Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Ice Cube Hedgehog.

After Wu Haiyang was arrested, Xi Xue’s parents arrived two days later.

One dressed in a suit, the other with hair in an updo and high heels, both looking elegant and proper, exuding the aura of the elite class.

But as parents, their reaction was far too calm. Their outstanding, well-behaved daughter had been innocently killed, and Song Xiaotong had already prepared herself for them to break down crying and try to fight Wu Haiyang to the death. Instead, it felt like she had punched cotton—she was the one left awkward.

Yan Qiuyu, who was responsible for explaining the case, said nothing, only quietly patted the rookie’s hand.

For most ordinary people, death is something very distant. Even if they hear about it ten thousand times, it remains an abstract and blurry concept—until they see the corpse with their own eyes and realize that the person will never move again, never smile again, never open their eyes again.

After a simple postmortem treatment by the forensic team, Xi Xue looked a little easier to accept than before. Her long eyelashes were closed; she seemed to be sleeping, quietly bidding farewell to the world.

It was at this moment that the Xi family couple started arguing.

“It’s all your fault! Work, work, work! You insisted on leaving Xiaoxue alone in the country!” Xi Xue’s mother grabbed her bag and struck her husband hard. “Now look! She actually fell in love with a punk who only graduated high school! If I had been by her side, I would never have let her be deceived, let alone be stupid enough to lose her life!”

Xi Xue’s father quickly glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before saying in a low voice: “Without work, could we have provided her with such a good life?”

“She never lacked food or clothes. We raised her like a princess—whatever she wanted, she got. What exactly did we fail to give her? She just had to look for excitement with some poor boy.”

“I told you to bring her abroad earlier. You said it wasn’t safe overseas and kept refusing. And now what? Is it any safer here in the country?”

“Fine, so now it’s all my fault, right?” Xi Xue’s mother suddenly raised her voice. “When something like this happens to our daughter, you don’t have any responsibility at all?”

Xi Xue’s father’s expression darkened. He quickly reached over to cover her mouth: “Lower your voice.”

“Still not embarrassed enough? Haven’t you seen how badly people are talking online?”

Xi Xue’s mother: “The police already said it was fake!”

Xi Xue’s father: “A clean conscience fears nothing. Out of nowhere, she just had to go work part-time in some high-end residential area for that little bit of money. Did we ever lack her money?”

Around the corner, Song Xiaotong, holding two bottles of mineral water, silently stepped back.

She had previously read the statements brought back by Brother Wang and Consultant He. Ms. Li’s children were also abroad; perhaps it was precisely this “shared hardship” that brought the two closer together.

Her emotions were complicated. Not all problems could be measured with money.

She originally couldn’t understand why Xi Xue would choose Wu Haiyang among so many suitors. But now, thinking back, she realized she too had fallen into the same misunderstanding as Xi Xue’s parents.

In the eyes of outsiders, Wu Haiyang was diligent, honest, hardworking, never quarrelled with anyone, and treated his girlfriend wholeheartedly, giving her his full attention.

That alone was probably more attractive to Xi Xue than any background or wealth.

Unfortunately, the real Wu Haiyang was sensitive and insecure, prone to overthinking, suppressing negative emotions again and again—until one day, everything exploded with a bang, hurting both others and himself.

Song Xiaotong felt a little sad.

The most sincere and kind-hearted person in the story, yet she did not get a good ending.

The next day, Xi Xue’s body was cremated and buried in the most expensive cemetery in Beijiang.

The official report promised by Yan Qiuyu also came out. Although it omitted names, in connection with the previously trending topic, people quickly @mentioned Jian Qing.

【Got slapped in the face, huh? The car wasn’t Mr. Jian’s, and Mr. Jian doesn’t know Xi Xue either.】

【Being pushed into the water by her boyfriend is too tragic.】

【Feels like Wu-so-and-so’s colleagues were just jealous he got a rich and pretty girlfriend, couldn’t stand seeing him doing well, and kept trashing him behind his back.】

【A bunch of grown men, disgusting, useless.】

【Some people should wake up and use their brains. Stop seeing a rich girl and immediately assuming she’s a prostitute. Spreading rumors without thinking—aren’t you afraid you’ll go to hell after death?】

【Tongue-cutting hell!】

【Suggestion: Jiang University should install more surveillance cameras.】

【If you don’t know the full situation, don’t comment. I’ll also pay more attention in the future.】

【So, is there anyone who has apologized to Jian Qing? He’s the most innocent one in the whole incident—an absolute unlucky guy, completely hit by collateral damage.】

Just as some Jiang University students commented on the forum supporting Jian Qing, many netizens on the municipal bureau’s official Weibo were also speaking up for him.

After all, the goodwill actions of the Jian Corporation over the years were obvious to all. Repeated investigations into Jian Qing revealed nothing improper—he was clean, disciplined, paid taxes he should pay, didn’t engage in anything improper, and when carefully examined, he was actually one of the cleanest public figures out there, even more striking in appearance than most celebrities.

Constantly being dragged onto trending searches and wrongly criticized was indeed pitiful.

“…The scrapbook, Xi Xue’s parents didn’t take it,” Yan Qiuyu said, holding two transparent evidence bags. “And the cufflink. Evidence collection is complete. Who’s free after work to send it to Jian Qing?”

Song Xiaotong asked in confusion: “Didn’t take it?”

“Probably afraid of offending someone,” Wang Lai saw through it at a glance—he was an old hand at this. “Do you think the Jian Group only has a small presence in Beijiang?”

Although Xi Xue was the victim, Jian Qing got dragged into this because of that scrapbook. It was normal for unreasonable people to hold grudges.

Song Xiaotong muttered: “Mr. Jian probably isn’t that petty.”

“What if he is? Their daughter is already gone—they can’t also lose business,” Wang Lai sighed. “But I also think they’re just scaring themselves.”

Jian Qing, this person, really did dislike being liked, but as you could tell from his good friend, as long as it didn’t go too far or interfere with his life, he would generally ignore it.

Moreover, Xi Xue’s feelings weren’t even romantic at that level—at most it was admiration, like chasing a star, wanting to become someone as strong and shining as an “idol.”

Not to be with Jian Qing.

Yan Qiuyu listened and nodded, then suddenly had an idea: “Why don’t we just send the scrapbook to Jian Qing?”

“If he refuses, I’ll just buy some joss paper and burn it. It’d be a waste to throw it away like trash—what if one day a cat or dog digs it up and causes another storm.”

—Such a low-probability event would be impossible for others, but with Jian Qing, you could never be sure.

The words had barely fallen when a hand already snatched the transparent bag off her desk: “I’ll go.”

“Don’t worry, you probably won’t need to buy joss paper.” With a calm expression, He Linfeng sat back down in front of the computer.

Wang Lai immediately panicked: “Don’t mess around!” If it came to a fight, with Jian Qing’s skills, it wasn’t even certain who would beat whom.

He Linfeng merely curved his lips slightly without answering.

Instinct—or perhaps sharp sixth sense—he had always been very accurate in judging people. That outwardly cold, prickly ice-hedgehog type… privately, was probably far softer than anyone imagined.

However, that ill-fated cufflink ultimately failed to be delivered on time: before work ended, another case came in, and everyone became busy again.

By the time Jian Qing heard He Linfeng’s name again, it was already the day before the short holiday.

The internal line rang, and the front desk receptionist said: “Mr. Jian, there is a Mr. He downstairs looking for you.”

A fox-like smiling pair of eyes immediately popped into Jian Qing’s mind.

Since he came during working hours, it was most likely official business. Jian Qing gave a soft “mm,” originally planning to ask him to come upstairs—but just as the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back down.

“I called you here,” after a two-second hesitation, Jian Qing put away his fountain pen, “because I’ll be going down very soon.”

The front desk girl smiled as she hung up the phone, trying to conceal her inner shock.

According to procedure, visitors without an appointment are usually turned away by reception, but the person’s appearance and demeanor were simply too outstanding—he didn’t look like someone causing trouble or playing a prank, so she made an exception and helped a little.

But… picking him up personally?

What exactly was his relationship with President Jian?

After faithfully relaying the leader’s instructions, she said warmly, “The lounge has coffee, hot water, and juice. If you’re tired, you can go rest there too.”

He Linfeng thanked her gently.

Ding.

The elevator arrived, and Jian Qing immediately saw someone chatting happily with the company’s front desk. Several young girls were smiling because of him. Amid their busy schedules, the man actually seemed to have eyes in the back of his head—he turned at the exact timing, as if pre-arranged, and waved at him first thing:

“You’re here?”

Jian Qing: …

That overly natural familiarity made it seem as if they were really that close.

Noticing the staff’s covertly curious gazes, he lifted his chin, signaling the man to follow.

“The cufflink, and the newspaper clippings Miss Xi Xue sorted before her death,” He Linfeng obediently sat down in the corner of the sofa, opened the kraft paper bag he had been carrying, and took out the two items. “I’ve been a bit busy lately, so I didn’t get around to it.”

Jian Qing: “It’s working hours now.”

“Compensatory leave. Do you really think police officers are made of iron?” Seeing the young man about to leave, he shifted the topic. “I heard President Jian donated money to renovate the school in Matou Village.”

Matou Village—the hometown of Yu Xiumei.

Jian Qing hadn’t expected him to be paying attention to this.

He wasn’t sure when the real Yu Xiumei had disappeared, but it must have been after she got into Jiang University—after she painstakingly climbed out of the mountains to enter a new world, only to have her life replaced by a transmigrator and her reputation ruined.

The one at fault was the transmigrator, not “Yu Xiumei”—that girl with a straw-colored ponytail under the sunset. In this entire world, only Jian Qing himself knew this truth.

Just like so many times before, only he himself knew his own innocence.

“Quite contradictory, isn’t it?” He Linfeng said with interest. “President Jian’s legal team, when it comes to sentencing recommendations, shows absolutely no mercy.”

Jian Qing: “That’s my business.”

When it came to puzzles that piqued his curiosity, He Linfeng had always been inclined to get to the bottom of things.

But suddenly, he recalled Yu Xiumei’s chilling confession in the interrogation room—exaggerated and stiff, like a puppet performing on stage.

“I never intended to hurt you,” as if struck by sudden inspiration, He Linfeng felt he had grasped the key point and emphasized, “Not in the past, not now, and not in the future.”

Jian Qing: …

Naive.

Maybe one day, he would wake up and find that the shell had been replaced by someone else.

Transmigrators all claimed they loved him, yet were full of schemes. How could he be sure that, in this very moment, he Linfeng wasn’t thinking the same thing?

The world is too dangerous.

He couldn’t trust anyone.