“I’ll go with you. Since I’m involved in this case, I need to know every detail during the investigation,” said Qi Youxuan with a serious expression, an expression which Wei Muran and Zhang Ming were not familiar with.

Jiang Yuecheng remained silent and departed for Jiao University. Qi Youxuan walked alongside Wei Muran, trying to put some distance between Jiang Yuecheng and them without making his intention obvious before winking at her.

“Why did you work here all of a sudden?” asked Wei Muran softly.

“I promised my dad to return to the company at twenty-seven years old. One year left till the deadline.” The gaze Qi Youxuan gave Wei Muran was deep.

A year left to place Wei Muran under his protection.

Qi Youxuan was worried when Wei Muran went to study in the police academy initially. It was extremely dangerous to work as a police officer, especially when she wished to work in the criminal investigation department.

Qi Youxuan had minored in criminal psychology even though he could not work as a police officer, and was shameless enough to beg Wen Xu so that he could learn martial arts together with his master. Although he was not as skillful as Wen Xu, he was taught personally by a martial arts master from the Wen family. Thus, he was much stronger than normal people, and even the students who received proper training in the police academy.

Qi Youxuan graduated successfully and started working in the company, but he made a deal with his father to take leave and protect Wei Muran once she graduated from the police academy. Qi Chenglin agreed to it on one condition—Qi Youxuan must return to the company after one year.

One year. That was more than enough for Wei Muran to gain experience and get used to the hectic life of the police force. That way, she would gain the ability to protect herself from harm in the future.

Qi Youxuan utilized his time after work to make his crime-solving skills well known while Wei Muran was studying in the police academy. Many were aware that someone had solved a few major crime cases but had no idea who that someone was; exactly like what happened in the police department at this moment. Those in the police forces knew that the major case in Huai City was solved by an expert, but his identity remained a mystery except to a few in the upper management. That was more than enough as long as they could grant Qi Youxuan a favor when needed.

That was the busiest moment of his life. Qi Youxuan did not even have much time to cotton up with Wei Muran. Moreover, Wei Ziqi took guard of his precious daughter very vigilantly and devoid him of any chance to get close to Wei Muran.

Wei Muran stared at the side of Qi Youxuan’s face as her mind wandered. He treated her very kindly and loved to play with her during their childhoods, and even joked that he was going to marry her after they grew up.

Well, they were adults now, but Qi Youxuan made no attempt to raise this issue again, and Wei Muran found it embarrassing to initiate the discussion on this topic too. Moreover, this was a joke made in their youths; she could not truly take it seriously.

However, Qi Youxuan came looking for her rather frequently recently, and she had no idea how to respond appropriately to this man at present.

All of a sudden, Qi Youxuan turned unexpectedly and looked at Wei Muran while she was lost in her own thoughts.

Qi Youxuan raised his eyebrows curiously. “Can’t turn your gaze away from me?”

“…” Wei Muran’s cheeks were kissed pink as she replied defiantly, “Shameless bastard. Do you think it’s possible when I’ve been watching you for the past twenty-three years? I was…thinking about some issues just now!”

“It’s alright to admit that you can’t turn your gaze away from me; I know I’m charming and I ain’t a stingy person either,” Qi Youxuan responded while smiling faintly and even winked at her.

“…” The tease induced embarrassment and annoyance in Wei Muran. “You’re out of your mind!”

Jiang Yuecheng turned around and looked at them, presumably disturbed by their conversation. Wei Muran was trying to stomp on Qi Youxuan’s foot initially but had to put her foot down awkwardly at this instant. She then ignored Qi Youxuan and walked forward.

…

…

The first person the trio visited after reaching Jiao University was the counselor in Zheng Xiaorui’s class.

The counselor was taken aback after realizing their true intention. “Zheng Xiaorui? She took leave.”

Jiang Yuecheng had a bad feeling about this instantly and Qi Youxuan’s expression became stern and serious at this moment. “How long?”

“Five days if I’m not mistaken.” The counselor was unsure about the time frame and flipped a book on the table before confirming. “Yes, I’m right. She applied for leave last Thursday and left school the next day, stating that she’d return on Monday.”

“Today is Tuesday but she hasn’t returned yet. Did you call her family members?” asked Wei Muran with a stern expression.

The counselor was startled by the question and smiled. “This isn’t a primary or secondary school and everyone who turns eighteen years old is considered an adult, so there’s no need to be so strict with the students. Who knows why they apply for leave? There are many students in this university and I’ve to manage several classes alone, so how can I possibly take care of every single issue? She’s responsible for her own actions since she’s an adult now. I can’t always keep an eye out for her like she’s a child, right?”

Wei Muran smirked and remained silent.

“Why did she apply for leave?” asked Jiang Yuecheng.

“Feeling under the weather and in need of medical consultation,” answered the counselor.

It was fairly obvious that Zheng Xiaorui made up this excuse simply and the counselor was aware of it too, but it was none of her concern.

“Please provide a name list of Zheng Xiaorui’s classmates and roommates to us,” replied Jiang Yuecheng.

This information was stored in the counselor’s computer, so she printed the name list and passed the document to them.

When the trio was about to leave, Qi Youxuan turned around and said, “Zheng Xiaorui was involved in a homicide. In my opinion, she’s a victim and a murderer. If anything happens and this case is exposed, the reputation of this university will be affected and they’ll put the blame on you for not performing your duty well. Good luck and take care of yourself.”

The blood drained from the counselor’s face in an instant. Qi Youxuan was satisfied by this outcome and followed behind Wei Muran cheerfully.

“You’ll question Zheng Xiaorui’s classmates and we’ll ask her roommates,” instructed Qi Youxuan after the trio exited the counselor’s office.

“Mr. Qi, I’m grateful for your assistance in the investigation, but I’m the investigative lead. I should be one giving orders,” Jiang Yuecheng complained in a deep voice.

“Can you solve the major crime case in Huai City if you’re the investigative lead?” Qi Youxuan grinned and appeared as if he was showing off.

“…” Jiang Yuecheng was at a loss for words.

“Follow my instructions if you can’t.” Qi Youxuan grabbed Wei Muran and walked away without giving Jiang Yuecheng any chance to protest.

Wei Muran turned around anxiously and glanced at Jiang Yuecheng, who was fixing his gaze on her. After meeting Wei Muran’s gaze, Jiang Yuecheng shook his head with a smile and walked away.

Then, Wei Muran turned around again but was pulled into Qi Youxuan’s embrace all of a sudden. Her cheek was bumped into Qi Youxuan’s burning hot chest since his shirt did not provide good heat insulation due to thin fabric material. His heartbeat echoed in her ears like a drummer sending strong and steady beats into her tympanic membrane.

“Mumu, what were you looking at? He’s not as handsome as I am.” Qi Youxuan’s voice traveled to Wei Muran’s ears, embarrassing in her at this moment, unsure if it was due to some psychological effects.

This man would normally have a frivolous tone in his speech, but his voice sounded surprisingly mellow and deep at this instant. The masculinity in his voice caressed her ears, seeping into the bloodstream and flowed to the apex of her heart.

Wei Muran’s ears were flushed red as if blood was going to ooze out of them. The helixes quivered uncontrollably when Qi Youxuan’s breath flowed through the fine hairs gently.

Wei Muran did not dare to lift her gaze and check how close Qi Youxuan was to her at present. Thus, she did not notice his triumph expression and an amused grin that revealed a row of perfectly carved out dazzling teeth.

Qi Youxuan swallowed his saliva and inhaled deeply, trying to breathe in all the warmth and fragrance on Wei Muran’s body into his nostrils.

He could not even resist the temptation and stuck his tongue out, but hesitated due to a lack of courage.

The anxious Wei Muran tried to push Qi Youxuan away. Her physical strength increased tremendously after receiving proper training in the police academy, but her body felt weak and drained of all energy whenever she was in Qi Youxuan’s embrace for some inexplicable reason.

Even so, Wei Muran pushed Qi Youxuan away while backing off. Then, something wet and warm brushed against her ear helix gently when her head was leaned backward, and before she could figure it out, the sensation had disappeared into thin air. It could be an illusion, but she could not ignore the strange sensation that persisted on her ear.

Qi Youxuan released his grip on Wei Muran, whose face became the color of a ripe strawberry. Wei Muran glanced at him doubtfully but found nothing suspicious on him except for the fact that he was rubbing his chest repeatedly. “Mumu, that collision was painful.”

“…” Wei Muran was left speechless.

Since when did Wei Muran collide with Qi Youxuan? It was this man who pulled her into his embosom initially.

He was an expert in sophistry since he was young, and the ability persisted despite the advancing age.

“Let’s go!” yelled Wei Muran before running forward.

“Hey, wait for me!” Qi Youxuan yelled and followed closely behind her.

Wei Muran could feel Qi Youxuan’s presence beside her at a very close distance. Occasionally, there would be accidental physical contact when she was not paying attention to her gait.

Everything felt natural before this, but blush burned through her body like a hot oven at the current moment.

Subconsciously, Wei Muran touched her ear helix, trying to locate the source of the previous strange sensation. Qi Youxuan’s eyes turned into crescent moons at the sight of Wei Muran’s action and even licked the inside of his lips stealthily to enjoy the aftertaste.

Qi Youxuan did not mean to lick Wei Muran’s ear just now. It was an accident since Wei Muran’s movement was sudden and totally unexpected at all.

However, Qi Youxuan had made an assumption. This was destiny!

Qi Youxuan made several phone calls to Zheng Xiaorui’s roommates based on the information provided in the A4 paper and asked them to wait in the dormitory for their arrival.

Wei Muran had regained her cool after Qi Youxuan hung up the phone calls and took a surreptitious look at him before asking, “You told the counselor that Zheng Xiaorui was a victim and a murderer just now. What do you mean?”

“Zheng Xiaorui went missing right after Zheng Wentao’s disappearance, that isn’t a coincidence. We can assume that their disappearances are related and they may be held captive together. The stab wounds on Zheng Wentao’s chest were a mess, which proved that the murderer was panicking during the assault. The third stab was the lethal blow, but the murderer was unaware of it in panic and stabbed the deceased three more times. This explains that the murderer is inexperienced and may not intend to kill Zheng Wentao after all. If the murderer wanted Zheng Wentao dead, the killing blow would be swift and direct.”

“The murderer may be torturing the victim, right?” asked Wei Muran subconsciously.

The corner of Qi Youxuan’s lips curled up confidently as he answered calmly, “The stab wounds wouldn’t be focused at the same place if the intention was to torture. It was obvious that the murderer wanted him to die immediately but failed due to inexperience. Have you heard of an ancient torture technique called The Lingering Death[1]? The executioner will remove portions of the body methodically over a period of time before delivering the last stab right into the heart, but if the person dies before the last stab, it’ll be the executioner’s fault punishable by death. If the murderer really intended to torture Zheng Wentao, he should’ve stabbed other body parts first.”

“If the murderer is Zheng Xiaorui, I’m guessing that she was forced to kill Zheng Wentao. Her life must be at stake if she was forced to murder her own grandfather.”

“Even if you say so, that sounds extremely ridiculous and unbelievable. If what you have said is true, how horrible will it be for Zheng Xiaorui to kill her own grandfather just to survive? I really wish whatever you mentioned just now is wrong.” Wei Muran shook her head in response.

Qi Youxuan made no attempt to protest. He spoke the truth yet wished that it was not.

The duo reached the dormitory and the dorm keeper permitted their entries after Wei Muran showed her identification card.

There were two young ladies in the dormitory room. According to one of them, the third young lady who worked in the canteen was currently on her way back to the dormitory and would be arriving soon.

Then, the door to the dormitory opened momentarily and a young lady darted into the room with a smoke and fire scent lingering on her body.

During the self-introduction, Han Qi stared at Qi Youxuan’s handsome and elegant face, lost in her own thoughts.

Other than the celebrities on television, Han Qi had never seen such a handsome man standing right in front of her in her entire life. Thus, this pleasant sight gave her quite a shock and she could not even shift her gaze away from him afterward.

“Ahem!” Wei Muran cleared her throat while moving toward Qi Youxuan, trying to stand in front of him to block Han Qi’s gaze without making her attempt too obvious.

However, Wei Muran’s attempt proved to be futile since she was too slim and short in comparison with Qi Youxuan.

Qi Youxuan was exhilarated after noticing Wei Muran’s subconscious act. He brushed his nose gently with his finger while placing his other hand on Wei Muran’s waist naturally, removing it almost instantaneously before Wei Muran could react to it.

His movement was so swift that he seemed to have done nothing at that moment, but the softness his palm experienced just now had sent him into euphoric bliss.

Wei Muran, who was standing beside Qi Youxuan, failed to notice the jubilation on his face. The trio opposite them, on the other hand, witnessed everything and expressed their understanding, assuming that both Wei Muran and Qi Youxuan were couples.

Wei Muran stared at the trio’s peculiar expressions doubtfully and shifted her gaze to Qi Youxuan, who had resumed his stony expression as if fully prepared to solve the crime.

Wei Muran grunted in confusion and shifted her gaze elsewhere while the trio brought stools for them quickly.

“Zheng Xiaorui normally stays in the dormitory?” asked Qi Youxuan.

Han Qi nodded. “She’ll only return home during weekends and holidays. It’s a two-hour drive back home from university, so she’s rather reluctant to waste time on such a long journey.”

“She applied for leave with your counselor last Thursday. Did you notice anything strange about her before that? Any behavior or emotional fluctuations that seemed suspicious or unusual?” asked Qi Youxuan while observing the trio’s reactions.

Liang Xuelei was slightly startled and Qi Youxuan caught it immediately. “Anything went wrong?”

“I… I don’t know, but Zheng Xiaorui was absent since last Tuesday. She had probably skipped classes for two days and didn’t want to apply for more leave. I’m not sure if this was related but the fact that she went to apply for leave felt strange to me,” answered the confused Liang Xuelei.

“Why’d you say so?” asked Wei Muran.

“The management isn’t stern, especially toward the fine arts course. To be honest—” Liang Xuelei pouted in embarrassment before continuing, “The fine arts course is lacking in discipline and it’s normal for the female students not to return to the dormitory at night. The university doesn’t really care about the fine arts and music courses, so if we want to skip classes, there’s no need to apply for leave on purpose; the counselor won’t even ask questions about it. Some lecturers like to check for attendance but we can just ask someone else to take the absentee’s attendance. Our seniors even mentioned that they had never applied for leave if they skipped classes and the counselor wasn’t bothered at all. Everyone has reached a consensus about this. Even though Xiaorui lived in the dormitory, she would stay out late frequently but had never applied for leave previously, so I wondered why she’d apply for leave with the counselor when she’d never done this before?”

Wei Muran understood the reason why the counselor seemed unconcerned when Zheng Xiaorui did not return to the university on time.

“Staying out late. Did she have a boyfriend?” Wei Muran concentrated on the crucial point.

The corner of Qi Youxuan’s lips curled up with satisfaction when he glanced at Wei Muran, and his delighted expression appeared as if his little girl had finally grown up. This gave the trio goosebumps but Wei Muran seemed to be unaware of it.

“Yes, I’ve heard that he’s the son of a rich entrepreneur who studied in University C,” replied Liang Xuelei.

“Have you seen him before?” questioned Wei Muran.

“He came to fetch Zheng Xiaorui previously but he parked his car in front of the main entrance and we merely saw him from afar, so we couldn’t get a clear view of him,” answered Liang Xuelei.

Wei Muran glanced at Qi Youxuan, who remained silent and merely gestured to her to continue the questioning. “Was there anything unusual about her before she left the university?”

Kong Jing shook her head in response. “No, she was the same as usual.”

“Did she inform you of the reason why she applied for leave?” asked Wei Muran again.

“She would normally inform us that she would be out for a few days with her boyfriend without giving us further details,” replied Han Qi.

“She received a lot of harassing phone calls a week before she left the university. I’m not sure if this was considered unusual. To be honest, we usually received quite a few cold calls and they’d end the calls fairly quickly, but the phone calls Xiaorui received at that period were persistent and the phone numbers would be different each time, so it was impossible to block them all. Whenever she accepted those calls, the caller would just keep quiet too. We merely assumed that someone was pranking her at that time. After that, she got annoyed and wanted to inform her boyfriend in hope that he would be able to find that bastard. Perhaps the reason why she applied for leave was related to this?” said Kong Jing all of a sudden.

Wei Muran acknowledged this information and nodded. “Do you have her boyfriend’s contact details?”

Han Qi shook her head in response. “She took extreme precautions in this matter to prevent her besties from having an affair with her boyfriend, so she wouldn’t give us any chance to communicate with him. Besides, that’s her boyfriend and we aren’t closely acquainted, so there’s no need for us to ask for his contact details too.”

After their questions had been answered, Wei Muran then said, “Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll return if there is further confusion.”

The trio nodded anxiously and asked, “Is Xiaorui all right?”

“Not sure yet,” answered Qi Youxuan coldly before leaving with Wei Muran.

The duo joined Jiang Yuecheng at the main entrance. Jiang Yuecheng did not acquire much useful information due to the unfamiliarity between Zheng Xiaorui and her classmates, unlike her roommates who knew more about her after living together for a period of time.

“We can safely assume that Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui were kidnapped together.” In the car, Qi Youxuan tapped his knee with his long and slender finger repeatedly.

Wei Muran was immersed in her own train of thoughts on Qi Youxuan’s previous assumption at the moment too, but both of them did not explain this issue to Jiang Yuecheng.

Qi Youxuan instructed after they returned to the police station, “Please show me the video recording of Zheng Wentao’s wife’s inquisition session this morning.”

“Why? Are you worried that our questions weren’t complete?” mocked Xing Jiadong, who was unhappy about Qi Youxuan’s sudden involvement in the investigation.

Qi Youxuan merely solved the major crime case in Huai City; was that supposed to make him a well-reputed individual?

____________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

[1] Lingchi (Chinese: 凌遲), translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE until it was banned in 1905. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death. The body is sliced like fish scales (鱼鳞割), hence the knife’s name 鱼鳞刀.

- - - - -

Who the hell did Qi Youxuan think he was to act like a boss and command them?

“Ha ha, I’m truly worried that your questions were incomplete,” mocked Qi Youxuan.

How about that?

Rage consumed Xing Jiadong instantly. “Our leader asked the questions personally, so what do you mean by that? Are you saying that our leader is incapable?”

Qi Youxuan blinked and glanced at Jiang Yuecheng while pointing at Xing Jiadong. “Is he your subordinate? Does he have complaints about you? He’s disobeying direct orders and trying to drive a wedge between us. I don’t know about you but I’m not going to tolerate this nonsense. I can’t possibly allow the existence of a subordinate who always tries to disagree with his superior without focusing his attention on solving crimes. Am I right, Zhang Mingming?”

“…” Jiang Yuecheng failed to muster a reply.

Zhang Ming hissed through gritted teeth. “Delete the extra Ming!”

“What the hell are you talking about? You’re the one trying to drive a wedge between us. Sergeant, that’s not what I meant just now. I—” Xing Jiadong was getting anxious.

“I understand. Take the video recording. I want to know if Mr. Qi can find anything else to add on,” replied Jiang Yuecheng calmly.

Xing Jiadong glared at Qi Youxuan before walking away.

In the meantime, Qi Youxuan walked toward the whiteboard and started scribbling without wasting any time.

“Zheng Wentao went missing on Tuesday on the same day Zheng Xiaorui left her school, but the counselor received her leave application through a phone call only on Thursday. There are six messy stab wounds on Zheng Wentao’s chest but the intention was to kill. The first two stab wounds are shallow, which means the assailant was panicking during the assault without actually wanting to kill him, but there was another fear that was more intense and forced her to kill him. After stabbing him twice as a test round, the assailant straight away delivered a killing blow and ended his life since he was already at his last gasp and hopeless for survival,” said Qi Youxuan who was writing on the whiteboard while holding the forensic report in his other hand.

“Thus, the third stab wound was much deeper and actually took his life away, but the assailant wasn’t sure about this and delivered three more stabs for assurance. Judging from the wounds, the dagger was delivered in a straight path into his chest.” Qi Youxuan, immersed completely in his own train of thoughts, seemed to have forgotten that he was not alone and continued his gesticulation. “If she was holding the dagger with one hand, the stab wounds would be slanted to a certain degree. Using the right hand, for example, the wounds would be slightly slanted to the right.”

“Thus, the assailant was actually holding the dagger with both hands and stabbed downward, and that was the reason why the wounds were straight.” Qi Youxuan held his hands together while talking to himself. “The assailant who murdered Zheng Wentao is a female aged between eighteen to twenty years old, with the height between one hundred sixty to one hundred and sixty-five centimeters.”

“How can you be so sure that the dagger was delivered in a downward motion? You can actually do it with one hand if the dagger is delivered in an upward motion,” said Xing Jiadong, who returned with the video recording but had completely forgotten about it after listening to Qi Youxuan’s explanation, obviously unconvinced.

Qi Youxuan pouted disdainfully. “Don’t forget, according to the forensic report, there are ligature marks on all of the victim’s limbs. His limbs were tied at that time, so how could he even stand firmly when someone assaulted him? Besides, there are multiple serious flagellation wounds on his body and he had prolonged fasting during that period. Do you think you can stand firmly under such circumstances?”

Qi Youxuan stared at Xing Jiadong with contempt. “Even if you can, will you run when someone is chasing you with a dagger? When your feet are tied and you can only jump away from danger, how many steps can you take before falling down in the end? Besides, the victim is a seventy-two-year-old man. Other than that, the forensic report clearly stated that there were no signs of struggle before the victim died, which meant he had already accepted his fate, so how would he stand up and attempt to escape?”

“Then how did you know about the assailant’s height?” asked the skeptical Xing Jiadong out of curiosity instead of causing trouble on purpose.

“Different heights will use different strengths to strike downward. I’ve calculated the approximate height of the assailant based on the depth of the wounds. I’ve studied this art before and it’s perfectly normal that you don’t know about this with your intelligence,” answered Qi Youxuan while waving the forensic report in his hand.

Then, Qi Youxuan threw the forensic report on the table and said, “Tut-tut, judging by your intelligence alone, no wonder the clearance rate is so low.”

“You—” The exasperated Xing Jiadong wanted to retaliate but failed to find any supporting reason. He was getting annoyed and dispirited after Qi Youxuan glanced at him scornfully. “How about the age?”

“I suspect that the assailant who killed Zheng Wentao was Zheng Xiaorui, so it’s reasonable to narrow the age group to this, and it makes me look professional at the same time.” Qi Youxuan stared at Zhang Ming with raised eyebrows. “Did I look professional just now?”

“We must solve criminal cases seriously. How can you make guesses without evidence?” Xing Jiadong was exhilarated that he finally caught the flaw in Qi Youxuan’s explanation.

“Who said that I was making a guess? This age group is the result of my analysis. Your brain can’t process this simple issue so don’t waste my time by asking for an explanation. I rather utilize the time in solving this case. Play the recording for me.” Qi Youxuan rolled his eyes in utter annoyance. Pulling out a chair, he stopped halfway before he sat down and waved at Wei Muran. “Mumu, come and have a seat.”

“…” Wei Muran was extremely stressed, especially after Qi Youxuan attracted all the loathe and yet treated her solicitously. She started to feel butterflies in her stomach when all the gazes were fixed on her.

Even so, Qi Youxuan was grinning while resting his hands on the back of the chair. Subconsciously, Wei Muran did not wish to embarrass him in front of the crowd, so she walked toward him under the intense pressure.

Qi Youxuan smiled happily at his Mumu’s consideration and understanding.

“Can’t you do it yourself? You’re the one requesting for it, not us,” replied Xing Jiadong, unwilling to comply.

“I’m the brain, and since you can’t brain, might as well be the brawn. Otherwise, why do we even need you?” Qi Youxuan pouted and taunted Xing Jiadong.

Xing Jiadong’s cheeks were flushed red due to embarrassment and anger, but words of protest failed to come out of his mouth. He started doubting his own intelligence for some inexplicable reason ever since Qi Youxuan’s arrival.

However, he would feel embarrassed without attempting a refutation. Fortunately, someone came to save the day.

“You guys are still working on the case? It’s twelve o’clock right now, aren’t you guys hungry? You can’t just ignore your lunch too.” Bai Mo appeared at the doorstep.

Jiang Yuecheng peeked at the time. “My mistake. Let’s order food delivery so that we can have our lunch while discussing the case. Stop your bickering and let’s focus on the case, especially about Zheng Xiaorui’s disappearance. We must find her as soon as possible, regardless of whether she’s involved or not.”

“I’ll order for food delivery, you guys can continue your discussion.” It was very considerate for Bai Mo to offer her assistance. She took out her phone and started searching for food delivery’s phone number while moving toward Jiang Yuecheng without making her intention obvious.

As Bai Mo was still searching for the phone number, someone yelled at the doorstep, “Mr. Qi, your food is delivered.”

They turned around and saw a waiter in Dynasty’s uniform holding a huge insulated lunch bag at the doorstep.

The waiter walked into the office, opened the insulated lunch bag and took the lunch boxes out of the bag.

Qi Youxuan rested his elbow on the table with his face on his palm and stared at Wei Muran. “Mumu, I’ve ordered lunch for you and these are your favorites. Eat quickly while they’re still warm.”

Bai Mo hung up the call and shifted her gaze between Qi Youxuan and Wei Muran before asking with a polite smile, “Muran, is he your boyfriend?”

Wei Muran peeked at Qi Youxuan before answering reluctantly and softly, “No.”

Qi Youxuan lifted his gaze and noticed Jiang Yuecheng letting out a sigh of relief. Annoyance flashed through his squinted eyes before he shifted his gaze on the silent Wei Muran, whose ears became the shade of ripe strawberries.

Youning once mentioned that Qi Youxuan was too close with Wei Muran especially when they had known each other since childhood. Even though Qi Youxuan announced that he would marry Wei Muran once they grew up, she merely considered it as a joke and did not take it seriously. He desperately needed a chance to let Wei Muran know that he was being serious about this marriage. Otherwise, there was no way on Earth she would believe him if he repeated his intention constantly in her presence.

Qi Youxuan was born with an active personality, and thus his words would sound insincere as time went by.

The same happened when Qi Youxuan was at home too. His grandparents would assume that he was merely joking even though he was actually being serious.

Thus, when he complained to Youning in distress, Youning placed her hand on her waist and pointed at him. “Do you know this is actually a character flaw? Take a look at Wen Xu. He took everything seriously since he was young, and everyone would believe his words even though he doesn’t speak much. Trust me when I say that they’ll believe him even when he says that a pig is flying. Brother, that’s his charisma!”

“…” Qi Youxuan was left speechless.

An active person like Qi Youxuan who was able to make friends was considered a character flaw, but Wen Xu who always wore a flat and cold expression was considered a charismatic person?

“You can’t possibly help an outsider in an exaggerated way!” yelled Qi Youxuan in annoyance.

“Anyway, you need to strike directly at her heart in order to succeed. This issue requires a careful and long-term plan.” Qi Youning waved her hand as if wanting to shoo Qi Youxuan away.

“I’ve been planning this for the past twenty-three years!” said Qi Youxuan unwillingly.

“She merely assumed that it was a joke made during childhood, so how could she believe you? You’re a smart person, but why are you acting like an idiot in this matter?” Qi Youning rolled her eyes in response.

Qi Youxuan was staring at Wei Muran’s reddened cheeks again while figuring out a plan to strike directly at her heart when Zhang Ming took a laptop and started playing the video recording.

Qi Youxuan only ordered two lunch sets and Wei Muran was well aware of his attitude, but she found it embarrassing to eat in front of the crowd. Moreover, she could not share her meal with the rest as well.

Jiang Yuecheng smiled after noticing Wei Muran’s dilemma. “You can have your lunch first. Don’t worry about us; we’ve ordered our lunch and they’ll be delivered soon.”Read more chapter on our vipnovel.com

Qi Youxuan cleared his throat loudly all of a sudden. “Watch the video first.”

Wei Muran was enjoying her lunch while watching the video, but after noticing the immobile Qi Youxuan with his lunch box closed, she poked at him silently and said, “You can watch the video while eating at the same time.”

However, Qi Youxuan opened his mouth unexpectedly. “Ah—”

“…” Wei Muran was at a loss for words.

Wei Muran stomped on Qi Youxuan’s foot stealthily through gritted teeth without using much strength, but Qi Youxuan yelled painfully in an exaggerated way before opening his mouth again. “I’m focusing on the video. Ah—”

Wei Muran was reluctant to comply after realizing Qi Youxuan’s deliberate intention. Then, an idea formed in her mind. She took a piece of broccoli and stuck it into his mouth.

Qi Youxuan detested vegetables—especially carrot, bell pepper, broccoli and so on—since he was young. Naturally, there would be no greens in his lunch box at present.

On the other hand, Wei Muran was not a picky eater, so it was extremely easy to prepare meals for her as she could basically eat anything.

Sure enough, Qi Youxuan almost puked after tasting the broccoli in his mouth.

Qi Youxuan fought the urge to spit the broccoli out of his mouth since Wei Muran was the one feeding him just now. He turned around and stared grudgingly at her, pouting his mouth in the most pathetic way possible. Then, his gaze rested on the chopstick in her hand. She used it before feeding a piece of broccoli to him. Somehow, the broccoli did not taste so bad after all.

They…they were exchanging saliva just now!

Exactly like how they licked the same lollipop together when they were young!

Wei Muran failed to notice Qi Youxuan’s delighted expression and smiled devilishly, which fueled the desire in his heart. If it was not for the fact that they were not alone, he would definitely catch Wei Muran and feed the broccoli back to her.

Bai Mo ignored Jiang Yuecheng’s darkened expression and smiled. “You guys are so close together. Those who don’t know you will assume that you’re both in a relationship.”

Wei Muran peeked at Qi Youxuan with a reddened face. Qi Youxuan fought the urge to answer that he wanted to be Wei Muran’s boyfriend out of worry that it might become a countereffect and she may not believe him in the end.

“Don’t raise this issue anymore since Muran had already denied it. We’re colleagues, so don’t make the situation awkward in the future,” said Jiang Yuecheng who was paying attention to Wei Muran’s reaction without noticing Bai Mo’s stiffened expression.

“It’s only temporarily,” replied Qi Youxuan coldly.

Wei Muran was taken aback and glanced at Qi Youxuan since he seldom spoke with such tone.

“I see that you’re constantly talking. Are you even watching the video? Did you find anything wrong?” mocked Xing Jiadong.

After swallowing some rice and meat, Qi Youxuan pushed the lunch box away and said, “That elderly lady was lying.”

“When did you notice this?” asked Xing Jiadong. His expression changed immediately but remained unconvinced.

“No one will look right into your eyes when he’s lying unless he’s aware of this and tries to avoid this mistake on purpose. It’s extremely difficult, and only a trained person can do it. Obviously, Zhao Peishu doesn’t possess such ability. She was stunned momentarily when the sergeant asked if Zheng Wentao had incurred any enmity with anyone.” Qi Youxuan pressed the keyboard with his long fingers to skip the video backward before pausing it again.

“She was thinking if Zheng Wentao had incurred any enmity with anyone at that time, which is normal, but after that—” Qi Youxuan played the video for less than a second before pausing it immediately and enlarged the image at the same time. “Her pupils were drifting to the right upper corners when she denied it. This is the most obvious sign of deception, but why was she lying? Did she recall something that may be related to Zheng Wentao’s death? If she suspected that whatever she recalled had something to do with Zheng Wentao’s death, why didn’t she say it?”

Qi Youxuan leaned backward and added, “I need to question Zhao Peishu personally.”

Jiang Yuecheng failed to hide his surprise and nodded with a heartfelt admiration for the first time before asking the others, “Did you find anything about Zheng Xiaorui’s boyfriend?”

Right on cue, Zhao Yiyang came into the office and answered, “Yes. He’s studying a financial course at University C. He has classes in the evening that’s taught by a strict lecturer, so he won’t skip the classes later.”

“We’ll split up. Mr. Qi will meet Zhao Peishu while Muran—”

Qi Youxuan continued Jiang Yuecheng’s instruction. “She goes with me, as always.”

Jiang Yuecheng pursed his lips tightly without attempting to argue in this matter. “Yiyang, come with me to University C. Zhang Ming and Jiadong will investigate whether Zheng Wentao had incurred any enmity with anyone before or did anything that made him loathed.”

Their food was finally delivered at the same time, so Qi Youxuan dragged Wei Muran and said, “We’ll visit Zhao Peishu first.”

…

…

The duo had arrived at Zhao Peishu’s home. They could even hear Zhao Peishu’s voice when Wei Muran pressed the doorbell. “Who is it?”

The cover of the security door’s vision panel opened momentarily. Then, Wei Muran’s voice traveled across the anti-theft grills and gauze. “Hello, Aunt Zhao, we’re the police officers. We still have some questions to ask regarding Mr. Zheng.”

Tears started welling up in Zhao Peishu’s red-rimmed eyes as she opened the door. “Can’t you sympathize with me? I’ve finally managed to calm myself today and yet your sudden appearance and intention reminded me of my husband’s gruesome death again.”

“I’m terribly sorry, but we wish to solve this case at the earliest so that Mr. Zheng can rest in peace,” persuaded Wei Muran.

“We’ll spare you the sorrow if you could just tell us exactly what you knew for the first time,” replied Qi Youxuan coldly.

“What do you mean?” asked the teary-eyed Zhao Peishu after a brief moment of shock.

Obviously, Zhao Peishu did not welcome them, so Qi Youxuan straight away pulled Wei Muran into her house without waiting for her invitation and sat on the couch in a relaxed manner. After gazing around the house for some time, Qi Youxuan concluded that the Zheng family was rather wealthy and lived a decent life.

“We’re here to ask for confirmation. Did Zheng Wentao incur any enmity with anyone before?” asked Qi Youxuan.

Zhao Peishu tried to avert her gaze since she was totally unprepared for the sudden question and answered immediately, “No.”

“You’re lying. Your gaze aversion told me the truth,” replied Qi Youxuan harshly.

“How can you say so? I’m not lying. You can’t put the blame on me just because of your failure in solving this case,” Zhao Peishu wailed.

“You’re thwarting our investigation when your husband can’t even rest in peace. Do you think your action is appropriate?” Qi Youxuan mocked before continuing. “Zheng Wentao had indeed incurred enmity with someone, and justice wasn’t on your side. That incident had attracted lots of attention, and it was Zheng Wentao who tried his very best to solve it.”

Qi Youxuan then noticed the astonishment on Zhao Peishu’s face due to the assumption that Qi Youxuan had known everything.

Qi Youxuan’s expression remained flat and continued. “This incident was related to Zheng Xiaorui as well.”

“Then why did you ask me when you already knew about it?” exclaimed Zhao Peishu, but she shut her mouth the second she noticed the smirk on Qi Youxuan’s face.

“I didn’t know initially, but you can start talking now,” replied Qi Youxuan calmly.

…

…

Qi Youxuan and Wei Muran returned to the police station and heard Xing Jiadong’s annoying voice upon entering the office, “Hey, did you get any new information?”

Qi Youxuan ignored Xing Jiadong straight away. Thus, Wei Muran answered in order to prevent further bickering, “A female transfer student came to Zheng Xiaorui’s class when she was studying in the second year of high school two years ago. High school female students usually have a few reasons for arguments, and one of them is definitely due to men. Zheng Xiaorui had a crush on a male student, but he was interested in the transfer student instead. Zheng Xiaorui had quite a reputation in the university due to her family background. Zheng Wentao used to work in a higher job position and had promoted quite a few people, so he had a decent social network even after his retirement. Those who were promoted by him appreciated his help and would definitely lend a helping hand on any issue that was within their sensible limits.”

“Thus, Zheng Xiaorui had a few female followers and formed a small gang since then. They brought the transfer student to a deserted area and taught her a lesson before leaving, but an accident happened to the transfer student when she was on her way back. She was raped. After that, rumors about her sexual assault spread in the university for some reason and she jumped to her death after giving in to the intense pressure. The deceased’s family suspected that this was Zheng Xiaorui’s doing, so the argument began. However, due to the lack of evidence and the disappearance of the rapist, or rather the uncommitted search for the rapist due to Zheng Wentao’s request, the case was left unsettled in the end.”

“I’ve found it! I’ve found it!” The excited Zhao Yiyang entered the office. “I’ve found the secret that Zhao Peishu was trying to hide. Here goes—”

Zhao Yiyang blurted out the story that Wei Muran had mentioned just now without giving others a chance to interrupt.

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” The others stared at Zhao Yiyang with such sympathetic and pitiful expressions that he felt uneasy.

“Oh, Yiyang.” Zhang Ming patted Zhao Yiyang’s shoulder sympathetically. “Muran has already discovered this. You came in as soon as she was done telling us.”

“Th… then why didn’t you tell me!” Zhao Yiyang said indignantly, “What a waste of my effort!”

“You were speaking so fast,” said Zhang Ming earnestly. “We didn’t have the chance to stop you. Speak slower next time.”

Zhao Yiyang snorted twice, “Did we find out anything from Zheng Xiaorui’s boyfriend?”

“Zheng Xiaorui did not meet with him. He went to Palau for a vacation with his friends last week, and just returned on Sunday,” said Xing Jiadong.

“Find out more regarding the transfer student’s suicide,” said Jiang Yuecheng.

Qi Youxuan slouched lazily in his chair playing with his cell phone and suddenly realized that the room became silent. He looked up in surprise, “What are you guys looking at me for?”

“Do you have any other instructions? Do you need to accompany us to investigate the situation of the family member?” asked Zhang Ming, who seemed rather unaccustomed to Qi Youxuan having nothing to say.

“Can’t you handle such a trivial investigation on your own?” Qi Youxuan looked at them with contempt. “How did you handle the cases before I showed up? You can’t be dependent on me for everything. What happens when I leave? You have to buck-up dear comrades. I’m not here to babysit.”

“Bloody hell, I shouldn’t have asked!” Zhang Ming said remorsefully. “You have not changed one bit since childhood. You’ve always been so infuriating.”

“Everyone says that I have a wonderful and lovable personality.” Qi Youxuan was particularly dissatisfied. He waved disapprovingly, “Hurry up, lives are at stake.”

Jiang Yuecheng said, “Muran, you and I—”

“She will attend to me,” Qi Youxuan interrupted quickly.

“Mr. Qi.” Jiang Yuecheng frowned and was about to refuse.

“I’m helping you solve the case for free. If I’m in a bad mood, I can curse you so that you won’t be able to solve even one case in the future.”

Bloody hell!

This person has no shame!

Xing Jiadong almost could not hold-back pushing up his sleeves to start a fight. In the end, they had no choice but to leave Wei Muran. Everyone else went back to work.

Wei Muran was particularly embarrassed and felt like she had inconvenienced her colleagues.

Qi Youxuan suddenly heard a loud “bang” and looked toward the source of the sound. Wei Muran had slammed a glass of water next to his arm.

Qi Youxuan shuddered and quickly looked up at her. “Mumu, what’s wrong?”

“Not much, I’m just attending to you.” Wei Muran raised her eyebrows and put on a fake smile.

She never realized that she was spoiled by Qi Youxuan from an early age. When did Qi Youxuan really let her do anything on her own? As long as it was delicious, she did not even need to mention it, Qi Youxuan would have brought it right to her. As long as Qi Youxuan was around, she did not even need to lift a finger.

Therefore, Wei Muran did not believe for once that Qi Youxuan dared ask her to attend to him.

Sure enough, Qi Youxuan stood up and asked her to sit down, “Don’t be ridiculous, it is I that should attend to you. What would you like to eat, to drink? Would you like to take a nap?”

Wei Muran, “…”

Wei Muran ignored him and started sorting out the case materials.

Qi Youxuan remained on one side, holding on to his cell phone, god knows what game he was playing. They were the only two people in the room. It was quiet.

Finally, Qi Youxuan turned around and said, “Just say what you have to say. You’re making me feel embarrassed.”

His face blushed as he spoke.

From an early age, Qi Youxuan blushed easily. It was not a big deal when they were little, but they were grown-ups already. What could she have said?

On the contrary, she thought him blushing like that was cute.

Wei Muran thought she must be infatuated.

“…” Wei Muran hesitated for a long time but finally let it out. She lowered her head and asked a little reluctantly, “What you said at noon, what did u mean by it? It may cause a misunderstanding.”

“What was it I said?” Qi Youxuan tilted his head and asked while rubbing his chin.

“Nothing,” said Wei Muran coldly and then continued to ignore him.

Qi Youxuan smiled and asked, “I’m being serious.”

Wei Muran stared blankly, and the pen she was holding fell to the desk with a “clack”.

“You… What are you talking about!” Her mouth was grim, her face was a little flustered, her ears were burning, but her eyes remained fixed on Qi Youxuan.

From the looks of it, she did not believe it.

Qi Youxuan frowned secretly and said, “Youning told me you might not believe it, thinking it was just something we said as children. However, I was being serious, and never wavered.”

“Have you ever wondered what this kind of feeling is? Maybe you like me, but is this love? We have played together since we were little. I’m the only other female person you’ve been close with, other than your immediate family. I’m afraid this familiarity may have confused you.”

Qi Youxuan wanted to refute. He frowned and wondered how to convince Wei Muran. In fact, he did not know how to explain it either. Rather, he felt that, if it could be explained, it would not be what he felt.

“Moreover.” Wei Muran shook her head. “I don’t know how I feel about you either, and I dare not agree with you so rashly. Such an impetuous decision is neither good for you, nor me.”

Qi Youxuan remained silent, got up slowly and walked in front of her, and placed both hands on the back of the chair she sat in. Unknowingly, Wei Muran was trapped between his arms.

His chest suddenly looked magnified directly before her eyes—it looked especially solid.

Unconsciously, her breathing turned frantic.

Seeing her reaction, the corner of Qi Youxuan lips curled up. Having more confidence, he lifted his clean and slender hands to approach her.

Wei Muran was stunned and did not know how to react; she only watched as his fingers got closer and closer to her cheek. Her breathing became more and more frantic. He had not even touched her, yet, her body was sweltering.

Qi Youxuan just picked up some stray hairs gently and tucked them away behind her ears. His fingertips inevitably brushed her ears, gently sliding down from the tip of her ears. This immediately caused a slight tingling sensation.

Wei Muran felt that her ears were numb. This numbness traveled all the way to her cheeks, neck, and shoulders, and caused her to tremble uncontrollably.

Did she not say she did not know how she felt?

She was being protected by Wei Ziqi all this while and was naive in this regard.

Qi Youxuan chuckled and said, “Then I’ll give you some time to think about it. You don’t need to worry about my feelings. My feelings have always been clear. When I see you, I want to hug you, I want to kiss you, I want to bed you. I want to marry you and spend my whole life with you. I don’t feel that way toward others. When I was a little, I just thought you were pretty and cute, and have a great personality, that’s why I liked you. Maybe the feeling wasn’t mature at that time. But as you grow older, this feeling has also become the feeling of adults. I like you, and it won’t change. I won’t study criminal psychology just for anyone, nor I will take a year off just to spend your rookie year by your side. I won’t be reporting to the police station every day. Losing my wallet today and losing my cellphone tomorrow. I’m very clear about my feelings and I’ve never been disconcerted. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about another woman coming into the picture for me to realize that my feeling towards you was not that kind of feeling and make you sad. Because there won’t be such a woman.”

“I’ll give you some time to consider, but not too long. It’ll be the duration of this case. I’ll need an answer when the case is solved. If the answer is yes, I will be happy, if not, I will find a way to turn it into a yes.”

Wei Muran, “…”

She was stunned and did not know how to react.

This was clearly an affectionate confession of feelings, but she was still speechless.

It was not a surprise that her father always said that Qi Youxuan’s father was a rogue back in the day. His son was no different.

She did not know what her father meant at the time, but she had finally witnessed it.

‘To bed me?’

And that last part. Regardless of her answer, the final answer was to agree?

Wei Muran’s thoughts were a mess and she could not think straight. She instinctively used what she learned at the police academy against Qi Youxuan and hit Qi Youxuan’s stomach.

Qi Youxuan did not guard against it. He could have blocked the blow but was willing to take the hit. When one’s wife hits you, you have to take it willingly, and cry out even though it did not hurt.

Wei Muran hit hard. She was inexperienced. During practice and exams at the academy, she put all her strength in it. It had only been a few months since she graduated and joined the criminal investigation team, so she had not encountered a situation where she needed to fight in close quarters.

In addition, Qi Youxuan’s words had her all fired up. She didn’t bother to control her strength. It was a real blow. Qi Youxuan was not faking it, he was actually in pain.

Bending over and clutching his stomach, his face turned pale, “Mumu, you… didn’t hold back at all! It really hurts! I’m weak, unlike you who went through training… Ouch…”

Qi Youxuan fell to the ground, rolling over clutching his stomach.

“You… I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to! I didn’t control my strength.” Wei Muran looked at his pale face and felt hurt. She immediately kneeled down with regret and put her hand on his belly, “I… I’ll give it a massage, it looks like I didn’t hit a bone.”

“Ouch!” As soon as Wei Muran’s hand touched him, Qi Youxuan trembled, his body curled up, and conveniently laid down in Wei Muran’s arms. “Mumu, you’re so ruthless. It hurts… It hurts… Ouch!”

“This… I… I won’t strike you in the future. I really didn’t expect it, and… Why did you say those things?” Wei Muran was also anxious. She struck Qi Youxuan. She felt guilty and wished that he could just return the favor and hit her.

“Whatever I said was sincere. I told you everything that’s on my mind. I wasn’t not lying,” said Qi Youxuan pitifully, yet took the opportunity to snuggle closer in her bosom, as if like a soft pillow—he felt extremely comfortable.

Wei Muran felt something was off. She looked down. Qi Youxuan still looked half in pain, his complexion rosy, his eyes squinted, his lips puckered.

“Qi Youxuan!” shouted Wei Muran angrily as she pushed him away and stormed out without saying another word.

Qi Youxuan wanted to give chase, but he was not faking his pain. It hurt when he tried to move and he fell back down. Finally, he gave up the chase.

…

Wei Muran was just passing the time outside until Zhang Ming returned. Only then she returned to the office.

Qi Youxuan no longer seemed to be in pain and was sitting there looking bored.

“The girl who committed suicide by jumping off the building was called Li Anqi. The family moved to G City a year after the incident. Later, because of Li Anqi’s father, Li Huailiang, job change, he was sent to the company’s Singapore branch and took up permanent residence there. Li Anqi had an older brother, who was studying in Canada at the time and hasn’t returned for years.”

“If we don’t find Zheng Xiaorui soon, she’ll be in trouble,” said Qi Youxuan frowning.

“Find out who Zheng Xiaorui was in contact with before she disappeared,” said Jiang Yuecheng in a deep voice.

“Those harassment calls she received before she disappeared, although they’re from different numbers and could’ve been disconnected by now, but check on those as well in case there’s a clue.” Qi Youxuan said, “We’ll have to follow up on every little clue.”

…

The girl looked in horror at the man in front of her. The naked man shuddered and did not dare to move forward. Suddenly a whip struck his back, and a voice murmured, “If you don’t go, then cut your thing off yourself!”

The man flinched at the pain and had no choice but to continue moving toward the young girl. The young girl leaned weakly against the wall, her body fully exposed. Her originally fair and delicate skin was covered with whip scars and some fresh bloodstained wounds.

Her lips trembled so badly, she was terror-stricken, yet there was nowhere to hide.

“Don’t come over, I beg you. Please don’t come over, please …”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… if I don’t, we will die. We will both die,” the man murmured then engulfed the girl.

Only the girl’s screams could be heard.

…

It has been three days since they started to investigate Zheng Xiaorui’s whereabouts, but they still had no leads.

They even released a photograph of Zheng Xiaorui, requesting those who had seen her to contact the police. Only one person contacted them in three days, and the leads provided were not useful.

“Someone called and said that she was spotted in Nanshan last Wednesday. It was the lady owner of a grocery store. There’s a village at the foot of Nanshan. Zheng Xiaorui went there to buy something as not many frequent the place. Apart from the villagers, the grocery store is mostly empty. Therefore, the lady owner particularly remembered Zheng Xiaorui. The village is remote so the photographs we distributed only reached the village yesterday,” said Zhao Yiyang.

“Nanshan…” Qi Youxuan muttered, “I remember the forensic report mentioning that a piece of soil between the toes of the deceased Zheng Wentao didn’t match those found in the West Suburbs. The West Suburbs was not the first crime scene, fortunately. The body was buried, so the storm didn’t wash away what was on the body.”

Qi Youxuan looked up abruptly. “Has the forensic science division compared the soil sample from the deceased’s toe that did not match the West Suburbs with the soil from Nanshan.”

Zhao Yiyang did not look at Jiang Yuecheng this time, and quickly nodded. “I’ll get them on it at once.”

“It’s been three days, I’m afraid it will not be good for Zheng Xiaorui.”

The forensic science division came back with the results very quickly. When Zhao Yiyang came back with the report, he was very excited. “It’s a match, the same as Nanshan.”

“Head out to Nanshan,” ordered Jiang Yuecheng immediately.

Qi Youxuan also tagged along. As Jiang Yuecheng took some men with him to investigate, Wei Muran also followed but someone grabbed her ponytail.

Wei Muran turned, and Qi Youxuan did not let go. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To do my job of course,” said Wei Muran awkwardly.

She did not think much about their relationship since she was busy with the case for the past few days. Qi Youxuan also did not bring it up, but it was still awkward to be alone with him.

Whenever her mind was not busy, she could not help but think about what he said the other day. She dared not even look him straight in the eyes the past few days.

“Those guys are going to be traversing in the mountains, you don’t need to go. Come with me to the grocery store.” Qi Youxuan let go of her ponytail and grabbed her wrist.

Wei Muran gave in and reluctantly followed.

…

“There weren’t many customers that day. The young lady was well dressed, had fair and delicate skin, and also had a western look. You could tell immediately that she was from the city. Our village is small and the villages know each other. Nanshan is also not a tourist destination, apart from the strawberry season where people will come pick strawberries. It isn’t in-season now, so it’s pretty quiet here. Therefore, I remember this girl very clearly,” said the lady owner of the grocery store.

“Did she buy anything?” asked Qi Youxuan.

He had surveyed the store when he walked in. The store was small and the three walls in it were stacked full of shelves of daily necessities. The lady owner stood behind a glass counter, which contained cigarettes, bread, some chocolate, sausages, and instant noodles.

“She bought a fruit knife. She didn’t have much on her, just a small backpack. It’s really weird. She didn’t look too good either.”

“Other than the girl, were there any other outsiders recently?” asked Qi Youxuan.

The lady owner thought for a while and shook her head, “No, not that I know of. Other than the girl, I haven’t seen any strangers.”

There was nothing more to be found here. Qi Youxuan and Wei Muran headed back to regroup with the others.

About halfway back, Wei Muran received a phone call, and her expression changed. She turned to Qi Youxuan and said, “They found Zheng Xiaorui’s body.”

When they arrived, a perimeter had already been set up around Zheng Xiaorui’s body. Zheng Xiaorui was lying naked in a pit, and there was some freshly dug dirt beside her.

Half her face was smashed in. Her hair was soaked in dried blood which made it clump together with the mud.

Just like Zheng Wentao, her body was covered in whip scars, old and new. Wei Muran took one look and could not bear to look any longer and averted her eyes.

Bai Mo and her colleagues from the Forensic Science Division rushed over. She only glanced at Wei Muran, then proceeded to inspect the body.

The Forensic Science Division retrieved their samples and left. Only after Bai Mo thoroughly inspected it was the body removed. She came over to Jiang Yuecheng and said, “The deceased had been raped prior to her death. There were obvious signs of injury to her lower body. We also found male semen. The time of death was between twelve to one in the morning last night. The cause of death was a high fall.”

“The killer intentionally left us clues. Whether it’s the semen in Zheng Xiaorui’s body or the marks on her neck, we can trace it back to the killer,” Qi Youxuan said before continuing, “He’s provoking us. He wants us to find him. There must be a clue left here intentionally by the killer nearby. Find it at once.”

Jiang Yuecheng had everyone split up. Wei Muran and Zhang Ming moved south along the village, while Qi Youxuan quickly followed. They found an abandoned factory not far from the village. The gate to the factory yard was locked. The iron railings, chains, and padlocks on the door were all rusted.

Qi Youxuan looked at the padlock without touching it, then pointed and said, “These padlocks were opened recently and frequently by someone. There’s rust between the chains.”

Qi Youxuan removed his handkerchief from his trouser pocket and gently wiped between the chains. Sure enough, the handkerchief was stained with a brownish powdery substance.

“However, the padlock is clean, as well as the part of the chain toward where the padlock is. Someone frequently touched these.” Qi Youxuan pointed to the lock. It was obvious even to the naked eye.

“The village chief said the factory has been abandoned for two years, but there’s a caretaker who has the key,” said Zhang Ming. He took out his cell phone and called Xing Jiadong. “Jiadong, find the village chief. Have him bring the factory caretaker to the factory.”

They later notified Jiang Yuecheng and he quickly headed to the factory.

Shortly after, Xing Jiadong brought the village chief. Accompanying them was a man in his fifties with grey hair, wearing an unbuttoned dark blue cotton jacket, exposing a white undershirt.

“He said he lost the keys,” said Xing Jiadong disgruntledly as he glared at the caretaker.

“What’s going on?” Zhang Ming looked suspiciously at the caretaker.

The terrified caretaker waved his hands frantically, “Officer, you can’t suspect me. I’m an honest and law-abiding person. I’ve never done anything bad. At most, I’m just a cheapskate. I lost the keys three months ago. Although the factory had ceased operations, it originally was a chemical plant, so, they still had to keep an eye on it. I was paid eight hundred Yuan a month until they fully cleared out the place. In fact, the clearing work was completed three months ago. The factory is to be demolished and the land sold. I was responsible for bringing the interested parties to look at the place prior to it being sold. I was afraid if they found out that I had lost the keys, they would fire me and I would lose eight hundred Yuan a month just like that.”

“How did you lose the key? Think hard, otherwise, you’ll be brought to the police station for questioning. You’ll be the main suspect,” said Zhang Ming. Zhao Yiyang had already called for a locksmith.

The caretaker was so terrified that he choked and almost cried. “Officer… officer, I’m innocent… I wouldn’t dare… Officer.”

“Then think hard,” said Zhao Yiyang in a serious tone.

“I… I remember now. Three months ago, a company sent a representative to inspect the land. They didn’t plan to demolish the factory and said that if it was suitable, they would also purchase the factory. The original owner was delighted. The factory itself can be worth a lot. The representative asked me to unlock the door and inspected the place. After sending him off, I didn’t bother to see if the key was still there. A few days later, I planned to drop by and realized that the key was gone. I… I dared not tell anyone.”

Everyone there smelt something fishy. Zhang Ming said immediately, “Give us the contact information of the company that contacted you that time, as well as the contact information of the original owner of the factory.”

“Aye…” The caretaker retrieved his cell phone and gave Zhang Ming the numbers.

The locksmith arrived and pried open the padlocks. Jiang Yuecheng had his men set up police lines outside, and then lead them inside.

The factory had been abandoned for two years and no one has ever cleaned it. There was a thick layer of dust on the ground and there were no lights. It was bright outside, but pitch-dark inside. Everyone raised their flashlights, and the dust in the air was even more apparent under the beams of light.

There was also a smell of mildew in the air. Wei Muran subconsciously leaned against Qi Youxuan, quietly tugged on Qi Youxuan’s arm, and whispered, “Am I imagining it? Or do I faintly smell blood?”

“You’re not imagining it,” Qi Youxuan said calmly, “I smell it too. This way.”

Qi Youxuan unconsciously moved to the front and led the way. Wei Muran realized that he had not received any training whatsoever. Fearing that he would not be able to avoid any impending danger, she hurried towards him and moved to shield him.

In the darkness, he grasped her by the hand and heard him whisper gently, “There is no reason for the woman I love to protect me in turn. If you’re hurt, it’s my failure.”

After he spoke, she was pushed behind him.

In the dark, Wei Muran felt her face sweltering as if there was hot steam coming out of her ears. Her mind was a hazy, and void of any cognitive ability.

However, she did not pull away and allowed Qi Youxuan to lead her by the hand, sweltering ears and all. She had not even considered if anyone was watching.

Zhang Ming saw everything from the start, smiled sneakily, and directed his flashlight elsewhere. Jiang Yuecheng’s expression was stagnant for a moment, then looked away.

Wei Muran followed along and suddenly felt a scratch on her palm. She felt a slight tingling sensation from the palm of her hand.

“Qi Youxuan!” said Wei Muran warningly through gritted teeth.

“Don’t move, we’re here.” Qi Youxuan’s voice sounded serious, so she did as he said. Her hand was being squeezed again by him, and his thumb rubbed back and forth teasingly against the back of her hand.

Wei Muran wanted to jerk her hand back but was already in too deep. He held on too tightly.

“There’s blood,” said Qi Youxuan suddenly.

He directed his flashlight toward the wall, there was blood where the wall met the ground. “The blood hasn’t dried!” said Qi Youxuan as he approached.

Jiang Yuecheng reacted quickly and immediately informed his men outside via walkie-talkie, “The person just left, search the perimeter!”

The others continued their inspection with Qi Youxuan. Wearing white gloves, Zhao Yiyang picked up a piece of rope, “There’s blood on this rope.”

Qi Youxuan crouched down suddenly, “Does anyone have a clean handkerchief?”

Jiang Yuecheng and Wei Muran both presented a handkerchief at the same time. The others did not even have paper napkins on them.

Qi Youxuan was amazed. Jiang Yuecheng still had this habit. He looked at the handkerchief handed over by Wei Muran, skipped over it, and took the one from Jiang Yuecheng.

Wei Muran pouted and put hers away unhappily.

Qi Youxuan threw her a glance and stifled a smile, “What we have here might be the stuff that comes out after men and women are done doing it. You wouldn’t want to get it on your handkerchief. You’ll have to get rid of it later.”

Wei Muran suddenly felt uncomfortable and did not retaliate. She watched as Qi Youxuan put on his gloves, then using Jiang Yuecheng’s handkerchief, collected the liquid from the ground, and put it in the bag.

“…” Jiang Yuecheng watched his handkerchief being used to collect the liquid and felt uncomfortable.

“Why didn’t you use your own handkerchief,” asked Jiang Yuecheng through gritted teeth.

“Oh, it was already stained with rust. Won’t it affect the forensic test results?” said Qi Youxuan extra seriously.

Jiang Yuecheng, “…”

Jiang Yuecheng’s walkie-talkie crackled, “Sergeant Jiang, we didn’t find anyone.”

“Roger that. Let’s head back. Bring the caretaker along,” said Jiang Yuecheng.

….

Back at the station, Zhao Yiyang and Xing Jiadong continued to question the caretaker regarding the representative who came to inspect the factory three months ago.

Qi Youxuan stood in front of the whiteboard holding a marker, talking and jotting down notes. “Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui were kidnapped by the same person, but the substance we found in Zheng Xiaorui is unlikely from the kidnapper. Both victims had no other external injuries other than severe whipping scars. The factory was dirty but certain areas were clean, leaving obvious tracks.

Qi Youxuan pointed to a photograph and said, “Here, a chair was placed here previously. The kidnapper is obsessed with cleanliness, therefore the person that raped Zheng Xiaorui was not the kidnapper. It could be that he hired someone to rape Zheng Xiaorui, or had an accomplice, or kidnapped another person and forced him to rape Zheng Xiaorui. I’m leaning towards the latter possibility.”

“People who are obsessed with cleanliness are usually controlling in nature. When Zheng Wentao was killed, he didn’t get his hands dirty; rather, he had Zheng Xiaorui kill her own grandfather. As for Zheng Xiaorui, he didn’t do it himself either. He had someone else rape and kill her. A person of this nature would not team up with others.”

Qi Youxuan tapped the desk softly with his pen. “Zheng Xiaorui caused Li Anqi to be raped and then commit suicide, but Zheng Wentao used his position to cover it up. So the murderer kidnapped Zheng Wentao and pitted his grandchild against him, threatening both their lives. If Zheng Xiaorui wanted to live, she must kill Zheng Wentao. Zheng Wentao must’ve felt that since he’s old, and if he must choose, he would’ve given his granddaughter a chance to live. So Zheng Xiaorui stabbed Zheng Wentao. That’s why the first two wounds were shallow. You can tell the attacker hesitated. After all, she was killing her own biological grandfather.”

“As for Zheng Xiaorui, she was raped and subsequently fell from a great height. This is the same as Li Anqi.” Qi Youxuan tapped his marker and turned back to the whiteboard and wrote, [The kidnapper is male, approximately twenty-five years old. Doesn’t have any distinctive features. Has myopia and wears glasses. He has obsessive-compulsive disorder and has small habitual movements that maybe he has not noticed himself.]

Qi Youxuan turned to Zhang Ming and asked, “You mentioned that there was no record of Li Anqi’s brother returning to China. At the time, who else was close to Li Anqi? The boy Zheng Xiaorui liked was very popular in school, which shows that Li Anqi must’ve been popular as well. She would’ve had many suitors. Check up on anyone close to Li Anqi at the time. Also…”

Qi Youxuan narrowed his eyes before continuing, “Gossip and rumors spread easily in high school. You can start from this angle. Take Zheng Xiaorui’s graduation photograph and check it out.”

“If the suspect is one of Zheng Xiaorui and Li Anqi’s classmates, the age approximate of twenty-five years old wouldn’t be a match,” said Zhang Ming.

“Did Li Anqi have a boyfriend at the time? It’s not uncommon for high school students to fall in love early,” asked Qi Youxuan.

“I’ll check.” Zhang Ming nodded and left.

Xing Jiadong and Zhao Yiyang returned. Zhao Yiyang handed over a composite sketch to Jiang Yuecheng. “This is the composite sketch of the suspect according to, Li Fusheng, the caretaker’s description.”

Jiang Yuecheng’s expression shifted. He then handed the sketch to Qi Youxuan. “This matches the description you just said.”

“Is Li Fusheng still there?” asked Qi Youxuan as he looked up.

“Yes, he is.” Zhao Yiyang noticed both Qi Youxuan and Jiang Yuecheng imposing expressions and felt tense.

Qi Youxuan nodded, “I’ll question him again.”

Surprisingly, Xing Jiadong did not make any rude quips. Zhao Yiyang followed Qi Youxuan into the interrogation room.

Li Fusheng saw the two of them enter. “Why can’t I leave? I really didn’t do anything,” he said anxiously and frantically.

“We know, but we still have some questions for you,” said Zhao Yiyang.

Qi Youxuan sat down opposite Li Fusheng and asked calmly, “Think carefully, the representative that came to you three months ago. Was there anything peculiar about his behavior? Any weird little details? Anything you think a normal person wouldn’t do. Did he make a fuss regarding anything? Was there anything he did that you secretly thought he was being overly particular?”

Li Fusheng was still confused initially, but after hearing Qi Youxuan’s words, he understood.

He nodded his head as he remembered. “There was something strange. He was a bit of a clean freak. There are many dirt roads in our village, especially the road leading to the old factory. He frowned as he walked. As soon as he reached the factory gate, he wiped his shoes with a handkerchief, then threw the handkerchief away. Then, he took out a small bottle of hand sanitizer and applied it on his hands.”

“So the gate was locked, right? He then took out another handkerchief and moved it along the chain.” Li Fusheng pouted his lips and said, “Not sure why he had so many handkerchiefs.”

“I accidentally touched him while unlocking the padlock, he immediately sprung away and shouted at me not to touch him,” snorted Li Fusheng. “As if I wanted to touch him?”

“The lights weren’t working, so I used a flashlight. I kept hearing a clapping sound. The guy kept brushing his sleeves and clothes with his hands. Then out came the hand sanitizer, then the brushing again. When we exited the factory, he looked sick. I pitied him and so I wasn’t too hard on him. He was so obsessed with his cleanliness, I doubt he paid any attention to the condition of the factory.”

Qi Youxuan left with Zhao Yiyang after the questioning and released Li Fusheng.

Moments later, Zhang Ming came in with two photographs. “This is the class photo of Zheng Xiaorui’s graduation. There’s someone that matches your and Li Fusheng’s description.”

Zhang Ming pointed to a man sitting on the far left of the first row, then showed him a two-inch ID photograph. “His name is Dong Zhengfeng, originally from The First Experimental High School, and was Zheng Xiaorui and Li Anqi’s language teacher. When Li Anqi jumped off the building, he was right below and saw the whole thing as she landed in a pool of blood. According to a teacher who’s still teaching at the school, his first reaction was to try to catch Li Anqi. His hands and clothes were all covered in blood. Since then, Dong Zhengfeng seems to have developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder. He must wash his hands several times a day. When using chalk in class, he has to hold it with a handkerchief. This is considered a mental illness, so he went to see a psychiatrist but it seems that it didn’t help much. Coincidentally, after Zheng Xiaorui graduated, he also resigned. Based on what another teacher who was close to him said, he didn’t continue teaching after he resigned but instead joined a food company. That company did consider setting up a factory in Nanshan not long ago.”

“Find Dong Zhengfeng at once!” Jiang Yuecheng dared not waste a moment and left with his men to Dong Zhengfeng’s workplace. Wei Muran joined them but Qi Youxuan stayed behind.

The case was almost closed and he had to get his affairs in order.

…

Wei Muran figured that Dong Zhengfeng would have definitely escaped out of fear and would not willingly be captured.

Clearly, everyone else had the same thought. Jiang Yuecheng was especially shocked when he saw Dong Zhengfeng sitting at his office normally.

When they explained why they were there, Dong Zhengfeng was even more surprised but did not panic. More accurately, he looked puzzled. He felt like they must have made a mistake.

Wei Muran thought that Dong Zhengfeng was either an excellent actor, or he was really framed. However, she also believed in Qi Youxuan’s judgment. After seeing Dong Zhengfeng’s reaction, she felt that there was no way he was faking it.

Dong Zhengfeng did not resist and even cooperated fully with the police.

Qi Youxuan did not personally interrogate him, but only observed through the one-way mirror.

Dong Zhengfeng was not aware of the deaths of Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui and was even surprised.

“What can you tell?” Jiang Yuecheng stood next to Qi Youxuan.

Qi Youxuan frowned, “He’s not lying, but he did murder them.”

Jiang Yuecheng drew a blank. What was he saying?

“My deductions are never wrong, he’s the murderer.” Qi Youxuan narrowed his eyes then said, “However, his body language says that he’s not lying.”

Zhao Yiyang and Xing Jiadong could not get anything out of him. Jiang Yuecheng had no choice but to get a polygraph test.

Even on the polygraph, Dong Zhengfeng was calm and answered fluently. Jiang Yuecheng started to get impatient. “Mr. Qi, we can’t be wasting our efforts merely based on the fact that you think that your deductions are correct. At most, we can only detain him until the next morning. We’ll have to release him by then.”

Qi Youxuan frowned for a long time, then exclaimed, “It takes an hour and a half to get from Nanshan to his office. The blood at the factory was still wet, and there’s still another kidnap victim. He wouldn’t have enough time to get rid of that stuff. Check his car.”

Qi Youxuan observed Dong Zhengfeng through the one-way mirror and noticed that his feet were shuffling around uncomfortably.

“His shoes are dirty,” said Qi Youxuan. Jiang Yuecheng looked puzzled and did not know what he meant.

“There must be something on his shoes making him so uncomfortable,” explained Qi Youxuan.

Immediately, Jiang Yuecheng informed Zhao Yiyang and Xing Jiadong to remove Dong Zhengfeng’s shoes.

Dong Zhengfeng, who had been calm all along, suddenly resisted so much to prevent them from removing his shoes. Zhao Yiyang and Xing Jiadong tried to hold him down and he went berserk. “Don’t touch me! Filthy, don’t touch me!”

Xing Jiadong twisted his arm behind him and pinned his body to the desk—one hand clasped his arm, the other pressing his head tightly against the desk.

“Let me go.” Dong Zhengfeng’s voice changed suddenly. It was not frantic as before, it was calm, cold even. As if void of emotion.

Xing Jiadong could not see it, but Zhao Yiyang saw that Dong Zhengfeng’s facial expression changed.

“Unhand me. You don’t need to remove my shoes,” said Dong Zhengfeng. “I didn’t kill Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui, but I did have them murdered. You don’t need to investigate anymore. I confess.”

Xing Jiadong was so shocked that he let go of his grip. Looking at the coldness and ridicule on Dong Zhengfeng’s face, his heart turned cold.

“He’s timid. He doesn’t know what I did. You won’t get anything from him,” said Dong Zhengfeng mockingly.

“You …” Xing Jiadong looked at him in surprise.

“Multiple personality disorder.” The door burst open as Qi Youxuan’s voice was heard.

Jiang Yuecheng came in behind him and closed the door.

Dong Zhengfeng smiled and did not deny it.

“Does he know you exist?” asked Qi Youxuan.

“Perhaps. I suppose he knows. As soon as he is asleep, I will appear. Sometimes when his emotions are unstable, I will also appear. When he controls this body, I’m aware of his surroundings, but when I’m in control, he will not know what I do not wish him to know.

However, when I was in control, I did a lot of investigations regarding Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui, including the rapist. There were many photographs at home, and he found them one day. He burned them all and then pretended nothing was wrong. But I knew that he knew the truth. He’s just avoiding it.”

“Now that you have willingly confessed, you might as well tell us everything. Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui, why did you kill them?” asked Jiang Yuecheng.

“Didn’t you figure it out? Zheng Xiaorui caused Li Anqi to be raped and commit suicide. Zheng Xiaorui didn’t receive the punishment she deserved. Zheng Wentao connived and protected his granddaughter and justice was not served. Since the law was unable to punish them, I had to do it myself.”

“First, I had Zheng Wentao abducted, and then used him to draw Zheng Xiaorui out. I tortured them. I had them whip each other. Whoever whipped lightly will be beaten more severely by me. They wouldn’t dare hold back. Each strike was harder than the next.” Dong Zhengfeng had a crazed look in his eyes.

“When the two didn’t have an ounce of strength left, I threw them a knife. Whoever grabs the knife and kills the other can live.” Dong Zhengfeng sneered, “Zheng Wentao really loves his granddaughter. Zheng Xiaorui madly grabbed at the knife, but Zheng Wentao didn’t move an inch. It could be that he saw Zheng Xiaorui’s actions, and decided to let Zheng Xiaorui kill him.”

“Zheng Xiaorui was really cold-hearted and selfish. She could even take her own grandfather’s life. She was still afraid when she took the first two stabs, but from the third onwards, she became more and more crazed, almost unstoppable. One stab after another she plunged the knife into Zheng Wentao’s chest, and blood splattered on her face.”

Qi Youxuan twitched slightly. Bai Mo’s report also stated that Zheng Xiaorui had traces of Zheng Wentao’s blood on her.

“A coward like Zheng Xiaorui is afraid of death. She’s a beast who can even kill her biological grandfather to save her own. How can she be allowed to live? She’s a scourge to all. She tormented Li Anqi, and she killed her own grandfather. Who knows what she could do in the future? I pity Zheng Wentao, who raised such an ungrateful person. Zheng Xiaorui’s death is my contribution to the world.”

“She will now experience what she did to Li Anqi. I found the bastard who raped Li Anqi years ago and abducted him. He deserved it too. I personally flogged him to the point of despair. He dared not disobey me if he wanted to live. I had him rape Zheng Xiaorui, then had him push her off the roof of the factory.”

* * *

[Interlude] Youning Vs Wen Xu’s Childhood, Don’t Order If Unacceptable

The truth was Little Youning met Little Wen Xu not when Little Youning was three; it was during young Youning’s anniversary party as the Wen family were also present then.

During that event, Little Wen Ming was merely a year and a month old. He was still a baby, nursed and carried in Fang Jiaran’s loving arms. Seated beside her was her nine-year-old son, Wen Xu. His posture was impeccable as both his arms were placed formally on his lap while his back was incredibly straight. He had a completely stiff and emotionless yet slightly cold expression on his face. If he was to compare his expression with Wen Ren’s expression, both of them would be complete opposites.

Every person sharing the same table with Wen Ren felt extremely uncomfortable. The main cause of their extremely uptight and anxious behavior was not due to them being afraid of Wen Ren. It was, however, single-handedly caused by his son’s overreaction. This had made every single guest sharing a table with them to feel extremely nervous and uptight.

It was difficult to pin down between both Wen Ren and Fang Jiaran as to who exactly was more ridiculous than the other. After their marriage, everyone from the Lanshan Courtyard felt there was no one more fitted to marry Fang Jiaran than Wen Ren. This very perspective that every single person from the Lanshan Courtyard had shared was successful in influencing most of the outsiders, making everyone else feel the same way.

However, it was baffling for a couple such as the both of them to have given birth to a child so cold and devoid of emotion. Could it be that opposing poles would result in something positive?

The instant Wen Ren was seated, he requested for four glasses of milk from the waiter. Thus, everyone who was sharing the same table as him felt extremely odd to see a glass of milk placed in front of each person of his family.

Fang Jiaran proceeded to pour Little Wen Ming’s glass of warm milk into a bottle for him to drink.

Wen Xu looked around as if nothing was wrong while casually drinking his milk. He observed everyone that was sharing the same table as him was all looking directly at him, thus he glanced back with his coldly, avoiding their stares. He noticed that everyone was blatantly uncomfortable around him. Feeling somewhat guilty, he dared not to look at anyone there.

However, Wen Xu’s expression remained unchanged as his long natural eyelashes gently pierced his forehead while he casually drank his milk.

Suddenly, he felt as though someone was pulling on his pants.

As he slowly glanced downward, he was surprised to see a chubby Little girl sitting next to the leg of his chair.

Since today happened to be the eve of the Spring festivals, they had arranged the anniversary party to take place in the afternoon to prevent keeping everyone from any delays for any reunion dinner.

It was still winter and the weather had been brisk. Dynasty had even switched on the heater in the restaurant, yet the toddler was still wrapped in several layers of clothing.

Since the small chubby child that sat next to the leg of his chair was already chubby, dressed in several layers of clothing, not a single edge was visible from this Little girl as she looked very much like a Little round ball.

At this very moment, this child was grabbing onto the edge of his pants with her chubby Little hands; even the tip of her fingers was round and chubby. From the very tip of her fingers to the joints of her palms had four adorable Little dimples.

This tiny and plump toddler was having the time of her life as she violently played with his pants. The toddler was so excited that she giggled merrily and mumbled in baby-talk as she played.

After noticing Wen Xu was staring directly at her, she proceeded to look up then smiled with the widest and sweetest smile at him.

“Cuddles!” The toddler said, letting go of his pants as she opened both her arms widely while flailing around, gesturing for Wen Xu to lift her up.

Wen Xu could not describe exactly what he was feeling at that moment, but the only thing he knew was being stared right by this cheerful young toddler warmed his heart. A slight smile gradually grew on his face as his cold and emotionless expression melted gradually.

It was in that instant, he was seemingly able to see the fresh green sprout of life growing out from a layer of snow. It was as if spring was fast approaching.

Thus, Wen Xu lowered his head while extending both his arms as he got ready to pick her up.

“Ning Ning!” A loud voice called out from behind suddenly as he noticed a silhouette of someone close to his age was approaching her.

Sadly, before Wen Xu could pick her up, she was swiftly carried away from the ground leaving behind his empty palms.

Wen Xu’s eyes dimmed as he felt slightly unhappy. He proceeded to shake his empty palms around disappointedly, however, as he looked up, he noticed a Little boy roughly a year or two younger than him struggling with all his might to carry that Little girl. His entire face was flushed red and it was obvious that the toddler was heavy, but that Little boy would not let go of her.

Upon seeing her brother, the chubby toddler proceeded to say, “Gwaaaah!” while grabbing onto Qi Youxuan’s shoulder.

“How could you wander off like that? Don’t go grabbing onto other people, would you?” Qi Youxuan said. However, that toddler proceeded to peck his cheeks.

The tubby toddler giggled with a mouthful of saliva. Just like that, she proceeded to bite down on Qi Youxuan’s face.

After all of that, Qi Youxuan told Wen Xu awkwardly, “I’m so sorry, I’ll carry her off now.”

Wen Xu silently nodded even though he continued to stare at that chubby toddler reluctantly. He then proceeded to glance at the messy spot on Qi Youxuan’s face. No longer able to hold back his impulse, he proceeded to stand up then gestured at the toddler by pointing at his face as if shamelessly telling her that it was alright for her to kiss him. However, just by this gesture alone, he shocked his mother Fang Jiaran.

Naively, the toddler proceeded to extend her arm as she intended to generously offer a kiss to him.

Upon noticing this absurd act, Qi Youxuan frantically pulled her back while taking two steps back. He said, “No, no, no. Ning Ning, you need to listen to your brother here: guys and girls don’t normally do that, except if that person happens to be family. You can’t just go on casually kissing anyone, alright? You’ll need to act like a girl now, okay?”

After saying that, a fully guarded Qi Youxuan said, “I’ll leave with my sister now!”

After saying that, he proceeded to bolt off while carrying the chubby toddler as if he was making his escape.

Wen Xu frowned as he sat down in silence.

Little Wen Ming, who was sitting in his mother’s arms, noticed the disappointed look on his brother’s face and proceeded to gently punch his brother in love. Thus, he extended his tiny, chubby arms at his brother.

He felt as if his brother was disappointed because he could not win over that toddler’s heart. Thus, he attempted to cheer up his brother.

Hence, Little Wen Ming extended his shoulders toward Wen Xu, pouted and said, “Cuddles! Cuddles!”

Staring at the naive look on his brother’s face, Wen Xu let out a soft sigh as he could not bare to completely ignore his brother’s warm love so he proceeded to carry his brother over to himself. However, Little Wen Ming impulsively grabbed onto Wen Xu’s shirt and began climbing on his brother’s body. Wen Xu felt slight pain as the child’s tiny feet stepped onto his belly.

Thus, Wen Xu casually lowered his head allowing Little Wen Ming to give him a tight kiss. Feeling satisfied and happier after doing so, Little Wen Ming gleefully rushed back into Fang Jiaran’s loving arms.

“Hey son, do you happen to have a crush on Ning Ning?” Fang Jiaran whispered.

She was not anticipating her son to answer since her son was known to be exceedingly quiet. However, after hearing his mother’s question, he surprised her by asking, “You know who she is?”

“She’s the main star of today’s event, Qi Chenglin’s daughter. Today’s anniversary party was all planned for herm” Fang Jiaran explained.

After hearing his mother’s explanation, Wen Xu proceeded to look over to Qi Chenglin’s table.

After a brief moment, the ceremony was almost ready to begin. Before it began, everyone had to watch Little Youning pick an item.

Just like when Little Youjin did before, there was a huge table placed at the very front of the hall, and Little Youning was then placed on the table.

Since Little Youning was chubbier than Little Youjin, the moment she was placed on top of the table, she looked exactly like a tiny round ball from a distance.

There were plenty of items placed around her on the table. There was lipstick, beautiful western-style clothes, a pen, a toy ring, and a coin.

However, she never behaved the same way Little Youjin did back then when he did the same. She first stared directly at Qi Chenglin as it was Qi Chenglin who loved her the most. As long as Qi Chenglin was around, both her feet would never have the chance to ever touch the very ground beneath her since Qi Chenglin would carry her around.

Thus, every single time she had laid her eyes on Qi Chenglin, it was almost second nature to her as she instinctively extended both her arms requesting for him to carry her around.

However, Qi Chenglin was patient and never got mad at her. He simply smiled at her compassionately then proceeded to carry her in his arms. Little Youning giggled happily since she assumed she had successfully gotten her way with what she wanted, however, unexpectedly, Qi Chenglin only carried her for a brief moment. After giving her a kiss, he proceeded to once again place her down on the table.

“Be a good girl now, Daddy will carry you around after you’re done picking,” coaxed Qi Chenglin.

Little Youning pouted then proceeded to look directly at her mom. Ruan Danchen simply smiled at her, unwilling to spoil her daughter. She simply said, “Just pick whatever you like, honey. After you’re done, mommy will carry you to get some food, alright?”

Thus, Little Youning pouted and proceeded to look away. She then began to look around the items around her. The first item she approached was the toy ring. She was tempted to pick the ring but after noticing there were no pockets on the outfit she was wearing, she proceeded to fold up her shirt then placed the ring in the folds. After doing so, she then began to crawl over to the coin, repeating her previous question; she placed the coin in the fold she made. She then glanced over to the western-style clothes, and fully tempted by it, she proceeded to crawl toward it. However, she could not support herself with one arm, thus causing her to let go of her shirt, making both the coin and the ring from the folds to fall out.

Fortunately for the ring, it had only fallen beside her leg, but the coin had rolled off to the ground beneath her.

“Gwaaah! Gwaaah!” Little Youning frantically screamed while pointing to the coin that had fallen off the table.

“I thought you wanted that ring earlier? Do you also want the coin?” Ruan Danchen asked.

Little Youning pouted while screaming and pointing directly on the ground. As she was panicking, she noticed a tiny silhouette approached her. It was the boy she was playing with earlier.

Wen Xu picked up the coin and placed it on her palms. He told her, “Whatever you like to pick, I’ll hold on to it for you, alright?”

“Aaaah! Gwwaaah!” Little Youning loved the proposal and she very much enjoyed and liked this big brother.

Thus, Little Youning proceeded to place every single item—from the lipstick, art block, the western-style clothes, pen and everything else—into Wen Xu’s hands. She left nothing behind as she had given every single item to Wen Xu for safekeeping.

Wen Xu had a slight grin on him. He proceeded to take out the toy ring and proceeded to put it around Little Youning’s finger.

“Gwaaah!” It’s pretty!

Little Youning excitedly waved her arms around then extended her arms to Wen Xu.

As Wen Xu bent over, Little Youning generously gave him a kiss on his face.

“…’ Qi Chenglin was speechless as he watched this entire exchange.

The audacity of this damn kid. it seemed to him that he had a deathwish to take advantage of his daughter!

He was tempted to beat that kid up violently!

* * *

“It’s tragic for Zheng Xiaorui to bawl so hard, but she had to pay the price for the things she had done. Why should Li Anqi’s death be so humiliating while she could somehow enjoy an amazing life herself, even going so far as having a spoiled rich boyfriend? There was no reason for her to enjoy such a blissful life!”

A smirk was formed on Dong Zhengfeng’s lips. The smile on his face gradually grew wider and it progressively became even more maniacal. He then said, “Then she was shoved down by that man. How Li Anqi met her end was exactly how that woman’s life ended as well. I am Li Anqi’s retribution! I’ve avenged her! Hahahahahahah!”

Dong Zhengfeng proceeded to lift his head up then began laughing maniacally. As he laughed like a mad man, the tone of his laughter gradually grew softer, then finally, the laughter faded away completely. After that manic episode, his entire face was covered in tears.

“It’s me… I’ve killed them…” Dong Zhengfeng’s tone suddenly shifted, and through that change, everyone knew the normal Dong Zhengfeng had returned.

Perhaps this entire debacle was caused by the other Dong Zhengfeng on purpose so he could find out the truth about everything. Alas, it seemed that the other Dong Zhengfeng had kept everything hidden from him on purpose.

“To be honest, I’m actually extremely timid, and as much as I wished the person who had caused Li Anqi’s death to die, I never had the courage to go through what I intended to. It was him… it’s him that had helped me pull it off.” Dong Zhengfeng grinned, a hint of sinister intent reflected from his smile. “I’ve known of his existence ever since I found the picture of Zheng Wentao and Zheng Xiaorui. A few days ago, a pair of mud-stained boots appeared in the house along with extremely dirty and tattered clothes. I knew it was him; a cowardly escape, simply pretending to be oblivious.”

“I had just graduated from my university back then and had just entered that highschool. I knew I shouldn’t even like Li Anqi since I was a teacher and she was my student. If anyone knew about how I truly felt, society would undoubtedly turn its back on me and would bring plenty of trouble to us both. Hence, I dared not let anyone know about how I truly felt, and as long as I get to look at her, it’d be enough for me. I wanted to wait for her to graduate and enter university to confess my true feelings to her. Who would’ve known that she actually liked me too.”

Dong Zhengfeng’s expression was slightly surprised as he recalled his past. He said, “However, we had never dared to show anyone our intimate feelings with each other to anyone. We agreed that we’d be a couple officially after she’d graduate. Who would’ve guessed Zheng Xiaorui would threaten Li Anqi just because the guy she liked never returned her feelings? It was never Li Anqi’s fault to start. It wasn’t Li Anqi’s fault to cause him to fall for her, and she had never even once flirted with anyone before. It was all because Li Anqi was brought to a secluded spot and was violated by that animal!”

“However.” Dong Zhengfeng gritted his teeth tightly then proceeded to continue, “Things will never be as coincidental as that, right? Why would she run into that animal the moment they left? It was all pre-planned by Zheng Xiaorui, so I’ll never believe anything no matter what! Even if she hadn’t pre-planned it, she had a hand in her death! She caused Li Anqi’s death. She fell to her death right before my very eyes; her fall cracked her skull and bled profusely. She looked so naturally beautiful, but it was after her fall, her entire skull cracked open, her brains spilled out, she was covered in her own pool of blood. Someone so cheerful and would poke fun at me every day was lying in her own pool of blood, completely devoid of even the slightest hint of life. I wanted to meet her when the rumors about her were spreading around in school. I wanted to tell her that these rumors never bothered me at all. And if she was worried about what others might think or say about her, she could apply to a university out of town after she’d graduate and I’d also resign from my job to head on to the same town she was studying in, to spend my life with her together. A place where not a single soul knew about her past. However, it was unfortunate that these words were too late to reach her; she jumped off a building. How could she be so foolish? So foolish!”

“I was standing at that spot back then, I watched her fall to her death. She was seemingly looking directly at me as she fell, almost as if she was apologizing to me back then. Why couldn’t she wait for me just a little longer? Why?!”

Both Dong Zhengfeng’s eyes were completely red at that moment. It was when Qi Youxuan assumed the other Dong Zhengfeng would surface again, he simply blinked then proceeded to calm down.

“I believe you guys had asked around for information in the school. Ever since then, I’ve become a germaphobe and can’t ever stand even a speck of dirt. During the earliest phase as the symptoms started to surface, no matter how hard I washed both my hands, it was almost as if I could still feel the blood that stained both my hands. It felt as if her blood had seeped through my skin and would never wash off. The strong harrowing stench of blood would always linger on my hands. During that period, my hands were so violently washed that not a single drop of sweat would even appear from my hands. The doctors told me it was all in my head, a mental ailment when I went for a check-up. After the diagnosis, I had also met up with a psychiatrist. I just never expected that although I could control the symptoms and I wasn’t as normal as I once was, I wasn’t as suicidal anymore. I thought I had fully recovered, but I never expected I’d develop a second personality.”

The maniacal expression on Dong Zhengfeng’s face was seemingly similar to another person’s personality. He then bragged, “Still, I regret nothing, they deserved to die! They all deserved to die!”

Qi Youxuan got out of there and had someone lock him away. At the same time, Zhang Ming too had returned. He said, “You were right, there was a male corpse found at the back of the trunk. We’ve sent the body over to the forensics team to get an autopsy report.”

According to the autopsy report, it proved the fluid found in Zheng Xiaorui’s body matched the male corpse’s DNA. Thus, Dong Zhengfeng would officially be charged with murder. Although he had split personality disorder and had the official reports from the hospital, he would be sent to a mental asylum instead of prison.

“Within this vast ocean of people, how could Dong Zhengfeng, a person who had resigned from his teaching job and had become a regular samaritan, possibly find the rapist’s true identity after all these years? All our leads turned out cold back then, and even if it were the both of us in charge of that case, it’d be an extremely difficult task to pull off,” Zhang Ming pondered aloud.Read more chapter on our vipnovel.com

Jiang Yuecheng too had felt something off about this case. He said, “Head out to the mental asylum at noon and keep an eye on his mental state. If circumstances were right and the situation would allow, please ask him to clarify things for us. This case isn’t as simple as it seemed. Something just feels off to me, and I just can’t put my finger on it yet.”

The case was now closed and the murderer was indeed Dong Zhengfeng, hence there was no reason at all to probe things even further. However, it seemed the conclusion raised more questions. What exactly was going on with this complicated case?

“Sergeant Jiang.” Xing Jiadong walked in with a saddened, heavy look. He said, “Dong Zhengfeng had committed suicide in the hospital.”

Jiang Yuecheng stood up in shock since they had just discussed heading over to the mental asylum to question him. He had actually died the very next moment, and if anyone was to tell him there was nothing sketchy about this case, he would never believe that person.

“So it’s a confirmed suicide?” Jiang Yuecheng asked.

“The hospital had confirmed it. As Dong Zhengfeng’s mental state was stable, the staff never bothered to restrain him. He’d even talk a walk at a fixed time every day and was even capable of striking up a conversation with the more stable patients. When the nurse went to check on him after his afternoon break, he was found dead unexpectedly. He had bit his tongue to end his life.”

“Only the boldest of men would choose to bite their own tongue as a method of suicide,” said a wide-eyed Zhang Ming. This method of suicide was not seen in years.

Only people who were living in ancient times would choose this method of suicide. No modern people would even think about enduring such intense suffering. With that in mind, who would even want to die then?

Anyone who had chosen this method would have to be absolutely determined to do so as the entire process was excruciatingly painful. This would be torture for anyone.

There were only three main causes of death in this method of suicide.

The first was after the tongue had been thoroughly bitten off, a part of the tongue got caught at the trachea that caused the victim to choke to death.

The second was biting the rich and abundant blood vessels and veins in the tongue, causing a major loss of blood, thus ending the victim’s life.

The third would be, after biting off the tongue—which in turn caused the victim to temporarily lose control—such heavy streams of blood that got mixed with the victim’s saliva pouring into the victim’s mouth might get caught in the victim’s trachea, asphyxiating the victim. As the victim struggled to breathe, the phlegm and blood could most probably be forced into the trachea, blocking the airways which would result in the victim passing out, causing much more severe suffocation. This would result in the victim passing out then, ultimately, the victim’s death.

The human’s tongue was filled and rich with blood vessels; any damage to it would cause severe bleeding that would cause anyone to severely lose blood. In addition to that, since the tongue was extremely close to the human brain, the nerves on the tongue would also be plenty. Any serious damage to the tongue would also cause serious harm to the nerves, which could kill anyone.

Anyone that was not a eunuch or an ancient handmaiden forced into a corner would have never chosen this method as the main method of suicide. After all, no sane person would choose to endure such torture.

“Could it possibly be that, since he was successful in avenging Li Anqi’s death, he was finally contemptuous with his own life, thus choosing to end his life in order to spend his afterlife with her?” Xing Jiadong said confidently as he hypothesized on the main motive of his suicide.

He had observed how confident Qi Youxuan was in speculating as if he had all the answers, and even though he had always butt heads with Qi Youxuan, he was also secretly admiring Qi Youxuan’s keen mind. Hence, his current demonstration in order to satiate his lust for recognition. He felt amazing doing so.

If that were the case before, Jiang Yuecheng would be impressed by this theory. However, it seemed too far-fetched as the entire case was extremely sketchy. Thus, he was not convinced by this theory and felt Dong Zhengcheng’s apparent death was extraordinarily sketchy.

However, since there were no leads in this case, he had no choice but to rest this case.

…

Since Dong Zhengcheng’s case was closed, Qi Youxuan no longer had a reason to drop by the station every day. Qi Youxuan had originally said that after this entire case was closed, he would want Wei Muran to give him an answer. However, never did anyone expect that it would only take Qi Youxuan a couple of days to solve this case.

She had her entire focus on that case before and never had the time to seriously think and reflect upon Qi Youxuan’s proposal. She was completely unprepared to face him since the case was solved and close so unexpectedly fast.

The only thing she was worried and afraid of was Qi Youxuan showing up to the station unannounced for her. As much as he wanted an answer, she had no idea what to say to him.

However, it had been a couple of days and Qi Youxuan had not turned up to look for her. It was only natural for Wei Muran to be relieved about his absence, yet she felt extremely anxious and suffocating. It was as if something had been pushing against her chest.

“Everyone had pulled their weight and worked extremely hard these couple of days. Now that the case is officially closed, I’d like to treat everyone for lunch today since everyone never had the time to seriously take a break. Lunch is on me, and everyone may leave after lunch today. It’ll be a half-day, so go home and rest well,” announced Jiang Yuecheng.

* * *

[Interlude] Youning Vs Wen Xu

Little Youning was currently four. She had become an extremely chubby four-year-old child. Her chubby, pale, smooth, healthy blushed face was extremely adorable. Anyone who laid their eyes on her would not be able to resist hugging her tight and rubbing against her chubby face.

However, Little Youning was troubled as plenty of other children in her kindergarten would tease and make fun of her. They would always call her fat, especially Zhao Ranran as she would usually start the whole debacle.

When Wen Xu arrived in B city back then, as he was transferred to Jixia Highschool, he would visit his mother Fang Jiaran in the Lanshan Courtyard once every week.

However, it seemed that after he had gotten closer to Little Youning, he would forget about his mother. Thus, his schedule changed from once per week to once per month.

Since Fang Jiaran was now exceedingly bored, and after gathering intel from her undercover bodyguard, she found out that Wen Xu was grooming Little Youning to marry her in the future and had plans to get her to move to T City from B city with him in the future.

Wen Xu was completely oblivious to all the research his mother had done on him.

Wen Xu who was twelve back then had seemingly grown into a mature teenager. Wen Ren had also bought an estate for Wen Xu in B City. Plenty of undercover bodyguards, and even his Wushu master, lived with him in the estate. His safety was never going to be a concern.

There was a special gym and a training room in that estate. There was also an additional smaller gym in the estate’s backyard.

It was Friday. Wen Xu had just finished his training and was walking out of the gym. After his training, he was now completely drenched in his own sweat and was getting ready for a shower.

After his shower, he walked out with only his pants on since it was excruciatingly hot, thus he decided to be shirtless at that moment. However, it was unclear where the undercover had appeared from when he informed Wen Xu, “Young Master, the Qi family had arrived.”

Wen Xu nodded then proceeded to get dressed before greeting his guests.

Since Wen Ren had sent Wen Xu off to live on his own in B City, he had asked Qi Chenglin to help him watch over his son for him. No matter how tough and headstrong his son was, he was still a twelve-year-old child, and living on his own made Fang Jiaran worry for her son’s wellbeing.

Thus, after Wen Xu had arrived and settled himself in B City, whenever Song Yu and Ruan Danchen would bring the kids out to have fun during the weekends, they would bring Wen Xu along so he would not be alone at home.

Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen planned to bring Qi Youxuan and Little Youning to a newly opened Italian restaurant for dinner. Thus, they had decided to bring Wen Xu along with them as well.

Since Wen Xu had to train after school, they did not pick up Wen Xu directly from Jixia Highschool at the same time they had to pick Qi Youxuan up from school. After calculating the time he needed to spend for his training, and after he was done, they would show up.

The only problem was before Wen Xu could get to his room for a change of clothes, the door had opened.

The instant the door opened, a colorful silhouette shot through the opening, bringing along a gust of wind.

“Waaah! Brother…brother Wen Xu… Bwaaaah!…” That chubby toddler leaped into Wen Xu’s arms. Completely pretending as if her body weight was exceptionally light, she catapulted herself directly at Wen Xu.

Worried that the chubby toddler would hurt herself, he had no choice but to grab onto her. He noticed that the toddler was bawling her eyes out as he hugged her. Sniffling, her eyes all the way down to her nose were exceedingly red from crying violently, all while trembling and sniffling in his arms. Watching how violently she sniveled, he frowned.

“What happened? Who bullied you?” Wen Xu said with a soft cold voice, all too monotone. Although his voice was soft for his young age, anyone would be creeped out just by listening to his voice alone.

However, Little Youning would not let go of Wen Xu. Not being able to change, he had no choice but to sit her down while carrying her.

“Kin…Kindergarten, they…they bullied me, they called me fat.” Little Youning sniffled as she struggled to speak. She said, “Am…Am I really fat?’

Little Youning looked up while nervously staring at Wen Xu.

“Who told you that? Those people need to get their eyes checked out. Good lord.” As Wen Xu spoke, he proceeded to hand her a taro puree’ from the box of candies placed on the table.

Thus, Little Youning proceeded to accept the snack. The taro puree’ was huge and was the size of a saucer plate, especially when it was in Little Youning’s small hands. She could not hold onto it with a single hand, hence she held onto the snack with both hands.

Her gaze lit up as she was extremely tempted to eat it, yet the guilt held her back. She felt conflicted as she sat on Wen Xu’s lap.

“You’re not fat. Honest. You look extremely pretty right now, and I love how you currently look. It’s amazing to hug you since you’re so squishy.” As Wen Xu spoke, he proceeded to pinch the fold of fat from her waist then proceeded to pinch her tiny hands. He said, “This is a taro puree’, it’s not too sweet. It’s soft and fluffy on the inside, but it’s wrapped with a crispy outer shell. The outer crispy shell would crumble with a single bite and mixed with the soft squishy texture from the pure taro filling. It tastes very refreshing and amazing.”

Little Youning was literally drooling from the way he described the snack would taste like, causing her to swallow her drool. “Then…then I’ll take a bite—no, more than a bite.”

Wen Xu gently patted Little Youning’s face compassionately. On the other hand, the trio standing by the door and were watching the entire exchange felt disgusted and was weirded out by the way Wen Xu looked.

As Little Youning enjoyed her sweet and fluffy taro puree’, she felt much better as her mood improved. It was only at this moment that she realized Wen Xu was completely shirtless.

She had always assumed a twelve-year-old boy would look skinny and frail, but judging from how fit and firm his muscles were, she was baffled by how muscular and fit this seemingly skinny Wen Xu looked. She could not even pinch his muscles no matter how hard she tried.

Her crumb-covered fingers gradually inched upward to Wen Xu’s chest, then proceeded to pinch.

Whoa, it was indeed stiff!

While Little Youning nibbled on her taro puree’, she peeked at Wen Xu’s extremely attractive body. She noticed his shoulders were also bulging. Although it was not obvious, it was undoubtedly firm. It was more firm than her brother’s.

There were seemingly hints of a couple of lines on his belly as his pale glistening skin was extremely smooth. As she looked up again, she stared directly at Wen Xu’s attractive, cool, manly look. The only thing she thought of was how attractive and amazing he looked!

Little Youning once again proceeded to swallow her spit while her eyes wandered and rolled around once. All of a sudden, she exclaimed “Wow!” then calmly proceeded to bury her entire head into Wen Xu’s chest.

This time, she was merely pretending to cry. she was wailing loudly but no tears were visible on her face. Her messy and greasy mouth was rubbing all over Wen Xu’s chest.

She had even sneakily stretched out her greasy hands to pinch his shoulders, then slowly and secretly slide her greasy hands down his chest to give it another aggressive pinch.

Little Youning proceeded to let out a couple of fake cries, then once again boldly shove her face into his chest. Her greasy mouth was now sliding across his entire chest while she snuck in a couple of hard pinches.

She felt bad since Wen Xu’s chest was extremely clean before she had ruined it with her greasy violations. It was as if she had desecrated some holy artifacts.

Thus, Little Youning proceeded to stretch her greasy hands out to help dust away the greasy crumbs from his chest.

While she faked her crying, she could smell the faint yet amazing scent from the body wash he had used earlier.

It was…astoundingly arousing!

As Little Youning opened her mouth, she had unknowingly begun…drooling.

“…” Wen Xu was speechless at her reaction.

Wen Xu had a slight grin on his face as he noticed this young girl was obviously extremely attracted to him since she had also forgotten the fact that she was supposed to pretend she was crying. “Do you like me, Youning?” he teased.

“I do!” Little Youning answered immediately without hesitation.

“Then does that mean you’ll only like me from now?” Wen Xu questioned further.

“Only you?” Little Youning seemed conflicted as she also loved her parents, her brother, her grandparents from both sides of her family, her uncles and aunts as well. She loved them all equally much.

Wen Xu’s expression dimmed and said with a sad look on his face, “If you can’t promise me that, I’ll have no choice but to go to my room and put my shirt on then.”

Upon hearing what Wen Xu said, she frantically grabbed onto Wen Xu as tightly as she physically could. She said, “Wait…wait… Just wait! Stay the way that you are right now…it looks good!”

Wen Xu let out a sigh and said, “Since Youning loves so many people, losing me alone wouldn’t be much of a difference anyway.”

“No no! If that’s the case, then… I’ll love only you then!” Little Youning frantically replied while hugging him even tighter.

This toddler was completely stuck against his chest. She was enjoying herself as she could smell the captivating scent from his body while her soft tender cheeks rubbed against his smooth skin. Her mouth was wide open, hence once again, she began drooling.

Qi Chenglin was fuming as he watched this entire scene. This brat was only twelve and he already knew how to flirt with his beloved daughter!

He watched his naive little girl promising him to do whatever he told her to in his arms. He knew for a fact that this little boy was head over heels, drooling for his beloved daughter.

Thus, Qi Chenglin swiftly walked toward them then proceeded to carry his daughter out from his arms. Upon closer inspection, this young boy had just gotten out from a shower and had ended up in such an unsightly messy state.

There were drool and grease stains all over his body. There were even some purple taro stains on his body as well.

Wen Xu’s heart was beating extremely fast the instant he stared at Qi Chenglin as he carried his daughter in his arms. This meant he was not done taking advantage of that chubby toddler. He felt slightly regretful as without the heavy weight that was just moments ago on his body, he felt unnaturally empty.

“I’ll be taking a quick shower now, I’ll be quick.” After Wen Xu said that, he turned around and headed over to the washroom.

Little Youning was literally drooling from her mouth. “Daddy,” she called out, “I need to wash my hands.”

Little Youning lifted both her arms in the air, signaling to Qi Chenglin that she indeed had to wash her hands.

Thus, Qi Chenglin placed her down. However, this chubby toddler proceeded to run off in the same direction that Wen Xu disappeared to. She was fully intended to head over to the washroom.

* * *

“Brilliant, Captain!” Zhao Yiyang praised excitedly while standing up as he immediately got himself dressed in a neat suit.

“You won’t mind if I come along since Sergeant Jiang is treating everyone, right?” Bai Mo said as she stood by the door while taking off her oversized lab coat. She was wearing a long white dress, it made her look extremely stunning and elegant.

Jiang Yuecheng nodded generously with a smile, commenting, “You worked tirelessly these couple of days as well, Dr. Bai.”

“Such a blessing for Dr. Bai to join us. It’ll surely increase our appetite to feast now,” Xing Jiadong replied with a chuckle.

While he was the fittest man in the team, this person lacked any brain capacity on a daily basis and would habitually speak out his mind as bluntly as he could. There were times the words he spoke would turn out offensive and hurtful. He tended to stir unwanted trouble.

However, every single person in his team grew accustomed to his erratic behavior.

Zhao Yiyang grabbed onto Xing Jiadong’s arm and proceeded to tease him, “What do you mean? Are you saying that our Wei Muran isn’t pretty enough for you?”

In all honesty, judging from Wei Muran’s looks alone, she genuinely looked prettier than Bai Mo.

Based on Wei Muran’s parents alone, Wei Ziwei had a peculiar face of evil and although he was currently at his middle age, he would resemble someone who was in their thirties or forties and still looked devilishly stunning. The only difference besides his age was, he had become a much stable person who still possessed the ability to stun anyone with his looks.

Wei Ran was only a couple of years younger than Wei Ziwei and she looked as equally as stunning as her husband and would make anyone assume this woman had never aged even by the slightest bit. This couple was the very personification of devilish beauty, as if they were incapable of aging.

Wei Muran had inherited her mother’s smooth, pale elegant face. Her soft and tender skin that had a slight hint of blush on her cheeks, her face was like a freshly peeled hard-boiled egg. However, her eyes looked identical to Wei Ziqi’s; a pair of captivatingly flirtatious eyes, making her already elegant and pure angelic-like appearance even more charming.

Perhaps it was due to her young age that made her beauty less obvious. Nonetheless, she would bring her natural charm’s full potential if she was slightly older than her current age, and that would be a nationwide catastrophe.

Wei Ziwei’s face would cause anyone’s heart to grow cold by the instant, but it was his charmingly flirtatious eyes that would cause anyone to unknowingly pay little attention to his other qualities.

Bai Mo was well-loved as well since she was also naturally beautiful, and her elegance was something every man would yearn desperately for. It was different from Wei Muran since she was still young. Wei Muran paid very little to no attention to make up since she had not reached that stage yet.

She enjoyed wearing a T-shirt and pairing it with jeans and sneakers. All she had to do was tie her hair into a ponytail and she would be ready to head out. Although she was absolutely stunning, her casual look would be overlooked by plenty of people.

Since she would often interact with crude lads and was often busy working till late at night, no one was keen enough to pay any attention to Wei Muran. The only attention she received was merely a quick glance. It was only natural for everyone to think that the most beautiful lady in the entire police department was Bai Mo, who invested her time in putting on makeup and dressed elegantly.

“Oh good lord, we see Muran every single day from the first light of the day to the very end of the night. I’d see her every single time I look up from my desk in the office, so I’m pretty used to the way she looks. It’s not like Dr. Bai; this lady is the embodiment of elegance and beauty,” Xing Jiadong replied.

“Bold of you to have said that,” Zhang Ming snapped back at him. He then joked, “Muran, why don’t you put on some makeup on your way to work tomorrow, just to educate the foolish.”

What exactly defined a truly beautiful lady?

He stopped before he could finish his sentence in order to not offend Bai Mo.

Bai Mo was never Zhang Ming’s type to begin with as he thought her portrayal of herself as pretentious. He wondered if the men of the police force were all blind.

Judging from his relationship with Wei Muran, they could technically be counted as half a childhood friend. He was never close with her when they were little, but since it was Qi Youxuan who had brought him along every once in a while to meet up with Wei Muran, he knew Wei Muran was already extraordinarily stunning even from back then. Bai Mo could never compare to her beauty.

However, there was one man whose eyes were not blind.

Zhang Ming glanced over to Jiang Yuecheng and noticed he was smiling warmly and graciously to Wei Muran.

“Alright, that’s enough. I believe there’s no need for Wei Muran to be flooded by such high praises,” Jiang Yuecheng jokingly replied.

The smile on Bai Mo’s face looked stiff. Xing Jiadong was just mere moments ago praising her and now Jiang Yuecheng had told Xing Jiadong he knew nothing of true beauty, completely devaluing her worth along with Xing Jiadong.

Although they were all joking and having fun, there were some truths to their jokes as well.

As everyone walked out of the station, Wei Muran noticed Qi Youxuan who was absent for a couple of days.

He was wearing a pitch-black windbreaker, the sleeves of the windbreaker were fluttering slightly as the fall breeze blew. Both his hands were tucked away in the pockets of his windbreaker, anchoring the windbreaker to prevent it from fluttering messily as the wind blew. The front collar was slightly swaying along with the wind.

The way he posed was not as inhuman as a statue, but since the windbreaker was fluttering with the wind, it made him more human-like.

Wei Muran was slightly agitated at him. He had the audacity to not contact her for two whole days.

As she glanced over to look at Qi Youxuan, and before she had decided if she wanted to ignore him, she heard a surprised voice with a slight hint of shy nervousness coming from behind her. That voice shouted, “Mr. Qi!”

Wei Muran turned around to look back at who was yelling. She recognized that lady. She was a journalist known as Zhao Ruiqi.

She used to have a crush on Jiang Yuecheng as she would always drop by their department and was also on good terms with Bai Mo. However, it was unsure of what had happened down the line, and she had stopped showing up and judging from her behavior. She had not been close to Bai Mo ever since.

However, she had a tiny reputation for herself in the station, and it was also unclear who nicknamed her as ‘Tiny flower’. It was as if the meaning behind that nickname within the station was meant to symbolize she was lower than Bai Mo.

“What brings you here Mr. Qi? Is there another case?” Zhao Ruiqi approached Qi Youxuan with a cheerful smile.

Her natural look was an adorable cheerful one since she had a baby-face, which would gain plenty of attention and love from men.

Zhao Ruiqi had noticed Qi Youxuan for quite a while, the only thing was, she was told that he had been recruited into the police force as a specialist, since he was the one who had cracked the Huai City case, and now, he was credited to crack the serial killer case.

There were plenty of single ladies within the station who absolutely adored him since he had amazing looks, young and most importantly, single.

The only thing was, none of them dared to talk to him, but she was bold enough to make her first move by talking to him.

“I’m here for someone,” Qi Youxuan calmly replied.

“It’s noon now. Have you had your lunch, Mr. Qi?” Zhao Ruiqi asked. She continued, “If you haven’t had any yet, could you grace a lady with your company by sharing a meal with me?”

Zhao Ruiqi blushed as she had made the first move by hinting her feelings to a guy. Even though it was not her first time doing so, this was her first time feeling so anxious. It was even more severe than her confessing to her crush back in middle school.

She could not explain why, and although she had a huge crush on Qi Youxuan, she felt immensely tense as she stood in front of him. It was not due to her jittery feelings of love that caused her anxiety; it was caused by her irrational fear toward him.

Zhao Ruiqi could not explain to herself why she was afraid, even though she clearly loved that man.

When Qi Youxuan noticed Wei Muran walking out alongside Jiang Yuecheng, he had completely ignored the fact that she was also walking out with Zhang Ming and the other guys. At this moment, he could feel the fury of his inner beast slowly unleashing its fangs as he was tempted to kick Jiang Yuecheng aside.

Wei Muran glanced toward his direction, but it was also as if she had not noticed him and was not looking at him. His face dimmed.

It was unsure what exactly Jiang Yuecheng had told Wei Muran to cause her to chuckle lightly. Even her eyes lit up with joy.

“Mumu!” Qi Youxuan called out to her as he completely ignored Zhao Ruiqi while he walked toward them after leaving Zhao Ruiqi behind.

Wei Muran scoffed as she pretended to not hear his call while she continued to walk alongside Jiang Yuecheng.

It took little to no effort for Qi Youxuan to catch up with them as he grabbed onto her shoulder then proceeded to say her name as his eyebrows twitched.

Hence, Wei Muran proceeded to turn around and she noticed Qi Youxuan’s sorrow-filled sad face.

What was he sad about?

As Zhang Ming noticed the scene, he proceeded to grab onto Zhao Yiyang and Yang Shaozhan and said, “You guys go on and chat, we’ll head out first.”

Wei Muran pouted while remaining silent.

Jiang Yuecheng noticed Qi Youxuan then proceeded to ask Wei Muran, “Do you wanna come with us?”

“Mumu…” The tone of Qi Youxuan’s voice was extremely low, it was almost like a sad pitiful plea.

As she looked up at him, she was shocked to see that Qi Youxuan was showing a pitiful expression like he used to when he was a kid. It was the same sad expression he would show every time he wanted to eat some meat. Anyone who looked at such a sad look would feel bad.

However, now that he was an adult, he had actually pulled off that look shamelessly. Could he even feel shameful at all?

After all, Zhang Ming and the guys were watching as well!

Wei Muran simply told Jiang Yuecheng, “Go on ahead without me first, Captain.”

However, Jiang Yuecheng seemed reluctant and simply said, “Call me if anything happens, alright?”

Qi Youxuan pouted as he thought to himself just what exactly could happen with him around her. Besides, why on earth should she call Jiang Yuecheng personally if anything were to happen?

After Jiang Yuecheng and everyone else had left, Qi Youxuan brought Wei Muran to his car and had long forgotten about Zhao Ruiqi.

As Wei Muran sat in the car, she could still see Zhao Ruiqi standing alone in disbelief and shock while staring directly at his car. Her face was blushing and it was probably due to embarrassment.

Wei Muran’s mood had seemingly improved as she had a slight grin at the edge of her mouth. Feeling slightly evil, she said, “It’s not too nice of you to just leave someone standing alone out there, right?”

“Who?” Qi Youxuan had completely forgotten about Zhao Ruiqi’s existence so there was no reaction from him. For someone so smart, his current expression looked quite dumb.

“Pretending, go on ahead, keep pretending! I refuse to believe a beautiful-looking girl that had made her first move in getting your attention would have little to no effect on your feelings. She’s quite popular in our station, and the competition for her is fierce, so you truly felt nothing?” As Wei Muran continued to speak, she grew increasingly frustrated and agitated as she thought about how this man could just disappear without a trace for a few days.

As Wei Muran was done speaking, she assumed she had angered Qi Youxuan by her outburst since she had not heard Qi Youxuan’s voice. Thus, her heart began to wrench a little.

She was known to quite the patient girl, yet she was also spoiled by Wei Ziqi when she was a child. This resulted in her unreasonable actions at certain times.

Ever since they were little, Qi Youxuan had always made her happy. As long as she was happy, Qi Youxuan would do absolutely anything for her. Fortunately, she had never requested anything extremely drastic as she only had the occasional mood swings, and it was always up to Qi Youxuan to cheer her up.

She felt slightly guilty after she was done speaking as she thought she sounded unreasonable.

As she began to look up with guilt, she was greeted by Qi Youxuan’s smiling face.

“Are you jealous?” Qi Youxuan teased while squinting his eyes as he gently nudged her. “Weren’t you saying that you were unsure of how you feel about me before? So it should be clear now since you’re jealous.”

“Who…who told you that?” Wei Muran blushingly admitted but her heart was still unsure. The longer she thought about it, the more she realized she was actually jealous, hence her blushing face.

“I’ve told you before, I’ll come back for my answer after this case is closed.” Qi Youxuan leaned closer to Wei Muran without her realizing it.

It would be better if he had not said that. The moment he brought that up, Wei Muran was angry again. She said, “Yeah I’ve said that, you said after the case was closed. How many days had gone by already? You’ve never contacted me at all, and now you want my answer? It’s too late now!”

Qi Youxuan smirked and said, “It’s not because I didn’t want to contact you; I was dragged back into my dad’s company this past couple of days. I went to France, and I knew after I finished working there, it would’ve been midnight here. I had just got off the plane four in the morning earlier today, I haven’t even changed the timezone back. After a change of clothes, I immediately came over.”

“Why did you rush to come over then? You should be resting at home.” Wei Muran felt guilty.

“I’m dying to know your answer, right?” Qi Youxuan grinned, and it was unsure when Qi Youxuan placed his arm around her seat.

“…” Wei Muran finally realized he was leaning closer to her thus she instinctively leaned back. Just like that, she was backed into a corner by the seats.

“Mumu, do you like me?” Qi Youxuan asked with a soft voice. He continued, “Don’t you dare play dumb, I know you know what exactly I’m talking about in the context of liking.”

It was not because he was rushing for an answer. It was because he was worried that she was completely surrounded by his enemy.

Since Jiang Yuecheng spent every single day with her, he would see her every time he looked up or glanced down. It would be impossible for him not to keep coming back just to check on her. He was worried that whenever he was not around, Jiang Yuecheng would force her into a corner.

So time is of the essence; he had to seize every second to hug his loved ones close to him.

Otherwise, the woman he waited for twenty years would be approached by someone else, so he had to force his own hand in solving this debacle.

“…” Wei Muran’s lips began to twitch nervously. “I—” She was kissed on the lips by Qi Youxuan.

As her lips were touched by soft but moist tender lips—the moment her lips made contact with his—it felt like a caterpillar was crawling on her lips, causing her to have goosebumps all over her body.

* * *

[Interlude] Youning Vs Wenxu

Little Youning waited and waited; she had been waiting for the day she would enter elementary school. The first of September was the day she could finally proudly put on the Jixia High School uniform.

Six-year-old Little Youning was no longer as chubby and round as when she was three or four after her father’s painful and arduous struggle. However, she still looked slightly chubby and although she was not skinny, a kid at this age looked extremely adorable with a body shape like that.

However, through the eyes of the children around her age, no kid was interested in the other gender as the boys who were around six or seven years old only enjoyed looking at girls who were skinny and white. Although Little Youning was white, she could not be considered skinny.

Even the girls around her age loved girls who were white and skinny. However, they were not pretty enough for the boys. After all, they only cared about being skinny and their average looks never exactly bothered them. Little Youning never quite fit that group either.

Although she was chubby, she was indeed pretty.

Being trapped in the middle as she could not exactly fit in with these groups was quite awkward, but this never exactly bothered Little Youning. After all, Little Xicheng was in the same class as her, hence she had a friend.

Both Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen brought their beloved daughter to school together on the first day of school. Since Ruan Danchen had sent Qi Youxuan to school back then before, she was quite calm this time. She felt some feelings of motherly pride for finally sending her daughter to school.

Both families had seemingly arrived at the same time.

As they parked their car, Cheng Dongge was already there, and the entire family was walking toward them to send their kids to school with Qi Chenglin and his family.

Both little toddlers were excitedly talking to each other as Little Xicheng gestured to Little Youning telling her to come closer. Both girls were facing each other as if they were whispering something.

“Let me tell you something, Ningning: Muche said to not judge Wen Xu based on his cold persona since he’s apparently extremely popular in school. Who knows what girls these days are thinking. They somehow like guys like him, that cold demeanor, to the extent of actually making the first move in their pursuit of love. Love letters aren’t a thing; they’re bold enough to confess to him. They’ve stopped him in the hallway, give him food and drinks then seize the opportunity to get closer to him. Of course, Wen Xu was never the type to actually be excited at anything, since Muche had witnessed this happen several times already.”

Wei Muche was older than them by two years, so he was now in third grade in Jixia High School, so before Little Youning had entered this school, he had volunteered to be their spy.

Upon hearing what Little Xicheng had said, Little Youning grew increasingly frantic as her tiny round face pouted. She then muttered, “Weren’t they, weren’t they afraid at all? Since he never smiled, and people who didn’t smile looked scary. I, I thought I’m the only one who’s able to handle that.”

Little Xicheng, at least, was not too keen on getting close to Wen Xu.

“They don’t know his true identity! Wen Xu’s temper and his background alone would absolutely scare anyone. Have you not noticed even some adults are scared of him?” Little Xicheng explained.

Little Youning nodded in agreement, it was all because of her, she was never worried about anything before.

“However, I heard from uncle Wen that in order to ensure Wen Xu’s safety, only our family knew about his past and identity. All the other kids had absolutely no idea who he really is, so all they could see was his emotionless, cold face. Because of this, they’re not afraid of him and instead, assumed he looked cool,” Little Xicheng whispered.

Lil Youning was furious. He had agreed to be her servant before, did he not? He had also told her that he would only love her? How could he flirt with other women?

What happened to agreeing to be her servant? What happened to only loving her alone?

As Little Youning grew increasingly agitated, she too was increasingly frantic. While pinching her own belly, she said, “Men aren’t reliable at all! A little temptation would tempt them to extend their reach outward to more women.”

“…” Little Xicheng was speechless.

Thus, their group walked toward the main entrance of the school. However, they noticed standing by the main door of the school was an elegant looking young teenager, donned on his body was the uniform of Jixia High School. The way he wore his uniform made him look extremely handsome; he could flaunt the elegance of a fourteen to fifteen-year-old teenage boy.

As the black Chinese Tunic Suit was draped on his skin, it made him seem even cleaner and whiter. His expression was as cold as the winter snow, as even his eyes seemed lifeless. It was cold and terrifying to anyone.

Since it was the first day of the new semester, an ocean of people was gathered at the main entrance of the school. Plenty of parents sent their children to school as it was the first day of school. These parents were exceptionally worried and anxious so they gathered by the door, watching their children enter the schoolyard. It was only after that were they able to relax.

Thus, these parents noticed an emotionless and cold person standing by the door of the school. They were curious as to who this kid’s parents were as he had such odd behavior.

It was even stranger since there was also a well-dressed man who had a serious look on his face standing behind this teenage boy. Although that man had amazing looks, it would be wise to not bother that man at all.

Judging from the stance of this man, he seemed like a bodyguard.

However, no matter how strong the family background of anyone who was studying in Jixia High School, no one in their right mind would bring their bodyguard along to school, hence it was strange.

As strange as the situation was, when Little Youning noticed that odd-looking teenage boy, she immediately rushed toward him. Like a small tiger, she pounced at him.

She was a lot skinnier than she used to, but there was still some mass left in her. Since she never enjoyed any sports, she could not jump too high, so she looked like a tiny ball bouncing on the pavement.

Wen Xu was already used to that. The moment he noticed her lunging toward her, he would pick her up almost naturally and place her on his lap.

“Tell me Wen Xu: have you flirted with anyone else before I came?” Little Youning pointed at him furiously with her chubby little hands.

The six-year-old had an expression of a lady hunting down her cheating partner. However, it was not in any way intimidating. It was more comical instead.

However, Wen Xu never laughed as he simply replied, “Nope. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Little Youning was instantly charmed by that single reply. She opened her mouth with pride but instantly held back her smile and began pouting again. Once again, she asked with a furious tone, “Don’t you think for a second that by acting this way, I won’t be mad? Tell me, have you held hands with anyone else?”

“Nope, only yours,” Wen Xu replied with an extremely honest look. Anyone would totally be convinced by whatever he said.

The edge of Little Youning’s mouth twitched a little to form a slight grin. She asked, “What, what about hugs? Have you hugged anyone else?”

Wen Xu shook his head once more and replied, “Nope, only you. Not even guys. The only person I’ve hugged was Wen Ming, but it’s a rare thing as well.”

“Yes, so I’m the only person that had received the most hugs from you then, right?” Little Youning felt proud asking that. She held up her head while her tiny waist was protruding outward, forcing her position in Wen Xu’s lap higher. She had even forced out her tiny belly.

“That’s right.” Wen Xu nodded seriously. This was all the truth, he was not coaxing her.

“Then, then…you’re not allowed to hug anyone else, touch anyone else, or be touched by anyone in the future, alright? If any girls wanna hold your hands, you…you’ll…” After Little Youning contemplated for a while, she said, “Punch, punch her! You’re skilled in martial arts, right? No mercy, punch anyone who dares touch you, do you understand?”

“Alright.” Wen Xu nodded.

Little Youning was ecstatic at this moment, her eyes were literally squinting as she patted Wen Xu’s head with extremely inflated pride. “Good boy,” she chirped.

She truly had a complacent servant. He was even better than Muche.

Her actions surprised Wen Xu as hints of life flickered through both his eyes. However, he remained silent. The only thing was the cold, emotionless bodyguard that was standing behind Wen Xu cringed a little. He felt Little Youning was being inhumanly unreasonable.

“I heard someone had confessed their feelings to you in school.” Little Youning had no intention of dropping this subject so easily.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Wen Xu casually replied.

Little Youning smiled wider while her eyes were squinting harder. She knew this meant although the girls had confessed to him, he had actually ignored them all.

“I had also heard that someone pretended to bump into you, just to get a chance to fool around with you,” Little Youning said.

Wen Xu took a quick glance at her. He already knew this little girl’s mood had improved; she was simply asking to make herself feel even better, so he happily denied them all.

Hence, Wen Xu proceeded to answer with an emotionless look on his face, “I don’t know, didn’t see them.”

Little Youning was incredibly satisfied. This meant that no matter how hard anyone tried to get his attention, he would completely ignore them.

Her servant truly was incredible!

Little Youning giggled and laughed in response. Her high-pitched voice was amazingly soothing. It was like beads of pearls falling on a jaded plate. Anyone who had heard her laughter would feel incredibly blessed and happy.

Staring at his cold, emotionless face, Little Youning extended her tiny chubby hands to touch his face. She said, “Then…then, show me a smile!”

This sounded like a cringy couple who were flirting in broad daylight.

Little Xicheng covered her face as she could not bear to watch this scene. Little Youning was into a Chinese fantasy drama series recently. She kept calling her at night to discuss the plot of the series.

The edge of Wen Xu’s mouth twitched a little. He never enjoyed smiling, but it was as if he had completely lost himself or for the lack of a better word, gone insane. He was tempted to laugh whenever Little Youning had managed to tease him. He had always grinned. It was not even obvious.

At this moment, he forced a smile. It seemed painful, as though his entire face was cramping up. It never resembled anything close to a smile.

However, before he could go any further, Little Youning said, “Alright, alright. Forget about it, don’t smile. If you had to smile, smile at me in private, don’t let anyone else see your smile.”

There were too many people here at the moment. By having an emotionless face alone, he had already managed to attract way too many girls. If he had smiled, the entire situation would without a doubt spiral out of control.

“Alright,” Wen Xu answered without the need of hesitation. To Little Youning’s requests, he had never once said no.

Little Youning was extremely happy.

“Although you weren’t in school back then, I’ve never once flirted with another human. I’ll never allow anyone to touch me in future. I’ll never hug anyone else but you. Anyone who confessed to me, got close to me or flirts with me, will only be met with my brutally merciless ignore. So are you satisfied with my performance?” Wen Xu asked.

“Outstanding!” Little Youning replied as she nodded.

“Then, shouldn’t you reward me?” Wen Xu pointed at his cheeks.

Little Youning felt nothing wrong with kissing a beautiful, handsome young man since it was also indirectly a bonus for her. There was no reason for her to reject his offer!

As she drooled and got ready to kiss him, she was suddenly carried away by someone.

Qi Chenglin had an extremely murderous look on his face as he carried his daughter away from this kid. If he was a second too late, his daughter would have been taken advantage of already.

He could only think about how much his daughter had been taken advantage of when he was not around. He was tempted to punch that kid!

* * *

“Do you like me?” Qi Youxuan asked in a whisper, though his voice became deafening as he whispered to the edge of her mouth.

He was extremely close to her. It was close enough for him to actually kiss her lips whenever he spoke. The coarse, low echoes of his voice reverberated through her lips.

Wei Muran’s eyes were wide open as she blushed heavily while keeping her lips sealed tight.

It was only when she was trapped within his tight warm cuddles did she truly notice the once chubby little kid had grown to be utterly attractive and elegant. The mild milky scent that once lingered on his chest had vanished too; it had evolved into a unique masculine personal scent, unique to him. His firm chest was extremely close to her eyes, fully displayed before her, causing her to almost suffocate from how firm it was.

“You…You need to ask more appropriately. Don’t come so close to me!” Wei Muran struggled to speak as she pushed Qi Youxuan away.

However, her lips were once again sealed shut by a much heavier and stronger kiss. It was tighter and longer than before.

“Say you like me,” he never bothered to ask this time.

“…” Wei Muran was speechless.

Before she could even react, Qi Youxuan kissed her once more. “Hurry up and say it,” he spoke with urgency. “Say you like me, or I’ll keep kissing you. I’ll kiss you till you admit it.”

The instant he finished that sentence, he gave her another tight kiss.

Wei Muran’s lips grew warmer from the series of unrelenting kisses, and even her ears felt warm. She proceeded to grab onto the collar of his shirt with both hands as she leaned onto his shoulder, burying herself into the nape of his neck.

“Stop kissing, stop kissing!” Wei Muran blushed heavily as she relented, “I like you, I like you, alright? Stop kissing already!”

However, he instead gently held her face and gave her a much heavier and compassionate kiss, his lips locked onto her lips tightly. Wei Muran felt he was pushing her down onto the seat as she felt the back of her head slightly hurting.

He then proceeded to support her head with his hand while holding her with the other. She was resting on his palm while his palm was in between her head and the car’s window. Thus, she would not be in pain as they kissed increasingly heavier and more passionately.

His breath filled her entire mouth, and just like that, he had completely claimed her to be his own as she mixed his saliva with hers. As of right now, there was no longer any difference between their saliva. His breath felt refreshing; it was as if he had chewed on some gum earlier before they began kissing. There was a mix of a slight hint of mint and his natural smell from his breath. It smelled nice to her.

After a painful long while, Qi Youxuan released her lips. He still held her tight in his embrace; both her arms were completely wrapped within his strong ones and she could not move an inch.

He proceeded to kiss her from the edge of her lips to her earlobes, then down to her lips, eyes and ears. Needless to say, he kissed every inch of her face.

Due to Qi Youxuan’s flurry of kisses, she felt increasingly numb and an urge to scratch an itch. She was nervously embarrassed as not a single person had never treated her this way ever since she was little.

“Didn’t you say you’d stop kissing me?” Wei Muran stared at him.

“You’ve already said you liked me, so that means you’re now officially my girlfriend. It’s only natural for me to kiss my girlfriend!” Qi Youxuan replied confidently. He then added, “I’m now allowed to kiss you however I want.”

As he spoke, he proceeded to lean in to kiss her on her lips again.

Feeling unsatisfied after he had just released her, he proceeded to kiss her again.

Wei Muran could feel herself internally burning after his series of unrelenting kisses. As she noticed he was about to begin kissing her again, she immediately covered his mouth with her hands and argued, “That’s enough, that’s enough. You…”

As her hands were blocking the lower half of his face, he proceeded to unleash an extremely deadly gaze as he stared right at her. Those watery, adorable eyes. WIth that look alone, not a single soul would be able to resist this powerful expression of his.

This man had the audacity to act so shamelessly as an adult!

Seizing this opportunity, he grabbed onto her hands and proceeded to kiss her palm, then coquettishly cuddled to her while he laid his head on her shoulder and nuzzled against her nape.

Qi Youxuan would never admit he had learned this technique from his mother.

His father would submit to his mother’s will every time his mother used this technique. His father would promise her anything with that single technique alone.

Hence, Qi Youxuan nuzzled Wei Muran’s adorable sweet-scented nape with his amazingly handsome nose. Every nuzzle was filled with him releasing his warm, irresistible breath onto Wei Muran’s neck, causing her to blush harder.

Qi Youxuan then hugged Wei Muran in an extremely coquettish manner and said, “Mumu, are you hungry?”

Fighting through her blushing state, she anxiously replied, “Yeah.” Qi Youxuan immediately said, “Let’s look for Zhang Ming and the guys.”

“I initially intended to join everyone for a decent meal since Sergeant Jiang wanted to reward us for working so hard for the last couple of days, but if you’re to come along though, I’m just worried it might not be appropriate though, right?” Wei Muran looked at Qi Youxuan hesitantly, since Xing Jiadong would explode like a funeral pyre the instant he laid his eyes on Qi Youxuan.

“How would it be inappropriate? I’m now already part of your family.” Qi Youxuan replied confidently but his expression suddenly morphed into a depressed look. He said, “Do you not intend to acknowledge me at all now? Do you intend to hide me away from them, secretly dating me as a cheating couple would? Mumu, you need to be responsible now, you can’t sin so far!”

“…” Wei Muran was speechless.

In Wei Muran’s silence, Qi Youxuan proceeded to push on his sad, depressing facade even further. He covered his mouth and recoiled back a couple of inches while staring at her with an extremely depressing look. He said, “Mumu, is this really how you think? How sad for me to think all my hard work and effort actually paid off finally. It’s depressing to think, after 23 years of me patiently waiting, and you had finally acknowledged me as your boyfriend, only to…unexpectedly…be…”Read more chapter on our vipnovel.com

Qi Youxuan turned around as his shoulders began to tremble.

“…” Wei Muran was completely speechless at this point. She said, “Please don’t let anyone look at how pathetic you are now. No one would believe you’re actually working in a professional field…”

“You’re not ‘anyone else’!” Qi Youxuan said in a pouting tone. He added, “I don’t find the need to act all manly and put on a masculine show just for you. I don’t care, Mumu. Whenever I’m with you, I’m never gonna be someone else. I’ve never put on a false persona in front of you, so you know my true self now. You can’t abandon me now!”

As he spoke, a sudden thud could be heard as he suddenly lunged into Wei Muran before hugging her extremely tight. He was nuzzling violently against Wei Muran’s neck. He then said, “Oh my god, Mumu, look at how sad my life is! My girlfriend never wanted to officiate our relationship. I’ll be drowning in shame if anyone knew about this. I, a tall, strong man will forever be living in shame! How can I possibly show my face in public now?”

“…” Wei Muran had no words to say to him as she pushed his face away. She then said, “I’ll tell you this. Look at how much you’ve said to me, would it be okay if I bring you along with me then?”

Upon hearing that, Qi Youxuan immediately released her and instantly started his car and said, “Lead the way.”

“…” Wei Muran was speechless.

…

Wei Muran was unsure where the spot would be herself. She initially intended to follow Jiang Yuecheng yet all she could do right now was call Zhang Ming for the restaurant’s exact location. It was near the station.

“Strange, I thought you’d be eating with Qi Youxuan? I thought you weren’t coming,” Zhang Ming said.

“Sigh, I had to go.” Wei Muran took a quick glance at Qi Youxuan as she was unsure how exactly she would be able to explain the situation to everyone. She felt this meal would cause a lot of hate among everyone.

“Youxuan was willing to release you and allowed you to join us?” Zhang Ming’s voice sounded skeptical.

“Where exactly is that spot?” Qi Youxuan spoke louder on purpose.

Zhang Ming squirmed and said, “I heard Youxuan’s voice. Are you guys together?”

“We’ll come by together.” Wei Muran frantically replied and before Zhang Ming could probe further, she hung up the call.

…

As the duo arrived at the restaurant, Wei Muran told the receptionist Jiang Yuecheng’s name and was led to a private room. Everyone was shocked when they noticed the duo was holding hands as they walked in.

Bai Mo grinned and stared directly at Jiang Yuecheng who was sitting beside her.

“It’s completely fine for me to shamelessly join you guys, right?” As Qi Youxuan said that, he led Wei Muran to her seat and proceeded to sit down next to her. His question seemed insincere.

Xing Jiadong had saved Wei Muran a seat next to him yet it was taken by Qi Youxuan.

“Could you move to your side slightly, Lil’ Xing, Mumu needs a seat as well,” Qi Youxuan said.

Xing Jiadong snarkily replied, “We never invited you though.”

He was older than Qi Youxuan, and to be called Lil’ Xing by him was extremely insulting!

“Good lord, you can’t say that,” Qi Youxuan responded arrogantly. He then added, “Besides, it was me who had helped you guys crack that case. Who knew how long it’d take if you were in charge? Also, I’m coming over as Mumu’s family today. Oh my god, you’re so petty! Right, Lil’ Jiang?”

Jiang Yuecheng cringed. Him being here was boring enough, and being called Lil’ Jiang was quite inappropriate.

“Sergeant Jiang is older than you,” Xing Jiadong snapped at him.

Qi Youxuan acted surprised and said, “Oh really? How much older then?”

“Sergeant Jiang is 29 now,” Xing Jiadong replied casually.

“God damn, that’s old!” Qi Youxuan acted mockingly surprised while glancing toward Wei Muran. That glance meant Jiang Yuecheng was much older than Wei Muran.

It would be fine if he was as dull as Zhao Yiyang and Yang Shaozhan. Although Xing Jiadong was dull, it was no secret he was unbendingly loyal to Jiang Yuecheng. Zhang Ming was cunning and it was also no secret, Bai Mo, on the other hand, would only fall victim to these bunch of thirty bachelors. What Qi Youxuan had meant was incredibly obvious; it was obviously mocking Xing Jiadong to be too old for Wei Muran.

The only thing was that Wei Muran was oblivious to how Jiang Yuecheng felt, hence she nudged Qi Youxuan.