25 I Surrender Too

 

“He is not the killer.” Seeing Gao Rui who was pushed into the car like a criminal, I mumbled to myself. When Guan Zhenglin heard me, she scoffed. “Wu Meng, you really are schizophrenic. Yesterday, you were telling us that Gao Rui is suspicious. He came to surrender and now you are claiming he’s not the killer? Are you suffering from fever?”

“Stop it.” I swatted away her hand that reached over to test my temperature. “If Gao Ruo didn’t come to surrender, then it would have made more sense, but the fact that he did makes me feel something’s not right. Furthermore, there are still many unanswered questions.”

Gu Chen looked at me and Guan Zhenglin. “If Gao Rui is not the killer, how do you explain his intimate knowledge of the crimes’ details? Both physical evidence and witness testimony prove that Gao Rui is the killer. You’re not going to reopen the case, are you?” Honestly my mind was abuzz, it was like a colony of flies was inside there.

“Wu Meng, we’ll bring the man to the station now.” An officer told me from afar. “You guys better close the case, what are you still waiting for?” Sighing, I walked towards the car. Through the open window, I looked at Gao Rui and Gao Rui stared back at me.

“It’s really you?” I asked.

“It’s really me.” He answered.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand why you’d do this. Since you have witnessed Headmaster Zhang kill a person, you could have easily reported him to the police and he’ll be punished by the law. Why do you need to take matters into your own hands?”

Gao Rui laughed. “Headmaster Zhang might be a common man but Yu Cai High School is not a common school. Many powerful individuals send their sons and daughters to study here. Even if Headmaster Zhang was reported, a case might not be made against him. Do you understand why?”

Of course I did. “You’re too pessimistic, the world is not as unfair as you think.”

A sigh.

“By the way, what about your girlfriend?” I changed the subject.

Gao Rui shook his head. “I broke up with her. I can’t have her waste her future on me, can I? So I told her I’ve found someone else. Poor Wu Jiajia was my scapegoat.” The irony was Wu Jiajia did love Gao Rui. Who knew how Wu Jiajia would react after she found out about this. Following this thread, I asked, “By the way, Wu Jiajia wanted me to tell you that she has something to discuss with you. If you have that intention, I can arrange a final meeting for you.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Gao Rui stretched lazily. “I don't know why you’re still wasting your time with me. I’m not your friend or anything. In any case, there are too many unfair people in this world, I hope you’re not one of them.” Seeing the police cruiser speed away, an annoyance rose within me. “Let’s contact Gao Rui’s family and people at Yu Cai High School.” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. However, as the news reached Wu Jiajia, the case started to crack open again.

When Wu Jiajia appeared before us, her eyes were red, clearly she had been crying. “You’re telling me Gao Rui is the killer?! Impossible, you got the wrong person!” Wu Jiajia was emotionally distraught. Guan Zhenglin held her hand soothingly, “Sister Jiajia, I know how shocking this news must be to you but that is the truth. Gao Rui has confessed to the crime and all the evidence matches. We do not wish to do this but…’

“No, Gao Rui cannot be the killer.” Wu Jiajia slid to the floor and she started to cry. “Because it was me who killed Headmaster Zhang!” Everyone turned to look at her. Guan Zhenglin knelt down to the ground and pulled on Wu Jiajia’s arm. “Sister Jiajia, this is not a joking matter.”

“I’m not joking, I did kill the man.” Wu Jiajia said between tears. And so we were given another version of the story. This happened 10 days ago. By then, Wu Jiajia had been interning at the school for more than a month already, she felt it was the best month she had ever had in her life. She learned many things here, like how to deal with students and so on. Headmaster Zhang was very kind to her, he often called her to his office to enquire after her internship. Headmaster Zhang was an elder over 50. Yes, he had a pair of wandering hands but Wu Jiajia assumed that they were just unsteady hands caused by old age. But one day, everything changed.

It was a Friday night. It was already over 10 pm when the students were done with night revision. The sky was dark. Wu Jiajia was ready to leave school and head home. At the time, Wu Jiajia was still living alone.

“So Gao Rui hasn’t lived with you for that long?” I couldn’t believe I had forgotten about that.

“Yes, he’s only living with me for about a week.” Wu Jiajia answered.

Coincidentally, Wu Jiajia ran into Headmaster Zhang when she was heading home. Headmaster Zhang greeted her with a smile, “Oh, it’s Xiao Hu. This is such a coincidence. How about this, do you mind coming over to my place? I have a document that I need you to help me finish. I need it completed by Monday. If you can do that, I’ll make your posting here official.” Wu Jiajia had no reason to suspect the kind headmaster of ulterior motives. After all, he had always been professional and caring towards her. This became a night that she would never forget because her life was forever changed by it.

Wu Jiajia followed Headmaster Zhang to his bungalow home. She remembered complimenting him on his garden. “Wow, Headmaster Zhang, you have such green fingers. There are so many plants in your back garden.”

“Oh, it’s just a small hobby of mine.” Headmaster Zhang smiled. Headmaster Zhang handed Wu Jiajia the document and he sat beside her. Headmaster Zhang explained the clause one by one to Wu Jiajia, they sat closer and closer. Wu Jiajia could even feel the headmaster’s breath falling on her neck. It was already night time but it was curiously humid and hot inside the house.

“Xiao Wu, see how sweaty you are. I’ll grab you a glass of water.” Headmaster Zhang observed understandingly. Wu Jiajia accepted the glass of water. Headmaster Zhang continued to explain the words on the document but Wu Jiajia only felt her body getting hotter. She sweated even more and she burned from inside. Headmaster Zhang leaned closer to her. Slowly she felt a pair of hands massaging her inner thighs. Headmaster Zhang blew into her ears, causing her body to shiver in goosebumps.

“I, I think I am coming down with a fever.” Wu Jiajia said weakly.

“Then, I better take you to the bedroom for you to lie down.” Wu Jiajia felt herself being carried and then her clothes being removed. Before her consciousness faded, Wu Jiajia saw Headmaster Zhang remove his pants.

When Wu Jiajia woke up the next day, she finally understood what happened. She looked at her naked body and then at the man beside her. She was raped by that scholarly Headmaster Zhang. There was rape drug in that glass of water. She cried and screamed, “You, I’ll report you to the police. You bastard!”

With a grin, Headmaster Zhang took out a USB drive and said evenly. “Are you sure you want to do that? You were begging me to fuck you according to this video. Feel free to call the police but be mindful of the consequences. If your family finds out about this, your life will be over.”

Wu Jiajia crumbled in bed and she wept silently.

“But don’t worry, Jiajia, I will take full responsibility.” Headmaster Zhang said charmingly. “I did promise that I will offer you a permanent job, didn’t I?” Wu Jiajia nodded.

“Come over here, Jiajia. Let me love you some more. Soon you’ll see that you should be thankful to be given this opportunity.” Wu Jiajia sauntered over like a soulless puppet. Headmaster Zhang pulled Wu Jiajia into a rough hug and his tongue swirled around Wu Jiajia’s nipple.

The next moment, blood splattered everywhere. Wu Jiajia picked up a mug, the very glass that Headmaster Zhang offered her the night before. She only swung once and Headmaster Zhang already stopped moving. But Wu Jiajia did not stop. She swung and swung. She hit 6 more times, until the handle of the mug broke and Headmaster Zhang’s head caved in. After Wu Jiajia put on her clothes, she buried Headmaster Zhang’s body in the back garden.

“So, you’re telling me Headmaster Zhang died 10 days ago?” I asked with a frown.

“But…” Guan Zhenglin was about to say something but I stopped her. I knew what Guan Zhenglin was going to ask, based on her report, Headmaster Zhang died 5 days ago but Wu Jiajia claimed that she killed him 10 days ago, a man couldn’t die twice, so basically Wu Jiajia had to be lying but in that case, how did she know that it was a mug that killed Headmaster Zhang? Gao Rui wouldn’t have told Wu Jiajia that, would he?

As if sensing our disbelief, Wu Jiajia squeezed out the following, “Because of that, I’m not a virgin anymore. We can go to the hospital to check now!” So Wu Jiajia indeed lied to me when I asked her whether Headmaster Zhang had taken advantage of her that day. However, whether Wu Jiajia was a virgin or not proved nothing… Nevertheless, it did remind me of a question I had several days ago. I asked. “Jiajia, this might be uncomfortable for you but I need you to be honest with me, okay?” Wu Jiajia nodded.

“When Headmaster Zhang raped you, was he wearing a condom?” I asked.

“Yes.” Wu Jiajia said.

“Then did you bring the condom with you when you left?”

Wu Jiajia shook her head. “I just killed someone, I was so flustered that I forgot to even take the USB drive or the mug with me.”

“In other words, when you buried Headmaster Zhang, he was naked?” I asked.

Wu Jiajia nodded. “When I woke up that morning, he was not dressed, yes.”

“What does that mug look like?” Finally, I asked the most crucial question.

Wu Jiajia pictured it for a while and then said, “It was a white mug. It has a letter Z. I remember commenting on it. Headmaster Zhang said the Z was for Zhang, it was a gift from his daughter.”

“Which part of the back garden did you bury him in?” I pressed.

“Haven’t you found the body?” Wu Jiajia frowned. “Then you should already know the location. It’s hard for me to describe without a map or being there in person…”