Chapter 105.1

Cross swords

To avoid causing Ji Jingxing any trouble, Song Yuhang moved back to her own home. Xiaowei hadn’t recovered yet, so Mother Song stayed there to take care of her. In this way, with Song Yuhang living by herself, it was much safer for all of them.

As soon as Song Yuhang entered the door, she was stung by the sight of the photo frame placed next to her father’s and brother’s portraits. She put down her things and walked over, picking up the frame as if intending to smash it, but ultimately, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her eyes slowly filled with tears, and she hugged it to her chest, rubbing her cheek against the cold face in the photo.

After a long time, she carefully placed the photo frame back, properly aligned, and lit three sticks of incense for the smiling woman in the picture.

Her gaze was then drawn to a bracelet placed in front of the incense table. Wasn’t this her mother’s?

Song Yuhang picked it up, affectionately stroking it, a trace of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth, before she slowly put it back in place.

During the three days waiting for notification, she wasn’t idle at all; she tidied up her room and arranged her bedroom into a darkroom similar to that in Lin Yan’s villa.

She pushed the single bed to the farthest corner, freeing up a wall to nail a whiteboard for writing. She bought thick blackout curtains for the windows, which are helpful for developing photos in a dark, lightless environment and also provide her with a sense of security.

Aside from the necessary desk, chairs, and wardrobe, she virtually emptied out her bedroom, leaving only a few stuffed animals that Lin Yan had once embraced on the bed.

In such a dark environment, she would sit all day long, calling for takeout or casually nibbling on instant noodles when hungry—most of the time without appetite—leaving the takeaway boxes untouched on the floor.

The few pounds she had struggled to gain while in the hospital quickly disappeared again, and it was evident to the naked eye how much weight she had lost.

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Whenever something came to Song Yuhang’s mind, she’d add a note to the whiteboard. After three days of organizing her thoughts, the timeline of her reasoning on the whiteboard had become clear.

The series of cases all started with the “1994 Fenyang Wharf Dismemberment” as the initial axis.

Victim: Chen Chunan.

Person of Interest: Lin Yan.

Perpetrator: Unknown.

The “unknown” at that time possessed certain capabilities to commit the crime. Lin Yan also said that dismemberment isn’t like slaughtering chickens; it requires a certain physical strength and skilled technique.

If “he” were a psychopathic killer, it’s strange that in fourteen years, the police never received any reports of similar cases.

Song Yuhang stared at the photo without a face, lost in thought.

What stopped him from continuing to kill?

A psychopathic killer would not easily give up murdering as a means of deriving “pleasure.”

Unless he had some compelling reason, like starting a family, pursuing education, or being too busy with work?

After all, living in this world, eating is a problem everyone must solve, even a murderer.

Song Yuhang, holding a pen, rested her head against the whiteboard.

So why would this person kill a high school student with simple social ties and no known grudges?

Was it a spur-of-the-moment act or…?

Silenced.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Song Yuhang gripped the pen tighter, this was the most plausible explanation she could come up with at the moment, and it also accounted for the various obstacles she and Lin Yan encountered later during their investigation.

Someone didn’t want this case to come to light.

And then there was the matter of the fall into the sea.

The killer clearly had the USB drive but still ruthlessly pursued the kill, and “he” only trapped Lin Yan, “he” knew she would drive that car, so the target from the beginning to the end was just one.

That was to have her dead.

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Over the years, Song Yuhang has made countless enemies both openly and covertly; the number of people wanting her dead is countless, but few can play such a calculating game with human lives.

Lin Yan is not a careless person; “he” was able to tamper with the cars at Lin Yan’s garage without detection, indicating that “he” must at least be an acquaintance of Lin Yan’s.

Furthermore, the perpetrator was able to precisely and accurately kidnap Mother Song, Xiaowei, and Ji Jingxing. Ji Jingxing was abducted during a call with her, a violent interaction, while Mother Song and Xiaowei ran into trouble during a busy temple fair. Their family knows the law well and has instilled the idea of not going with strangers in their children from a young age, so Xiaowei wouldn’t easily go with an unknown person, and if someone were to make a move, a child’s loud crying and struggle would inevitably draw public attention.

According to Fang Xin, a witness saw a man holding Xiaowei in his arms, with her holding a tanghulu (candied haw on a stick) in her hand.

This means that Xiao Wei knew the person!

Lin Yan knew him too.

Maybe… she knew him as well.

Hesitating, Song Yuhang still wrote down a few names on the whiteboard and then circled them heavily with a red pen.

By the time she finished writing, the ringtone of her cell phone echoed in the room. She rarely received calls during her break, so the sound of the ringtone always brought a hint of inexplicable excitement.

By the time she fumbled to find her phone from under the bed, the caller had already hung up.

Opening her phone, Song Yuhang saw it was a number from the city bureau, feeling a tinge of disappointment. She called back, only to be informed that she should go to the bureau to pack up her things; the notice for her job reassignment had come through.

“Alright, I got it,” Song Yuhang said after hanging up the phone, laughing at herself mockingly before getting up, taking her keys, and heading out the door.

Once at the bureau, she first went to her office and picked up the official document with the red heading, not even having read it herself, yet the news of her demotion and transfer had already spread far and wide.

Duan Cheng said to Song Yuhang, “Captain Song, human traffickers are scum; I think what you did was right. If it were me, I’d also want to give him a good kicking. Don’t be upset, okay? Director Feng also said, the reassignment is just temporary. Who knows, maybe after some time in the grassroots, you’ll be back.”

Fang Xin also wanted to say something: “Captain Song…”

Song Yuhang, leaning on the door frame, turned around with a smile: “I’m fine. You all go ahead, let me pack up by myself for a while.”

The others, holding back what they wanted to say, reluctantly filed out.

As they walked away, Fang Xin pinched Duan Cheng, chiding him: “It’s all your fault, mentioning that which should not be mentioned.”

The office wasn’t large, and there wasn’t much to pack. She only took a few books on criminal investigation, a fountain pen, two notebooks, and a laptop.

Looking around the room, it was as if she could still see the playful forensic doctor pushing her onto the couch, straddling her, and reaching out to loosen her tie.

“What would Officer Song prefer, being tied up, gagged, or blindfolded?”

A wave of emotion welled up in Song Yuhang’s eyes; what she really wanted to take with her were the memories.

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Holding the cardboard box, she turned and walked out the door, still needing to stop by the Technical Investigation Office.

Lin Yan’s desk was actually cleaner than she had imagined, with the photo frame on the desk polished till it sparkled.

Seeing her arrival, Duan Cheng put down his work and hurried over.

“Captain Song, we clean Sister Lin’s desk every day, just thinking—”

It would be great if she could come back.

The corners of Song Yuhang’s mouth lifted slightly, her smile tinged with bitterness: “Thank you all.”

“No need, no need, we’re all colleagues here after all. Let us help you pack,” said Fang Xin, her eyes also turning red.

Zheng Chengrui also lifted his head from the computer to look at her.

“You all go on with your work; I can manage by myself.”

Song Yuhang politely declined their kind offer.

Duan Cheng still wanted to say something, but Fang Xin pulled him away to the laboratory.

The spacious Technical Investigation Office suddenly became very quiet, even the sound of typing on keyboards ceased.

Everyone tacitly gave her space to reminisce about Lin Yan alone.

Song Yuhang tidied up the haphazardly stacked books on her desk, putting them into a cardboard box one by one, not even missing the sticky notes on the computer that were written in her own handwriting.

The reminders Lin Yan left for herself always seemed to be about the little things.

“Don’t forget to add sugar to the coffee, or it’ll be bitter.”

“Go out for a drink after work.”

“A new hotpot restaurant opened in the city center, let’s try it tomorrow.”

……

And some idle chatter.

“First day at work, met a crazy woman.”

“What to do if the boss is an old cadre?”

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“Song Yuhang is a big idiot, hmph!!!”

There was a string of angry little emoticons following that.

Song Yuhang couldn’t remember what had made her angry, but looking at the words, it was as if she could see her frowning, getting mad, acting spoiled, and stamping her feet. She couldn’t help but laugh through her tears and gently placed the note into the box.

With the desk now tidy, she pulled open her drawer, which contained more odds and ends than she had expected.

There were several medicine bottles, which twisted her heart with pain the moment she saw them; she picked them up and put them in the box.

There were also some small hairclips, decorative hair bands, leather cords, packets of coffee, face masks…

These trivial yet lively human items almost instantly brought tears to her eyes.

Song Yuhang picked them up one by one, not even overlooking the paperclips wedged in the crevices of the drawer.

Pulling the drawer out all the way, a brocade box tumbled out. She picked it up and opened it to find the medal of honor that she had given to Lin Yan, which Lin Yan had disdainfully disregarded.

It was preserved exceptionally well, without a speck of dust or a single scratch.

She caressed the gold national emblem on the medal, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, sniffled, and placed the medal into the cardboard box.

Finally, she turned her photo frame face down on top of everything else.

Song Yuhang carried the cardboard box as he walked out.

The other members of the Technical Investigation Team stood up one after another.

“Captain Song.”

“Captain Song.”

“Captain Song.”

……

She turned around and saw Duan Cheng raising his hand to his temple, and the others quickly followed suit.

She turned back, stood at attention, and holding the cardboard box in one hand, she also saluted them in the same manner to say goodbye.

Duan Cheng’s eyes slightly warmed up: “Captain Song, even if we won’t be working together, we can still get together for hotpot, right?”

Fang Xin said: “Exactly, if it wasn’t for Captain Song’s hands-on teaching, my shooting skills wouldn’t have improved so quickly.”

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Zheng Chengrui added: “Captain Song, if you ever need help in the future, just let us know.”

The others chimed in.

“Captain Song, since we’re all in Jiangcheng City, let’s hang out more when we have time, and don’t forget about us.”

Song Yuhang smiled: “How could I forget? Thank you, guys.”

“And remember, you’re always welcome to hit me up for a meal anytime—we’re friends after all.”

No matter what, she would never forget the days spent striving side by side with the Technical Investigation Team, or the life and death moments shared with Lin Yan.

Song Yuhang, carrying the cardboard box, walked out the door never expecting to bump into him in the hallway.

Zhao Junfeng must have been there to provide guidance at the Municipal Bureau, surrounded by a large group of people, both men and women, with Feng Jianguo trailing beside him.

As the procession passed by her, Zhao Junfeng stopped in his tracks.

Song Yuhang gave a slight nod as a greeting, not expecting him to suddenly speak up.

“Go have lunch and rest. Be on time for the meeting in the main conference room at two in the afternoon,” Zhao Junfeng instructed, and the others quickly scattered like birds and beasts.

LP: ​I’m getting the vibe that… Lin Ge… to Chunan… (。≖ˇ​ｪˇ≖｡)