Chapter 11 – Speaking for the Dead

The news of the Du parents’ arrival to cause a scene brought Pei Yu to a sudden halt. He heard Liao Ming’s voice, sharp with curiosity. “So fast? I only just gave the order to notify the next of kin.”

“It wasn’t me! I hadn’t even had the chance to call yet,” Xiao Tang replied, his voice laced with grievance. “I don’t know who tipped them off, but they came here on their own.”

Du Xue’s home was in Xiwan Village, under the jurisdiction of Wanghai City. While not far, it was still a drive of over an hour. Pei Yu mused that they must have hurried over the moment they heard the news.

The question was: who told them?

He raised his eyes, his gaze meeting Liao Ming’s in the air. With a slight nod, an answer formed in both their minds simultaneously.

Zou Sheng.

Seeing Liao Ming wave the group forward, Pei Yu followed to investigate the situation outside.

The moment he stepped out of the building, a cacophony of voices erupted from the main gate—a jarring mixture of human clamor and the occasional high-pitched wail.

“…How could she have committed suicide? You brat, your teeth haven’t even finished growing, don’t you dare try to swindle me…”

“…Everyone knows you police don’t do a lick of real work all day. You’re either busting mahjong games or rounding up hookers. Now that someone’s dead, you just wash your hands of it and call it suicide? You’re treating life like grass!”

“The lives of us common folk don’t mean a thing; we’re just weeds to you… Oh, my poor, tragic daughter…”

The mother’s voice was a piercing siren. Her howling teetered between genuine grief and theatrical performance, yet it was shrill enough to cut through the air. She likely drew her inspiration from the traveling operas that graced the stages during the holidays.

Pei Yu followed behind Liao Ming and Dou Hua, observing the ring of people already gathered at the gate, their fingers pointing and whispers thick. A middle-aged couple sat sprawled on the ground, clutching a white cloth where the words “GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER” had been scrawled in jagged, uneven strokes. Those screams were erupting from the woman.

Standing beside her was Xiao He, one of Liao Ming’s investigators. Pei Yu noted his miserable expression; his brows were knit tight, and his lips were dry and peeling. He was clearly at his wits’ end, yet utterly helpless.

Just then, Xiao He spotted them. As if seeing his saviors, he hurried over. “Captain, you’re finally here!” He pointed at the two people refusing to budge from the ground. “Look at this…”

Pei Yu saw Liao Ming wave a hand, gesturing for Xiao He and Xiao Tang to disperse the onlookers. Then, the Captain stepped forward and addressed the woman. “Are you Du Xue’s family?”

“What ‘family’? I’m her mother! This is her father! We ate at the same table and slept under the same roof! We expected Xiao Xue to visit our graves once we passed away!” The woman’s tone was aggressive, her intent clearly hostile.

Immediately after, she pointed across the space at Xiao Tang and Xiao He, shouting, “Sending these two little brats to deal with us? Do you think we’re beggars?! I’m telling you, neither I nor her father are unreasonable people. If you can give us a straight answer about my daughter today, we’ll accept it and leave without another word. But if you can’t, we aren’t going anywhere. We’ll live right here at your front gate! Your Public Security Bureau can just wait to shut its doors!”

Pei Yu stood rooted to the spot, thinking to himself that perhaps he shouldn’t have followed them out.

“I’m the one in charge here; they answer to me.” Liao Ming’s voice remained as steady as ever. “If you have something to say, say it directly to me.”

“To you? Can you even make the calls!” The woman looked up and shot Liao Ming a sideways glance. “Get your Bureau Chief out here. I want to have a real talk with him!”

“What is it you want to say?” Liao Ming remained as unshakeable as a mountain.

“I want to talk about how you treat life like grass, acting like the affairs of us commoners don’t matter!” the woman shrieked again.

“Yang Yingxia!” Liao Ming’s voice rose, cutting through her tirade. “If you have something to say, speak plainly. If not, go back where you came from. Your daughter is lying cold and alone in a freezer right now, waiting for you to take her home! Throwing a tantrum won’t solve a thing. The gates of the Public Security Bureau are not a stage for your hysterics.”

His voice wasn’t loud, yet it was resonant and authoritative, carrying an irresistible weight of command. Listening to him, Pei Yu felt the true mettle of this young criminal investigation captain for the first time.

Perhaps startled by Liao Ming suddenly barking out her name, or perhaps realizing the crowd had thinned and her stage was disappearing, Yang Yingxia froze. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

The middle-aged man beside her, who had remained silent until now, spoke up hesitantly. “My daughter died under suspicious circumstances. Your Bureau has to take responsibility…”

“Who said she died under suspicious circumstances?” Dou Hua couldn’t help but interject. “Du Xue did commit suicide, but as for why she did it, you have to give us time to investigate.”

“Investigate what? Investigate what, huh?” Yang Yingxia stood up, shoved the white cloth into her husband’s hands, and brushed the dust off her clothes. She took two steps toward them. “You think a simple ‘suicide’ ruling is enough to get rid of us?”

As she drew near, both Pei Yu and Dou Hua instinctively took a step back.

“Oh, right. I heard that the one who decided our Xiao Xue killed herself was your Bureau’s forensic doctor or shaman or whatever… Who is it? Is it you? Or you?” Yang Yingxia lunged forward, her hand reaching out to grab someone. Pei Yu, unable to dodge in time, was nearly caught.

Fortunately, Dou Hua stepped up at that moment, moving in front of Pei Yu. “Hey—say what you want, but don’t get physical…”

“Good grief, I really can’t listen to this anymore!”

A young man’s voice chimed in. Pei Yu turned to see Peng Dongdong—the same fellow who had grabbed his arm on the rooftop and kept him from falling. Today, he wore a hoodie in the same style as before, though in a different color. He looked as round-headed and cheerful as ever.

Pei Yu offered him a slight nod in greeting.

Earlier, Peng Dongdong had been buried in the crowd, so Pei Yu hadn’t noticed him. Now that the crowd had dispersed, he waved at Pei Yu and Dou Hua before walking over to the couple. He began to scold and counsel them simultaneously.

“I’ve been listening for a while now. You two claim you’re here to cry for justice for your daughter, but you’ve been howling all morning without saying a single thing of substance. Several groups of officers have come by. If you have a grievance or a grudge, state it clearly and let them handle it for you. What’s the use of just acting like a brat?”

Yang Yingxia looked at Peng Dongdong, then at Liao Ming, who was currently helping her husband up from the ground, and let out a sigh.

While Liao Ming spoke with them, Dou Hua curled his finger at Pei Yu, beckoning him to one side. He whispered, his voice thick with confusion. “Brother Pei, why are they making such a grand scene? Aren’t they afraid of being arrested?”

The heart of youth is so simple, Pei Yu thought. The process of growing up always demands a price paid in thorns and storms; whether that’s a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.

He raised his hand and made a silent, universal gesture for money. He watched Dou Hua’s expression shift from dawning realization to stunned silence, and finally, to pure disbelief.

“But… that’s their daughter. Their daughter’s mental state was so poor and they didn’t even know. The moment she dies, they run here to cause a scene for compensation… This…”

Pei Yu lowered his hand and spoke softly, his expression a still lake without a ripple. “This is the world of the living.”

It was a world of indifference, ignorance, and insatiable greed. Gloomy, hopeless, and beneath contempt.

What did it matter if she was their flesh and blood? Once she became a chip to be traded for cash, dignity was the first thing tossed aside.

He would rather speak for the dead than be moved by the living.

Because they weren’t worth it.

This was a law he had believed in since his tenth birthday.

However, he couldn’t say more, nor did he need to. The other man had a lifetime ahead of him to learn these lessons slowly. There is so little time in this life to be wantonly innocent; the dreams at the top of the ivory tower are brief enough, so why wake up too early?

He watched the light fade from Dou Hua’s eyes and turned his gaze toward Liao Ming. When the Captain’s eyes swept over him, Pei Yu raised his hand and made a distant gesture of performing an autopsy, reminding Liao Ming not to forget the consent form.

Seeing Liao Ming nod, Pei Yu turned and walked away, leaving the world of the living far behind him.