Chapter 211: The Truth?

In the blink of an eye, it was 8:00 AM the next morning. Gu Changzheng was already sitting in the office of the Criminal Investigation Brigade at the branch bureau. After several hours of questioning, interviews, and investigations last night... although they hadn't found the person who met with Lou Zhen, various signs already indicated that Lou Zhen had died by homicide!

After finishing his work late and returning home, he collapsed into bed. Unfortunately, it was another night of extremely poor sleep quality!

The figures of his late wife, Fang Jie, and his master, Lu Haoxuan, appeared in his mind one after another, keeping him awake all night! So, when dawn broke, he simply got up, ran a few laps in the park outside his residential complex, ate a bowl of noodles, and arrived at the bureau early.

Regarding the investigation into Lou Zhen's death by falling, under his insistence, the branch bureau's Deputy Director Gao agreed to set up a special task force, giving him one week to find the truth; otherwise, the case would be closed as a suicide.

Gu Changzheng was quite confident in his judgment. Gao Ye had already found the number Lou Zhen last called, and after confirmation by the communications department, the owner of the phone was indeed Zhang Zhiyuan!

"Heh heh!" Gu Changzheng laughed in his heart: "Could it really be that young one?" He truly found it hard to accept—not Lou Zhen's death, but this melodramatic relationship! However! He told himself again that everything had to wait for the DNA test results from Old Zheng's side.

But now, it was time to go and meet that young Zhang!

———

In a spacious office in the hospital administration building of Junhe Hospital, Zhang Zhiyuan, as the director of the hospital office, had just finished a hospital meeting. As soon as he entered his office, he saw two strangers sitting in the guest area. He was just wondering when he saw the male secretary, Xiao Sun, coming from the pantry with two cups of hot tea. Seeing Zhang Zhiyuan, Xiao Sun said: "Director Zhang, these two said they are friends of your father and have something to discuss with you, so I let them wait here for you."

The hospital staff had all heard about Zhang Yifei's affairs. Although Gu Changzheng and Luo Fei didn't explicitly state their identities, the unique temperament and attire of people in the system were instantly recognized by Xiao Sun. Plus, since the other party said they were friends of the old director, he concluded they were there regarding the old director's affairs. Someone as socially adept as Xiao Sun naturally knew what to do and immediately arranged for them to wait in Zhang Zhiyuan's office.

Zhang Zhiyuan gave a "hmm" and looked them over. He didn't recognize these two in his memory. When only Zhang Zhiyuan and they were left in the room, Gu Changzheng took out his police officer ID and said: "Zhang Zhiyuan, we are from the Jiangdong Public Security Branch Criminal Investigation Brigade. My surname is Gu. I'm here today to understand some circumstances."

Zhang Zhiyuan didn't seem surprised at all. He sat opposite Gu Changzheng with a blank expression and said indifferently: "If there's anything else you need to ask, go ahead." Judging by the situation, it seemed he thought the police in front of him were still there to ask about his father's affairs.

Gu Changzheng smiled slightly and went straight to the point: "Mr. Zhang, do you know a person named Lou Zhen?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan maintained his indifferent expression and said: "Know her? Of course I know her!" It was just that the tone made Gu Changzheng feel a hint of contempt.

"She died after falling from the Tianyang Hotel in Ginza Plaza last night. We found that the last call she received before her death was from you!" Gu Changzheng said bluntly.

Zhang Zhiyuan, however, was not panicked. He adjusted his glasses and said: "So what? There's no problem with calling her, right? As for whether she wanted to jump off a building, that has nothing to do with me, right?"

"Mr. Zhang, we didn't say Lou Zhen's death was related to you when we came to find you today. We came today mainly because the last call Lou Zhen received before her death was from you, and we want to understand the situation." Gu Changzheng threw out a thunderbolt first, then politely said he just wanted to understand the situation. Zhang Zhiyuan, however, felt a bit embarrassed by his own stiff attitude!

He said somewhat awkwardly: "Officer Gu, if you have anything you want to know, please ask. I will definitely tell you everything I know!"

Gu Changzheng smiled, picked up the cup in front of him, and took a sip of tea: "Good! Then thank you, Mr. Zhang, for your support of our work! It's like this, Mr. Zhang: you made a call to Lou Zhen around 5:30 PM yesterday, right? What did you talk about? What is your relationship with her?"

Zhang Zhiyuan leaned back: "Oh, yes, I did call Lou Zhen. But I think that should have nothing to do with her jumping off the building later. You should know about her relationship with my father." Speaking of this, his face looked a bit ugly, but that trace of embarrassment disappeared immediately. He continued: "This is not a secret either. My father has always been very obsessed with her, even willing to go against the police for her. You all know this. Now, my father can be said to have lost his reputation for her! But just after my father went to prison, that woman was out there flirting with others! To be honest with you, I have looked for her many times, with the goal of getting back the assets my father gave her over the years! It can be considered as recovering some losses for my Zhang family!"

Listening to him speak like this, Gu Changzheng thought quickly, but on the surface, he remained calm. Luo Fei, however, was a bit annoyed and was about to speak, but heard Gu Changzheng say: "Oh? Your father and her over these years?"

Zhang Zhiyuan nodded and said: "Yes, after my father brought her to Zizhen, although he didn't get a marriage certificate with her, the two already had a husband-and-wife relationship. My father abandoned his wife and son for her back then, willing to join that ghost cult of hers, just wanting to stay with her. Later, when he finally had the chance, he naturally treated her even more wholeheartedly. For so many years, he has always supported her like a treasure, including that grandson of hers of unknown origin! All he wanted was to live a good life with her. Who knew! That woman, however, she, she! Sigh!"

Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly hesitated. Gu Changzheng knew he must know something not very honorable about Lou Zhen that he found hard to say.

He changed the subject and asked: "According to what you said, you haven't always lived with your father?"

Zhang Zhiyuan looked up and sighed: "Yes, after my parents divorced, I lived with my mother. Later, in 2003, my mother died of SARS, and only then did I come to my father's side. At that time, I had just graduated from college, and my father had just settled down here. Later, he arranged for me to work at the hospital as well. It was also then that I saw Lou Zhen, the woman who made my father abandon his wife and son!"

"Judging by your tone, you and Lou Zhen, who can be considered your stepmother, don't have a very good relationship!" Gu Changzheng said.

"Sigh! Originally, I thought that since my mother had passed away, my father was the only relative I had in this world. No matter what, he was my father, and I could be by his side so I could fulfill some filial piety when he got old. So, I tried my best to respect his choice. But I didn't expect that a later incident would disgust me! But for the sake of my father's face, I have been enduring it!" ===== CHAPTER 212 =====