n

n

nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

n“There was no way out but still struggling nonetheless.”

nAfter Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan left youngest aunt’s house together, it was the first time that she felt so deeply about this Chinese phrase.

nFang Yuanyuan kept sobbing like a helpless child.

nXiang Wan was able to empathize with her feelings.

nIt was a pity that from their aunt’s perspective, such feelings would pass with time.

n“I can’t get over it, really can’t get over it,” sobbed Fang Yuanyuan. She repeatedly stressed her feelings for Huang He as well as her stance. “I’m going to resist till the end. I like Huang He no matter what kind of person he is. I like him and I want to marry him.”

nXiang Wan patted her back. “Why didn’t you tell youngest aunt this earlier?”

nFang Yuanyuan gasped, lowered her head, and sobbed, “I didn’t dare to.”

nThe next moment, she pulled her mobile phone out of her bag. “I’m going to call him right now. I want him to take me away.”

nDduuDduu— DduuDduu—!

nNobody picked up the phone.

nWhen it was the third time, she finally heard Huang He’s weary voice. “Yuanyuan, what’s up?”

nFang Yuanyuan sniffled, “I’m fine. Are you alright?”

nHuang He sounded startled. “You’re crying? Who bullied you?”

nHer sobbing voice was so distinctive that it could not go under disguise via the mobile radio waves.

nBut Fang Yuanyuan denied it. “I’m just having a cold, my nose is blocked.”

nHuang He fell silent for a moment and replied, “Have a good rest, remember to take your meals.”

n“Hm, Huanghuang, I have something to tell you… I don’t care what you’re going to do in future. It doesn’t matter if you can’t work as a detective, I’ll still like you for who you are. You never despised me for being fat, in turn, I will never despise you too… Huanghuang, I’ll follow you no matter where you go, take me away with you.”

nShe said a lot in one go.

nHuang He gave a long sigh upon hearing that. “… Don’t be stupid! Things are not that serious. At most, I’ll just get suspended for a while and everything would be over soon. You need to take good care of yourself and don’t worry about me. It’s getting late now. Do hurry to wash up and go to bed. I’m still in the office, there’s something I need to talk to Commissioner Wang, so I can’t talk to you now.”

n“… Hm.”

n“And, who said you’re fat? You’re not fat at all, you’re just nice.”

n“Hm!”

n“Goodnight.”

n“Hm.”

n“You hang up first.”

n“Hm.”

n“… Hang up now?”

n“Hm.”

nFang Yuanyuan disconnected the call and started to cry her heart out on Xiang Wan’s shoulder.

nGirls were already more emotional than men. And when they fell in love, they were a few times more emotional.

nXiang Wan had ran out of words to console Fang Yuanyuan. She helped her lie on the bed, poured a cup of warm water, and placed it by the bedside. Fang Yuanyuan hugged the pillow and continued to sob. Xiang Wan decided to just leave her alone to calm down and sat down by her computer table.

nShe had not yet updated for the day.

nAlthough she was sad and distressed because of Yuanyuan, she must not forget about her work.

nIf she did not work, she would not have money. The pain of not having enough money to get by would be worse off than the emotional pain she was feeling now.

n…

nTwo hours later, Xiang Wan’s new chapter was ready.

nShe stretched herself, uploaded the chapter, and got it published at 11:58 p.m.

nHuff, it’s a miracle! She did not fail to update for the day!

nXiang Wan took a sip of the water that had already turned cold. When she turned to look, Fang Yuanyuan had already fallen asleep.

nThe tears around the corner of her eyes were not fully dried up, there were traces of saliva around a corner of her mouth, and she would occasionally give a snuffle…

nWell, this time, it seemed like her nose was really blocked.

nXiang Wan looked at her quietly for a moment and went to wash up.

n…

nShe put on a facial mask and sat by the computer table once again.

nShe surfed the internet to find out how the case had progressed so far.

nThe power of the mass was not to be underestimated. In just a few hours, new information showed up in the internet.

nThe identity of the deceased, whom the police currently only named as “Sun”, had been exposed by netizens.

nAs far as her acting career was concerned, she was indeed a washed-up celebrity. In her early years when she just started out, she had starred in a few not-so-popular dramas as a supporting character. As the drama’s performance rating was average, she did not become popular.

nHowever, at that point in time, her life underwent a great change. No one could say for sure if that was a good change.

nShe was still new to the celebrity world when a wealthy businessman took a liking to her, and, under the envious eyes of the public, she married the businessman.

nNevertheless, a few years later, they got a divorce and their child lived with the father since then.

nFrom then on, it seemed that she did not return to the showbiz industry since she had never appeared in any of the dramas or shows. She had completely disappeared from the public eye.

nNo one would have ever expected that she would reappear in such a horrifying manner…

n…

nThere was one thing that Xiang Wan could not understand. On what basis would a washed-up celebrity like her control public opinion?

nCould it be her wealthy ex-husband?

n…

nXiang Wan was unable to get an answer despite searching the forums and news.

nHowever, Fang Yuanyuan’s worst worry came true.

nThe Internet was also flooded with news that a detective from the Criminal Investigation Unit of Hongjiang District had adopted violent methods while carrying out his duty, resulting in the death of an innocent person.

n“Condemnation from the mass, degeneration of morality!” Titles like this flooded the internet.

nIn this exact excerpt from his book, “The Crowd”, Gustave Le Bon, a French polymath, said: “The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”

n“The hero whom the crowd acclaimed yesterday is insulted to-day should he have been overtaken by failure. The re-action, indeed, will be the stronger in proportion as the prestige has been great. The crowd in this case considers the fallen hero as an equal, and takes its revenge for having bowed to a superiority whose existence it no longer admits.”

nIt was a coincidence.

nMany people behaved exactly like that.

nThe hero, who had just solved the 720 case, was on his way to this sad end.

nHiding behind the screen, the keyboard warriors used their most vicious language to turn the speculations into truth. Using morality as their weapon, they attacked the deemed “perpetrator” unscrupulously. Their excuse: to uphold fairness and justice for the victim…

nThey gnashed their teeth, swearing to crush and throw the “evildoer” into a pot of oil, and many more.

nThis was their night of debauchery!

nThis was the keyboard warriors’ night of debauchery!

nXiang Wan turned off her laptop slowly.

n…

nIt was three o’clock in the morning when Xiang Wan realized that she had not fallen asleep yet.

nNext to her, Fang Yuanyuan’s soft snoring could be heard.

nThe “Emperor” had fallen asleep, but the “eunuch” was still worrying about her.

nXiang Wan thought about a lot of things then slept for a few hours before getting up very early before dawn. She took a glance at Fang Yuanyuan who was sound asleep and got off the bed carefully.

nIt was business as usual at the breakfast eatery outside her neighborhood.

nThe owner of the eatery gave Xiang Wan a smile when he saw her.

n“What do you want to eat today?”

nXiang Wan had patronized there for several days in a row so the owner remembered her.

n“Two steamed buns and a soya bean milk. Thank you.”

n“These are hot from the oven. They might scald you, do be careful.”

n“Alright.” Xiang Wan took the steamed buns carefully and lowered her head to blow on one of them before nibbling on it.

nShe did not leave with the food but ate there instead.

nThe time was soon 6:15 a.m.

nShe recalled that she had met Cheng Zheng thrice at this location, at this time.

nShe was looking forward for an encounter. Fate seemed to have heard her wish, though. Cheng Zheng did show up when she had not yet finished her steamed bun.

nHe was jogging when he arrived at the eatery. As usual, he was wearing a simple sports attire that accentuated his tall and handsome stature.

nWithout a doubt, he was a very self-disciplined man. He had done a great job in maintaining himself; he had a sexy body shape and looked full of energy.

nWhen Cheng Zheng saw Xiang Wan, she was eating her steamed bun with her head lowered. Hence, he was the one who saw her first.

n“Teacher Xiang?” Cheng Zheng raised his eyebrows and walked over. “You… why are you eating here?”

nHe was certain that her behavior was unusual.

nXiang Wan did not bother to explain herself. She swallowed her food and directly admitted it. “I’m waiting for you. There’s something I want to ask you.”

nCheng Zheng squinted his eyes. “What happened?”

nXiang Wan turned to look at the eatery, “What do you want to eat? My treat? We can talk while we eat.”

nCheng Zheng refused her offer and bought himself a cup of soya bean milk. He pointed to the street. “Let’s take a stroll.”

nXiang Wan did not mind that and took a stroll with him along the street in the thin morning fog.

n“The case at ‘The Palace’, I heard you’re the one who did the autopsy report?”

nCheng Zheng seemed to not expect her to ask about this. He paused for a while and sounded slightly somber while speaking, “Strictly speaking, it was the Hongjiang District Forensic Team who did the autopsy report. I’m the one who signed the report.”

nWhen the Forensic Captain signed the report, it also meant that he had agreed with the results.

n“There’s not much difference,” Xiang Wan smiled, “that woman really did not take drugs?”

nCheng Zheng’s eyebrows were closely knitted. “Why are you so concerned about this? Are you Ye Lun’s fan?”

nHuh? Why did everyone think that way?

nXiang Wan shook her head in amused exasperation and laughed. “You know that my cousin and Huang He’s an item. It’s only normal that I’m concerned about him?”

nIf the woman, Sun, had taken drugs, it would mean that she had jumped off the building due to hallucination after the drug took effect. Then, her death would not incur the sympathy of the mass and Huang He would not be implicated.

nTherefore, the autopsy report was the key to this matter.

nThis was the reason why Xiang Wan was unable to fall asleep.

n“Under normal circumstances, even if the police barged in, I don’t believe anyone would be so scared that they would jump off from the fifth storey? Even if Sun took drugs, as long as she doesn’t sell them, the police would only arrest her and not want her life. At most, she would stay in rehab for a while.

n“If Ye Lun’s the one who jumped, I can also find an explanation for that behavior… He’s a celebrity to begin with, so he would be scared of his image being ruined as well as bleak career prospects. By jumping off, he might earn sympathy or get criticized as crazy. But look, that woman, how many years has it been that she had not acted in any drama? She’s almost out of show business, why would she go to such an extreme?

n“One more point, she landed on the fountain stark naked. Is this normal?”

nXiang Wan gave her long analysis to the case.

nThis was her conclusion after careful deliberation. She felt that she was being reasonable and logical here.

nHowever, Cheng Zheng was not Bai Muchuan.

nObviously, he had no desire to discuss the details of the case with her.

n“You’ll need to ask her!” he replied indifferently.

n“…”

nAsk a deceased? Are you kidding me?

nXiang Wan grunted a laugh. “Isn’t it the medical examiner’s job to let the dead talk?”

nCheng Zheng replied as a matter-of-factly, “That was Song Ci, the founding father of Forensic Science, during the Song Dynasty.”

nXiang Wan: “…”

nThere wasn’t much expression on Cheng Zheng’s cold face. “At the forensics team, we are committed to provide the most truthful report on the cause of death by being rigorous, realistic, and accurate. As for the others, there’s nothing I can do.”

nThe great Song Ci was able to make the corpses “talk”. Yet in the modern day with such advanced technology, this could not be achieved anymore?

nXiang Wan felt a little suffocated inside her heart.

nFor Huang He, as well as Cheng Zheng’s attitude.

n“You’re from the same district team with Huang He. Even if you might not be friends with him, you’re still his colleague. Can’t you lend him a hand?”

n“… How to help?” Cheng Zheng snorted, “Don’t tell me you want me to prepare a fake autopsy report?”

n“Of course not.”

nXIang Wan nearly flared up. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

n“I’m saying, in order to relieve your colleague of the responsibility that has nothing to do with him, you can perform another autopsy, a serious one. What if there is something different this time? I’ve said so earlier, is the woman crazy if she didn’t take drugs? Why did she jump? Aren’t you suspicious at all? Hence, since you’re not the one who did the autopsy, maybe someone on your team took a bribe or there might be something else that made the autopsy results inconsistent with the truth?”

n“Teacher Xiang,” Cheng Zheng interrupted and asked seriously, “did you watch too much drama series or read too much novels?”

n“?” What did he mean?

n“Things are not that complicated.” Cheng Zheng gave a faint smile. “You authors sure have a different brain than others.”

nXiang Wan kept quiet.

nShe looked at him earnestly for a moment. “For something like that to happen to a colleague, you don’t have any other feeling to it?”

n“What kind of feeling should I have? Carrying out a mission when they had drank alcohol, am I the one who told them to do that?!”

nXiang Wan thought she heard something like a hint from his last sentence.

nIt seemed like he did know what happened that very night.

nBai Muchuan invited many people from the Criminal Investigation Unit for a dinner at “The Palace”. But Cheng Zheng and the forensics team were not present.

n“I understand now.” Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow and laughed softly. “So, is it because they drank wine and did not invite you, that you refuse to help on this matter?”

nCheng Zheng stared at her right in the eye and smiled faintly.

n“I have a lot of work to do. Teacher Xiang, I have no reason to raise any objection to my subordinate’s autopsy results. I need to respect their professionalism.”

n“What if there’s really an error?”

nCheng Zheng replied indifferently, “The one who made the error would bear the responsibility.”

n“…”

nHe was a really a cold and detached person.

nNo matter who had gotten in trouble, he would not be stirred by it.

nXiang Wan narrowed her eyes and asked seriously, “What if I beseech you to help?”

nThe young woman raised her head slightly under the morning light, her bright red lips pressed softly together. She was clearly dissatisfied with his attitude, yet she stubbornly made a request to him.

nCheng Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Does that mean you’ve agreed to my request?”

nWhat request?

nXiang Wan was confused for a second before realizing what he was referring to.

nHis request was for her to become his girlfriend… the type that did not love each other.

n“Teacher Xiang, if you do not agree to that, at our current state, do you think it is worthwhile enough for me to do that?”

n…

n