My Lovely Wife is a Forensic Doctor - Chapter 313

Chapter 313 Two-faced Woman

“Dacheng came here roughly four to five years ago, but I can’t remember the exact time and date.”

“Four to five years ago?” At the same time, Mu Yu’s and Rong Jian’s eyes glistened as the former swiftly asked, “Where was he around that time? Was he at Huacheng?!”

“I have no clue.” When he saw that everyone was staring at him, Tian Maocai could tell that they were skeptical of him. He immediately opened his eyes wide as he exclaimed, “I really have no idea! Ever since he was young, Dacheng wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. More than 20 years ago, an accident happened and he got separated from his family. His parents searched high and low for him, and they even called the cops. A few months later, a homeless man in the neighboring city was hit by a car until he practically became ground meat, and the police allowed his family to identify the corpse. After recognizing that it was in fact their son, they cried their eyes out and brought his ashes back to Anxi County for a proper funeral. Not long after that, they cancelled his residence registration as well. To everyone’s surprise, Dacheng came back alive after many years. Moreover, he had a better functioning brain! I reckoned he must have learned a lot of stuff out there. The only flaw was his everlasting sloth.”

Then, Mu Yu interrupted, “Have you known him since long ago, even before his disappearance?”

“No.”

“In that case, how did you know that he was a lazy man?”

“I heard everything about him from my wife and her parents.”

“How many years have you known your wife?”

“Years?” After pondering for a bit, Tian Maocai answered, “Approximately 19 years, I guess. We’ve been married for 18.”

Mu Yu contemplated something before she asked again, “Have you seen Qian Dacheng’s photos from the past?”

“No, they don’t have a single photo of him. His disappearance scarred them deeply, so they destroyed every memento of his they could find after his death.”

Upon hearing that, Mu Yu felt strange. “Didn’t his parents love him very much? Why didn’t they keep even one photo?”

“Beats me. By the way, there was one time when my father-in-law got drunk and scolded Xiaoyu regarding the photos because she destroyed them. In her defense, she told me that she hated seeing her parents weep over Dacheng’s photos every night. Don’t misunderstand her, though—she only did it because she was concerned about her parents.”

“Did you help Qian Dacheng register his new residence registration later on?”

“No, it wasn’t me. During that period, I was pretty occupied with the in-and-outs of the quarry while Xiaoyu was the one managing such things. Jeez, you have no idea how much she had spent solely for that account… It was around 70,000 or 80,000! Can you believe it?”

“Why did she spend so much for it?” The baffled Rong Jian then said, “It’s certainly a hassle to bring back a cancelled residence registration, but it shouldn’t cost 70,000 to 80,000 from four to five years ago!”

“Someone must have cheated and taken advantage of her.” Wu Xing wasn’t at all surprised.

“It’s nothing like that. The money was mostly spent on verifying their parent-child relationship.”

At once, Wu Xing realized something. “When your parents-in-law passed away, the residence registration was cancelled too. Hence, there’s no way to confirm Qian Dacheng’s identity!”

Mu Yu instantly added, “We should be able to prove his identity with the DNA result that verifies his siblingship with Qian Xiaoyu, though!”

“That’s where the problem comes in…” After letting out a sigh, Tian Maocai continued, “They aren’t related by blood. In truth, Xiaoyu was actually adopted.”

“Adopted?!”

“That’s right. Although they aren’t blood siblings, they share a strong bond that’s even stronger than actual blood siblings. Well, you’ve all seen how devastated Xiaoyu was when she found out that Dacheng died. It was also precisely why we spent so much effort into register his residence registration. We basically dug through everything we could.”

In response, Rong Jian inquired, “Where are your wife’s biological parents from?”

“I have no idea about that. I tried asking Xiaoyu about it a long time ago, but her face immediately turned red before she scolded me. In fact, she threatened not to let me onto the bed if I were to ask about it again. She even said that she’d never want to hear about them because she hated them the most for abandoning her.”

“You never tried asking your parents-in-law?”

Tian Maocai shook his head and answered, “There wasn’t a need for it, so I didn’t bother asking.”

“Do you still remember which region they lived in Anxi County?”

“They stayed in the southern suburbs of Anxi County, but I don’t know where they lived before that.”

Rong Jian felt that something was odd, so he questioned, “Before that? You mean they lived somewhere else before moving to the southern suburbs?”

Upon seeing how the police were getting into the details, Tian Maocai grew anxious. “Yes. They had only moved here not long before I knew Xiaoyu. They weren’t close with the neighbors either.” He asked warily after saying that, “Is this all relevant to Dacheng’s case?”

However, Rong Jian ignored his question and tapped on the papers that were placed on the table. “Write the address down.”

“Back then, the southern suburbs used to be an older part of town. The city’s construction department came to tear everything apart a few years after Xiaoyu and I got married, and it led to her parents’ homelessness. Since it pained us to see them suffering like that, we lent her parents some money and bought an apartment of about 330 square feet. Here, this is the apartment’s address. I think it’s best if you visit the place to know more about the details. Since they were always renting places to live, they had to constantly move, but this is the place they have lived the longest in.”

After taking the piece of paper, Rong Jian read the address as he asked, “This apartment still exists?”

“It’s long gone. After they passed away, Xiaoyu sold the apartment off and took the money to invest.” After he finished speaking, Tian Maocai asked somewhat awkwardly, “Is there anything else?”

Before he could finish, Mu Yu interjected, “What was the relationship between Qian Xiaoyu and her pa—no, her adopted parents like?”

“Xiaoyu has always been a filial daughter. Her parents were only in their forties when I first met her, but they had already stopped working by then. They were solely depending on their daughter for living expenses, so Xiaoyu and I had to pay for all their daily necessities and medical bills.”

“You never minded it?”

“Not at all. Before I married Xiaoyu, they made it clear that since they had only one daughter, I would need to look after them until they were on their deathbeds since I was their son-in-law.” As Tian Maocai spoke, he started chuckling. “I was really, really in love with Xiaoyu at the time. Forget about taking care of them until death—I was even willing to worship them like Gods as long as I could receive their approval to marry Xiaoyu. Thanks to my family’s financial background, I didn’t have to worry much about the money. Besides, it wasn’t like they were asking me to hold a feast every night. They merely asked for daily expenses, so they were actually rational people. Sadly, they weren’t exactly diligent and must have passed down their laziness onto Dacheng.”

As he finished, he seemed a little dispirited. “To be fair, Xiaoyu is a good woman apart from her strong desires. When I was able to satisfy her back then, she never cursed at me and always behaved like an angel. It’s a pity that… Well, these things happen, right?”

Wu Xing was rendered speechless as he stared silently at him. Meanwhile, Mu Yu just ignored Tian Maocai’s sentiments and asked, “How close were your wife and her brother after his return?”

“Dacheng was okay toward Xiaoyu, but she was especially nice to him—much nicer than the way she treated our children as she would spoil her brother as much as she could. She probably assumed that her brother must’ve gone through hell after all those years, and she thought it was only right for her to take care of him in their parents’ stead since they had passed away.”

“Could you elaborate more on how she spoiled him as much as she could?”

“She’s almost like his personal maid. Not only did she pay for all his expenses, she even did his laundry, prepared his meals, and even did all the cleaning for him. Hell, she never once tried to criticize him. She treated him like royalty!”

“But Qian Dacheng never shared a roof with you after his return, right?”

“That’s right. Although we have four rooms in the apartment, our kids have already grown up and surely need their personal space. Besides, we keep some money in the study room, and he was rather reluctant to stay there, though it could also have been because of the potential feuds we might have faced living together. In order to keep him at arm’s length, Xiaoyu arranged a place above ours for Dacheng to live in. After he started working in the quarry, he expressed that he didn’t want to travel between the city and the quarry every day, so he asked me to set up a dorm room nearby for him. After fulfilling his wish, all he did when he came to work was to lock himself in the dorm, claiming that he could hear his surroundings when he was lying on his bed. Well, what could I have done? I just felt lucky that we had two people guarding the warehouse, and the other man happened to be a responsible one. What was even more messed up was the fact that he was always sleeping and skipping meals. In the end, Xiaoyu was so worried after he starved himself countless times, to which she had to leave the kids in boarding school. She got me to bring her to the quarry, and she requested a job involving logistics here so that she could take even more care of her brother.”

Suddenly, Wu Xing teasingly interrupted him and said, “Your wife works here, yet you’re still so bold as to fool around with Xiaotao. Aren’t you afraid that she’ll curse you to hell?”

Tian Maocai gritted his teeth in embarrassment and said, “Xiaoyu and I have come to an agreement about this. I won’t meddle in her affairs, and she won’t in mine—we both pretend as if there’s nothing going on. To her, taking charge of the salary cards is all that matters. As for me, I have such a beautiful wife managing the company while she takes care of our children at the same time, so I thought that it was a win. Besides, it’s not like she’s having an affair anymore. Can’t ask for too much, can we?”

Wu Xing didn’t say anything, and he merely gave him a thumbs-up.

Meanwhile, Rong Jian disregarded Wu Xing and simply gazed at Mu Yu. When he saw that she had nothing to say, he whispered, “Do you have any other questions, Doctor Mu?”

With her head still lowered, she took some notes down in her notebook while she shook her head in response.

At that moment, Rong Jian turned to Wu Xing, who accordingly shook his head as well. Then, the former closed his notebook as he got up and looked at Tian Maocai. “That’s about it for today. We’ll contact you if the need arises.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll cooperate as much as I can.” Then, Tian Maocai pleaded in a panic while saying, “I’ve said all that I know, and I have kept nothing from you. As for the thing between me and Xiaotao, I hope you—”

“I’ve no interest in such trivial matters,” said Rong Jian as he cut him off in a curt manner. He then warned, “I speculate that many men are drooling for your position. If you don’t want anyone to know about it, just don’t do it. If you still continue what you’re doing right now, you’ll have only yourself to blame when it all goes down.”

“Yes, yes… I’ll end things with Xiaotao right away!” Tian Maocai nodded his head as fast as a woodpecker.

“All right. I shall go take a look at Qian Dacheng’s dorm.”

“His dorm?” Tian Maocai was surprised. “Haven’t you guys visited the place yesterday?”

“We’re going to take a second look,” said Rong Jian as he walked toward the office exit.

“Isn’t it sealed off?”

“Not your business.”

“Okay.” Without saying more, Tian Maocai walked briskly before them and bowed down as he sent them off.

Placed at the eastmost of the warehouse was Qian Dacheng’s room, and it was a walk away from Tian Maocai’s room which they had previously visited. It was a small, simple room. According to Tian Maocai, the other guard was assigned to the westmost room of the warehouse.

“Huh? Look, Chief Rong!” A dazed Mu Yu pointed at Qian Dacheng’s dorm—which was about a hundred feet away—and shouted, “The seals are gone!”