father and son were playing a detective game together.

Of course, this was a real investigation, and they might encounter dangers beyond the game.

Before long, the car still came to a stop.

Wang Liang’s rented apartment had long been sealed off, and Zhou Yusheng tore off the seal without hesitation and walked in. Chen Mingming instinctively stood outside the door, deep in thought.

Zhou Yusheng turned back curiously and asked, “Did you find anything?”

Chen Mingming instinctively shook his head and then walked into the apartment. The body that had been in the freezer had been removed a long time ago, but the freezers position remained unchanged, and everything else in the apartment was left untouched, still in an unusually tidy state.

Zhou Yusheng had been to the crime scene several times and hadn’t found any new clues. If Chen Mingming hadn’t insisted on coming again, he wouldn’t have returned so soon.

However, the air inside the apartment felt somewhat oppressive, so Zhou Yusheng went to open a window—he wasn’t afraid of destroying any evidence since the forensic team had already collected everything of value long ago.

According to forensic personnel, when they arrived at the scene, they couldn’t find a single fingerprint; the apartment was so clean it seemed like it had been washed inside and out with disinfectant.

But it was Chen Mingming’s first time at the scene…he frowned at the clean apartment and immediately felt a sense of comfort—the room seemed to be in its best state, as if there was no place left to clean.

Zhou Yusheng knew there wasn’t much value left in the investigation here, but that didn’t stop him from accompanying Chen Mingming in the investigation—because he saw it as a valuable experience for Chen Mingming in handling cases.

He wasn’t in a hurry to question Chen Mingming; instead, he patiently waited, subconsciously hoping his son would give him a surprise.

Suddenly, Chen Mingming moved—he abruptly opened the shoe rack at the entrance and, under Zhou Yusheng’s surprised gaze, took out some shoes and casually threw them on the floor.

Zhou Yusheng was about to ask what he was up to when Chen Mingming seemed dissatisfied with just emptying out the shoe rack.

He began to move throughout the apartment, ransacking everything—the sofa, cabinets, tables, even the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen—all the tidy things were turned upside down.

Finally, Chen Mingming returned to the entrance.

At this point, the whole apartment was in complete disarray—it had the feel of a place where a single man like Wang Liang would live.

Although Wang Liang had a number of girlfriends, he wasn’t living with any of them—according to the investigation, Wang Liang didn’t have a particular obsession with cleanliness. When the police visited the bar where Wang Liang worked, they saw his locker was a complete mess.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Yusheng frowned and asked in confusion.

Chen Mingming paused for a moment and said, “I want to simulate the killer’s actions…”

“Simulate?” Zhou Yusheng was taken aback, then nodded. “Alright, you majored in profiling, so give it a try… You mimic the killer, and I’ll play Wang Liang… However, we still don’t know how the killer committed the murder.”

“It was night,” Chen Mingming said instinctively.

“Night?”

“The deep night provides the best cover,” Chen Mingming pondered. “Assuming Wang Liang didn’t resist, he might have been asleep or drunk.”

“Probably drunk,” Zhou Yusheng added, “According to the investigation, Wang Liang is a light sleeper. He worked at a bar… There’s quite a bit of alcohol hidden in this apartment, so he likely had a habit of drinking, and an attack when he’s drunk is the easiest.”

As for where a drunk person would sleep… Seeing how impeccably clean the apartment had been, Zhou Yusheng guessed it didn’t matter, so he lay down on the sofa and said, “You can start.”

Chen Mingming nodded, walked out the door, and closed it.

He stood at the door, closed his eyes, placed his hand on the doorknob, and remained completely still… Suddenly, Chen Mingming opened his eyes and gently pushed the door open.

He entered the apartment, saw the mess at the entrance, frowned first, then straightened the shoes scattered about before slowly walking further inside.

At this moment, watching Chen Mingming’s actions, Zhou Yusheng was initially puzzled but quickly settled back—though he didn’t close his eyes.

Chen Mingming soon approached the sofa but didn’t make a move. The father and son exchanged glances. Despite his curiosity, Zhou Yusheng didn’t speak up.

He knew that crime scene simulation required focus, especially for someone playing the role of the killer, who needed to fully immerse himself.

Finally, Chen Mingming took action—he walked into the kitchen, retrieved a roll of cling film, then returned to Zhou Yusheng and gently placed the cling film over his face—naturally without wrapping him tightly.

Zhou Yusheng pretended to struggle in pain for a while, then stopped moving.

Subsequently, Chen Mingming stopped and didn’t move any further.

After a long time, seeing no further action from Chen Mingming, Zhou Yusheng couldn’t resist removing the plastic wrap from his face and sitting up to ask, “Is there something wrong?”

“Something’s off…” Chen Mingming frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Yusheng asked in bewilderment. “And why did you choose cling film and not another weapon?”

“It’s instinct,” Chen Mingming said. “On a sofa or bed, using another weapon would easily leave bloodstains… If the killer is someone who likes cleanliness, they wouldn’t want to dirty unnecessary items. Suffocation would likely be their first choice.”

Of course, there could also be poison.

However, considering the killer had cleaned up the rental so well, using poison would seem illogical—if they had used poison, there would’ve been no need to clean the place so thoroughly.

“Hmm, you have a point.” Zhou Yusheng nodded. “You still haven’t told me what’s wrong.”

“It’s not consistent,” Chen Mingming pondered. “Dismembering the body doesn’t seem to fit the killer’s established character. If they chose suffocation as the method, there would be no need to dismember the body, which would only make the place dirtier.”

“Perhaps he has a dual personality, with a violent side besides being tidy,” Zhou Yusheng analyzed.

Chen Mingming replied, “Then he could have used a more brutal weapon from the start, as it would’ve required cleaning up anyway.”

“Hmm…” Zhou Yusheng also fell into pondering.

At this moment, the phone rang. After answering, Zhou Yusheng quickly nodded, “Okay, got it.”

After ending the call, Zhou Yusheng said solemnly, “We’ve found out where the freezer was purchased from!”

In the entire apartment, only the freezer used to store the body seemed so out of place. An ordinary household wouldn’t need such an item, especially since there was already a refrigerator in the kitchen, making it unnecessary for Wang Liang to have another.

This left only one possibility: the freezer was likely prepared by the killer in advance.

After deducing this, the police were somewhat outraged—the killer brazenly dismembered the body and stored it, even using Wang Liang’s phone and SIM card to create the illusion that Wang Liang was still alive… It was as if they were challenging the police.

As he left, Zhou Yusheng was eager to visit the shop where the freezer was sold, thinking it might provide a breakthrough on the killer’s identity.

However, Chen Mingming was contemplating something else—the test paper, the information on the goatskin, and that final line: the key person, Zhao Le.

Instinctively, Chen Mingming refrained from bringing this up to Zhou Yusheng—because the police had already concluded that Zhao Le couldn’t have committed the other murder.

…

…

This is an appliance repair shop located on the old street.

According to the investigation of the freezer, many parts of the internal wiring have already aged, clearly not brand new, but the manufacturing details can be found.

They tracked down the original purchaser and learned from them that the freezer was sold second-hand to an old appliance recycler, and finally knew from the recycler that the freezer was sold to this repair shop.

Upon arrival, Zhou Yusheng showed his credentials directly to the owner and provided the photo and model of the freezer and so on.

“Hmm… This freezer was indeed sold from our place,” the owner answered after thinking for a while.

Zhou Yusheng’s face lit up immediately, and he quickly inquired, “Do you remember what the buyer looked like?”

The owner said, “I don’t know that. There was a man wearing a hat and mask that day who came to buy something. After buying it, he wrote an address for us to deliver, and then we never contacted each other again.”

“Didn’t you go inside the house?” Chen Mingming frowned.

The owner shook his head and said, “We didn’t go inside, just left it at the door. It’s weird, almost no one refuses to let us place it inside the house, just leaving it at the door… so I remember this quite clearly.”

“Then can you roughly remember any features of the man who bought the item?” Zhou Yusheng continued to ask.

The owner shook his head, “Sir, this was months ago, how could I remember so clearly?”

“Alright then.” Zhou Yusheng nodded somewhat helplessly but still arranged for someone to come over to make a portrait of the person for this owner… at least not letting any clues slip away.

The father and son did not get any major breakthroughs here, but looking at the time, the sky had already gotten dark.

Over the past week, Zhou Yusheng hadn’t been pushing himself hard at work as before, but rather was punctual in ending work.

He looked at the time, “It’s this time already, shall we go straight home?”

Chen Mingming was stunned for a moment, then nodded… Going home, but the place they’re going back to is where Zhou Yusheng lives, not where he lives with his mother, right?

Chen Mingming felt a strange feeling in his heart, but he couldn’t express it… Never mind, since he needed to complete the assessment in these few days, it seemed more convenient to stay with his father for a few days.

Originally, the place where Zhou Yusheng lived was also where he used to live… the key, he actually still kept it.

…

At seven o’clock in the evening, when Zhou Yusheng came home, pulled out the key, and opened the door to enter, Chen Mingming smelled the aroma of food.

He couldn’t help but be taken aback.

He saw a woman wearing an apron coming out of the kitchen with a dish in her hands… Chen Mingming stood frozen in place — this woman was none other than his mother.

“You’re back! Just in time for dinner, hurry and wash your hands!” the woman said with a smile.

“Smells so good!” Zhou Yusheng said with a big smile.

“Mingming, why are you just standing there?” the woman looked at Chen Mingming, puzzled.

Chen Mingming opened his mouth, then chose to remain silent… He chose to walk into the restroom — he felt he needed to calm down properly.

“Even this marital relationship has also… been mended?”

Looking at himself in the mirror, Chen Mingming couldn’t help but become a bit lost in thought.

When he walked out of the restroom, his parents were already sitting at the dining table, with Zhou Yusheng burying his head in his meal and his mother serving herself a spoonful of soup.

He instinctively sat down.

The father and mother were chatting about some trivial matters.

Zhou Yusheng probably didn’t like these trivial matters very much, so he casually asked Chen Mingming, “Mingming, I suddenly thought of something, why do you think the killer chose to buy an old freezer?”

Chen Mingming responded instinctively, “Maybe because tracking a new freezer is easier, or maybe the killer’s financial situation wasn’t good, so they chose this relatively cheap second-hand freezer. Also, regular shops generally have surveillance cameras, so the killer might not want to expose themselves.”

“Hmm, that’s what I thought, too.” Zhou Yusheng nodded.

“You two! We’re home now, can’t you drop the case discussions?” the mother said angrily, glaring at Zhou Yusheng, “Are you going to eat or not?”

“Eat, eat! Of course, I’m eating!” Zhou Yusheng shrugged and grinned.

The mother rolled her eyes at him and then turned to Chen Mingming, “Don’t pick up any of your dad’s bad habits, got it!”

With that, the mother placed a piece of chicken thigh onto Chen Mingming’s plate.

Listening to the mother’s scolding of the father, watching Zhou Yusheng’s impatient but not daring to retort appearance, and looking at the chicken thigh in his bowl, Chen Mingming instinctively touched his cheek… For some reason, it was just like that, wet.

— Learn to cry.

Is that what it means?

“Son, why are you crying?” the mother was shocked, scrambling in panic.

Zhou Yusheng also put down his chopsticks, looking at him with concern.

Chen Mingming’s lips trembled a few times, and his voice was a bit hoarse, “It’s nothing… Just feel like it’s been so long since I last had your cooking, mom. It’s really good…”

“Silly child…”

…

…

You Ye gave it a new name — ‘Mortal Dust’.

This was the second time Luo Qiu tasted this newly crafted drink.

Sitting at the bar, resting his chin on his hand, gently swirling the glass in his hand, watching everything Chen Mingming experienced during the assessment, Luo Qiu’s gaze gradually became somewhat blurred.

If that day he hadn’t approached the club entrance out of curiosity… or, if time could be pushed back, and his father hadn’t left.

Would he also have such a day?

Working on cases with his father, going home with him, sitting at the dining table, watching the busy figure preparing dinner.

Would he also have those moments of inadvertently discussing cases with his father during meals, drawing his mother’s displeasure?

Eating such a meal, spending such an evening.

The mortal world is like a dream.

At this moment, Chen Mingming seemed to be another dream of Luo Qiu’s.