Muchuan and Xiang Wan

Ever since that day, she blocked him.

For that entire day, Feng Yingjun couldn’t stop making calls to her phone. He kept calling her.

When the call finally got through, Xu Siqi no longer had any lingering feelings towards him. Feng Yingjun no longer had any value in her eyes. She was even worried that her past deeds might affect her future.

She had been chasing after her dream for so long and she was about to realize it…

All those deeds were as if dark stains on her that she didn’t want anyone to know.

A man like Feng Yingjun was too lowly for her to keep in contact with.

Zhang Houfa had planned it all out for her. She would debut as an actress with a pure and forthright image and that she was introduced to showbiz by Xie Wanwan’s recommendation. All these three factors, coupled with the drama’s storyline, as long as she put in effort into her acting, she would become the dark horse of the year and take the showbiz industry by storm.

That was what Zhang Houfa had painted of her future.

Therefore, for the sake of this ‘painting’, she gave up what she had ‘painted’ for Feng Yingjun.

She did not want and would not allow herself to have such a past…

Nevertheless, in order to console Feng Yingjun so that he wouldn’t go around telling tales before Xu Siqi blocked him, she gave him a sum of money and told him that once she achieved her dreams, she wouldn’t forget him… that was a hint that she would give him more money in the future.

Feng Yingjun showed the chat records to the police.

Xiang Wan noticed that Xu Siqi was quite intelligent.

She was worried that Feng Yingjun would expose her past deeds to the media and sincerely told him that she would take back what she had said earlier. And at the same time, she painted another beautiful scenario for him—that he should wait till she was all popular and famous.

Maybe in her point of view, Feng Yingjun shouldn’t be hating her.

However, she didn’t know that what she had said was the last straw.

Feng Yingjun was not a fool. He knew how much he weighed in Xu Siqi’s mind.

He also knew very well that Xu Siqi did not need him anymore.

She wanted to cut off ties with him, cleanly.

He went crazy.

He felt that he was being betrayed.

He came to the Capital alone to find work. He didn’t have any family members or friends with him. He lived in the bottom of society, doing the most tedious work yet drew a low salary. For the past few years, in order to buy handbags, jewelry and clothes so as to make her smile, he spent all that he had, but not even sent a dime for his parents in the countryside. For the sake of Xu Siqi, he even landed himself in debt.

He hit the credit limits of multiple credit cards but was unable to pay for the owed amount.

Numerous loan companies were chasing him to pay up—

He felt that he was being forced to a dead end.

The prep cook whom Feng Yingjun claimed to be his buddy, was fake.

He was a schoolmate that attended the same cooking school as Feng Yingjun. They were also inside the same group chat but they hardly talked to each other. However, this schoolmate enjoyed attention. When he managed to work for Zhang Houfa as a prep cook, he had a much higher pay and benefits that none of the schoolmates could match up to. Thus, he would usually flaunt in the group chat and everyone gradually knew what his work was like.

Feng Yingjun tried to butter up to this schoolmate. He would call him ‘Bro’, asked him out for meals on the pretext that he wanted to seek advice on how to get a similar job like his and et cetera.

Last night, the two of them were out together for a drink. The schoolmate had a tad too many so Feng Yingjun ‘kidnapped’ him by sending him home and tied him up in the rented apartment—

When the police got to know about this from Feng Yingjun’s confession, Quan Shaoteng immediately went to that schoolmate’s rented apartment to rescue him.

He was still alive. His mouth was gagged, both his hands and legs were tied up and lying on the bed.

Feng Yingjun even covered him with a blanket so that he wouldn’t catch a cold.

…

The story was a sad one.

Hearing the story from a bystander’s point of view, their hearts seemed to be covered with a layer of haze.

It couldn’t be separated or torn apart. The incident was just a small reflection of the dark side of society. It was also how some people lived their lives.

The facts and motives were clear and detailed.

But there were specific details of the crime that the police still needed to investigate further.

Xiang Wan was inside her office looking through the dossiers of the case. She let out a yawn and was about to get up to get a cup of water when she received a call from Xie Wanwan.

With regards to Xu Siqi’s death, Xie Wanwan was really shocked and full of remorse.

“If I knew that this would be the result, I would have stopped her that day…”

“Do you really think you’re able to stop her?” Xiang Wan sighed. “When there’s a devil inside the heart, only something drastic could get rid of it.”

“Well, now the devil’s gone, along with her.”

“For such matters, it’s hard to give a definite right or wrong.”

That was Xiang Wan’s heartfelt words. About Xu Siqi and Feng Yingjun’s choices, one shouldn’t chastise them too much as one wouldn’t truly know what they were going through. Nevertheless, it was a fact that she had chosen the most merciless and he, the most brutal method to put an end to their relationship.

In the end, both paid the price for their choices.

Zhang Houfa on the other hand…

His new lover died and he seemed to be taking it well.

There was not even a hint of pain on his face.

Such people knew what they wanted.

He didn’t love her at all, so he wouldn’t feel pain.

It was just a deal between him and Xu Siqi.

He spent the money to get what he wanted.

Even though she’s now gone, he wouldn’t even be pricked by conscience.

“You’re good at consoling others,” remarked Xie Wanwan. Then she went on to chat with Xiang Wan about Xu Siqi when she was still alive. “She was so thrilled to be starring as the second female lead of that drama. But when she invited me to attend the party, her tone sounded gloomy, as though something was troubling her…”

Xiang Wan placed a finger on her chin and held the mobile phone tightly.

“So you were also invited to the party tonight?”

“Yeah!” Xie Wanwan directly admitted. “Zhang Houfa announced publicly that I’m the one who found out about Xu Siqi’s talent and introduced her to him. So since she was being recommended by me, how can I not be invited?”

“But you didn’t show up?” Xiang Wan asked.

Xie Wanwan sneered. “I feel that this was no different from her being raped, and she has to show everyone that she actually enjoyed it. I knew myself… I can’t stand seeing her like that.”

Xiang Wan kept quiet.

She gave it a thought and puffed a sigh. “You should turn in early. We’ll most likely be working overtime tonight.”

“Alright then. Do take care.”

Xie Wanwan didn’t impose on her further.

After ending the call, Xiang Wan started to ponder over a small detail.

Why did Xu Siqi sound unhappy when she invited Xie Wanwan to the party that Zhang Houfa held for her?

Since she had achieved her dreams, shouldn’t she be exhilarated?

Could there be something else to this case, other than the estranged relationship between Xu Siqi and Feng Yingjun?

…

She racked her brains about that question for a while before she started to write her case analysis later – which was her job.

Even though Feng Yingjun had confessed and gave an account of his crime, and they had verified what he had said, she still had to provide a profiling report for the case where she had to describe the criminal’s state of mind and motive. This was to act as a future reference, as well as a reminder. Of course, the main purpose was to make sure that all details of the case were recorded clearly to ensure nothing was left out.

When she finished her report, it was already two o’clock in the wee hours. Bai Muchuan just arrived in the Forensic Team from the Intelligence Team. He was now sitting opposite Cheng Zheng, listening to the results of the autopsy.

Xiang Wan sent a message. “I’ll send the report to your mailbox. You can take a look at it tomorrow.”

She knew that he was a busy man. He could be the busiest of them all. Even though she was eager to know what he thought about her report, she wanted to give him ample time to go through it.

“Alright.” Bai Muchuan glanced at Cheng Zheng and sent a reply. “Do you want to go back first for a rest?”

“I’ll wait for you,” replied Xiang Wan decisively, “it’s alright for me to do some personal work in the office, right?”

“Mm?”

“I want to write my latest chapter!”

“You’re such a hardworking author. Don’t tire yourself out. Go take a nap on your couch.” Bai Muchuan gave a smile, kept his phone and went back to his usual, indifferent self as he looked at Cheng Zheng. “Did you find anything suspicious?”

“I did.” Cheng Zheng was solemn and serious.

…

…

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