The rainstorm began at three in the morning, and the unlicensed taxi driver was found at 3:05 a.m.
When the news came in, Guan Xia and Pang Le had just lain down in the hotel room arranged by the Dingyang District police station.
After spending the entire night reviewing surveillance footage and racking their brains, their bodies were exhausted, but their overactive minds refused to settle down. Even late into the night, the two of them tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
Though many clues in this case had surfaced, forming a logical chain—and with solid evidence like surveillance footage and fingerprints—there were still some puzzling inconsistencies that left them unsettled.
After another restless turn, Guan Xia gave up on sleep and reached for her phone on the nightstand, intending to play some white noise to lull herself into slumber. Just then, Xu Nian called.
Realizing the case had taken another turn, Guan Xia felt a surge of energy rush through her weary body. She immediately sat up and answered, "Was the suspect caught?"
Xu Nian replied, "Not yet, but we found the unlicensed taxi driver. He’s been taken to the hospital. We’re heading there now—do you two want to come?"
Guan Xia didn’t hesitate. "Of course."
"We’ll wait for you downstairs," Xu Nian said before hanging up.
Before Guan Xia could even set her phone down, she caught Pang Le leaping out of bed like a fish darting from water, hastily pulling on his clothes.
Pang Le moved swiftly, even tossing Guan Xia’s clothes from the sofa toward her as he asked excitedly, "Did they catch the suspect?"
"No," Guan Xia said, dressing quickly. "They found the unlicensed taxi driver. But we’re probably close to nabbing the suspect."
Pang Le paused mid-sock-pull, hesitating. "Is the driver alive? I remember Lin Zhuang mentioned earlier that both the driver’s and the suspect’s phones were thrown out of the car just after leaving Fuan City. The suspect must’ve realized something was up—he wouldn’t have silenced the driver, would he?"
Guan Xia thought back to Xu Nian’s words and sped up. "Not sure. Xu Nian only said he was taken to the hospital, so he’s alive for now."
Pang Le quickened his pace too, yanking on his shoes before rushing out the door. "Finish getting ready—I’ll go get Ji An."
Ji An was even faster than Guan Xia. By the time Guan Xia stepped out, Ji An was already closing her door, two raincoats draped over her left arm.
"I peeked through the curtains earlier," Ji An said. "It’s started raining—not too heavy yet, but the wind’s too strong for umbrellas. We’ll need these."
Pang Le had already slipped his on and took one from Ji An, shaking it out for Guan Xia. "We’d better hurry. If the downpour starts before we get to the hospital, we’ll be wading through water."
When they exited the hotel, the rain hadn’t yet pooled on the ground, but the howling wind had scattered trash and debris everywhere. As Guan Xia fought against the gusts toward the parked car, she spotted foam scraps and colorful plastic bags strewn haphazardly nearby, blown in from who-knows-where.
The moment they squeezed into the car, Pang Le couldn’t hold back. "How badly is the driver hurt? Is he in critical condition?"
Xu Nian started the engine. "No life-threatening injuries found yet, but they’re running checks to be safe."
Guan Xia and Pang Le both exhaled in relief, though curiosity gnawed at them—how had the driver escaped the suspect’s grasp?
At the hospital, stepping off the elevator, Guan Xia immediately spotted the agitated young man surrounded by Lin Zhuang and his team from the first unit.
His injuries were gruesome—his exposed arms and cheeks were a mess of raw flesh, hastily treated with antiseptic that only made the wounds look more ghastly.
Even from a distance, Guan Xia could hear the driver’s furious outburst: "I was just trying to earn an honest buck! What did I do to deserve this? That bastard snatched my phone without warning and chucked it out the window! I barely cursed at him before he had a knife at my ribs. What kind of luck is this? Two months unemployed, finally scraping by with this gig—and I end up picking up a damn murderer!"
The more he ranted, the more animated he became, waving his arms as if itching to throw a punch.
Guan Xia exchanged a glance with Pang Le. Talk about rotten luck—trying to make some cash before the storm hit, only to end up with a killer in the backseat, nearly losing his life in the process.
Lin Zhuang spent a good while calming the driver before finally steering him toward recounting the events.
According to the driver, everything had been normal at first. They’d agreed on the route and fare, but things took a sharp turn just after leaving Fuan City.
The driver had set the GPS for the highway, with the passenger covering the toll. But right before the on-ramp, his phone rang—before he could even answer, the passenger suddenly snapped, grabbing both phones and hurling them out the window.
It happened so fast the driver was stunned. He managed a curse and was about to pull over to confront the guy when he saw the passenger’s face twist into something panicked and vicious, pulling a knife from nowhere and pressing it to his side, demanding he take the provincial road instead.
The driver resisted—with the storm coming, the highway would’ve gotten them there before the worst of it. But the provincial road? Full of potholes, half-chance the car would break down midway.
He wanted to argue but didn’t dare. Suspecting a robbery, he feared that if they waited until nightfall on that deserted stretch, he’d lose both his money and his life.
So he tried bargaining, offering the little cash and his watch in exchange for being let go. When that failed, he took a desperate gamble—slowing the car before flinging himself out. Luck was on his side; the storm had left the road empty, sparing him from being run over.
He’d braced for the passenger to stop and finish him off, but after a brief swerve, the car steadied and sped away without a backward glance.
By the time he finished his story, the driver was worked up again, gripping Lin Zhuang’s arm like the wounds didn’t hurt. "Officer, you’ve got to make this right! Don’t let him get away! I’ve still got car payments—I need that ride to earn a living! And since he held a knife to me, doesn’t that count as attempted robbery? Will the court make him pay me damages?"
For someone who’d just survived an ordeal, his mental fortitude was impressive—no lingering fear, just a relentless focus on his rights.
The officers exchanged amused glances. Lin Zhuang patiently answered his questions before finally steering the conversation back to the crucial details.
Opening the photo of suspect Wei Jianming on his phone again, Lin Zhuang asked, "Take a careful look. Was he the one who abducted you?"
The unlicensed taxi driver only glanced twice before exclaiming, "It's him! He's the one who threw away my phone and held a knife to me."
With the only hostage in life-threatening danger now safe, the remaining task was to track down the suspect until his arrest. Not only did Lin Zhuang and the other detectives breathe a sigh of relief, but Guan Xia and her two companions also relaxed.
Though the case had been full of twists and turns and raced against time, fortunately, everything had progressed smoothly without veering toward the worst possible outcome.
However, their relief was premature. Just as Lin Zhuang and the others finished gathering details and prepared to take the taxi driver back to Dingyang Precinct, Xia Chenghui called. The suspect's vehicle had been involved in a severe accident while fleeing, leaving him critically injured and already en route to the hospital.
This sudden turn of events immediately tensed everyone up again. Guan Xia and Pang Le were left stunned—she had never imagined a case unfolding like this. Not only was the victim still unconscious after surgery, but now even the suspect was hospitalized. How would the investigation proceed? Would the unanswered questions she had ever be resolved?
The hospital they were currently at happened to be the nearest to the accident site, so there was no need to relocate. They only had to wait where they were.
During the wait, Pang Le couldn’t help whispering to Guan Xia, "This is eye-opening. Just when I think I’ve seen enough from detective shows and novels to consider myself somewhat worldly, something completely unexpected happens. Who could’ve guessed both the victim and the suspect would end up in the hospital, both severely injured? If the victim dies, it becomes a homicide case—but what if the suspect dies? What happens to the case then?"
Guan Xia was just as much of an amateur as Pang Le, so she had no answer. Instinctively, she turned to Ji An.
As a seasoned detective, Ji An remained calm and composed. He replied quietly, "The investigation continues even if he dies. Any case involving a life will be pursued to the end."
This didn’t surprise Guan Xia, but what concerned her was that without the suspect’s testimony, some of their theories would remain just that—theories. For instance, the relationship between the suspect and the teacher named Gao Yongde—was the suspect’s crime influenced by someone’s manipulation, or was the teacher truly uninvolved?
With this in mind, Guan Xia turned to Xu Nian, who was sitting beside her, and asked softly, "Have you found anything about that teacher, Gao Yongde?"
Xu Nian checked the time and answered in a low voice, "From what we’ve uncovered so far, Gao Yongde and the suspect had no apparent connection. After the suspect’s family moved to Dongyi City, he never returned to Fuan City, not even for travel. Gao Yongde, on the other hand, became increasingly eccentric after his divorce years ago and hasn’t left Fuan City since. This suggests they haven’t met in at least a decade. As for online communication, cybersecurity is still investigating—it might take a day or two for results."
"What about his relationship with the victim?" Guan Xia pressed. "Did they have any irreconcilable conflicts in the past ten years?"
Xu Nian shook his head. "Gao Yongde may be eccentric, but his behavior was limited to psychological pressure on students—nothing physically harmful. His disputes with the victim and other teachers never escalated beyond verbal arguments. In fact, he clashed more frequently with other teachers than with the victim. The victim only intervened when witnessing his behavior, while other teachers often mocked and isolated him."
Guan Xia mused, "From the sound of it, if Gao Yongde really sought revenge, the victim wouldn’t have been his primary target."
She couldn’t help hoping the suspect, despite his severe injuries, would at least cling to life long enough for the police to obtain his statement.
After what felt like an eternity, the sound of an ambulance finally echoed outside the emergency department. Everyone quickly stood up, spotting Xia Chenghui trailing behind a group of doctors.
Exhausted from the night’s ordeal, Xia Chenghui was drenched in sweat, her short hair sticking messily to her face. The suspect, lying motionless on the gurney, had barely perceptible breaths—his life hanging by a thread.
As the suspect was wheeled into the operating room, Xia Chenghui slumped into a chair, wringing her clothes in an attempt to dry them.
"How is it, Captain Xia?" Lin Zhuang handed her a chocolate bar. "Will the suspect make it?"
Xia Chenghui brushed the hair from her face and sighed. "Hard to say. When we arrived, he’d been thrown from the car—probably wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Besides external injuries, he was bleeding from his mouth and nose. The doctors suspect internal organ damage. His heart stopped twice on the way here. I doubt he’ll pull through."
With their leader back, Lin Zhuang’s stern expression softened slightly. He murmured, "This suspect… gives me mixed feelings. From the crime scene photos, it looks like a crime of passion."
Xia Chenghui nodded. "That’s my assessment too. Based on the evidence, we reconstructed the scene—the victim let the suspect in without suspicion, even served him tea and fruit. They likely had a brief conversation before things escalated. In a fit of rage, the suspect grabbed a fruit knife from the table. The victim was stabbed in the abdomen and collapsed face-down near the kitchen. Blood spatter suggests he tried to call for help. After the attack, the suspect ransacked the house before attempting to clean up. But he was inexperienced—while wiping fingerprints, he left traces in less obvious places."
"Definitely fits a crime of passion," Lin Zhuang agreed. "With the evidence we have now, once the fingerprint analysis is complete, the case will be solid."
Xia Chenghui wrung out the hem of her clothes and the cuffs of her pants before unwrapping the chocolate and popping it into her mouth. Speaking indistinctly, she said, "While escorting the suspect to the hospital, I contacted his family to get a brief understanding of the situation. The family was aware of his trip to meet a friend, but they didn’t know he had come to Fu’an City, let alone that he was meeting the victim. As for the victim, the suspect’s spouse claimed not to know them, but his two children did. According to the suspect’s daughter, she had seen the victim when she was attending No. 16 High School—during a parent-teacher meeting, the suspect had spotted the victim at a restaurant near the school, dining with a group of students. Curious, the suspect asked his daughter about the victim. After learning about the victim’s deeds, he reacted with a mix of bewilderment and envy."
Guan Xia, sitting across in a chair, listened with visible surprise. Lin Zhuang, equally taken aback, chimed in, "After more than a decade, she still remembers it that clearly?"
Xia Chenghui replied, "I asked the same question. The suspect’s daughter said it stuck in her memory because of her father’s odd reaction at the time. He told her, ‘We’re both throwing money around, but at least mine comes back to me. How come that teacher gets praised while I get scolded?’"
Guan Xia’s expression turned peculiar. Could the suspect’s motive, beyond money, also involve jealousy toward the victim? But his envy seemed utterly irrational—how could the two even be compared?
One was recklessly lending money to friends against his family’s wishes, while the other was helping and supporting students. There was no similarity between the two.
