Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Fierce Joy (35)

Hai Shu shook her head. “What kind of person Xue Ninglin is matters a lot for us to find her. Why did you hide it last time?”

Huang Yiya sat down in a panic, her hands nervously clasped together. “I don’t know. We… we agreed not to mention it again. She didn’t want anyone to know… this is between us, it has nothing to do with her disappearance!”

Hai Shu said, “But what if I told you it might be related to her disappearance?”

Huang Yiya gasped. “Impossible! None of us said anything!”

Hai Shu came in front of her, looking directly into her eyes. “You can only guarantee that you didn’t say anything. What about her? Maybe two summers ago, she already told Liu Xiang.”

Huang Yiya froze. “How could that be?”

Hai Shu said, “Liu Xiang has already committed suicide, Xue Ninglin has been missing for a long time. I need you to tell me everything you know about Xue Ninglin. In a case like this, do you think she would still care about any secrets?”

Huang Yiya’s eyes instantly reddened. She stood up and paced anxiously. “Officer Hai, give me a little more time, I need to think carefully.”

Hai Shu nodded, quietly waiting on the side. Not long after, Huang Yiya rushed into the bedroom and took out a bright yellow pendant in the shape of a small, adorable fox.

In the files organized at the precinct, Hai Shu had seen a photo of a similar little toy, but it wasn’t a fox—it was a small wolf, found in Xue Ninglin’s dorm by the police who initially investigated. It was new and seemed barely used.

“This was a gift from Ninglin,” Huang Yiya said, her voice trembling. “That day, she… she confessed to me.”

Huang Yiya had never thought she would like a girl, nor had she imagined her best friend would fall for her. She felt like many girls: dreaming of a prince on a white horse as a child, crushing on handsome boys in school. In high school, she liked a boy, but her family was strict, and her first relationship remained in the stage of mutual ambiguity. After entering university, she thought she would experience a romantic love, but campus life was rich, and she had a versatile best friend, so her desire for dating gradually decreased.

Yet she still believed that shortly after graduation she would marry someone—a successful young man.

Xue Ninglin was wonderful. They did many meaningful and wild things together. If she hadn’t met Xue Ninglin, she would never have gone to bars and nightclubs to perform with abandon. Xue Ninglin helped her find another side of herself.

She sincerely thanked Xue Ninglin, liked Xue Ninglin, and was grateful to have met such a wonderful friend.

But this was not that kind of love; even now, she understood it clearly.

So when Xue Ninglin suddenly placed the little fox pendant in her hand and confessed, she was completely stunned, unable to understand Ninglin’s intention.

“But… but we’re best friends, Ninglin.”

An unfamiliar emotion appeared in Xue Ninglin’s eyes—no longer gentle or forgiving, but aggressive. It felt strange, even a little frightening.

“Ninglin, have you been drinking?”

Xue Ninglin held her, saying she hadn’t drunk or gone crazy—she loved her and didn’t want to remain just friends.

Xue Ninglin also tried to kiss her.

She panicked and slapped Xue Ninglin.

The crisp sound seemed to split the stagnant air.

Xue Ninglin looked at her in disbelief, gradually revealing sadness and pain. Huang Yiya snapped back to reality and quickly apologized, “Ninglin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you, I… I just couldn’t accept it, I couldn’t react…”

Xue Ninglin calmed down as well. “It’s my fault.”

Huang Yiya flustered, “No, I shouldn’t have reacted so strongly.”

Once their emotions settled, they sat down and spoke honestly. Huang Yiya had never experienced this before. After the initial nausea, she realized she didn’t dislike Xue Ninglin and certainly didn’t want to lose this precious friend.

“Why do you feel that way about me…” she asked awkwardly.

Xue Ninglin couldn’t explain how friendship turned into love. “Maybe because you’re so close to me, and so wonderful. I didn’t even know I liked women before.”

Huang Yiya saw hope. “Ninglin, you might be mistaken. I like you, I like you a lot, but I know it’s not that kind of love. Maybe your feelings for me are just like sisterly affection.”

Xue Ninglin smiled but said nothing.

“It must be like that!” Huang Yiya said. “Last week we even said that bassist is handsome, right? You thought he was handsome too. You don’t like girls.”

Xue Ninglin asked, “Are you afraid that I like you?”

Huang Yiya thought for a moment and replied sincerely, “I’m not a lesbian. If you like me, I might lose you as a friend. I can’t be in a relationship with you, but I don’t want to lose you.”

Xue Ninglin thought for a long time. “I’ll try, maybe you’re right.”

After that, their relationship cooled for a while. Without Xue Ninglin by her side, Huang Yiya felt very unaccustomed. She tried making other friends and spent more time in the student council. It was during that period that Liu Xiang frequently appeared in front of her.

She had good relationships with many people, but they were all different from Xue Ninglin. She still considered Xue Ninglin her best friend.

Xue Ninglin seemed just as uneasy as she was, caring about their friendship. Not long after, Xue Ninglin came to the student council to see her. She immediately put down what she was doing and went for coffee with Xue Ninglin.

“I’ve thought seriously about it during this time. Let’s just pretend that incident never happened. I wasn’t thinking clearly and felt I was… well, you know,” Xue Ninglin said. “You’re right. I should only see you as my most important friend.”

Huang Yiya let out a sigh. “Then can we still be like we were before?”

Xue Ninglin smiled. “Of course. Love is not more important than friendship. I was also sad when we were distant for a while.”

Huang Yiya hugged Xue Ninglin, her eyes red. “Ninglin, you don’t know how much I missed you.”

Xue Ninglin comforted her for a few words and then asked, “You didn’t tell anyone else, right?”

“How could I tell anyone else!”

“Then let’s completely treat it as a secret. Don’t mention it between us either.”

“Okay!”

Later, just as they had agreed, neither of them brought up that confession. At first, Huang Yiya felt a little awkward after reconciling, but when Xue Ninglin behaved normally, as if nothing had happened, she gradually adapted. Sometimes when she thought about it, it even felt like a silly dream she had. She and Xue Ninglin were still best friends.

After finishing, a pile of tissues stained with tears was already in front of Huang Yiya. She looked helplessly at Hai Shu. “I’ve told you everything. No more secrets. Can you find her? I really can’t imagine who would harm her!”

The three cases of missing university students were initially investigated separately by different criminal investigation teams in various precincts. Later, when conventional investigative methods yielded nothing, a detective suggested looking for common points and trying a combined investigation. Ping Sheng disappeared in July, Xue Ninglin in October, Li Hui in December. Analyzing them together revealed some commonalities.

Setting aside their university status, all three were unusually attractive and came from wealthy families. Aside from the eccentric Li Hui, the other two were influential figures in their schools. Their disappearances were baffling, and the motives were completely mysterious.

In fact, the precincts had differing opinions on combining the cases. Overall, it was treated as a combined investigation, but the details of each case were still handled separately.

Now Hai Shu had found a deeply hidden secret about Xue Ninglin—she was very likely a lesbian.

What about the other two missing people?

An excellent detective must have extraordinary divergent thinking, integration ability, and decisive action. Hai Shu was appointed team leader in the large city of Huiyong not because of her looks or any reverse gender bonus. It was her ability that earned her the position.

She immediately assigned tasks to the first criminal investigation team, verifying whether Ping Sheng and Li Hui had the so-called “false orientation” trait.

It was already dark. Sui Xing put on her police hat. “What if they all share this trait? What conclusion would you draw?”

Hai Shu turned her face toward the neon lights gradually illuminating outside the window. A deduction, like those lights, gradually outlined a clearer picture in the darkness.

Investigating Ping Sheng again went more smoothly than Li Hui. He was like a female version of Xue Ninglin, very influential at school; every student could chat about him.

Logically, his appearance and family background would make it easy for him to have a girlfriend, but he had never been in a relationship. Many girls pursued him, but he refused straightforwardly, without hesitation.

When the first criminal investigation team arrived at the precinct, a young officer named Lan suddenly turned pale. At first, no one thought much of it; Sui Xing noticed but didn’t consider it further.

Later, this officer repeatedly became distracted and made mistakes during investigations, even struggling with small record-keeping tasks. Sui Xing suspected something was wrong and inquired with the precinct chief, who also found it strange. “That’s not right. Xiao Lan is our most outstanding team member, careful and diligent, never made mistakes. He’s also from the criminal investigation unit—I was planning to send him to the district office!”

Sui Xing became more concerned. After completing several student interviews, she stopped Officer Lan.

Officer Lan, nearly 1.8 meters tall, looked awkwardly around. “Team Leader Sui, what do you need from me?”

“I’m not the team leader. Just call me by my name,” Sui Xing said, tapping on the table. “Sit down. Let’s talk.”

Officer Lan, normally confident, lost his composure in front of Sui Xing and explained, “I caught a cold the day before yesterday. I wasn’t feeling well. Please understand.”

Sui Xing said, “Wang said you never make mistakes, that you have the most energy in the precinct.”

Officer Lan smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear your apology, and I’m not your superior,” Sui Xing said. “I just want to know why you acted abnormally. Don’t use illness to brush me off. Your state clearly isn’t due to a cold or fever. When we discussed the focus of this investigation in the meeting, your eyes were off.”

Officer Lan was surprised; he didn’t expect a city bureau detective to have such a sharp gaze.

Sui Xing pointed at him. “You’re a police officer. The last thing you should do is know something and not report it.”

Officer Lan kept rubbing his uniform pants, struggling.

Sui Xing closed the door behind her. “Come on, let’s talk privately.”

Officer Lan lowered his head. “When you mentioned that focus of the investigation, I was immediately stunned. Ping Sheng… he… he once said, liked…”

Sui Xing didn’t expect such a development. “Ping Sheng said he liked you?”

Officer Lan’s face turned bright red with nervousness. “I’ve never encountered anything like this. During the initial investigation, when I heard the missing person was Ping Sheng, I thought of his confession to me. But I didn’t dare say anything. I was sure it had nothing to do with his disappearance. I didn’t have any further contact with him afterward…”

Officer Lan was struggling to find the right words, clearly very flustered. Sui Xing listened while helping him piece together the timeline—

Officer Lan first met Ping Sheng when he was a freshman. The precinct assigned several young officers to patrol the campus and provide safety and legal education. Ping Sheng was enthusiastic and even offered Officer Lan bottled water from the freshman welcome station.

Officer Lan was a straight man and didn’t think Ping Sheng’s actions were unusual.

Later, there were many freshman activities, and Officer Lan often needed to walk around campus, frequently encountering Ping Sheng. Ping Sheng played basketball very well and invited him to join. Officer Lan also liked basketball, and they worked well together.

Ping Sheng draped his arm over him and said, “Brother Lan, are we the best partners?”

Officer Lan laughed heartily. “Yeah.”

Half a year later, a fight broke out among male students in Ping Sheng’s college, causing a commotion. Ping Sheng went to mediate and was injured. The students called the police. Officer Lan was on duty that day. He immediately arrived, separated the two groups, sent the injured to the hospital, and brought the others back to the precinct.

Ping Sheng’s head was covered in blood, looking frightening. Officer Lan urged him to go to the hospital quickly, but he refused, insisting Officer Lan accompany him.

Thinking his colleagues were available, Officer Lan delegated the paperwork and personally took Ping Sheng to the hospital. While getting stitches, Ping Sheng said it hurt and even shed tears. Officer Lan saw him as a younger brother and, knowing Ping Sheng’s father was also a police officer, felt even closer, letting him lean on him.

But after treating the injuries, Ping Sheng said something that made Officer Lan feel like he had been struck by lightning.

“I’ll be your boyfriend.”

Ping Sheng’s eyes were sincere, but after realizing what he said, Officer Lan felt intensely disgusted. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Ping Sheng seemed to read the refusal in his words and quickly smiled. “Brother Lan, I’m joking.”

After this, Officer Lan rarely went to the school and never played basketball with Ping Sheng again. He was worried that Ping Sheng would cling to him, given his understanding of that group—some people in it wouldn’t let go once they fixed their eyes on someone.

But what he feared didn’t happen. Ping Sheng stopped seeking him out, sometimes pretending not to know him when they met at the school gate. He breathed a sigh of relief and gradually stopped thinking about it until Ping Sheng went missing.

He never avoided or slackened in the early investigation because of what Ping Sheng said. After brief surprise, he devoted himself fully to the work, completing much of the field investigation himself. But he never connected Ping Sheng’s disappearance to himself and subconsciously concealed the confession.

“At that time, I thought it had nothing to do with me. I hadn’t seen him for a long time, so… so I didn’t say anything,” Officer Lan said gloomily. “If Ping Sheng really is gay, did he disappear because of that?”

Deputy Director Ping, Ping Sheng’s father, learned that the investigation had progressed and rushed to Huiyong City again. Seeing that a female officer was in charge, his expression became complex. In his perception, the criminal investigation unit was a man’s world. From entering the police academy to his current position, all his partners and competitors had been men. Subconsciously, he looked down on female officers but knew he shouldn’t show it.

Hai Shu immediately saw Deputy Director Ping’s thoughts but didn’t care. The scornful gaze of a male superior could no longer hurt her. She calmly met his eyes, addressing him as she would any missing person’s family.

“You’re saying he might be… gay?” Deputy Director Ping felt struck by lightning, as if he might jump up to vehemently deny it.

Hai Shu replied calmly, “Since last year, we have conducted extensive visits and analysis regarding Ping Sheng. Homosexuality is the latest emerging clue. This could possibly explain his disappearance.”

The female officer before him had a delicate yet imposing presence. Deputy Director Ping stared at her, his scalp tingling from the sudden information. He forced himself to suppress his anger. “What evidence do you have?”

Hai Shu said, “The case is still under investigation. Details cannot be disclosed. You’re a police officer; you should understand.”

Deputy Director Ping clenched his fists, like a volcano about to erupt.

Hai Shu asked, “Regarding the formation of Ping Sheng’s orientation, what are your thoughts?”

Deputy Director Ping forced himself to calm down. The interrogation room was silent for a long time. “When he was a child… he always liked coming to my team. I was busy and couldn’t go home for weeks, staying in the dorm. His mother brought him to see me, and while I worked, he was taken care of by the team members. He was raised by them…”

Deputy Director Ping wanted to train Ping Sheng to become a police officer, following in his father’s footsteps. But Ping Sheng didn’t want that. Deputy Director Ping had been confused: “You run to the precinct all day, playing with Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li. You don’t want to be a police officer?”

How did Ping Sheng respond? Deputy Director Ping pressed his temples. “Dad, who said liking the police means you have to become a police officer? I grew up on your team. Liking the masculinity of police officers is normal. Does liking mean I have to become one?”

Deputy Director Ping, rough with family, hadn’t understood Ping Sheng’s meaning. Only now did he realize, “This ‘problem’ of his was caused by his upbringing?”

Considering the age when Officer Lan met Ping Sheng, Hai Shu concluded that Ping Sheng likely grew up among police officers and lacked paternal love, developing admiration for new, good-looking, and enthusiastic officers.

Soon, the targeted investigation into Li Hui also yielded results. Surprisingly, this young man, who had long been rumored to be gay, showed no emotional inclination. He provoked classmates but kept his distance from people and never expressed affection toward anyone.

“Then he doesn’t match this pattern,” a team member said.

Hai Shu shook her head. “No, that’s enough.”

Sui Xing realized. “You mean the rumor itself?”

Hai Shu said, “Why are there rumors about Li Hui?”

Everyone thought for a moment. Someone said, “He has a strange personality, looks down on classmates, and most of his communication is full of sarcasm. When he first entered school as a freshman, most people stayed in the dorms, right? But he didn’t stay a single day. He’s rather delicate-looking, has long hair, fair skin, so gossips said he was gay. After the rumors spread, male students avoided him even more, and he never came out to refute them.”

“But when we verified this time, both in reality and online, there was no proof he was really gay. He just has a bad personality and equally dislikes everyone.”

Hai Shu said, “The perpetrator doesn’t need such a detailed investigation. Those rumors about Li Hui have already become a reason for the perpetrator to act. Everyone, I have an idea now. Listen first, raise any questions, and we’ll discuss together.”

Everyone immediately sat up straight, fully attentive.

“Ping Sheng, Xue Ninglin, and Li Hui—the three missing university students—have had their twenty-year lives thoroughly examined from the precinct to the district office and then to our city bureau criminal investigation team one. The initial investigation avenues were blocked, leaving nothing to follow up. Now we’ve found a new commonality among them—they all have homosexual tendencies,” Hai Shu said, raising her hand. “Li Hui actually doesn’t, but to someone without the ability to dig deeper, he is. As for Ping Sheng and Xue Ninglin, they may not necessarily be, but at least they’ve confessed to someone of the same sex, and Xue Ninglin even showed strong rejection toward Liu Xiang, who was close to Huang Yiya.”

“So I boldly hypothesize that this may be a series of crimes targeting the homosexual community.”

The team members looked at each other and whispered.

Hai Shu continued, “I’ve collected other missing person cases from the past six months, both solved and unsolved. Almost all had other clear motives. That is to say, besides these three, no other homosexuals went missing. So the scope further narrows—to university students.”

Sui Xing said, “We can also consider the early commonalities, right? Outstanding appearance, wealthy families.”

Hai Shu nodded. “The perpetrator is targeting good-looking, wealthy, homosexual university students. What do you all think?”

The team discussed—

“The perpetrator harbors hatred toward this group. This isn’t uncommon; I know people around me who think all homosexuals should die.”

“I’m not that extreme, but I don’t like it either. I’ve been harassed by gay men on a call before—disgusting.”

“But why target university students? Not to mention Li Hui isn’t even gay, and the other two never publicly declared themselves. There are far worse people in society!”

“Then university students, wealthy university students, are the main target?”

Listening to everyone express their opinions, Hai Shu turned to the whiteboard and made notes. When the discussion quieted, she spoke. “Based on the collected clues and the traits presented by the missing persons, I created a profile of the suspect. He harbors hatred for wealthy, attractive homosexual university students. This hatred is not vague; clearly, he has a specific target. Where does this target come from?”

Sui Xing said, “Because he was hurt? The harm came from people like Ping Sheng?”

Hai Shu looked into Sui Xing’s eyes. “You’re definitely thinking of a specific person now.”

Sui Xing’s expression turned serious. She indeed thought of someone, because she had been investigating Gong Zhao and Ju Ning in recent days. When the past at Huiyong University was uncovered, Liang Lanjun could be said to have suffered misfortune, having his future ruined by Gong Zhao, a handsome, wealthy, gay scoundrel, for no reason. He hated Gong Zhao and that whole group—he had a motive for revenge.

“But…” Sui Xing said, “that was more than ten years ago. If Liang Lanjun is the suspect, why now? The first missing person is Ping Sheng; he only went missing in July last year.”

“Because in March last year, a variable appeared in Liang Lanjun’s life,” Hai Shu took Liu Xiang’s photo from the whiteboard and gently placed it on the table. “This variable may have been the final straw that broke the camel’s back.”