The speculation sparked by this surveillance footage kept everyone working tirelessly over the following days, almost to the point of forgetting to eat or sleep.
Captain Yang and his team were still grappling with Wu Xiaozhen’s case. With so many victims, the process of securing crime scenes, collecting evidence, and finalizing documentation for the prosecutor’s office had left them utterly exhausted.
But their efforts were not in vain. On the afternoon of July 20th, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, they finally found everything they had been searching for.
“Come quick!” Zhong Xiaoyu was the first to make a discovery, nearly jumping with excitement. “An unexpected incident—another act of kindness from the victim, with Chen Yuanwei present and his expressions shifting constantly. I have a gut feeling this footage reveals his motive for targeting this victim.”
Her words sounded like music to their ears. Guan Xia felt as if she were being freed from a burden, forcing herself to shake off her exhaustion and drift over like a sleepwalker. Rubbing her eyes lightly, she peered at Zhong Xiaoyu’s computer screen.
“Finally,” Pang Le muttered weakly. “After days of nonstop reviewing surveillance footage, I feel like I’m going blind. Let me see—yes, that’s the first victim, the elderly man named Yu Boxue.”
Guan Xia also recognized the frail, 75-year-old man sitting on a small stool at a street stall in the footage. Despite his age, he appeared spirited, showing no signs of fatigue even after a full day of work. Under the dim streetlight, he was flipping through a book.
Wang Yu checked the timestamp in the top-left corner. “April 12th, 2017—nine days before the victim’s death.”
Guan Xia mentally reviewed their findings from the past few days. The second victim, Xiang Xinmiao, had first encountered Chen Yuanwei 11 days before her death. The fourth victim, Tian Junming, had crossed paths with Chen Yuanwei seven days before his murder. Now, with Yu Boxue’s case, the pattern was clear: despite his deep-seated hatred, Chen Yuanwei was meticulous, stalking each victim for days to study their routines before striking.
Even before replaying the footage, Guan Xia had a strong hunch—this clip likely captured the real motive behind Chen Yuanwei’s murder of Yu Boxue.
Zhong Xiaoyu waited another two minutes until everyone had gathered before swiftly rewinding and pressing play.
Like the previous footage, the scene began uneventfully.
The timestamp and the darkened surroundings suggested it was late at night. The street was sparsely lit by dim streetlamps, with few cars and even fewer pedestrians.
Perhaps moved by Yu Boxue’s age, two young women finally stopped at his stall, crouching to examine the knitted flowers and ornaments while asking questions.
Yu Boxue set his book aside. Though the footage had no audio, his enthusiastic gestures made it clear he was pitching his wares.
After a brief exchange, they settled on a price. One of the women paid, happily picking up a pink flower with green leaves before standing up.
The two friends linked arms and started walking away, only to freeze a few steps later, eyeing three drunken middle-aged men a short distance ahead with unease.
The women instinctively edged to the side, keeping their distance.
At first, nothing seemed amiss. But as the two groups drew closer, the men—already weaving unsteadily—suddenly lurched toward the women.
The young women, visibly frightened, tried to run but were blocked. The drunk men leered with sleazy grins, hemming them in while muttering something as they closed in.
It was then that Guan Xia, scanning the surroundings, spotted Chen Yuanwei’s arrival.
Just as in previous footage, he wore a smirk of detached amusement, stopping by the roadside to watch.
Guan Xia braced herself for what was coming.
Sure enough, seconds later, Yu Boxue—who had resumed reading—noticed the commotion. He set his book down anxiously, glancing around as if searching for help before spotting Chen Yuanwei. He seemed to call out urgently, but Chen Yuanwei remained motionless, still smirking as he observed the scene.
Yu Boxue tried again, but when Chen Yuanwei still didn’t react, he fumbled around before grabbing his stool and hurrying over.
By then, the drunk men had cornered the women, blocking every escape. When the women tried to retreat, one was yanked back by the arm. Just as things seemed about to escalate, Yu Boxue arrived, wildly swinging his stool to force the men back while shielding the women.
Despite his frail appearance and kindly wrinkles, Yu Boxue was surprisingly fierce, his expression stern as he brandished the stool and barked what must have been sharp reprimands.
Guan Xia had expected the confrontation—three burly drunkards versus an old man and two young women—to worsen. But to her surprise, after a few minutes, Yu Boxue’s words seemed to cow the men. They exchanged glances, muttered among themselves, and then shuffled away.
Guan Xia was taken aback, and so was Chen Yuanwei. His smirk faded into disappointment, and after lingering a moment longer, he turned to leave.
He followed the same path as the drunkards. At first, his expression was merely sulky, like someone deprived of entertainment. But as he neared Yu Boxue and the women, something—perhaps a stray remark—made his face darken.
After passing them, he stopped a few meters away, lingering in the shadows of the roadside greenery. The distance and darkness made it hard to discern his expression, but his prolonged stillness suggested intense emotion.
Perhaps it was then that the seed of murder took root.
The subsequent surveillance footage didn’t show anything particularly noteworthy. Based on Yu Boxue’s body language and that of the two young women, it seemed they had exchanged a few words about what had just happened. Afterward, Yu Boxue escorted the two women to the roadside, waited until they hailed a cab and left, and then returned to his stall to sit down again.
Meanwhile, Chen Yuanwei remained in the corner, watching from a distance. Several more minutes passed before he finally turned and walked away.
Zhong Xiaoyu tapped the keyboard with a sharp click, pausing the video, then said excitedly, "Well? Wasn’t I right? This must be where Chen Yuanwei’s murder motive is revealed."
Pang Le stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An unexpected incident, the victim’s display of kindness, and Chen Yuanwei’s unsettling emotional shift—it does align with the three other surveillance clips we’ve seen. But this one’s different. There weren’t as many bystanders, so I’m not entirely sure what triggered Chen Yuanwei’s hatred this time."
Wang Yu chimed in, "My guess is it’s related to what the two young women said. Even though there weren’t many onlookers, Yu Boxue chatted with them for quite a while in the footage. Chen Yuanwei even passed by them at one point. Judging by the change in his expression, it was likely something he overheard during that moment that ignited his resentment."
As Wang Yu spoke, her gaze drifted toward Guan Xia. The others followed suit, their eyes locking onto her with silent understanding.
By now, Guan Xia was accustomed to the system’s prompts after several previous triggers. Without waiting for Zhong Xiaoyu to intervene, she calmly nodded and manually dragged the progress bar to replay the footage.
Sure enough, after watching it again, Xu Nian’s questioning successfully activated the system interface once more. Apart from the timestamp, the text that appeared was nearly identical to the previous three instances. Guan Xia waited for two minutes until the subtitled video finally played, accompanied by the now-familiar off-screen narration.
This clip was brief—only a few dozen seconds—capturing the moment Chen Yuanwei slowly walked past the trio.
The long-haired woman who had bought the trinket spoke first: "Thank you so much, sir. We really wouldn’t have known what to do without you. How about this—it’s late, and you shouldn’t be out here anyway. Why don’t you tally up everything on your stall? I love collecting these kinds of things, so I’ll buy them all. I can display some at home and give the rest to friends."
Yu Boxue waved her off. "No need for that, really. I’m not here to make money. My wife enjoys knitting these, and our house—along with our son and daughter-in-law’s place—is already packed with them. We only set up this stall because we ran out of space. It’s just a way to pass the time and maybe earn a little from her hobby. She’s been knitting nonstop lately and only just slowed down. If you bought everything, she’d get excited all over again and stay up all night working. I can’t let that happen."
The long-haired woman smiled. "Oh, I see. No wonder you’re reading a book while manning the stall. You’re such a kind person, and your wife sounds lovely. How do they say it? Ah, yes—you two absolutely deserve a lifetime of happiness and endless blessings."
The video ended there. The room fell into a brief silence before Pang Le finally remarked, "A murderer’s logic is just… different from a normal person’s. How could a few harmless words spark enough envy to drive him to kill?"
Guan Xia didn’t respond aloud, but inwardly, she sighed. Yes, just those simple sentences had shattered Chen Yuanwei’s composure, filling him with enough malice to murder a stranger—and in such a brutal way.
She didn’t need to deliberate to pinpoint the motive. It was tied to two phrases: "You’re such a kind person" and "a lifetime of happiness and endless blessings." Judging by Chen Yuanwei’s expression, he must have projected his own life onto those words. Yu Boxue was kind, so he reaped happiness—whereas Chen Yuanwei, by contrast, suffered because he wasn’t.
Perhaps it wasn’t just hatred. Maybe it was jealousy—envy of Yu Boxue’s leisurely life, running a stall not for money but simply to pass the time. The thought of his own circumstances might have ignited a destructive urge, explaining the horrific method he chose.
Guan Xia suspected that framing Wu Xiaozhen was only part of the reason. The other part? That manner of death was excruciating, giving Chen Yuanwei ample time to savor the victim’s despair—feeding his growing appetite for destruction.
Her thoughts drifted to the other surveillance clips they’d uncovered, the ones featuring Xiang Xinmiao and Tian Junming.
Xiang Xinmiao’s case was strikingly similar to Zhong Chenghong’s and Yu Boxue’s. She’d been eating at a night market when she noticed an elderly man, likely suffering from Alzheimer’s, standing disheveled and dirt-streaked by the roadside, staring longingly at the food on nearby tables.
Many pitied him, but Xiang Xinmiao acted fastest. Without hesitation, she guided the man to sit beside her, ordered a fresh round of non-spicy dishes, and patiently watched him eat while gathering details. She then called the police and waited until they arrived to take the man away before settling the bill and driving off.
Xiang Xinmiao was well-off, too—not as wealthy as Zhong Chenghong, but her luxury car still drew murmurs from the crowd. Their remarks mirrored those in Zhong Chenghong’s incident.
Tian Junming’s case was simpler. On his way home from playing pool, he’d come across a disabled young man selling flowers by the roadside. Out of sympathy, Tian bought every last bouquet. The onlookers, impressed by his generosity, couldn’t help but comment—which, in turn, stoked Chen Yuanwei’s resentment as he passed by.
Of course, Tian Junming’s situation was unique. Guan Xia theorized that envy was only one factor. Another was Chen Yuanwei’s pent-up rage after hiding from Wu Xiaozhen for five years without an outlet. Now, emboldened by his newfound confidence in overpowering her, he’d impulsively marked Tian Junming—someone he simply disliked—as his next target.
Still, theories were just theories. With Chen Yuanwei dead, Guan Xia and the others could never confirm them. But at least it resolved their lingering questions, finally drawing a definitive close to the Chen Yuanwei case.
