In the Yunling Mountains on China's southwestern frontier, a seemingly ordinary "crime of passion" tears open the festering wounds of the grassroots financial system. Ouyang Zhengfang, the owner of a hotpot restaurant, falls to her death from a cliff. Her lover, Wen Zhenghua, deputy director of the town credit cooperative, is swiftly arrested. But as criminal police officer Yu Heqiu investigates, he discovers that her death is merely the tip of the iceberg in a vast kickback network.
Thirty-seven loans, twenty-one businesses, 630,000 yuan in stolen funds: behind them lie silent villagers, a voiceless system, and women reduced to objects. With official seals corroded and ledgers hiding poison, how can justice take root in the mire of personal ties and profit? Young Liu Xiaoman remembers the bowl of beef she gave him. Lin Suyun finally dares to speak of her husband's crimes. And Zhou Min, the newly arrived auditor, is uncovering an even deeper "poverty-relief loan" scam...
This is more than a criminal investigation. It is also an inquiry into the silent structures of rural China: when everyone chooses to close their eyes, who will light a lamp for the person brave enough to tell the truth?
With an unflinching hand, the book sketches power, desire, and redemption, revealing a glimmer of humanity in a moonless place.
Seeing all kinds of human nature in the fog of criminal investigation. This is a work that breaks out of the traditional criminal detective case framework. The story is based on criminal investigation cases. In the process of pursuing the truth and solving the mystery, it does not carve good and evil on the surface, but goes deep into the folds of human nature, writing down those dark and complicated moments, and also captures the unquenchable tenacity in difficult situations. It makes the investigation no longer just a simple logical deduction, but an in-depth exploration of human nature, allowing readers to think and understand more about human nature while following the plot to clear the fog. There is no exaggerated plot, only delicate brushstrokes are used to outline people's hearts, and soft human expressions are blended into the hard-core narrative of criminal investigation, giving this story a temperature and depth that transcends the case itself. It is indeed a masterpiece worth calming down and reading.
This is a criminal investigation story, but it not only strips the cocoon to find out the hidden truth, but also describes the darkness, complexity and tenacity of human nature. It is well worth reading.