Scar and the White-Dressed Girl
For most people, Home is the place where one lets their guard down the most and feels the safest.
The arrangement and layout of a home’s furnishings can reveal so much about a person’s character and life.
No one likes unfamiliar people entering their own home, let alone the Police suddenly showing up at the door.
Downstairs from Ma Minghao’s place, he first checked the IDs of Gu Zhiya and Liu Jingjia with a stern face.
“So it’s Team Captain Gu. What exactly do you want to investigate? Why didn’t you call ahead? Are you afraid I’d run away?”
Gu Zhiya smiled and said, “Of course not. It’s just some cold cases from years ago. We didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for Director Ma, so we came directly to his home.”
Ma Minghao rudely nodded his chin toward Yu Song. “Is she a police officer too? Where’s her ID?”
Gu Zhiya answered vaguely, “She’s our Temporary Assistant. Since we’re looking into old cases, we need to sift through many files from over twenty years ago. So she came along.”
Ma Minghao still sized Yu Song up with a less-than-polite look. “A File Clerk?”
The moment Yu Song saw him, she already knew he wasn’t the person she was after. His gaze was wrong, his reactions were off. No matter how good someone’s disguise, they wouldn’t look at her with that scrutinizing, slightly creepy expression.
She glared at Ma Minghao. “It doesn’t matter who I am.”
Ma Minghao withdrew his gaze and asked Gu Zhiya, “What exactly are you looking for with me? How could I be connected to any old case?”
Gu Zhiya said, “It concerns a demolished house under your name—No.19 Yongning Lane, Nanhe Road. Do you remember it?”
The elevator reached the seventh floor, but Ma Minghao had no intention of leaving.
“That house was already demolished. The demolition was completely legal and proper, and the compensation money’s almost all spent. What else could there possibly be?”
Yu Song smiled faintly. “Since you say that, then clearly the demolition process wasn’t quite legal. You’d only been at the Urban Construction Bureau a few years back and already had influence over the demolition affairs? Director Ma, you must be impressive indeed, able to withstand a Criminal Investigation Team probe.”
“Are you threatening me?” Ma Minghao’s eyes darkened with anger.
The elevator doors opened and closed again. Worried someone on another floor might be pressing the button, Gu Zhiya quickly blocked the door and led the way out.
“Director Ma, since we’re already at your home, let’s go inside and talk.”
Ma Minghao looked like he regretted bringing them back. He frowned at Yu Song. “Sorry, this lady has no ID, so she can’t come in.”
Yu Song smiled. “It seems you think the Criminal Investigation Team won’t find any issues with you. How about letting the Economic Investigation Team have a look? Or just notify the Disciplinary Committee directly?”
Ma Minghao’s expression grew even angrier. “If you’ve got the guts, call them all here to investigate. I have no problems.”
“In that case, what are you afraid of? At first, you willingly agreed to meet Team Captain Gu and even brought us here yourself, showing no hint of guilt. So why, the moment you hear ‘No.19 Yongning Lane,’ do you refuse us entry and use the lack of a work ID as an excuse?”
Ma Minghao assumed Yu Song, being the youngest and a woman, would be the easiest to fool. He never expected her to so sharply expose his true thoughts.
“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m upright and honest. What’s there to be guilty about?”
At this moment, Gu Zhiya and Liu Jingjia were outside the elevator, while Yu Song and Ma Minghao were inside.
Gu Zhiya gestured politely, “Director Ma, let’s not waste time here. We can talk at your place.”
Ma Minghao helplessly stepped out.
“I’m not unwilling to invite you in, just don’t see the necessity. That house was demolished long ago. If you’re investigating something, you shouldn’t be coming to me. And trying to scare me with the Economic Investigation Team and the Disciplinary Committee? That area’s demolition was a stroke of luck for my family. Though I worked at the Urban Construction Bureau then, I was just a low-level clerk, couldn’t have influenced demolition matters.”
This building had two households per elevator. As he explained, he walked over and knocked on the door of the east unit.
Gu Zhiya said, “This is about matters before the demolition. Things are complicated. We need to take our time.”
No one opened the door, and no sound came from inside. Liu Jingjia pointed at the keypad lock. “Director Ma, you don’t not know the code, do you?”
“My wife and daughter are home. Shouldn’t I remind them to dress properly? Tell me, what’s so urgent that you’re here?”
Liu Jingjia apologized quickly, “Sorry, I didn’t think it through.”
Yu Song smiled. “Looks like Director Ma is a thoughtful and caring man. Your wife and daughter are truly lucky.”
Ma Minghao snorted lightly and ignored her. Half a minute later, a voice finally came from inside.
The door opened, revealing a woman with a thin, long face. “Old Ma, who are these?”
Ma Minghao impatiently handed her his briefcase. “They’re here to see me. You don’t need to get involved.”
His tone left no trace of warmth.
The woman didn’t dare argue and turned to Yu Song and the others with a forced smile. “Please come in. I’ll make some tea for you.”
Yu Song’s eyes flicked to the woman’s neck and wrists, brows furrowing.
Ma Minghao wasn’t the person she was after, but he was definitely not a good man.
She sighed inwardly.
“Auntie, when I did Community Service, I saw plenty of people like you. Always swallowing their anger, enduring in silence. When someone shows you kindness, you light up for a whole year, selflessly devoted and tirelessly loyal. But in the end, you either get beaten to death or abandoned, leaving with nothing.”
The woman’s and Ma Minghao’s expressions changed at once—fear in hers, rage in his.
“What do you mean by that? Beaten to death? Are you insinuating I’m violent toward my wife?”
Yu Song shrugged innocently. “I’m not insinuating. I’m making it clear, okay?”
Ma Minghao was so furious he raised his hand to strike Yu Song. She rushed forward excitedly.
“Go ahead, hit me. Hitting your own wife counts as domestic violence. Try hitting me and I’ll break a bowl over your head. I’ll spell ‘Yu’ backward on you.”
Gu Zhiya quickly stopped Ma Minghao, nearly laughing at Yu Song’s brazen spirit.
He himself couldn’t stand domestic violence either, but often such things were impossible to intervene in. Sometimes the abused woman even pleaded for her husband.
Having seen too many cases, he was numb to it. The first time a woman gets hit and refuses to leave, most just keep enduring until they’re beaten to death or fight back and end up in prison.
“Alright, Yu, don’t stir up trouble for now. Let’s get clear on why we’re here today.”
Yu Song wanted to say more, but Gu Zhiya leaned toward her ear.
“If this lady shows any resistance, I’ll back you up. See what she’s doing now.”
Ma Minghao’s wife had gone to wash some fruit. She quickly brought out a fruit platter and tea set.
“Please help yourselves.”
Afterwards, she smiled at Yu Song.
“Little sister, my husband and I have a good relationship. I don’t know why you’d say such things, but I think you’ve misunderstood him. He’s a good man, never laid a hand on me or made me angry.”
Yu Song knew she was tamed—no amount of words would sway her now.
Looking into her sincere eyes, Yu Song even felt like she was destroying someone else’s family.
The woman left, and Ma Minghao gave Yu Song a proud look.
“Young lady, you’ve never been married, have you? We’re known among friends as the most loving couple. How could I possibly harm her?”
Yu Song chuckled silently, thinking, If you don’t, I’d be surprised. Just looking at that woman, she was clearly a long-term victim of domestic abuse.
“What about your daughter?”
“She’s in her room. If you have questions, ask me. What do you want with her?” Ma Minghao snapped impatiently. “I’m busy. Don’t waste my time here.”
Gu Zhiya asked, “Did you live at Yongning Lane during Christmas in 2004?”
“2004?” Ma Minghao furrowed his brows, puzzled. “That was so many years ago, how could I remember?”
Yu Song stared him down. “Here’s a hint: the Christmas Masquerade Ball.”
“What masquerade ball? My family never celebrates Christmas or any Western holidays.”
Ma Minghao grew angrier and angrier.
“I thought you were here to ask about something serious, but you’re just fabricating stories. I’ve never hosted a party. Not twenty years ago, and certainly not now. If you don’t believe me, check. If you find anything, I’ll report myself to the Disciplinary Committee. No need for you to trouble yourselves.”
Gu Zhiya soothed him, “Calm down. We’re here to find the truth, not to target you. If you never held a ball, what about others in your home?”
“My parents are too old. No way. My child was too young then. No chance. That was twenty years ago; I wasn’t fashionable enough to attend any ridiculous parties.”
Liu Jingjia asked, “Did you ever rent or lend the house to someone else?”
“No, never! My parents and I lived there until we moved out after the 2010 demolition.”
Yu Song noticed a shadow flicker by the door. She raised her brow. Could Ma Minghao’s wife be eavesdropping? She didn’t seem as scared of Ma Minghao as she appeared.
“Director Ma, may I use the restroom?”
Ma Minghao snorted, stood up, and said, “There’s a public restroom in the park across the street. Hurry up. No need to see you off.”
Yu Song smiled.
“I hate using other people’s restrooms too, but sometimes nature calls. Sorry, I’ll have to use yours first.”
She said this and headed out. Ma Minghao wanted to stop her but thought it’d be embarrassing for a grown man to block a young woman going to the bathroom.
He complained to Gu Zhiya, “Captain Gu, I’m only letting you in out of respect for Deputy Director Qu. What exactly are you here for? I told you, the house is demolished, so stop asking.”
Gu Zhiya said, “Think carefully. Someone claims that during the Christmas Masquerade Ball in 2004, a crime occurred in your Self-Built House at Yongning Lane.”
Ma Minghao’s eyes widened.
“What did you say? Impossible. I never lent the house to anyone. There’s no way my family held a party.”
Gu Zhiya was about to continue probing when Yu Song suddenly shouted, “Come out quickly, or I’m kicking the door down!”
Gu Zhiya and Liu Jingjia jumped in surprise and rushed out with her. The slowest to react was Ma Minghao himself.
The three arrived at the living room just in time to see Yu Song kicking at a bedroom door with her foot.
Ma Minghao’s wife was there, crying with a defiant face.
Ma Minghao shouted at Yu Song, “What do you want? Are you crazy?”
Yu Song briskly stepped into the bedroom.
“Little sister, come downstairs quickly!”
Gu Zhiya hurried over as well and saw a large ‘X’ Scar scratched on the glass window—and the White-Dressed Girl dancing inside.