How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

The dean of students and the principal at the time, afraid that exposing the incident would affect their careers, hushed it up, especially after Cheng Yang offered them a little incentive.

A major incident.

And just like that, it was swept under the rug without so much as a ripple.

If it weren’t for the murder case, no one would have ever known this had happened.

The teachers? The students?

Maybe they remembered, but for how long?

As memories faded, the truth of ”Shen Miao was bullied to death” would gradually morph into ”Shen Miao committed suicide.”

With altered files and missing information, the lie would solidify into truth over time. Even if the official record was fake, it would become fact.

The case had blown up. It would be completely unreasonable not to take drastic measures to resolve it.

SCREECH!

Back at the station, Xu Huo parked the car, got out, and walked into the office.

The people in the office were very busy.

Busier than they had been during the actual investigation!

It couldn’t be helped. Investigating any one of these loose ends was a pain, especially for the Criminal Investigation Division.

Especially for the Criminal Investigation Division of a county-level city!

Their jurisdiction was pathetically limited. The moment they tried to investigate, any lack of cooperation became a massive roadblock.

”Have you figured out how Cheng Yu got into that school?”

Xu Huo picked up a water bottle Chu Xi had left for him, filled it at the water cooler, and after taking a drink, looked at Qian Hua.

Qian Hua had been here the whole time, in charge of tying up loose ends.

”Still investigating.”

Qian Hua looked up and shook his head.

”It’s slow going.”

”What about the explosive materials Liu Bo used?”

Xu Huo nodded. That wasn’t something they could figure out in a few hours, so he moved on to other questions.

”We’re almost done with that part.”

Qian Hua spoke up. ”The police recovered the weapons Liu Bo used at the scene. Analysis shows they were all made from commonly available materials.”

”We haven’t traced the source of the grenade detonators, and the nail gun was custom-modified.”

Grenades are not hard to make; even a soda can can be modified into one.

The same goes for smoke bombs.

For example, you could get some paraffin wax, buy one of those ”flour cakes” used in magic tricks, then melt, crush, and mix them together. Light it with a fuse, and you’ve got a crude smoke bomb.

A grenade is just replacing the fuse with a detonator.

As for detonators...

They’re everywhere these days and really hard to trace. It’s become a complete dead end, especially now that Liu Bo is dead.

”But...”

Qian Hua suddenly spoke up again, a hesitant look on his face as he watched Xu Huo.

”What is it?”

Seeing his colleague’s conflicted expression, Xu Huo put his cup down.

”Another thing came up.”

Qian Hua hesitated for a moment before deciding to share the information.

”Someone came to turn themselves in!”

’Someone came to turn themselves in?’

’Someone *else* is turning themselves in!?’

Xu Huo’s eyebrow shot up, the corner of his eye twitching.

”Did we make a mistake in the case!?”

”No, the person who came in is on our list. It’s just that we never paid her any mind. Even after Liu Bo died, suspicion never fell on her.”

Qian Hua shook his head.

”Advisor Xu, head over to the interrogation room. I’ll have her brought in. You’ll understand once you see her.”

Filled with suspicion, Xu Huo walked to the interrogation room.

’Qian Hua didn’t seem too worked up, which means this probably isn’t a huge deal. But a confession...’

’Who all did we investigate in this case?’

’A lot of people. We looked into everyone from Shen Miao’s middle school and high school, all the way up to her death. Same for Cheng Yu at the private school.’

’Li Jianye was in charge of all that, though. If it had all been piled on me, I wouldn’t have been able to crack this case even with another five days.’

’But if someone is turning themselves in now...’

’Who could it be?’

A short while later, the door to the interrogation room was slowly pushed open.

And Xu Huo found out who it was.

CREAK...

The door opened. The midday sun was a bit blinding, casting a silhouette that slowly moved inside.

When he saw who it was, Xu Huo froze, momentarily stunned.

The person was slightly stooped and walked very slowly. Even with an officer by their side for support, they couldn’t move very fast.

’Is that...’

”Granny Song?”

Looking at the person in front of him, a hint of surprise flashed in Xu Huo’s eyes.

She was Sun Yang’s maternal grandmother. Her surname was Song, and her given name was Song Min.

She was over seventy, with cataracts that left her nearly unable to see. The only difference between her and a blind person was that she wasn’t considered clinically, completely blind.

”I... I came to turn myself in.”

The old woman used her hearing to find his general direction before looking toward Xu Huo and speaking slowly.

Her voice was thick and raspy, as if phlegm was caught in her throat. Her words were indistinct, her enunciation far from clear.

”Turn yourself in? You came to turn yourself in!?”

Xu Huo’s brows furrowed.

”It was me... yes, it was me.”

The old woman mumbled her admission.

’It really is her? She’s here to confess?’

After a moment of thought, Xu Huo picked up his notebook and began his questions.

”Do you know the ins and outs of this case?”

”I do. A child died, and her father came for revenge...”

The old woman replied. It seemed she really knew a lot about this case.

”You knew about Liu Bo and Liu Wen?”

Xu Huo raised his eyebrows.

”I did.” The old woman couldn’t see, but her hearing was sharp, and her answer was firm.

”Then please, tell me everything that happened.”

Xu Huo nodded again, asking no more questions for the moment. He simply picked up his pen, ready to write.

”That was a long, long time ago.”

”I don’t have any relatives. My husband died of cancer, and my child died in an accident. Since I turned forty, I haven’t really had anyone to talk to...”

The old woman began to ramble, her voice steady.

Her personal history was true; the police had investigated it multiple times and found no discrepancies.

”When you get old, your eyes start to fail. I could see less and less. Maybe it was because there was nothing left for me to see, so I didn’t need them anymore...”

Her train of thought started to wander.

”That’s right. My husband and child are gone, and I have no relatives. What use do I have for eyes...?”

Xu Huo didn’t interrupt, just silently took notes.

After a moment, she gradually returned to the topic.

”So I just sat on my sofa, day after day, year after year. The leaves fell again and again, and I just slowly waited to die.”

”Until... that child, Xiao Miao, moved in.”

”She was so lovely. She looked just like my granddaughter who passed away—so full of life. Whenever her father got angry with her, she’d come crying and knocking on this old woman’s door. She’d peek out at her father while hugging my leg and hiding behind me crying...”

”She was only a little thing back then, not even as tall as my cane.”

As she spoke, the old woman stroked her cane, the wrinkles on her face crinkling into a smile.

Her eyes were clouded and white; she couldn’t really see.

And yet, it was as if she was seeing something clear as day.

”Just a little doll that big, crying and calling me Granny.”

”Every time she got upset, she’d come find me. On school breaks, she’d run all over my house, and I’d have to clean up after her again and again.”

”Xiao Miao’s parents worked overtime and couldn’t pick her up from school, so it was up to me again.”

”Those two... always working overtime. That’s all they ever did. From morning to night, they didn’t even have time to look after their own child...”

”They had to trouble this old woman to do it, making me stand out in the rain, staring at the school gate.”

The old woman’s words were a complaint, but her tone held no real resentment.

Her rambling once again strayed from the subject of the interrogation.

Xu Huo didn’t interrupt. He just kept silently taking notes.

And silently listening.

As she continued to speak, the old woman’s emotions gradually settled.

”But when I saw that tiny little thing run up to me, calling me ’Granny’ as she ducked her head and burrowed under my raincoat, it felt like I had nothing to complain about after all.”

After a pause, she spoke again.

”You know, when a person gets old, their mind gets muddled.”

”I’m just a foolish old woman. She had no relation to me, not a single drop of shared blood.”

”But I took it all so seriously...”

”Don’t you think that’s foolish, young man? She called me ’Granny’ a couple of times, and I took her seriously. I really started raising her like my own granddaughter...”

A self-deprecating smile appeared on the old woman’s face.

Xu Huo wanted to say something.

But looking at her clouded, white eyes, he held his tongue.

”And just like that, the heart that had been waiting to die came alive again.”

”At that time, I became greedy.”

”In my empty life, I was no longer content to just wait for death, to just sit on the sofa and wait for King Yama to come take me away.”

”I wanted to see Xiao Miao grow up, get married, bring her own children to celebrate the New Year with me, watch the galas...”

”Perhaps... I was just too greedy.”

”Heaven must have looked down on such a greedy old woman who was already at death’s door.”

”And so...”

”The accident happened.”