Chapter 114: Two Lunatics

Could a person’s character change in a very short time? 

The answer was yes. 

Xiao Yu had encountered such a case before. 

There was a university student full of sunshine who turned into a violent killer in just five days. 

The incident began when the student returned home for the summer holidays and found his father paralyzed and his mother hospitalized. He learned that his parents had quarreled with the neighbors and were beaten by the father and two sons of the neighboring family. 

The student prepared for three days. 

On the third day, he used prepared tools and weapons to kill the entire family of neighbors. 

On the fifth day, when Xiao Yu found this university student, he almost didn’t recognize him.  The changes in appearance and character were too drastic.

So, was there a problem with the character change of Ren Chang’s girlfriend, Jiang Dan? 

There was nothing wrong with a character change, but that didn’t stop Xiao Yu from suspecting her. 

Suspecting what? 

Character could change, but certain habits couldn’t be changed overnight. 

For example, someone who had disliked cilantro for twenty years suddenly starts liking it. Didn’t that seem odd? 

From the chat logs, it was evident that in the earlier years, Ren Chang had given many luxury items to his girlfriend, Jiang Dan. 

Jiang Dan refused all of them, and they even had a few arguments over it. 

The arguments were because Jiang Dan didn’t understand luxury brands. Later, her colleagues at her part-time job told her that the items were very expensive. Jiang Dan asked Ren Chang to return them, but Ren Chang refused, leading to arguments. 

Are there still such girls nowadays? 

Rare, but they do exist. 

Jiang Dan came from a simple background in a poor rural village. She started working at eighteen and met Ren Chang at nineteen. How did they meet? At a hospital.

Ren Chang went to the hospital with his mother for treatment, and while his mother went to the restroom, Ren Chang, due to his autism, felt panicked and huddled in a corner. Jiang Dan happened to see him and kindly went over to ask if he was okay. Afterwards, they exchanged contact information.

This was evident from their early chat records. There were indeed many girls who couldn’t resist external temptations, but Jiang Dan was clearly different, possibly due to her past living environment. She was extremely sensitive to large sums of money.

After Ren Chang and Jiang Dan confirmed their relationship, whenever Ren Chang gave Jiang Dan expensive gifts beyond a certain amount, Jiang Dan would not be happy and would get angry. This kind of relationship lasted for over seven years.

Then, suddenly it changed.

Xiao Yu’s expression turned slightly cold as he squinted his eyes, analyzing the suspicious points. A change in personality didn’t explain much. People could have sudden personality shifts when they encounter certain events or stimuli. But a person’s habits, once formed, weren’t easily changed.

For example, a web novel writer who was used to a certain writing style may change their pen name and start a new book, but some sharp-eyed readers would still recognize them and, with a twenty-meter long knife in their hearts, curse and rejoice, “You dog of an author, I’ve been looking for you for a long time!”

The author kneels down to beg for mercy, trembling.

Just as Xiao Yu thought, a pattern of interaction that had lasted for over seven years couldn’t change overnight. 

In the past six months, Jiang Dan had changed. At first, she hinted through text for Ren Chang to send her red envelopes. Then it escalated to asking for money, luxury goods, and large sums of cash. Even the flower shop Jiang Dan opened was funded by Ren Chang. In just half a year, Ren Chang gave Jiang Dan no less than 1.5 million yuan in money and goods. In a recent chat record, Jiang Dan asked Ren Chang for a million.

“Investigate Ren Chang’s bank account transfer records,” Xiao Yu ordered, shifting his gaze from the chat records. “Focus on the money transferred from Ren Chang to Jiang Dan.”

It didn’t take long for all of Ren Chang’s online banking and online payment tool consumption and transfer records to be retrieved.

The Ren family indeed had money. This was evident from the amount in Ren Chang’s account.

At one time, it had over six million yuan. All of it was pocket money given by his parents in the past. According to the transfer records, Ren Chang transferred more than 2.7 million yuan to Jiang Dan in six months. Why was there so much more than indicated by the text chat records? It was likely done through voice and video chats, or phone calls where Jiang Dan made her demands.

Soon, Xiao Yu discovered a suspicious point. Ren Chang’s online banking account had enabled large-amount transfer transactions.

Ren Chang even changed the phone number linked to his bank account. The number had been in use for over ten years. Why change it? As a homebody, Ren Chang had no need for large transfers. Why enable large bank transfers?

Upon investigation, it was found that the phone number belonged to Jiang Dan. Five days before Ren Chang’s suicide in the detention center, all the money in Ren Chang’s bank account was transferred out—more than three million yuan, almost four million. Only… fifty cents was left!

Interesting… 

A cold, sharp smile appeared on Xiao Yu’s face. Jiang Dan could wait, he would find her later.

The current issue was uncovering the reason behind Ren Chang’s suicide. Only by finding the reason could he further investigate the case details.

Xiao Yu carefully studied the past chat records between Ren Chang and Jiang Dan. From their interactions, it was evident that Ren Chang was an extremely calm person, as Xiao Yu had deduced in the morgue. However, Ren Chang also had an extremely twisted personality, which was not surprising given his autism and typical psychological issues. Severe autism often led to psychological abnormalities. A personality that twisted could even turn suicide into an elaborate act.

What Xiao Yu did not expect was that Jiang Dan also seemed to have some issues.

What kind of issues?

From their past conversations, Xiao Yu discovered that Jiang Dan was not only very insecure and possessive but also likely suffered from some psychological or physical trauma. She would occasionally say things like, “I wish I could leave this world so I wouldn’t remember anything.”

Each time, Ren Chang would respond, “If you leave, I’ll leave with you.”

Jiang Dan, “Would you really die with me?”

Ren Chang, “Yes.”

Jiang Dan: “What if I actually die?”

Ren Chang, “I would follow you immediately!”

Such conversations appeared multiple times over the past seven years of chat logs. Neither of them seemed to be joking.

‘Damn!’ Xiao Yu cursed, feeling a chill in his heart.

Mental illness wasn’t scary. What was terrifying was two mentally ill people falling in love.

The old saying wasn’t wrong. Like attracts like.

Xiao Yu specifically examined Jiang Dan’s chats. After all, he had the Psychology Expert ability.

He concluded that Jiang Dan also had significant psychological issues, possibly as severe as Ren Chang’s.

No wonder they ended up together and maintained an eight-year-long online relationship.

There was a reason… Because… they were both lunatics.