Chapter 224: Even a Madman Can Provide Clues

What's going on?

Yu Dazhang and the other two were stunned by the scene before them.

It was the first time they'd seen someone curse at themselves so fluently.

That wasn't all.

Li Yong on the bed cursed with increasing vigor, his words growing more and more brutal.

His mouth was full of filthy language, all of it directed at cursing himself.

The words were quite dirty, yet he didn't feel angry... Looking at Li Yong on the bed, Yu Dazhang couldn't say what his own mood was.

No wonder they hadn't restrained him.

Li Yong's madness was only verbal; he made no excessive physical movements.

Even when strangers appeared in the ward, he didn't notice, seemingly completely immersed in his own world.

After observing for a while, Yu Dazhang turned his head to look at Li Yong's wife:

"Has he always been like this?"

"He stops when he's tired of cursing." The woman showed a helpless expression:

"At that point, it's time to drink and eat. After eating and drinking his fill, he'll continue cursing."

This isn't bad either; at least there's no aggression... Yu Dazhang thought this counted as a relatively mild symptom among mental illnesses.

It was far better than those mental patients who attack people.

Just as Ma Jian and Liu Miao both thought there was nothing more to investigate deeply, Yu Dazhang grabbed a chair and sat beside the hospital bed.

What was he going to do?

Both of them looked at Yu Dazhang with confused faces.

The victim is in this state, and you still won't leave?

Could he possibly converse with you?

"Oh, right." Yu Dazhang suddenly turned his head and said to them:

"This place doesn't need so many people; you two just wait outside."

After speaking, he turned his head again, looking at Li Yong on the bed who was constantly insulting himself.

What is there to look at?

Ma Jian and Liu Miao simply couldn't understand Yu Dazhang's behavior.

After waiting a while and seeing him still staring motionlessly at Li Yong, the two could only temporarily leave the ward.

At this moment, even Li Yong's young wife noticed something was wrong.

She leaned over and asked in a low voice:

"Officer, what are you doing?"

"Nothing." Yu Dazhang smiled at her:

"Too many words lead to mistakes; perhaps there is some content worth paying attention to in his words."

Li Yong's wife was stunned after hearing this sentence.

Too many words lead to mistakes?

Is this idiom appropriate to use here?

It feels a bit annoying.

"Since you're willing to listen, then listen your fill."

After saying that with a bad temper, she also left the ward.

Yu Dazhang saw that although this woman was Li Yong's wife, she didn't show much concern for Li Yong.

She probably didn't marry Li Yong out of love in the first place.

The two of them had such a large age gap; if she wasn't after something, no one would believe it.

In this short while, only Yu Dazhang and Li Yong were left in the ward.

The reason he stayed to listen to Li Yong curse himself was that he felt Ding Feng's previous reminder was indeed reasonable.

Although that person had low emotional intelligence, his logical thinking was very reliable.

However...

Yu Dazhang estimated that even Ding Feng himself hadn't carefully listened to the victim's muttering.

About ten-plus minutes passed.

Suddenly, content that was hard to understand appeared in Li Yong's words.

"Shao Xin, Shao Xin, I am worse than a beast, I am not worthy of forgiveness, I..."

Yu Dazhang:????

Was that a name just now?

It sounded like a two-character name, repeated by Li Yong.

He immediately took out his personal notebook, flipped to a blank page, and wrote the two characters "burning heart" on it.

And drew a question mark behind it.

Then, he wrote Shao Xin, Shao Xin, Shao Xin, Shao Xin...

In total, he listed more than ten names with the same pronunciation but different characters.

After doing all this, he continued listening to Li Yong mutter to himself.

Another ten-plus minutes passed... "Shao Xin, I deserve to die ten thousand deaths, I am worse than a pig or dog..."

It appeared again!

This time Yu Dazhang heard very clearly; it was indeed a person's name.

Moreover, this time Li Yong didn't repeat it, but called out the full name directly: Shao Xin!

The pronunciation was definitely correct; he just didn't know which "Xin" it was.

Immediately, he picked up his pen and heavily crossed out the two characters "shao xin" in his notebook.

Then he stared at the string of homophonic but differently written names in his notebook and couldn't help muttering to himself:

"It's not just cursing myself; it seems there's also a bit of a desire for atonement."

For the next little over an hour, Yu Dazhang sat quietly by the hospital bed, listening to Li Yong rattle on with his ravings.

During that time, Ma Jian and Liu Miao came in twice.

Seeing him so completely absorbed, they didn't disturb him.

In the end, even Li Yong's wife changed the way she looked at Yu Dazhang.

Every single one correct—every single chapter—every single release—content—here—read!

He really was looking for clues!

To have the patience to listen to a mental patient's wild ravings, and so attentively at that—even she, as his wife, couldn't manage it.

After nearly two hours of continuous listening, Yu Dazhang closed the notebook in his hand, stood up, and stretched his back.

Now he could confirm that the current Li Yong only remembered the person called "Shao Xin."

During these two hours, every ten-odd minutes, he would bring up this name once.

The rest of the time, it was all him cursing himself.

If one didn't deliberately listen to the content of Li Yong's speech, it would be very hard to notice the name "Shao Xin."

After all, no one would carefully listen to a mental patient talking to himself.

Yu Dazhang had also thought about communicating with Li Yong.

But judging from the other's state, communication was simply impossible.

Putting the chair back in its original place, Yu Dazhang looked at Li Yong's wife and asked:

"Do you know Shao Xin?"

The woman seemed unfamiliar with the name; she only thought for a moment, then shook her head and said:

"I don't know her; I've never heard of this person."

Hearing this, Yu Dazhang was stunned for a moment.

That shouldn't be.

Logically speaking, someone so important to Li Yong—how could his wife have never even heard of her?

Could she be the mistress Li Yong was keeping outside?

Very possible.

A kept woman at home doesn't smell as sweet as one in the wild.

Besides, the name Shao Xin sounds like a woman's at first hearing.

Unwilling to give up, Yu Dazhang asked again:

"How's the relationship between you two as a couple usually?"

The woman was immediately displeased; she glared and said in an annoyed tone:

"What do you mean how is it? Our relationship is very good. Old Li, whenever he has any time at all, stays right by my side."

Must be newlyweds who haven't had enough fun yet… Yu Dazhang made a summary judgment in his heart.

Then he opened the notebook again and let her look at the string of homophonic but differently written names written inside.

"Not the slightest impression." The woman looked completely blank: "What relation does this person have with Old Li?"

She's not faking it; she really doesn't know… Yu Dazhang had been staring at her profile the whole time just now and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"I don't know either; just a casual question."

Yu Dazhang gave a vague reply, then took his leave.

Outside the hospital, he first thought for a moment, then said to Ma Jian:

"You go investigate Li Yong's social connections. Don't let slip anyone who has any relationship with him. Pay special attention to a person called Shao Xin."

Saying so, he took out his memo pad, opened it, and let Ma Jian look at the string of names inside.

"Which exact name it is I'm not sure either, but the pronunciation can be confirmed."

Ma Jian carefully looked through the memo pad once, then nodded and said:

"Understood, I'll go right now."

Seeing Ma Jian leave, Liu Miao unconsciously straightened his back.

He knew it was his turn now.

Working cases with Yu Dazhang had this one good point—no need to use your brain, just follow his orders and do it.

Sure enough, Ma Jian had just left when Yu Dazhang looked at him:

"You go investigate Li Yong's sources of income. See if there's any shady deal behind the scenes, or any shady activity."

Liu Miao was full of question marks after hearing this.

"You're not really going to investigate the victim, are you?" His face was incredulous: "He's already like this. Even if you really investigate something, it's useless—you can't charge him."

"You're not actually going to investigate the victim, are you?" His face was pure disbelief:

"He's already in this state. Even if we really investigate something, it won't help — we can't convict him."

(End of this chapter)