My Life with Narration-Chapter 337 - 334: Zhang Heng

Man’s actions can bring about his own ruin, as is the case with old Su.

He didn’t bother to intervene anymore; it wasn’t his car anyway. Crashed or not, so be it.

Fortunately, the narrative didn’t hint that Su He would face a major accident this time, at least not hitting anyone, at most a minor scrape, nothing serious.

His dad’s car was insured, fully insured in fact, so if it got damaged the insurance would cover it. However, old Su would still feel heartache for a while.

The car was bought less than half a year ago, still considered new. Old Su cherished it dearly, besides himself, only his son had driven it twice.

Both were skilled drivers, never experienced a scrape; now it was Little Cotton Jacket’s turn, wondering if the Accord could withstand this.

Meanwhile, the police were actively investigating, broadening the search area, and finally found a bloodstain in a semi-abandoned orchard.

Using special equipment for surveying, they determined that the first crime scene was under a big willow tree in the orchard.

The mud on the ground bore no traces due to rain, but bloodstains were detected on the tree trunk using luminal tests.

It was inferred that the victim was murdered there, then taken to a mud house nearby where the body was hidden and dismembered.

As for Zhang Heng, the police did reach him, but he said he wasn’t local, having to work, so he couldn’t return temporarily; if needed, let his dad handle it.

In Ning County Nan Kou Village, inside a red-tiled house, an old man, looking quite aged, was on the phone.

Time had left visible marks on his face; his temples were graying; his hands were thickly callused, clearly someone engaged in manual farming for years.

"Son, why don’t you come back once? I know you’re angry, but the child is innocent. Now that she’s gone, we need to bring the kid over, don’t worry, it won’t affect you. I’ll raise him, and when it’s time for you to settle down, this kid won’t live with you."

Indeed, this was Zhang Heng’s father, Zhang Guoxin. Since learning about his son’s ex-wife’s murder, he’d felt a vague unease.

Especially when the police visited and casually inquired about their bone-carving knife, his unease only grew stronger.

Though aware that his son wasn’t around, unlikely involved, as an old man, he couldn’t help worrying.

And that unease peaked over the last two days.

The reason: his son wouldn’t even return amid such a big incident, speaking in an unusually cold tone. More importantly, he used to seize any chance to see the child, yet now, when having such an opportunity, he seemed indifferent, quite abnormal.

"Dad, I need to work, maybe in a couple of months," a gruff voice came through the phone.

"Son, I think, no matter what, Xiaobo is our family’s child. Now that his mom’s gone, we should bring him back."

But at these words, Zhang Heng on the other end yelled in irritation: "Dad! There’s no need to discuss this. Don’t you know what kind of woman Liu Xiaojuan was? Our kin? Hardly, who knows whose kid he is. When I get back, I need to arrange a paternity test, the bitch deserved to die!"

"Son... are you hiding something from me?" the old man keenly sensed a change in his son’s attitude.

In fact, a little over a month ago, when he was hospitalized, he felt his son was troubled, but with no news then of Liu Xiaojuan’s death, he didn’t mind. Now, he worried there might be a connection.

"Nothing, Dad, just focus on staying healthy. We’ll talk about this later, goodbye!"

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, old Zhang sighed involuntarily. Two years ago, his son’s divorce and the ensuing scandal dealt a heavy blow to their family.

After toiling hard to buy a house, before the mortgage was fully paid, they had to sell it, half went to Liu Xiaojuan, plus the wedding betrothal gifts caused a significant loss to the family; even now, there’s not enough money for his son’s second marriage.

Yet, this wasn’t the worse; the worst was his daughter-in-law’s affair, which created quite a stir, leading to gossip among neighbors, tarnishing their reputation, and, considering his wife - Zhang Heng’s mother - wasn’t in good health, the news crushed her, taking her life within half a year of the divorce.

In an instant, a once lively family of five crumbled to pieces; now with the son out working, grandson taken by his mom, it’s just him left, all feeling very disheartening.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the call, a robust man sat in a construction site’s raw room, clutching his phone tightly.

The man was covered in dirt, dust in his hair, several days worth of unshaven beard, giving him an exceptionally downtrodden look, appearing simple, the kind that’d be unnoticeable in a crowd.

It was Zhang Heng, currently working out of town as a mason at a construction site. Although exhausting, the job pays well, albeit dirty and tiring.

At this moment, he stared blankly, with traces of panic in his eyes, discernible upon closer inspection.

Three months prior, he snuck home, took several days to kill his ex-wife, and returned after disposing of her body. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Indeed, just as he had planned, no one discovered it, though he lived in fear for a while; during this time, he even returned home for a few days due to his father’s illness without anyone suspecting a thing.

He thought three months had passed; no one would find Liu Xiaojuan’s body, or even if found, no one would suspect him. But then the police contacted his dad for an interview, mentioning details like the bone-carving knife, as his father relayed.

This brought back his unease, intensifying as police calls increasingly reached them these days.

Indeed, Zhang Heng spent an entire month three months ago meticulously planning the murder, disposing of the body, escape routes, etc., with even nature in his favor, it rained heavily the night after.

The catalyst was when a coworker mentioned how different his son looked—once suspicion took hold, it wouldn’t fade with time, especially this kind of suspicion.

Thus, during a visit home, while seeing his son, he secretly took hair samples, had it tested at an institution here, confirming no paternity.

To be sure, he sought a second institution for verification; still not biologically related.

Then a crazy idea emerged in this honest man’s heart; he wanted that woman to pay.

His mother’s death tied largely to her, and now the child wasn’t even his, making life feel pointless, growing increasingly insane until reason was overrun by madness.

After killing Liu Xiaojuan, he was consumed by fear, but thanks to his detailed plan and familiarity with the area, he handled her body calmly without panicking.

During the crime and body disposal, he wore gloves throughout. He also shaved his head to avoid leaving hair behind and burned all his clothing afterward.

The murder weapon was buried in the mountains; finding it without his lead was impossible. The weapon, a bone-carving knife, belonged to their family, though long discarded, stored away by his father, who eventually thought it lost; retrieved, it was now rusty, the axe purchased from a roadside shop, everything meticulous.

But police actions grew ever more frequent, making him feel he’d be caught anytime, constantly tormented these days.

He longed to return home but didn’t dare; despite everything, he still had to pay support for these months.

"Old Zhang, Old Zhang, materials are here, let’s work!"

At this moment, a coworker called out.

"Coming!"

...