Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Chapter 8 — “The magpie’s nest occupied by a dove.”

“…So Seat Snow really did have a boyfriend,” under the pale flood of lights, the girl looked up, her hands nervously twisting together, “but she never mentioned his name.”

After asking around classmates, roommates, and the homeroom teacher, the results were minimal. Wang Lai unconsciously rubbed his fingers together, wanting to light a cigarette: “Any other details from the voice message? Anything at all is fine.”

“No,” as if annoyed at herself for not being helpful enough, the girl’s face flushed slightly as she explained, “Seat Snow was very private. If I got too close, I was afraid she’d get angry.”

Wang Lai: “Private? Then how did Li Yao know she admired He Qing?”

The girl pressed her lips together.

“Miss Yu,” Song Xiaotong comforted her, vaguely guessing what she was struggling with, “you’re providing clues, not gossiping.”

“Before… before, that scrapbook of Seat Snow’s was on the desk. Later it was Li Yao’s turn to clean the dorm, she casually flipped it open, and then the two of them…”

【Ding.】

【Target protagonist detected.】

【Ten meters… five meters… two meters. Final location: outside the one-way glass of Interrogation Room No. 3 at Beijiang Municipal Public Security Bureau.】

【Please pay attention to your behavior. Proceed with caution in strategy.】

“…Then?” Seeing no continuation after a long wait, Wang Lai forced his rough voice into gentleness. “Don’t be afraid, just say it. We’ll make a judgment.”

Yu Xiumei lowered her eyes: “…They argued.”

“I tried to mediate, but Li Yao said I was Seat Snow’s little follower, acting like a servant desperate to serve her.”

“But I never thought of taking Seat Snow’s money, and I never did. I just felt that someone who treated Mr. He as a role model couldn’t be bad—they were the same kind of person as me.”

Like a wildflower growing by the roadside in the countryside, her skin was slightly rough, but her features were pleasant, with a kind of rustic beauty, like a younger sister in need of protection at home.

Wang Lai nearly choked on his water: He Qing? Same kind?

Again?

“I’m a student who received funding from the He Group,” perhaps realizing her gaze was too obvious, the girl quickly explained, “I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. He once before.”

“Even though he may have long forgotten, I cannot forget the kindness.”

【How is it? How is it?】 After finishing her lines, Yu Xiumei couldn’t help complaining that she had dressed too ordinarily today. 【Originally I was supposed to be the one giving He Qing flowers—setting up a beautiful reunion as the hook.】

And now? Dusty and disheveled, and the system didn’t even give her a beauty filter buff.

System: 【I reminded you, but the host still picked up the wrong drink.】

According to the plan, Seat Snow was supposed to drink the lemon water mixed with laxatives, and the host would replace her position, hijack the plot, and take the first step in the strategy.

Instead, everything backfired. She ended up running to the bathroom all day and didn’t even get to meet the protagonist.

So who exactly was the stupid one here?

【So you’re blaming me?】 Yu Xiumei shot back sarcastically. 【Who in a transmigration story still has to fix the plot? Without me, could the protagonist even stand here?】

She had previously deliberately tested Seat Snow. The other party wasn’t nearly as close to He Qing as in the original story, let alone joining the He Group after graduation.

She had wasted so much time politely interacting, showing concern, circling around some irrelevant supporting character like an idiot.

System: ……

Unable to refute it.

Dozens of its predecessors had all fallen here.

A broken world derived from an unfinished novel—by rule, it should have directly targeted the protagonist, harvested all the accumulated luck, and then been discarded, left to collapse on its own.

But Beijiang Criminal Investigation Notes had stubbornly survived.

Because the protagonist He Qing was impervious to persuasion, and the butterfly effects caused by transmigrators had thrown the plot into complete chaos, turning it more and more into a hot potato.

Anyone who touched it would lose a layer of skin.

The only advantage of transmigration systems lay in the original work. Even “reward points” had to be scraped out from the protagonist’s stolen luck. To complete their tasks, later arrivals naturally had to PUA the host and push the plot back onto its original track as much as possible.

Otherwise, the road ahead would only become harder.

【Plot tasks can reduce the probability of being erased upon mission failure. If you don’t need that…】

Yu Xiumei immediately softened: 【No, no.】

【Good system, I was just joking.】

The system, which had been bluffing while intimidating its host, secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject: 【Left side, the protagonist is moving. Don’t zone out.】

Yu Xiumei quietly adjusted her posture.

She had practiced in front of the mirror many times how to present the most attractive angle of this face. Combined with the “passive lighting” of the interrogation room, she was confident she could leave a strong impression on the protagonist.

Leaning casually against the edge of the table, outside the one-way glass, He Linfeng poured a glass of water for He Qing: “Truly moving. A sponsored student got into their benefactor’s university, and even knows how to repay kindness.”

“But you don’t seem very happy.”

“If I remember correctly, it was Consultant He who told me she might have stolen the cufflink,” He Qing said coldly, his hand hanging at his side, the corner of his lips lifting icily. “Should I be smiling?”

Apart from the ten-meter-range positioning of the protagonist, the system could only share sight and hearing with the transmigrator—360-degree vision, equivalent to growing an extra pair of eyes behind one’s head.

The interrogation room was soundproofed extremely well, so he spoke without restraint.

“If I’m not mistaken,” He Linfeng raised an eyebrow, imitating him, “Mr. He also said that cufflink was just a trivial item to you.”

He Qing: “People change.”

Just like that once wild, unrestrained girl growing up in the mountains had become the pretentious, sanctimonious, liar wearing Yu Xiumei’s skin before him.

That was not Yu Xiumei—it was a monster wearing her shell.

“Microexpressions can’t be used as evidence,” seeing the interrogation inside nearing its end, he reminded him, “Don’t do anything stupid and startle her.”

He Linfeng touched the tip of his nose. “So fierce.”

“Looks like Mr. He is still blaming me for taking it upon myself to pull the surveillance from the auditorium.”

He Qing: …

Fine. Very fine. So the culprit was you.

“Sorry,” He Linfeng apologized cleanly and decisively, lifting the neglected glass of water again. “But I don’t tolerate sand in my eyes.”

“Even if the cufflink has nothing to do with Seat Snow’s case, once I know about it, I’ll still help you investigate it thoroughly.”

In short: I was wrong.

“Try again next time and see if you still dare.”

Jian Qing almost laughed from anger.

Yet he still couldn’t truly say anything harsh.

At this moment, almost like a miracle, he finally managed to see a bit of a police officer’s presence beneath He Linfeng’s frivolous and flirtatious appearance.

“Suit yourself.” He tilted his head away to avoid the other man’s gaze and reached for the paper cup.

He didn’t plan to drink it—his hands were just cold and needed warming.

The disposable paper cup was small, and He Linfeng was holding it out. If Jian Qing wanted to take it, he would inevitably touch the other person.

Unaccustomed to unexpected physical contact, he instinctively tried to let go, but the man pressed down on his knuckles and pushed it back: “What happened to your hand?”

Jian Qing: “……”

The wound from the wooden splinter had already scabbed over before he even left the company. The pain was nearly nonexistent—he even froze for a moment before realizing what the other person was asking.

Getting more and more excessive.

Seizing the opportunity, Jian Qing grabbed the man’s thumb and was about to bend it backward to teach him a lesson—when, the next second, “Yu Xiumei’s” scream rang out—

【System, system! Police! Fox-face! Why are He Linfeng and Jian Qing together?!】

【Could it be that I’m in a fanfiction?】

【No, no, no, no—He Linfeng isn’t even a supporting male character ten. At most he’s just a background extra from a neighboring province. Who would even write such a cold CP?】

Strangely, hearing the transmigrator’s panicked questions actually made Jian Qing feel a little better, and his originally ten-out-of-ten grip strength dropped to five.

Caught off guard, He Linfeng: “…hiss.” His bones felt sore.

Even so, he didn’t forget to raise his other hand to steady the paper cup, stabilizing the swaying hot water inside.

“Mr. Jian?” After repeatedly checking that he hadn’t entered the wrong room, Wang Lai looked confused. “This is…”

He Linfeng: “Assisting in the investigation. I brought him here.”

Wang Lai: “???”

As far as he knew, the bureau wasn’t so busy today that they had to queue for interrogation rooms—just pick any empty one. Did they really think a CEO had nothing better to do?

But since they were classmates and roommates for years, after a moment of internal complaining, Wang Lai tacitly gave up asking further: “Oh.”

Then he looked at Yu Xiumei: “Speak of the devil… stop just standing there.”

The startled girl snapped back to her senses and carefully greeted, “Mr. Jian.” Then she bowed deeply.

——【Recreating the first meeting… he should remember the original host, right? Cold, abstinent CEO type—like, like him.】

“It’s you.” As if completely unaware of the system and transmigrator’s existence, Jian Qing nodded. “Looks like we’re all involved in Xi Xue’s case.”

Then he turned coldly again: “Consultant He, I hope you don’t take online rumors too seriously. I’ve explained it many times—I am not Xi Xue’s boyfriend.”

——【Of course. Xi Xue’s boyfriend is Wu Haiyang, a poor, insecure scumbag.】

——【He Linfeng is really dumb.】

The “idiot” himself slightly raised an eyebrow.

Wu Haiyang.

Having finally obtained the most urgent answer, Jian Qing was about to take advantage of the chaos to leave and end this farce when a fluctuating mechanical voice suddenly hooked onto his leg.

System: 【The strategy value hasn’t moved. I told you earlier to stake out the scene in advance as a witness.】

【Please. That scumbag can kill people. What if he finds out?】 Yu Xiumei muttered. 【When I dropped the cufflink, I saw him—his eyes were bloodshot, like a mad bull. I was scared. I didn’t dare.】

【Besides, Jian Qing doesn’t even have the habit of mourning his parents at Mingxin Lake. Getting him involved through the cufflink is already worth it. The plot hasn’t deviated too much, and we can still rely on the original story to create chance encounters. There will always be opportunities later.】

She knew.

They knew.

Jian Qing thought, his stomach suddenly churning violently.

Even though they clearly knew when and where Xi Xue would be murdered, they still watched from across the shore, fanning the flames for so-called “plot,” laughing as they schemed around death, gnawing on corpses for profit.

Afraid?

Do monsters even deserve to be afraid?

And what about Xi Xue, who suffocated to death in Mingxin Lake—what was she feeling?

Forcing himself not to turn back, not to look at Yu Xiumei, Jian Qing closed his eyes. In a daze, he seemed to smell a thick, heavy scent of water and decay.

“Dizzy?” He Linfeng, who was closest to him, asked softly. “Did you not eat lunch?”

At the same time, Wang Lai, his voice hoarse with confusion, was trying to explain for his friend: “Huh? What boyfriend? There must be some misunderstanding. Xiao Tong, take Yu Xiumei out first…”

Then—the door was slammed open.

“What’s going on? Why are there so many people?”

“Consultant He,” Zhou Shan said briskly, unable to hide his excitement. “Nice one, really impressive.”

“Xi Xue’s boyfriend has been found. Captain Yan wants you to come for the interrogation.”

【How is that possible! System, I didn’t leak anything!】

Chaos.

But Jian Qing’s heart gradually steadied.

In the moment they brushed past each other, something dropped into his pocket.

Frowning, he looked toward the man’s back and unconsciously rubbed it between his fingers.

Round and hard.

A small candy.