Chapter 23: The Na City Case (16)

"Fate certainly has a cruel sense of humor," Yu Meili remarked with a sigh. Her eyes held a complex mix of emotions, as if she were revisiting a grotesque chapter of her past. Her voice dropped low, tinged with helplessness and self-mockery. "That day, Jia Wenming went to the countryside to buy sheep. He had bought about seven or eight of them. While herding the flock back, he realized there were two extra—some farmer's sheep must have wandered into the group. This unexpected windfall delighted him. Jia Wenming thought to himself, 'I didn't steal them, I didn't rob anyone, so I’ll just keep them.' That was how he got a taste of easy money; those two sheep fetched quite a price."

Her tone carried a hint of cynicism, as if mocking the caprice of destiny.

Outside the window, the night deepened, but the interrogation room lights remained harsh, washing out her complexion. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the corner of the table, as if to soothe her inner turmoil.

"From then on, Jia Wenming stopped walking the straight and narrow. He became obsessed with getting something for nothing, fixated on making quick cash. He started plotting: if he could just keep stealing cows and sheep, then slaughter them for meat, he wouldn't even need to buy stock." Yu Meili’s voice faded, as if she were recounting a story that had nothing to do with her, though a flicker of undeniable regret crossed her eyes.

"So, after that, Jia Wenming operated his butchery business through this mix of buying and stealing?" Li Rui asked, his tone calm, though his eyes were probing.

Yu Meili nodded. "Actually, I hadn't met him yet; he told me all this later. He said he rented a house north of the railway tracks in Nancheng. After slaughtering the stolen livestock, he would bury the bones in the courtyard. Once he’d successfully stolen a few times, his courage just kept growing."

Hearing this, Wen Rou frowned. She turned to Qi Wei and said decisively, "Xiao Qi, contact home immediately. Tell them to send someone to investigate!"

Qi Wei nodded. "Understood." She then hurried out of the interrogation room, her footsteps echoing sharply and urgently in the corridor.

"Besides cows and sheep, did he steal anything else?" Lei Chen pressed, his tone stern.

"Gold and silver jewelry, mostly. But he’d turn around and sell it almost immediately; he never kept anything for himself. Between the stealing and the selling, plus his business, he became somewhat well-off—at least he was no longer among the ranks of the destitute." There was a note of self-deprecation in her voice, as if laughing at her own past foolishness.

"How does that saying go? Once one is fed and warm..." She paused, as if searching for the words.

"One begins to think of carnal desires," Li Rui finished for her, his tone level but his gaze piercing.

"Right, once fed and warm, one thinks of carnal desires!" Yu Meili laughed, a bitter sound, as if mocking her own former depravity.

"Jia Wenming was exactly that kind of man. Once he had a bit of money, he immediately thought about finding women. Since he was young, handsome, and had a little cash, finding girls was easy, wasn't it?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, mocking Jia Wenming’s greed.

"So, that’s how you ended up with him?" Li Rui asked.

"Yes. After I moved in with him, he and his wife, Li Junyan, were essentially separated. After being together for about a month, I realized his hands weren't exactly clean, but I never imagined his ambition would be so vast." Her tone was heavy with resignation, as if recalling an unbearable past.

"Ambition?" Li Rui asked, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Because by then, he had noticed many men enjoyed frequenting 'escorts' near the train station. He thought a 'honey trap' seemed like a great way to make money."

Li Rui felt a flicker of confusion. Previously, he had assumed Jia Wenming only started the "honey traps" after leaving Nancheng for Hangzhou. He hadn't expected this to be his original "trade."

"Say what you will, but Jia Wenming had a sharp mind. That business is evergreen; it shows he had a good eye for the market," Yu Meili said, her voice layered with complex emotions, as if mocking how his own cleverness had led to his ruin.

"Stay focused!" Lei Chen rapped on the table, his tone sharp with warning.

"To run this kind of operation, who was the 'leading lady'?" Li Rui asked.

"Who else? He couldn't exactly send his wife. Naturally, it had to be me," she replied, her voice filled with self-mockery.

"Heh, you’re certainly not coy about it," Lei Chen said dismissively.

"Were you willing to be his bait?" Li Rui probed.

Yu Meili, trying to retain a shred of dignity in front of Li Rui, swallowed hard and whispered, "At first, I wasn't exactly willing, but I couldn't resist his pulling and dragging, his cajoling and pestering. Plus, I truly had no other skills and wasn't exactly a 'good woman,' so we started collaborating. We used my looks to lure outsiders and then committed robbery."

"Are you sure it was only robbery? No murders?" Lei Chen questioned sharply.

"It really was just robbery. No murders!" she insisted.

"Don't worry," Li Rui said soothingly. "Take your time."

"It was a day in June 2007. I got dressed up and went with Jia Wenming to Fuyu County, not far from Nancheng. We wandered around but couldn't find a target, so we took the train back. Jia Wenming wouldn't give up and told me to go 'fishing' on the train. I spotted a well-dressed man—a businessman from the south named Ai Hefei. After I flirted a bit, the guy’s hormones took over; he thought he’d hit the jackpot and approached me almost immediately." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm for the man's foolishness.

In the next room, Wen Rou and Qi Wei received intelligence from their home base.

"Li Junyan is a major suspect; she’s an important member of Jia Wenming’s criminal gang," Qi Wei whispered, her voice tight with tension.

"Also, cow and sheep bones were excavated from the courtyard of a bungalow north of the Nancheng railway tracks, matching Yu Meili’s confession." Wen Rou nodded, pressed a button, and said, "Li Rui, it’s confirmed. His wife is a suspect. Keep digging into this lead."

Li Rui’s eyebrows twitched. He pondered for a moment and asked, "And then?"

Yu Meili didn't hesitate. "After some flirting, I got off the train in Nancheng with that man. I led him into the woods near the train station, where Jia Wenming was already waiting. As soon as the guy realized we were alone, he reached out for me. That’s when Jia Wenming suddenly charged out with a kitchen knife, grabbed him, and started shouting that I was his wife, threatening to hack him to death."

As she spoke, Yu Meili began to laugh, a sound filled with cynicism and self-loathing.

"What are you laughing at?" Lei Chen demanded.

"I’m laughing at Ai Hefei. He had the heart to steal but not the guts to fight," she said mockingly. "Men are all the same. When he saw the knife, his legs turned to jelly. He claimed he didn't know I was married. He offered to settle it privately, handed over the 2,000 yuan he had in his pocket, and managed to escape. It wasn't until he had run a long way off that he realized what had happened, but he couldn't do anything, and he was too scared to go to the police. In the end, he had to take the loss."

Her expression then darkened, her tone becoming heavy. "Actually, if he had known he’d escaped from a serial killer and only lost 2,000 yuan, he would have jumped for joy and burned incense in gratitude. He met Jia Wenming early. If he’d met him a year later, he wouldn't have even left a corpse behind."

Li Rui and Lei Chen exchanged a look. "So, you knew about Jia Wenming’s later murders and robberies?" Li Rui asked.

At this point, Yu Meili seemed to have accepted her fate and finally let her guard down.

"From that moment on, I was on the same boat as him," she said softly, filled with regret. "Jia Wenming was thrilled that day because he’d made 2,000 yuan in one go. It was a lot of money. He thought it was great—easier than actual work. So we went back to the train station and caught another fish—a kid named Han. He was lured to the woods and robbed of over 1,000 yuan. In July, we did it again and took 2,000 from a man named Jiang. We had a good haul, but Jia Wenming wasn't satisfied; he felt these honey traps still paid less than stealing livestock."

"He discussed it with me then. He thought the honey traps were too much effort, didn't pay enough, and required travel costs. Plus, we couldn't always find a target. He decided to go back to his main trade of stealing cows and sheep—it was lower risk and had no overhead. After all, the honey traps were robberies, and he feared we'd eventually be reported and caught."

"Oh? So you were involved in the thefts before that?" Lei Chen pressed.

Yu Meili dismissed it with a smile, tinged with self-mockery. "Officer, I’m confessing everything voluntarily."

"Continue, Yu Meili," Li Rui said gently. "How did you carry out the thefts?"

"There wasn't a specific method. We just stole. Jia Wenming did the heavy lifting; I was just the accomplice. A man and woman together lowered people's defenses, and I could act as a lookout."

"How much did you steal?" Lei Chen asked.

"Not much. One cow, one donkey, and two sheep in total. Sometimes Jia Wenming worked alone; I saw him steal two televisions once."