After snatching a brief moment of respite in the police station’s small backyard, the two men returned to the office together.
Today’s investigation into Zheng Xuewang had yielded quite a bit of new information, and the subsequent direction of the investigation changed to a certain extent accordingly.
First, the focus on the three individuals involved in the case—Chen Jiahe, Cao Zhengbin, and Meng Zhonghai—must continue. However, because Cao Zhengbin and Meng Zhonghai had left early and kept their movements concealed, the police had yet to catch any trace of them. Only Chen Jiahe had shown his face on surveillance, and the officers reviewing the footage were stepping up their tracking along this line.
Second, the circumstances surrounding Zheng Xuejun’s death had to be fully clarified. If the people involved in the brawl twenty years ago truly involved Chen Jiashu, then perhaps the truth of this case was exactly as Ji Xun’s intuition suggested—it was perpetrated by Zheng Xuewang.
For this critical clue, Huo Ranyin originally wanted to pursue it himself, but after a moment’s thought, he assigned it to Wen Yangyang and Tan Mingjiu instead. He tasked them with gathering information on the personnel involved back then while conducting door-to-door interviews, reminding them not to forget to carve out time to visit Wang Guiyu again to see if she had missed or hidden anything.
Finally, there was what Huo Ranyin planned to investigate personally alongside Ji Xun—
The connection between Zheng Xuewang and Xu Xinran, and the Juanshan casino mentioned by Zheng Xuewang.
Tan Mingjiu had no objections to the tasks assigned to himself and Wen Yangyang, but he did have a question.
“Is it really necessary to investigate the casino?” Tan Mingjiu wiped his face. “With the case reaching this point, the focus is already glaringly obvious. Without a doubt, Zheng Xuejun—Zheng Xuejun is Zheng Xuewang’s reason and motive. Once we clear this up, the truth will come out. As for whether Zheng Xuewang participated in gambling or where his gambling venue is located, that’s not our business; it’s the business of the Public Order Detachment next door.”
“That makes sense,” Huo Ranyin nodded.
“Then—” Tan Mingjiu started.
“Then we still have to investigate,” Ji Xun’s belated voice overrode Tan Mingjiu.
“Give me a reason?” Tan Mingjiu asked.
“Intuition,” Ji Xun spat out two words with devastating lethality.
Damn!
Tan Mingjiu flipped Ji Xun the bird. When other people talked about intuition, it wasn’t scary, but when Ji Xun mentioned intuition, it was terrifying. Ji Xun’s intuition was just like the God of Gamblers on television. The God of Gamblers won nine out of ten times, only losing when it didn’t hurt; as for Ji Xun, his intuition hit the mark ten out of ten times. Although he inevitably had to take some winding, rugged, and even cliff-jumping paths along the way, they always successfully led to the final destination.
Very mysterious, very metaphysical.
One could only say he was a formidable character.
No one in the office had any further questions. Although the stars were out and the moon hung high, well past clock-out time, everyone still buried their heads in the case files, working diligently. After all, the work of a criminal investigator was different from other professions; lives were at stake, so doing a bit more meant a lot, and cracking the case even a day earlier mattered.
Ji Xun wasn’t in a great rush to dig into the data: “I’m heading out for a stroll and will grab some drinks for you guys while I’m at it. What do you want to drink?”
“Coffee.” × N
The corporate slaves in the office gave an incredibly uniform answer.
Ji Xun shrugged and went out the door, returning a few moments later with things in both hands. In his left hand was a bag of hot coffee, which he placed on the pantry counter for everyone to help themselves to. In his right hand was a transparent thermos containing red goji berries and yellow chrysanthemums, newly steeped and releasing tiny air bubbles in the water—a flask of goji berry chrysanthemum tea, which Ji Xun handed to Huo Ranyin’s side.
Huo Ranyin hadn’t gone into his private office; he was standing right out in the large main office, holding a folder and casually leaning against the edge of the windowsill, focused on work. He hadn’t paid much attention when Ji Xun handed over the water, only sensing something was amiss when the cup reached his lips. He first glanced at the transparent thermos, then cast an astonished gaze toward Ji Xun.
“To clear heat and improve eyesight,” Ji Xun said. “And to nourish the body.”
If the other coffee-drinkers in the office had heard what Ji Xun just said to Huo Ranyin, a lot of small question marks would probably have popped into their heads.
So only Captain Huo needs to clear heat, improve eyesight, and nourish his body, while none of us do?
Fortunately, everyone was intensely focused on their own tasks, and no one paid them much mind.
“Thanks,” Huo Ranyin said.
“You’re too polite.”
Ji Xun replied, stepping over to stand next to Huo Ranyin. He was calculating his positioning—he couldn’t stand too close, as others would find it strange at a glance, but he didn’t want to stand too far either. It was fine when they were busy, as there was no time to think, but once things quieted down slightly and his thoughts could detach from the chaotic clues, his body immediately felt the gravitational pull emanating from Huo Ranyin.
Pulling him to draw a little closer to Huo Ranyin, just a little closer…
Ji Xun noticed that Huo Ranyin’s gaze had fallen back on him; his minor movements must have drawn attention.
Tugging back and forth against his physical sensations, he found a moment to murmur, “Look at your files, ignore me.”
I’m just virtually cuddling you, then I’ll get back to business…
Huo Ranyin suddenly raised the folder high.
Behind the open folder, he turned his head and kissed Ji Xun.
It was very brief, very shallow, yet very sweet and beautiful.
For a pair of lovers in a brightly lit office, in a gap amidst busyness so suffocating it left almost no room to breathe, this snatched intimacy was as transient as a meteor streaking through the night. Yet the dazzling afterglow shined and trembled for a long time, rocking the universe of the heart.
Regarding Xu Xinran and the casino connected through Zheng Xuewang, after a brief discussion, Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin determined: they might as well try to locate the casino first.
However, because Zheng Xuewang had only gone to the casino a few times, they couldn’t obtain many direct clues regarding its location from him. Naturally, their gazes shifted to Xu Xinran—compared to Zheng Xuewang, Xu Xinran had spent far more time lingering around Juanshan for fishing. Considering he was an old degenerate gambler, it was reasonable to suspect they were both gambling at the exact same casino.
Thus, the hope of finding the casino could temporarily be pinned on Xu Xinran.
However, breaking through Xu Xinran’s defenses was not going to be an easy matter either.
Ji Xun picked up the materials the police had previously gathered regarding Xu Xinran and flipped through them:
The data showed that although Xu Xinran was deeply mired in the whirlpool of gambling, his social status and financial condition remained stable. His colleagues held no negative opinions of him, and his superiors acknowledged his professional expertise, holding him in high regard.
“Judging from this, Zheng Xuewang and Xu Xinran are quite similar.” Ji Xun murmured. Excellent skills, valued by superiors, recognized by colleagues, and both were surgical doctors. “And both gamble.”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly the kind of person they want to recruit,” Huo Ranyin cracked a rare dark joke. “Since organ traffickers want a one-stop service right down to the surgical stage, they have to recruit doctors with competent skills so they can feel at ease and secure during illegal surgeries, avoiding any medical disputes.”
That logic was completely sound.
Ji Xun continued flipping downward, leaving the professional scope and arriving at the private domain. Here, the differences between Xu Xinran and Zheng Xuewang emerged.
Zheng Xuewang was unmarried and currently appeared to have no emotional entanglements. Xu Xinran, however, had been married but divorced two years prior, leaving an eight-year-old son named Xu Rui, who currently lived with his ex-wife.
Beyond that, Xu Xinran’s daily activities outside of work were not particularly extravagant.
Domestic doctors were already busy to begin with. As an attending physician at a large hospital, Xu Xinran had very little free time, solving his three daily meals in the hospital cafeteria. Other than that, he just went home every night and headed to Juanshan to fish every weekend—in other words, he was a man who did nothing but commute to work and go to the casino to gamble.
“Judging from Xu Xinran’s performance during the last questioning, he cares about the child,” Ji Xun said. “This happens to align perfectly with what the interrogating officers thought. After all, from the police’s perspective, even a tiger wouldn’t eat its cubs. No matter how much someone roams the edge of the law to make dirty money, they will always find some unextinguished conscience when it comes to their own family.”
“It only looks that way.”
“Yes, it only looks that way,” Ji Xun agreed. “Xu Xinran seized upon your illusion of ‘having already broken through the criminal’s psychological defenses’ and brought in a lawyer at the exact right moment. Once it seemed like he had gotten what he wanted, the person in front of him no longer held any value. The police naturally didn’t want to tangle with lawyers and legal procedures, so they let Xu Xinran walk away scot-free… That’s where his cunning lies… He completely manipulated your mindset while keeping himself tightly wrapped up.”
“It was their mindset,” Huo Ranyin’s tone suddenly carried a trace of displeasure.
“Hmm?”
“I felt something was off at the time,” Huo Ranyin stated his position.
“Mhm, mhm.” Catching a glimpse of his boyfriend’s hidden thoughts, Ji Xun held back a smile and quickly smoothed his feathers. “I understand. The blunder is entirely on those slacking interrogators. You had the heart to slay the thief but lacked the power to turn the tide. If you had gone up against Xu Xinran directly, you would have definitely handled him with brilliant martial prowess like slicing through melons and vegetables.”
Judging by Huo Ranyin’s expression, he felt appeased.
The two shared a laugh, rallied their spirits, and continued their analysis.
“If the only things Xu Xinran cares about are gambling and money, then trying to get clues about the casino’s location from him will be difficult.”
The logic was simple: since Xu Xinran wanted to gamble, he wouldn’t easily betray the casino.
In fact, besides breaking down Xu Xinran, there was another method—staking out Juanshan directly and tailing the vehicles emerging from the restaurant Zheng Xuewang had mentioned. However, firstly, they didn’t know if the casino was open on weekdays; if it wasn’t, the investigation would drag out over a long period. Secondly, Juanshan was located in the suburbs of Ning City and up on a mountain, where both vehicle and foot traffic were sparse. The probability of a successful police stakeout and tail was low, while the likelihood of alerting the target was high.
“Though Xu Xinran is cunning… it’s not entirely a bad thing,” Ji Xun pondered. “At least he would pay close attention to the conditions on the road. An entirely enclosed vehicle cabin might fool others, but it might not fool him. In any case, idle speculation is pointless; let’s meet with the people close to him first, such as his ex-wife and son.”
Half of Monday had already been spent gathering and analyzing Xu Xinran’s files. After resting for two hours at the station, racing against clock-out time, the two paid a visit and met Xu Xinran’s ex-wife.
The ex-wife was a professional woman. Upon learning Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin’s purpose and identities, she politely invited them inside and served tea. “If this is regarding Xu Xinran, we’ve already been divorced for three years. I’m not too clear on his current situation.”
“What was the reason for the divorce?”
“I discovered his gambling,” the ex-wife smiled bitterly. “Of course I fought with him. At that time, he probably didn’t have much affection left for this family either; he didn’t even make a token gesture to ask me to stay. A month later, we divorced. The child went to me, the house was split fifty-fifty—I compensated him with money for his share—and then he left. That was it.”
The police’s collection of information on Xu Xinran naturally wouldn’t be as detailed as what the parties involved knew.
Ji Xun: “Not a single attempt to make you stay?”
“Right, not even once…”
“Then do you think, besides gambling at the time, there was someone else on the outside?”
“…” The ex-wife fell into thought for a moment. “I didn’t find any evidence. And based on my intuition as a woman, I don’t think he did. He just… didn’t have feelings for me and the child, I guess.”
“Why do you keep saying Xu Xinran had no feelings for you all?” Ji Xun raised an eyebrow.
“Because… Xu Xinran couldn’t wait to get a divorce.”
“Aside from that?” Ji Xun asked.
“He didn’t try to keep you, but you tried to keep him, right?” Huo Ranyin asked more bluntly.
A trace of awkwardness and shame flashed across the woman’s face. Clearly, this matter had wounded her self-esteem. That was why, during their conversation just now, although she repeatedly emphasized that Xu Xinran had no feelings for them, she consistently avoided stating the actual reason that made her feel this way.
But after a few seconds of deadlock, she still nodded reluctantly and laid it all out for the police:
“Yes, I tried to keep him… After I discovered his gambling, I had a massive fight with him and said the word ‘divorce’ on impulse. I didn’t expect him to agree immediately. Xu Xinran and I were college classmates; to use a trendy phrase nowadays, we went ‘from school uniforms to wedding dresses.’ Before I discovered this secret of his, I felt… personally, I felt… that Xu Xinran was a good husband and a good father. And back then, though a large sum of money was missing from the household account, the family finances hadn’t actually entered a crisis.”
“I thought Xu Xinran could change…”
She lowered her head.
A woman’s sentimentality often causes her to overly optimistically estimate a relationship that has already shifted.
They linger and cling reluctantly to the beautiful past until all that beauty turns to ashes in reality, leaving only two twisted faces filled with mutual hatred, staring at each other.
“So after the divorce… I still kept in touch with Xu Xinran.”
“On what grounds?” Huo Ranyin asked.
“You’re not married yet, are you, Officer?” The ex-wife gave a slightly self-deprecating laugh. “What reason does a wife need to contact her husband? Daily necessities, the child’s schoolwork, workplace trivialities—anything can be a topic. In order to get back together with him, I even spent several thousand yuan hiring a master to perform a ritual…”
“…” The two materialists maintained a polite silence.
“An IQ tax,” the ex-wife evaluated herself. Perhaps because she had spoken aloud the thing she was most ashamed of, she gradually opened up, no longer hiding anything. “In short, no matter what I said or did, Xu Xinran was very cold and basically never replied to my WeChat messages.”
“Was it a huge contrast to how he used to be?”
“Yes,” the ex-wife nodded. “He’s a surgeon, and having been married for so many years, I knew he was busy. I could feel before that no matter how busy he was, as long as he had a moment, he would reply promptly. After the divorce, one can only say he finally broke free from his shackles. But even so, I still… still found it a bit hard to forget the old dream, until that incident happened.”
“Which incident?” Ji Xun asked with a trace of curiosity.
“Xiao Rui got sick.”
Xiao Rui—Xu Rui—Xu Xinran and his ex-wife’s child.
“He got caught in the rain on his way home from school and started running a fever around seven or eight o’clock. But I had to work overtime that day, and the child was very sensible, holding it in without saying a word. By the time I returned at midnight, he was already burning up and semi-conscious. I was panicked and terrified, sending countless messages and making numerous phone calls to Xu Xinran, but it was all useless…”
In an intimate relationship, children rely on their parents, and wives rely on their husbands.
They repeat this socially conventional concept time and again until it deepens into a habit branded inside the body, and further until the habit is shattered into pieces by the party being relied upon.
“It’s basically like that; Xu Xinran stopped caring about us long ago. It doesn’t matter, it’s all in the past anyway.” The ex-wife smiled a little strained. “Can any of this help you?”
“It’s extremely helpful,” Huo Ranyin said.
This answer made the ex-wife feel a bit better, and she exhaled a long breath.
Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin stood up, preparing to leave. Huo Ranyin stepped out first, while Ji Xun lingered a step behind, just in time to hear a child’s voice call out from the room: “Mom, have the police uncles left?”
He turned back and saw a stocky, healthy-looking boy poking his head out from the study, stealing a quiet glance in his direction.
The ex-wife, who had been cleaning up the coffee table, hurriedly walked over: “They’re leaving. Are you hungry? Mom will make dinner right away.”
As she spoke, she followed the child’s line of sight and locked eyes with Ji Xun.
Ji Xun thought for a moment: “They say ex-boyfriends are worse than dogs. As for an ex-husband, since being alive is equivalent to being dead anyway, you might as well let him rest in peace.”
The ex-wife blanked for a second.
Ji Xun continued: “There are still plenty of good men out there. Just level the pit and keep moving forward.”
Having said his piece, he waved his hand, stepped out the door, and entered the corridor elevator.
“The relationship expert has arrived,” Huo Ranyin remarked.
“I don’t know why, but whenever I talk about emotional issues, it’s always incredibly convincing.” Ji Xun examined his reflection curiously in the blurry metal wall of the elevator. “Could it be that I possess a face that looks like it has experienced a thousand sails?”
“Well, have you experienced them?” Huo Ranyin asked.
“Mm, I have.”
“?”
“One sail is worth a thousand.”
“…Glib tongue,” Huo Ranyin hummed softly, pressing the elevator button with a hint of amusement.
The elevator doors closed, and the projector installed inside the elevator cast a small advertisement above the elevator doors. They began discussing the situation they had just learned from Xu Xinran’s ex-wife:
“She doesn’t seem to be lying. As it stands, she has no reason or necessity to lie either,” Ji Xun said.
Huo Ranyin nodded slightly.
“Coupled with the cigarettes and lighter found on the house’s coffee table, as well as a pair of large-sized men’s sneakers in the shoe cabinet, it can be initially determined that Xu Xinran’s ex-wife has a new romantic partner, and the child doesn’t object to this partner.”
This was also quite straightforward.
Judging by the affectionate behavior between mother and son, their relationship was very good. If the child had strongly rejected this romantic partner, it would have been impossible for the partner to enter the home freely and even leave behind personal items.
“What do you think about Xu Xinran’s attitude toward the mother and son?” Huo Ranyin threw out a question.
“Ha—” Ji Xun laughed. “That really is a good question. From the ex-wife’s perspective, the lover of yesteryear now possesses a heart as cold as steel. But from my perspective, the situation might be exactly the opposite. A highly educated intellectual like Xu Xinran knew he had already stepped into the abyss of illegal gambling and would sooner or later ruin his finances and end up behind bars. Therefore, guided by his unextinguished conscience, he chose to grant his wife and son a way out before things became entirely irreparable. Even the wife’s so-called accidental discovery of Xu Xinran’s gambling might very well have been a meticulous arrangement on his part.”
“Too idealistic,” Huo Ranyin evaluated.
“Trust me, when a man truly hardens his heart, he doesn’t look this refined,” Ji Xun said. “Most importantly, the ex-wife believes Xu Xinran didn’t cheat, and the police investigation indeed found no existence of a second relationship around him. Human beings, living in this world, always need an emotional anchor. I’m afraid Xu Xinran merely hid his own emotions with his usual fox-like cunning… Perhaps during the last questioning of Xu Xinran, your direction was right, but your technique was wrong. After all, amidst truths and falsehoods, the truth is the best lie.”
With a ding sound,
the elevator reached the first floor.
The two walked out of the elevator, the corners of Ji Xun’s mouth gradually curving upward. “If this speculation is correct, I know how to face Xu Xinran now. There is bound to be a scar of remorse on his heart…”
