I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 223: Chapter 221: Meeting Kang Hong

Su Miaoyi waited for Zhuang Yanzheng at the hospital entrance for a bit. Once he arrived, they went to the inpatient ward together.

After speaking with the doctor, Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng entered the hospital room.

Kang Hong lay on the hospital bed. He opened his eyes at the sound, but upon seeing it was them, he closed his eyes again.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi sat down.

"Your parents have already confessed. It’s time you told us your side of the story," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"If they’ve already confessed, what else do you need me to say?" Kang Hong said. "Since they’ve talked, I’m a dead man walking anyway. I’ll talk if I feel like it, and I won’t if I don’t."

Su Miaoyi silently tutted to herself.

’Things were better in the dream. I could just beat him up directly.’

"There’s only three of us in this room. Turn off the camera and beat him," the voice in her head said. "Let me do it. I know where it hurts the most."

Su Miaoyi: "..."

’You need to take a break. Stop causing trouble.’

Su Miaoyi told the voice in her head.

She’d recently researched some information on split personalities.

Although the other personality was usually quite normal, she could still feel its violent and murderous urges from time to time.

’So, what kind of circumstances could have caused this split?’

"How did you meet Zhang Bai?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Kang Hong opened his eyes again and looked at them. "You’ve already found out about Zhang Bai?"

"Does that mean you thought we wouldn’t be able to find him?" Zhuang Yanzheng said. "You think he’s that good?"

Kang Hong snorted. "I know what you want to find out, but I’m not talking. I’m not going to make it out of this alive, but I’ll be damned if I make it easy for you. Since you’re so capable, you can take your time investigating."

Zhuang Yanzheng watched him for a moment before speaking. "If you don’t want to talk about Zhang Bai, then let’s talk about Xie Lili. How did you meet her?"

Kang Hong’s eyes twitched. "I don’t want to talk about it! And I don’t want to hear you talk about it either!"

"You were university classmates in the same year. How did you meet? Student council? Some other activity?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked. "How long did you know each other before you got together? Who confessed their feelings first?"

Kang Hong’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t stop the flood of memories Zhuang Yanzheng’s words brought back.

"Was she your first love? Who chased who? College romance is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?"

Su Miaoyi watched Kang Hong’s expression.

Zhuang Yanzheng’s few words had plunged him deep into his memories.

"Do you still remember the first time you saw her?" Zhuang Yanzheng added.

"She was a good girl. She always was," Kang Hong said after a long silence. "It was my fault. All my fault."

Su Miaoyi said nothing, afraid of provoking him.

"She was on the student council. We met when we sat next to each other at a meeting," Kang Hong recalled. "I liked her the moment I first saw her. I asked for her contact info that same day."

He fell silent, his expression softening as if he were lost in memories of the past.

A faint smile touched his lips. "I pursued her for six months. When I felt the time was right, I confessed my feelings, and she accepted on the spot. That moment, to this day, is the happiest memory of my life."

"And then?" Zhuang Yanzheng prompted.

"My happy days didn’t last long after that. Lili’s mother found out. She forced Lili to break up with me." Kang Hong frowned. "I know my family background wasn’t great, that we weren’t a good match on paper, but I was already working hard to build a better life. I loved her so much. How could I ever let her lead a hard life with me? I was truly trying my best to become worthy of her."

"But her mother still wouldn’t approve. She kept forcing her to break up with me. Her mother’s a control freak! Both of her parents are! Lili was already in college, a sophomore. She was an adult, but they didn’t give her a shred of freedom!"

"They forced her to come home every weekend. She had to video call them every night before curfew so they could see she was in her dorm, and she had to report everything she’d done that day. Even when she went out with classmates, they would video call her repeatedly to check on her, and they’d even make her put her roommates on to confirm. Lili couldn’t even make friends properly."

The last time she’d seen Xie Lili’s mother, Su Miaoyi had felt a sense of suffocation just listening to her story.

They were far too focused on Xie Lili.

It was excessive.

"I was never with Lili for her family’s money. I have my own two hands. I can earn money. I can earn a lot of money," Kang Hong said. "I would have given her a good life. I would have made her happy."

Listening to him, Su Miaoyi’s anger surged.

"When did you get back together after breaking up?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"We ran into each other again two years after graduation," Kang Hong said. "I pursued her again, and she still had feelings for me, so we got back together."

"And Xie Lili’s parents never found out?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"No," Kang Hong said. "When things reach an extreme, they often reverse. Her parents watched her like a hawk. Even after she graduated from college and started working, they were still all over her, making her report her every move. If she went to dinner with colleagues, they would call nonstop, telling her to come home. The more they pushed, the more rebellious Lili became. After she stood up to them once, she started fighting with them all the time."

"They argued more and more, until eventually, her parents didn’t dare question her too much. She started avoiding them, too. That’s why they never found out."

Su Miaoyi sighed inwardly. "And after that? You were together for more than a decade?"

"Yes."

"What was your life like?"

"It was great. Lili was so understanding and patient with me. She never lost her temper for no reason," Kang Hong said. "And I gave her a good life."

"And by ’a good life,’ you mean..."

"I made a lot of money. She could spend it however she wanted."

"How did you make that money?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Kang Hong froze for a moment, then fell silent.

He realized he had been led right into her line of questioning.

Su Miaoyi looked at him. "Do you really love her?"

"Of course I love her! She’s the love of my life!" Kang Hong suddenly grew agitated.

"Then why did things end up like this? In this situation?" Su Miaoyi said. "How exactly did you love her? By letting her see you do drugs while she was pregnant? By getting her infected with HIV? By killing her and your unborn child right before she was due to give birth? What right do you have to use that word for what you felt for her? You never argued? Not once? You’re just deluding yourself, trying to paint a prettier picture of who you are."

"I didn’t want to! I didn’t want it to happen! I couldn’t control myself, I really couldn’t." Kang Hong tried to sit up, but his hands were cuffed to the bed, and he couldn’t move. "I was hallucinating that night! I didn’t mean to kill her! How could I ever kill her?!"

"And why were you hallucinating? Do you have hallucinations when you’re not doing drugs? Do you?" Su Miaoyi’s voice sounded steady, but her hands were clenched into fists with rage.

"I didn’t want to do them. It wasn’t my idea."

"Then who was it? Who made you do them?"

Kang Hong fell silent once more.

"You’re a murderer. And so are they. All of you murdered your wife and child," Su Miaoyi said. "Look at the state you’re in now. Are they like this too, barely human? Your wife and child are dead, yet you’re still covering for the people who put you here. You’re the most pathetic man I’ve ever met."

...