[1] In mid-August, Cheng went on a three-day trip to Lanzhou, and while riding the train back home, he noticed 24-year-old Ms. Hu, a native of Shizuishan who was visiting some relatives in Yinchuan.
However, due to the expensive nature of this hobby and the low wage he earned at his job at the forestry institute, he came to the conclusion that the quickest way to make money was to organize a small gang and start robbing various establishments.
Eventually, Cheng learned that on 18 October 1990, a subsidiary of the institute had bought a batch of products he believed to be weaponry, so he and Shao snuck inside one of the warehouses and searched through a few of the boxes before locating one that stored several shotguns.
They took eight of the shotguns and brought them back to Cheng's house, where they sawed off the barrels and stocks of two of the weapons to make them easier to carry, while the remaining six were hidden on the roof of a shed.
For the next few months, Cheng and Shao stole small items around the institute, mostly consisting of food, furniture, plants, and occasionally money, all of which amounted to around 10,000 yuan.
In December 1990, he found a potential candidate in his younger friend, Yu Dawei, an employee of the Yinchuan Great Wall Trading Company who complained that his manager, Mr. Li, was withholding a big payment of money.
At that moment, Cheng winked at Shao, indicating that he should shoot him, but owing to his nervousness, he missed the shot and instead hit one of the car doors, knocking it wide open.
On Cheng's suggestion, Yang entered first, giving an opportunity for Shao to take out his shotgun and shoot him in the back of the head, killing him on the spot.
There, the trio entered the beige FSO Polonez taxi of a man named Zhang, who immediately started driving them to the Yinchuan nursery farm.
Unbeknownst to Zhang, Shao had been aiming at his head, but the sudden brake made him lose balance and miss his shot, punching a hole through the car's windshield.
Panicked that they were going to get caught, the trio got out of the car and started chasing him, with Cheng firing several shots in Zhang's direction, making him slow down and allowing his pursuers to catch up with him.
Zhang then knelt and begged for them to spare him, only for Cheng to sneer at him and hand over his gun to Dawei, instructing him to kill the man so they would not leave any witnesses.
And so, they turned around and returned to the burial site, where they unearthed the corpse and took it to Cheng's house and threw some of the remains to the dogs, while the rest were buried in the backyard.
Liu then revealed that her family was actually helping her find a partner whom she could marry, but as they had no money, she searched for somebody who appeared rich so he could pay some of the wedding costs, amounting to about 3,000 yuan.
[2] However, he struggled with finding a dog suitable for the project, and so, the film crew published an ad in the local newspapers and on the TV that they were searching for any puppies that could fit the role.
While many people applied for the offer, Xie proved to be demanding and frequently rejected the applicants, until he eventually came across Cheng and one of his dogs, which he immediately approved.
[2] After the film's release, it proved to be a commercial success in China and won several awards, leading to further interest being drawn to Cheng as a dog breeder.
According to Ma, he had heard from friends that Cheng was in the dog breeding business, and since he had recently bought ten Tibetan mastiffs which he did not really know how to train, he came to him for advice.
On the next day, Shao visited Cheng and the pair began waiting for their target, but when Ma arrived, they were shocked to realize that he was a police officer.
At first, Zhang approached him under the pretence of helping him raise some dogs, but later on, he let Cheng into a business opportunity relating to buying cashmere wool for 1.5 million yuan.
The two eventually became close friends, and after listening to Li complain about his low wage for some time, Cheng asked him if he was willing to be recruited for a quick money-making scheme.
Cheng explained in a calm and collected manner that Zhang had gone to Yunnan to sell drugs with his relatives, who were operating out of Lanzhou, and that he had borrowed 3,000 yuan and the telephone from him.
Soon after, people close to Cheng informed officers he was almost inseparable from his cousin, Shao Xiaodan, who by that time had fled to Shenzhen, where he hid with some relatives.
Under police interrogation, Shao quickly confessed involvement in the murders of two taxi drivers and the stealing of the guns, additionally implicating Yu Dawei, who was subsequently arrested days later.
For the following ten days, he hid in a heating ditch inside the school, surviving by eating food from the canteen and drinking tap water.
Afterwards, using some of the money he kept on his person, he bought an old hat and cotton-padded jacket from a farmer and continued walking along the Yingu Highway, where he saw a wanted poster on a telephone pole that displayed his face.
He then flagged down a passing farmer riding a bicycle, claiming that he was from Lanzhou and had just been cheated out of a large sum of money, but was unable to return home due to his weak legs.
He repeated the previous lie he had told to the farmer, with Mr. Xu allowing him to stay the night, instructing him that he had to leave the day after, as he wanted to visit his family for the Chinese New Year.
Eventually, he decided to travel to the Weiyang District in Xi'an, where he attempted to find his nephew, who had recently opened a sand manufacturing factory.
[1] Before a verdict could be reached, several interviews were conducted with him, during which Cheng expressed no remorse for his crimes and said that his victims, especially the women, deserved to be killed for interfering with his family matters.