Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Chapter 10 I’m calling the police.

“Bitches deserve to die.”

“Isn’t that right?” Wheezing with rough breaths, Wu Haiyang laughed, as if he had finally become a hero who struck back against fate in his otherwise mediocre life.

He Linfeng suddenly withdrew all expression.

It was as if everything just now had only been a painted-on mask put on stage. He sat back down beside Yan Qiuyu, eyebrows lowered, and even his naturally smiling eyes carried a trace of cold sharpness.

Yan Qiuyu: “The things in the paper bag…”

“Want to know?” Wu Haiyang, his desire to perform exploding, threw caution to the wind and deliberately cut in, “Beg me.”

He looked almost repulsive.

The outwardly simple honesty was soaked through by resentment piled deep in his bones, giving rise to a distorted, grotesque ugliness.

Yan Qiuyu said calmly: “Looks like you didn’t see it.”

After a day and a night of rotating shifts and dredging, the evidence wrapped in mud had finally been washed clean and delivered into her hands.

“Limited-edition sneakers, size 43, signed by retired star player Harry,” Yan Qiuyu listed the clues one by one, reminding him, “If I remember correctly, you even have his poster hanging in your rental room.”

Wu Haiyang’s smugness came to an abrupt halt.

Staring hard at the transparent evidence bag in Yan Qiuyu’s hand, it looked as if he wanted to bore a hole through it.

“The original owner of the shoe is called Bian Shao. Xi Xue negotiated with him for two months. She was stood up a few times in between, and only then did she buy it at a high price.”

“On the 17th, that was the scheduled transaction date.”

“So Xi Xue hurriedly got into a car parked at the entrance of Jiang University.”

“Impossible!” Veins bulged on his neck as Wu Haiyang shouted, “They all said it was Jian Qing’s car! Xi Xue definitely got in the car because of Jian Qing!”

“Yes, they all said it…” Wu Haiyang muttered, trying to reinforce his guess over and over again.

“Them? Who? Anonymous alumni on the Jiang University forum? Or marketing accounts online who don’t even know Xi Xue?” He Linfeng’s words were sharp, almost cruel, directly pointing at the truth. “It’s clearly you, Wu Haiyang. It’s your own suspicion and inferiority at work. You can’t blame anyone else.”

Even without Jian Qing, there would have been Zhang Qing, Wang Qing, Li Qing. The deepest abscess buried in one’s heart would eventually rot completely at some unpredictable moment.

It might be because of a single sentence, or because of a single glance. When sensitive nerves were touched, it would explode with a bang—leaving both oneself and everyone around in mangled ruin.

“She lied to me!” His voice grew weaker and weaker, Wu Haiyang said, “She lied to me first…”

“When I was waiting in the woods, I sent her messages. A lot of them.”

“But she only replied after a long, long, long time.”

So long that his hands and feet turned ice-cold, so long that even his bones were pierced through by the cold wind. Late at night, a man and a woman alone—what else could there be besides that kind of flesh-and-blood transaction?

Yan Qiuyu: “If you’re referring to the photo in the work group, Xi Xue did indeed have a part-time job at Yunding Community—a private English tutor. Her employer was Ms. Li.”

“Because Ms. Li was about to go abroad to reunite with her children, the 17th was the last class the two had agreed upon. That night, Xi Xue was originally supposed to finish work at five, but Ms. Li suddenly developed high blood pressure, dizziness, and heart palpitations. Xi Xue voluntarily stayed to take care of her until she confirmed Ms. Li was fine before leaving.”

“It was 10:30 at night. The reason she insisted on returning to school—perhaps you should know it.”

“…Flowers,” Wu Haiyang replied, his gaze hollow and fixed on a single point. “We agreed to meet at the North Gate on the morning of the 18th. Our anniversary. I was going to bring her a big bouquet of flowers.”

Yan Qiuyu lowered her eyes.

The bag contained pepper spray, and she also knew to share live location when taking a taxi. If it were any other stranger man, Xi Xue would never have stopped beside the lake late at night, with her back turned toward him.

But it was Wu Haiyang.

Her boyfriend, whom she trusted completely.

Xi Xue couldn’t swim. She must have asked Wu Haiyang for help, struggling, terrified, eyes wide open—but all she could see was the cold indifference of the killer fleeing in panic.

Perhaps until the very last second before her death, as the girl was drowning and suffocating, she still hadn’t been able to understand what exactly she had done wrong on that ordinary day.

The case was solved, and what remained were just finishing tasks.

The killer had been brought to justice, the chain of evidence matched. A cup of hot water was placed by her side. While organizing the timeline and writing the summary, Song Xiaotong suddenly thought of what Wang Lai had said in the work group: “Sigh.”

“Rumors are fiercer than tigers.”

“Why are you all looking so down at such a young age? Once you’re in our serious crime unit, you’ll encounter all kinds of absurd cases. There will be plenty of scenes like this in the future,” Zhou Shan just happened to walk in carrying takeout, and placed a bag on Song Xiaotong’s desk. “Here, milk tea. Full sugar. Pick whatever you want.”

“How about it? Your Brother Wang is still pretty capable, right? Seeing through phenomena to the essence—very philosophical,” Wang Lai said, swaying his messy hair like a chicken coop, stretching out his arm. “Did you order the new items? I want the one with milk foam.”

Zhou Shan immediately pushed him away in disgust: “Go away, I already said let Xiaotong pick first. And did you even come up with that line? Stop putting gold on your own face.”

Wang Lai immediately called for help: “He Linfeng! Fox He! Brother He! Look, he’s bullying me!”

The person being called out, however, remained unmoved, fully focused on the computer.

“What are you busy with?” Wang Lai leaned over sneakily and hooked an arm around He Linfeng’s shoulder. “Yu Xiumei? Why are you investigating her?”

“I was wondering earlier—since we already knew Xi Xue’s boyfriend was Wu Haiyang, why did you still keep me and Xiaotong in the dark and continue interrogating him? Turns out Consultant He had other intentions.”

“What intentions?” Team Leader Yan was called to a meeting at the bureau. Zhou Shan placed the last cup, still in its insulated bag, on the other’s desk. “Actually, what I’m most worried about right now is Wu Haiyang.”

“Please don’t let him end up like Jia Xiangyu…”

“Pah pah pah! Wu Haiyang didn’t have any direct conflict with Jian Qing. Stop jinxing it,” Wang Lai shuddered and turned around. “He Linfeng! Your sudden diligence—don’t tell me it has something to do with Jian Qing?”

Nothing to do with him? Nothing to do with him?

He did not want to personally send his own brother to prison singing bitter prison songs.

He Linfeng thought for a moment seriously: “...Probably does?” After all, the other party was the victim of the cufflink theft case, and he was the investigator responsible for finding the truth.

Wang Lai’s face immediately turned ashen.

Jian Qing was fine, but someone that “fine” was too fine—ordinary people couldn’t handle it, and it would only bring trouble instead.

“I’ll take you to a temple tomorrow to pray,” he said nervously, reaching to touch He Linfeng’s forehead. “No fever… and I’ve never seen you date before.”

Could it be that beginners fall faster?

And also—“Does Jian Qing like men?” Since when did his good brother start liking men? The last one who tried to curry favor with him, Jia Xiangyu, got beaten pretty badly.

Speak of the devil—

The next second, the serious crime unit’s landline rang.

Song Xiaotong, who was closest, reacted quickly: “Hello, Serious Crime Unit office.”

Then she silently formed the mouth shape to everyone—

“Jian Qing.”

“…Yes, he is here,” Song Xiaotong said, not waiting for Wang Lai to push his good brother—chair and all—out of the danger zone, and she already handed the phone over. “He’s looking for Consultant He.”

He Linfeng raised an eyebrow.

Jian Qing was actively seeking him? That was as rare as rain of blood from the sky.

He originally intended to stand up and take it himself, but Zhou Shan moved like a gust of wind and turned on speakerphone.

“It’s me.” Under the heavy, expectant gazes of the entire Serious Crime Unit, He Linfeng spoke helplessly.

“Mm,” the voice on the other end was cold, calm, and without fluctuation, completely businesslike. “Earlier, you told me a girl named Yu Xiumei stole a cufflink.”

Fingertips idly circled the milk tea bag. He Linfeng narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was very certain he had not used such a phrase that could so easily be turned against him.

He was also someone who had read enough industry “cautionary tales” to know that when critical evidence was missing, suspects could easily turn around and accuse the police of framing them.

Still, He Linfeng followed the young man’s words: “Yes.”

“What’s wrong?”

ding.

A sound like glass lightly colliding, followed by the young man’s concise reply: “Nothing.”

“Hang up.”

Beep—beep—

A busy tone.

Song Xiaotong cautiously observed He Linfeng’s expression: “…Just now, it sounded like a wine glass…”

“A wine glass! Is Jian Qing on a date with someone?!” Wang Lai, who a second ago was still talking about taking his brother to a temple, immediately switched sides to defend him. “It’s already dark, and if he’s hungry he can just come eat at our Serious Crime Unit!”

“Team Leader Yan still owes us a meal anyway.”

Rain began to fall.

Inside the restaurant lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, warmth spread like spring. A violin played a soft, lingering melody as Yu Xiumei steadied a wine glass she had almost knocked over and quickly apologized, nervous: “I’m sorry.”

—In truth, she did it on purpose.

After returning from the police station, Yu Xiumei had thought long and hard, and the more she thought about it, the more she believed there was only one possibility: He Linfeng was a transmigrator.

Otherwise, how could he have appeared ahead of time, caught Wu Haiyang first, and stolen so much presence right in front of the male lead?

If that was the case, she naturally had to show a little provocation too, to make him anxious.

“I didn’t steal the cufflink,” she said, secretly pinching her thigh under the tablecloth to force tears into her eyes. This was the classic “delicate white flower” acting style that had once been popular. “Why would Consultant He…?”

“I know it was you.”

The young man across from her looked over, his dark pupils almost frighteningly deep. “So I’m not pursuing it.”

Yu Xiumei’s CPU instantly overloaded:

【What does that mean? He knows?! System, didn’t you say there was no one around when I entered the lounge?!】

Even the system was confused, but it wasn’t sure if it had truly missed something. Its perspective had to follow the host; even if it had a 360-degree view, it was still limited.

In order to maintain its authority, it chose to immediately change the topic:

【Does that matter? What matters is that Jian Qing treats you as special enough.】

【It seems that finding a shell who met the protagonist in their youth is indeed necessary. With memories as support, you must seize the opportunity.】

Yu Xiumei: 【Are you sure? The favorability value clearly…】

【1!】 Suddenly, the system screamed, 【It moved! It moved! Keep going!】

“But I hate people who lie.”

snap.

That hard-won 1 dropped back down again.

The system stared at that zero with immense heartache: 【Ahhh! I hate him too! Quick, fix it, fix it! Once you gain favorability you can exchange it for rewards!】

“…Sorry,” thinking quickly under pressure, Yu Xiumei immediately changed her words, “Actually, I was just paying too much attention to you. I wanted to see what clothes you were wearing that day, and when I came back to my senses, the cufflink was already in my hand.”

“I’m sorry, I really meant no harm.”

No harm?

The phone that had been quietly recording lay dutifully in his pocket. Jian Qing glanced at the wild flowers by the roadside, bent and uneven after being drenched by rain, and imagined the real Yu Xiumei—clever, stubborn—resetting that little bit of favorability again.

Twenty minutes later.

North City Criminal Investigation Bureau.

A pitch-black umbrella was politely placed by the entrance. The young man in a suit carried a chill with him as he entered, knuckles lightly tapping the desk to wake the sleepy reception officer beside the computer.

“Hello.”

“I’m here to report a crime.”