515 Return to B City
âWhy are you looking at me like that?â Zhang Shanfei spread his arms innocently. âDoes it not make sense? You often hear this on the news: siblings squabble and some even disowned their parents over properties, forcing the parents to buy houses. To kill for a house, I wouldnât be surprised if it was reported in the news.â
âMy God, who will save him from his views!â Fang Zhitong from their team covered his eyes with his hands. He could not bear to look at Zhang Shanfei.
âWhatâs the matter? Just because the killerâs a pervert doesnât mean that one wouldnât commit murder for a house!â Zhang Shanfei bared his teeth. âMr. Qi, what do you think?â
Qi Youxuan nodded slightly. âThere are countless reasons for someone to commit murder. Some do commit murder over trivial matters, so itâs hard to say for sure.â
Zhang Shanfei did not say anything else but smugly tilted his chin and raised his eyebrows at Fang Zhitong with a what-do-you-think-of-me-now look on his face.
âLetâs wait for Chengwei to return. If Liu Mingyueâs alibi pans out, these speculations are worthless,â concluded Yang Shaoqun.
Zou Chengwei returned soon with the surveillance video footage and the check-in register from the hotel. Both confirmed Liu Mingyueâs alibi.
âI interviewed Shi Chenzhongâs wife, Li Weixin. She knew about Shi Chenzhong and Xiong Shishi. Sheâs been a full-time housewife for the past seven years, and if she were to reenter the workforce, itâd be hard work and for low wages. She wonât make it; she doesnât have high-income skills. The allowance that Shi Chenzhong gave her is quite substantial, so her material needs were well taken care of. She pretended not to know about Shi Chenzhongâs affair and bore with itâas long as Shi Chenzhong provides for the family. She also knew that the other woman had a family of her own. She wouldnât get a divorce and marry an old geezer like Shi Chenzhong; the woman just wanted money to support her family. Itâs because of this that she turned a blind eye to it.â
âLi Weixin thought she wouldnât have the financial means to divorce Shi Chenzhong. She wouldnât be able to bear the legal costs. The Shi family values her son a lot and wonât surrender custody that easily, even if Shi Chenzhong is in the wrong. The legal battles will inadvertently affect her son. If custody is awarded to Shi Chenzhong, itâll be hard to even see her son again. Itâs better to live like this. Theyâre also getting old. Why court trouble?â said Feng Songwei, shaking her head.
âI have to say, theyâre both made for each other. They both have the same bizarre mentality,â Zhang Shanfei tutted.
âHaving said that, sheâs still suspicious. Love kills,â speculated Fang Zhitong while rubbing his chin.
Feng Songwei shook her head. âShe went with Shi Chenzhong to the hospital last night with their son. I confirmed that both she and Shi Chenzhong were at the hospital at the time. She didnât have time to go to the resort to murder Xiong Shishi.â
âThen the three people with the most likely connection to Xing Shishi all have alibis. What else is there to investigate?â said Zou Chengwei irritably.
âAlthough Xiong Shishi did have some colleagues that she didnât get along with, there wasnât enough resentment to murder someone,â said Fang Zhitong.
It had been three days and not much progress has been made with the case. It was about time for Wei Muran to return to B City for dutyâshe could not stay in T City.
Qi Youxuan undoubtedly would be going with her. No matter how much Yang Shaoqun pleaded, Qi Youxuan had made up his mind not to stay.
Nonetheless, since they did collaborate, at least Yang Shaoqun considered it. On the day Qi Youxuan and the gang were due to leave, Yang Shaoqun and his team came to personally send them off at the airport.
Xiao Yiqing was very reluctant for them to leave so quickly and hugged Wei Muran and the other girls. The four girls were cuddled together in a group, it looked a little weird.
âYouâve only been here for a few days! And Muran didnât even enjoy much at all and worked on a case,â grumbled Xiao Yiqing.
Wei Muran also felt sorry for accidentally detaching herself from the group, inadvertently ruining the fun for the others.
âLetâs get together again during the Spring Festival!â said Wei Muran.
Cheng Xicheng had always loved traveling and immediately suggested, âWhy not go out of the country during the Spring Festival Holidays? Weâre already too familiar with T City and B City. We wonât know what to do even if we got together, so might as well visit other destinations. Letâs go to an island, maybe Palau. Even cell phone signals are poor there, we wonât come across any murders there.â
Being Cheng Xichengâs best friend and classmate throughout kindergarten to high school, Qi Youning nodded her head enthusiastically. âEr Chengâs suggestion is excellent. You guys would have seven days of vacation. Er Cheng and I would be on winter break, which is even longer. We can leave on the second day of the Spring Festival. We can even stay a few more days. You guys just need to apply for a few extra dayâs leaves.â
âOkay, letâs discuss more on WeChat when we get back,â chirped Xiao Yiqing.
Xiang Haorui suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gently rested his hand on Xiao Yiqingâs head and rubbed.
Feng Songwei detached herself from the police group and walked in front of Qi Youxuan. Flustered, she whispered shyly, âMr. Qi, would it be convenient for you to leave me your contact information. Iâd like to learn from you.â
Behind her, Feng Songweiâs police colleagueâs expression changed slightly and some were even uneasy.
It was clear that Qi Youxuan and Wei Muran were a couple, yet she had proactively asked for his number. Was she trying to break them up? It was bad enough if one intended to steal a personâs boyfriend behind their backs, let alone to Wei Muranâs face.
This gave others the impression that one possessed poor characteristics. It would be disgraceful to seduce a married man. It does not matter if they are married or not, this behavior was disdainful. Not to mention, although Wei Muran was not officially on the case, she also spent a few days in the same office with them and shared her thoughts which resulted in a few breakthroughs for them.
It had only been a few days but everyone has gotten to know each other. Although Qi Youxuanâs personality was not too likable, Wei Muran was really congenial. Everyone liked to befriend her. She was willing to help with anything. She was not treated as an outsider from a different precinct, or that she poses any threat.
As her friend, it made it even harder to accept Feng Songweiâs behavior. They never took Feng Songwei for such a person.
Was it not distasteful of Feng Songwei?
Stealing a friendâs boyfriend. What if it cost them their friendship with Wei Muran?
Feng Songwei was embarrassing their entire team.
Usually, Feng Songwei was just a little coy. It was common for them to do the heavy lifting. These macho-men also thought that it was not good for girls to perform these types of tasks. As men, they looked out for her. When working on cases, Feng Songwei was straightforward and did things neatly.
Who would have thought that she was such a person?
After all, they were only her colleagues hence they cannot really say much. However, perhaps they might be more wary of how they would treat Feng Songwei in the future.
This girlâs character was way off!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Qi Youxuan looked at her coldly and wanted to ignore her. Just as he was about to decline, Wei Muran rushed over and stood next to Qi Youxuan. She then took out a pen and paper from her bag and jotted down an eight-digit number and handed it to Feng Songwei. âThis is my direct line. If you encounter any cases that you donât understand, just give me a call.â
Feng Songwei was shocked.
She smiled stiffly and accepted the phone number. Wei Muran then said, âIf you need to look for my boyfriend, I can help to convey it.â
Qi Youxuan, who originally had a cold expression, grinned and wrapped his long arms around Wei Muranâs shoulders. He highly appreciated and praised her for being protective of her husband. His fingertips bounced atop her shoulders as if playing the piano.
âIâm sorry, itâs a custom in my family to not give out our phone numbers to random women,â Qi Youxuan snarked.
Since Feng Songwei had no shame, he did not mind humiliating Feng Songwei.
Sure enough, Feng Songwei froze, her face green and pale, obviously humiliated.
Wanting to regain some dignity, she opened her mouth and stammered, âI just want to learn so that itâll help me with cases in the future. Donât... Donât get me wrong.â
Qi Youxuan and Wei Muran smiled but remained silent. They made it obvious that they did not fall for her words and shut her down.
This behavior further cemented her attempt to seduce Qi Youxuan.