Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Yuanyuan!”
What is she trying to do?
Xiang Wan feared that Yuanyuan would do something drastic on impulse and quickly seized her wrist.
“Don’t you still need to go to work? You’re running late.”
After she said that sentence, she quickly spoke in a soft voice, trying her best to persuade her, “Accept what must be accepted, and forget what should be forgotten. If you can’t, hit yourself until you’re sober. Never do silly things because of men. It’s not worth it.”
“Why should I hit myself, am I stupid? I’m very sober.” Fang Yuanyuan turned and stared at her angrily with a dark expression. “Let go of my hand!”
“Yuanyuan, my dear sister, my wonderful editor…” Xiang Wan softened her stance and tried to pull Yuanyuan back. “Let’s go, we’ll talk in the car. Just ignore them. This is the entrance of the police station, don’t create a scene.”
“Who’s going to create a scene? I won’t do that.”
Fang Yuanyuan was enraged. Xiang Wan’s persuasion fell on deaf ears.
As Xiang Wan had refused to let go of her hand, Fang Yuanyuan exerted some strength to shove her off.
Fang Yuanyuan was taller and bigger than her. Xiang Wan was not a match at all.
Now that Xiang Wan was out of the way, she behaved like a brave fighter with her gaze fixated on Huang He as she walked toward him and Tian Danyue.
“…” Oh heavens!
Xiang Wan was unable to persuade her nor was she able to pull her back. Looking at Fang Yuanyuan’s back view helplessly, she still felt that creating a scene because of a man outside the police station was too shameful. When Fang Yuanyuan thought back about this incident later, she would be regretting it.
She rubbed her slightly sore arm and chased after Yuanyuan again.
“Yuanyuan—”
“Teacher Xiang.” It was Huang He’s voice. “She might have something to say, just let her be.”
“Something to say? My foot!” Fang Yuanyuan walked so fast that she was like a whirlwind. In no time, she was before Huang He. Without any warning, she raised her hand and gave him a tight slap in the face. “This is what I wanted to say!”
She only wanted to give him a slap and did not touch Tian Danyue.
After the slap, Fang Yuanyuan turned and walked away, ignoring Tian Danyue’s shouts. She was just as dashing as when she walked over.
Huang He held his face as his gaze followed her closely.
Xiang Wan’s mouth was half-opened at that sight and did not move for quite a while.
Tian Danyue was the only one who shouted angrily at Fang Yuanyuan. Huang He had held onto her so as to stop her from chasing after Yuanyuan.
The atmosphere was rather stagnant till Fang Yuanyuan stopped before Xiang Wan.
“I’m off to work now,” said Fang Yuanyuan, “see you at night.”
She was calm and nonchalant… as though nothing had happened.
That demeanor of Fang Yuanyuan leaving the scene was impressive, leaving an impact in her heart.
Xiang Wan just stood there in a daze as she looked at Huang He and Tian Danyue, not sure what kind of expression she should show.
Nonetheless, her stance was certainly firm—she would stand by Fang Yuanyuan.
No matter what kind of difficulties Huang He had faced, or the reasons for his choice, it had nothing to do with Xiang Wan. She only knew that she must take the side of Fang Yuanyuan clearly and support her in her decision.
Hence, she nodded at Huang He politely and walked past the two of them.
…
Inside the office, Xiang Wan and her colleagues greeted each other. It was the start of a new day.
The moment Xiang Wan sat down, Little Liu’s gossipy nature got activated.
“Teacher Xiang, do you want to know why Huang He came here today?”
Frankly, Xiang Wan was curious to know about it. Why did he come and brought that woman along as well?
However, she replied, “No.”
Little Liu: “…”
The topic terminator!
How would he be able to continue to gossip?
Feeling puzzled, Little Liu cleared his throat. “Why, don’t you want to know?”
Xiang Wan turned to him with a smile. “So that you’ll feel uncomfortable for not able to gossip!”
“…”
Some people, when they have something to tell but were unable to tell, it was worse than taking their lives.
Little Liu let out a laughter and instantly started to gossip in a soft tone.
—Huang He had brought Tian Danyue over to give an account of her illegal dealings.
When Zhou Dequan got caught, Tian Danyue had gone missing.
In the end, the moment Huang He got out of the detention center, he found her and brought her to the police station.
According to Tian Danyue, she was one of Zhou Dequan’s secretary but had only worked for him for less than a year. She claimed that she knew nothing of those crimes that Zhou Dequan had done. As for why she ignored the summon to assist in police investigations, it was not that she had fled to escape punishment. It was because she heard that all of Zhou Dequan’s subordinates had been brought to the detention center, and they would be locked up there forever. She was too terrified to appear.
“So she got off the hook just like this, with her one-sided account?” Xiang Wan was flummoxed.
Little Liu shrugged his shoulders. He did not know the reason as well.
Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow. Then, she glanced toward the direction of Bai Muchuan’s office. “Is Boss in?”
Little Liu turned for a look and then nodded his head at Xiang Wan quietly.
Xiang Wan asked another question, “He approved it?”
“Of course, that goes without saying.” Little Liu grinned. “In actual fact, we really do not have evidence that proved Tian Danyue is related to Zhou Dequan’s crimes. She had an employment contract with Zhou Dequan and was, therefore, an employee of his company. As long as she did not commit any crime, she would be unrelated to Zhou Dequan’s case.”
Tian Danyue’s only offense was that she had refused to cooperate with the police by failing to turn up for investigation when they summoned her.
As Huang He tried to help out by putting in a lot of good words for her, Tian Danyue only submitted a statement and an explanation letter to lift the charge.
Hurhur! No wonder Fang Yuanyuan wanted to give Huang He a slap. Xiang Wan also felt like slapping him after hearing this.
But what was puzzling was the fact that Bai Muchuan actually allowed that to happen? Shouldn’t he make a clear distinction between work and personal interests?
While she went to get water, she quietly passed by Bai Muchuan’s office.
The door was closed. She took a glance, cleared her throat, and knocked on the door.
“Captain Bai…”
She had knocked gently on the door. This was because there was a possibility he could be asleep and Xiang Wan did not want to disrupt him resting. If he was awake, he would be able to hear the knocks and they could have a talk.
After her first knock on the door, she heard Bai Muchuan’s husky, calm voice. “Come in!”
Heavens! He sounded so full of energy. The forthright and inflexible Bai Muchuan was indeed resilient.
Xiang Wan checked her attire one more time before she opened the door. Bai Muchuan was at his desk and signaled her with his eyes. “Close the door.”
“Oh!” As Xiang Wan turned to close the door, her heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
When the door was open, their relationship was that of the superior and the subordinate.
When the door was closed, any eye contact between them could spark off some ambiguous atmosphere in this private space.
“What’s the matter?” Bai Muchuan closed the document he was holding. Although Xiang Wan remained silent, he seemed to be able to tell what was bothering her. “Is it because of Huang He and Tian Danyue?” He grunted a laugh.
Alright! Detective Bai sure had sharp eyes!
Xiang Wan walked slowly over and sat in front of him.
“Why did you let that woman off just like this? There’s definitely something about her.”
“Where’s the evidence?” Bai Muchuan asked a question in return.
“Even if we do not have evidence, just by her refusal to cooperate with the police by failing to turn up for investigation and going into hiding without a trace? Surely we have every right to detain her for an interrogation? You just let her go like this without an interrogation? I find it strange—it’s not your style.”
“What’s my style then?” Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow.
“Fair, righteous, and impartial.”
“Don’t flatter me!” Bai Muchuan smiled. “If it’s you, I’ll definitely be lenient in an account of our relationship.”
“You—”
Xiang Wan stared at him fiercely with her cheeks bulging.
“What’s the reason? Tell me?”
“There is a reason.” Bai Muchuan contemplated for a while and said in a serious expression, “But I can’t tell you.”
What the! You might as well not admit it , Xiang Wan thought inside her head.
She knew that if he refused to say something, she would be unable to get an answer. She rolled her eyes and got up from the seat.
“Fine then, I’ll go out to work now.”
“I’ve read your latest chapter,” said Bai Muchuan with a chuckle, “It’s quite well-written.
Xiang Wan turned around with a snort. “And? Is there a reward?”
Bai Muchuan took a glance at her and got up from his seat leisurely with both hands on the table. At the moment, he was gazing at her with determination. “There is, I want to provide you a plot.”
A plot? What?!
Before Xiang Wan could react, Bai Muchuan had come over to her.
“Let’s go, follow me on a mission. I just got hold of a piece of appalling news.”
Just got hold? A piece of appalling news?
Xiang Wan was good at catching the keywords. The moment she heard that, her expression changed and some thoughts popped in her mind.
“Could it be Huang He…”
“Are you going or not?” Bai Muchuan interrupted, looked at her up and down coolly, and patted her head. “Why are you like an idiot?”
“…”
Although she was being criticized, Xiang Wan was quite glad about it.
One reason was that Young Master Bai seemed to be in good condition. According to him, he told her he had slept for three hours.
Second, they found another important breach of the case.
The appalling news was that—Mao Guigui’s body was most probably been hidden underneath Zhou Dequan’s home—the villa built on his ancestral land.
Furthermore, there was more than one corpse buried underneath.
…
As there was progress about the case, the detectives who had been working day and night were very excited.
Many of them did not have a good sleep last night. There were still dark circles around their eyes when they were sent out on a mission by Bai Muchuan.
Zhou Dequan’s villa, which was half-surrounded by the old, dilapidated, and empty houses waiting for redevelopment, as well as the other half where construction had started, was still as chic and conspicuous.
From afar, the sparkling glass windows of the villa under the sun were as though a pearl in a pile of ruins.
When the police cars arrived and parked outside the villa, it attracted the attention of the nearby construction workers.
Bai Muchuan got his men to cordon off the area and lead the team into the courtyard.
Xiang Wan took a look at the huge villa which had an unsettling air about it, her heart stifled for an instant.
As if there were some secret to be unraveled, her sixth sense stimulated her nerves and her heartbeat started to race.
When it was about cases, she was always very sensitive. “The corpses are hidden here?”
“Yes!” Bai Muchuan walked over to her. “I suspect that this is where they mutilate the corpses.”
…