Chapter 112-2

Reminisce

Song Yuhang had been staking out near the Huange Nightclub for several days, yet she hadn’t caught another glimpse of Pei Jinhong.

She didn’t want to make another brash and disrespectful move like climbing over the wall for a nighttime meeting, feeling sorry towards Lin Yan, but her heart was still filled with unresolved doubts. With the card Zheng Chengrui had copied for her, she had slipped in a few times without any luck in encountering her again.

Asking the employees led nowhere, and further questioning risked exposure.

Left with no choice, Song Yuhang decided to give up. Just as she was contemplating making one last attempt to find some clues after work, her phone rang.

Upon answering, her expression immediately turned cold. As the windshield wipers screeched against the glass, Song Yuhang gently pressed on the gas pedal.

“Alright, I got it. I’ll be there soon.”

A homicide case.

The organization dispatched her to take a look.

A reporter, holding an umbrella and wearing a raincoat, shouted into the camera: “The crime scene is located at an abandoned construction site in the suburbs. Due to the recent heavy rains, the top layer of soil was washed away, revealing the body that was buried underneath. Those who have missing family members that haven’t returned home recently, or have other clues that could aid in solving the case, please contact the police in a timely manner.”

Song Yuhang lifted the police tape and put on her white gloves.

The forensic team was already bustling about. She looked over and saw a figure crouched beside the body, donned in a white protective suit.

Song Yuhang was momentarily startled, losing herself in thought until the person turned her face towards her, revealing a stranger, likely a newcomer.

Xue Rui approached, a bitter smile playing at the corner of his lips, still using the familiar address, “Captain Song, you’ve arrived. Please, enlighten us through this puzzle.”

Song Yuhang walked over, “Call it as you see fit; anything else is inappropriate.”

Caught off guard, Song Yuhang had already crouched down to examine the body closely.

“When did you find out?”

Seeing her obviously a bit agitated, Duan Cheng, carrying a camera, answered quickly, “At four in the afternoon, the police were already making a record.”

The witness was a local resident who came to the construction site to pick up steel bars.

Song Yuhang briefly understood the case and then glanced at the corpse again.

It was too gruesome to look at.

The body was charred beyond recognition, looking no different from a lump of coal, its features completely obscured; it was impossible to even distinguish whether it was male or female.

Faced with such a corpse, even the most experienced forensic pathologist would be at a loss.

“Let’s call it a day, the rain is too heavy, let’s take it back for the autopsy.”

Several people worked together to place the body into a body bag.

The heavy rain had almost washed away all traces and footprints, leaving nothing behind.

After carrying the body away, Song Yuhang grabbed a handful of soil from the pit and sniffed it close to her nose.

“The soil is very hard. The heavy rain only washed away the loose soil that covered the surface; the soil in the pit wasn’t burned. This isn’t the original crime scene.”

Xue Rui was taken aback, “Are you saying the victim was killed elsewhere and then the body was dumped here?”

“Correct. Let’s wait for the autopsy results,” Song Yuhang brushed the soil off her hands and stood up, sighing to herself. If it were Lin Yan, she would most likely be able to explain the situation by now.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“First, find the source of the body. Check surveillance footage, talk to nearby residents, and after finding the source of the body, investigate the victim’s social relations to further narrow down the list of suspects. Verify each one.”

She hadn’t been at the scene for long when Song Yuhang had already roughly outlined a direction for their investigation.

A thought flashed through her mind about the wristwatch on the corpse’s wrist, charred black by the fire.

The fact that it didn’t melt under fire likely means it’s an expensive brand.

Song Yuhang thought for a moment and then brought up this point.

“The deceased had a wristwatch on their right wrist that didn’t melt in the fire, most likely a luxury item. Such luxury goods usually have customer information recorded by the sales assistant at the time of purchase. It’s worth a good check.”

Thanks to the time spent with Lin Yan, Song Yuhang had gained some understanding of the lives of the wealthy.

Perhaps missing someone is such a magical feeling. Sometimes, while she was busy with things unrelated to her, she would suddenly think of her.

This must be what it means to be deeply engraved in one’s heart.

Song Yuhang smiled bitterly in her heart.

Xue Rui was awakened by her words, his eyes suddenly brightening: “It’s good that we asked captain Song for help today. Otherwise, we would have been completely clueless about this case.”

Being seasoned members, a few colleagues approached her as she returned, greeting her and even offering to take her out for a meal.

Song Yuhang waved her hands to refuse, tucking her gloves into her pocket.

“No need, I’ve got things to do. Heading home now. You guys stay busy, call me if you need anything.”

Duan Cheng tried to follow her, calling out, “Hey, Captain Song…”

But he was pulled back by Fang Xin, who said, “Forget it, forget it. Let’s get back to work.”

People were also whispering among themselves.

“Have you guys felt like Captain Song has become a completely different person?”

“Absolutely, she used to smile before. Look at her now, so aloof. I heard she doesn’t have a single friend at the police station.”

“How could you smile if your girlfriend had died?”

“Crow’s mouth1, don’t jinx me, will you?”

“To be honest, I’ve always suspected that Captain Song and Forensic Doctor Lin were an item. I’ve seen them exchanging looks in the office more than once. Who would’ve thought it’s actually true.”

“Tsk, it’s just a waste of Captain Song’s bright future. To achieve what she has at such a young age is rare.”

……

Song Yuhang slightly curled her lips, closed her umbrella, and sat in the car, driving straight to the cemetery.

When she wasn’t busy, it was her routine to visit her every day, yet she hadn’t expected that he would be there too.

Lin Ge held a black umbrella, leaning against the tombstone was a bunch of fresh white chrysanthemums. Hearing the approaching footsteps, he slightly curved his lips upward.

“You came.”

A low murmur, almost like a sigh.

Song Yuhang looked at the white chrysanthemums by the tombstone, then at him, and nodded: “So it was you.”

Compared to the luxurious bouquet full of expensive flowers that Lin Ge brought, the handful of wild chrysanthemums and a few rain-drenched, even more delicate white roses she picked by the roadside seemed somewhat humble.

Lin Ge tugged at the corner of his lips, “She’s afraid of being alone.”

Captain Song nodded, bending down to wipe the rainwater off the tombstone with her sleeve, then gently placing her umbrella over their heads.

“That’s why I come often.”

Lin Ge turned his head to look at her as the night fell. He was clearly smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

He joked, “You should probably go down and keep her company.”

Song Yuhang nodded, “Yes, I will, but not now.”

Lin Ge turned around with his umbrella in hand, “That’s all there is to it.”

This rain, no, perhaps it’s the death of Lin Yan that made the barriers that already existed between the two of them even clearer.

Lin Ge tore off his hypocritical mask, and she no longer had to pretend to be magnanimous.

Song Yuhang didn’t turn back, instead, she looked at the photo of her.

“In life, her last words were a promise to be my fiancée. In death, she remains my lost wife. A hundred years from now, we will share the same grave.”

“I am alive now, not just to scrape by.”

She clenched her fists tightly, rainwater streaming down her gaunt cheeks, uttering each word with resolute finality.

“But rather—to”

Captain Song Yuhang slightly lifted her head: “Avenge her.”

“No matter who that person is.”

From the corner of her eye, Lin Ge’s body stiffened slightly.

He turned around, laughing sarcastically.

“If you truly had that capability, she wouldn’t have died.”

After he left, Song Yuhang’s clenched fist finally relaxed. She squatted down again, threw the flowers brought by Lin Ge far away, cleaned the area in front of the tombstone, and placed her own bunch there, heavy with her love.

Song Yuhang’s hand traced the words on the tombstone, her eyes suddenly warming.

—Stand up for the living, speak for the dead.

Indeed, she had chosen these words as the epitaph.

“Do you know? Today, the city’s police department had a homicide case and called me in as a consultant. Their forensic team couldn’t make out anything at the scene, and it made me think of you,”

Song Yuhang murmured to herself.

“You know, you always spoke for the deceased before, keeping your own feelings tightly held, never telling me when you were sick or when you folded those thousand paper cranes. I only found out when you couldn’t hide it anymore.”

Song Yuhang spoke, sniffling, leaning against the tombstone.

“All I wish for now is a time machine, to take me back to when we first met. I promise I won’t oppose you at every turn, won’t wait outside your door to confront you physically.”

“I’ll listen to everything you say, you… can you come back?”

The rain was pouring heavily, and Song Yuhang couldn’t tell if it was the rain or tears blurring her vision.

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, but by the time someone gently shook her awake, half of her body had gone numb.

Cemetery caretaker: “Miss, Miss, it’s pouring. Don’t sit out here anymore.”

Song Yuhang looked up, and the sky had completely darkened.

The person was holding an umbrella for her, with a flashlight in his hand.

Song Yuhang stood up, completely soaked through, looking like a drowned rat.

She wiped the rain off her face.

“Thank you.”

Saying so, she was about to walk away.

The cemetery caretaker asked in wonder, “Who is the person buried here, that you come every day regardless of wind and rain?”

Song Yuhang turned back, offering a slight smile.

“My wife.”

As soon as she got back into the car, before she even had a chance to dry her hair, the mobile phone tossed on the passenger seat started ringing. Picking it up, she saw it was a message from Xue Rui.

“Source of the corpse found, the deceased is Wang Qiang, General Manager of Haoran Industrial Transportation Co., Ltd., has a history of drug abuse.”

Below was a long list of Wang Qiang’s social relationships.

Song Yuhang scrolled down, her fingers suddenly stopping, staring at a familiar face in shock, unable to speak.

Mistress—Pei Jinhong.

Her again.

Song Yuhang clenched her teeth in anger.