The sky brightened again.
Early in the morning, Sun Fujing left his home. The sun had not yet fully emerged from the clouds, and cold air floated between heaven and earth. The early risers in the community all hunched their shoulders and hurried along, as if they could leave the chill behind them.
Sun Fujing was a little different from the others.
He moved with the leisure of an old man, his steps slow and unhurried. He walked here and there, stopping to look at the trees and the water. Just when the person tailing him thought he was out for a stroll, Sun Fujing suddenly got into a taxi and left.
The taxi driver: “Where to?”
Sun Fujing squinted at the gray car in the rearview mirror, which had started moving almost at the same time as his own. “Hmm… let me think. Let’s go to the high-speed rail station.”
The taxi driver asked one more question: “What time is your train? Are you in a hurry?”
Sun Fujing smiled. “Not necessarily. It depends on the situation.”
Half an hour later, they arrived at the high-speed rail station. Sun Fujing got out of the car and wandered around inside.
Without even needing to buy a ticket, he saw the high-speed rail police vaguely closing in on him.
He made a decisive move, turned around, left the station, hailed another taxi, got in, and said, “Take me to a law firm.”
The driver asked, “Which firm?”
“Any one,” Sun Fujing said. “Zhongqi, let’s go with Zhongqi Law Firm.”
News of Sun Fujing’s various movements quickly reached the police station from the frontline surveillance team, along with their assessment: “…I suspect Sun Fujing is extremely cunning. He went to the high-speed rail station just to test whether the police were tailing him and whether they would stop him from leaving Ning City. Now he knows the police have listed him as a major suspect. He just entered Zhongqi Law Firm.”
“Zhongqi,” Huo Ranyin said. “Lian Dazhang’s firm?”
Tan Mingjiu was right there and, hearing Huo Ranyin’s words, immediately chimed in: “That’s right, Lian Dazhang works at this firm. The day he was promoted to senior partner was the day he was poisoned!”
“What is Sun Fujing doing at a law firm?” Huo Ranyin said again.
“Isn’t it obvious? A crafty old fox like Sun Fujing has already sensed that things are not looking good. He must be taking a large sum of money to hire the best lawyer to defend him,” Tan Mingjiu said with contempt.
What Tan Mingjiu said made sense.
But was a choice that anyone could think of, Sun Fujing’s choice?
Ji Xun’s final reminder from last night flashed through Huo Ranyin’s mind, but he quickly composed himself and went to the interrogation room—a woman was already sitting there.
Feng Jiamei, Qian Shumao’s partner.
Wen Yangyang had already conducted a simple interrogation with her.
Huo Ranyin asked, “How’s the situation?”
“Not good,” Wen Yangyang said worriedly. “She has reservations. She knows Qian Shumao’s money is dirty, so she’s unwilling to talk, afraid that if she says too much and the police get evidence, Qian Shumao’s money will be confiscated.”
“So she doesn’t care that her child’s father died under mysterious circumstances?” Tan Mingjiu lamented. “She only cares about the money?”
“In other words, the man is gone, so she has to have some money left,” Wen Yangyang added from the side.
Huo Ranyin ignored the two of them and pushed the door open to go inside.
Feng Jiamei was alone in the interrogation room, looking uneasy. As soon as she saw someone enter, she said quickly, “I’m sorry, I really don’t know anything. You’ve already asked what you needed to ask, right? If there’s nothing else, please let me go home. My child is home alone with no one to look after him. I have to go back and take care of my child!”
“I’ve seen your spending records, Ms. Feng,” Huo Ranyin got straight to the point. “You seem to generally like to take your child out for a walk after dinner and go on shopping sprees at the mall. From this perspective, Ms. Feng, you are very lucky.”
Feng Jiamei looked at him defensively.
“Qian Shumao died around dinner time. If he had left home a little later that evening, and you, Ms. Feng, for the sake of convenience, had gotten into his car with your child…”
Huo Ranyin stopped just short, as Feng Jiamei’s face grew paler and paler.
“Qian Shumao was involved in many complicated matters. He didn’t marry you and didn’t register the child’s household, partly with the intention of protecting you both. But as you can see from the result, he was wrong. He couldn’t even protect himself. Besides the police, who else do you think can protect you now? The police have already identified the person hiding in the background, but we currently lack sufficient evidence to arrest him. We very much hope for your cooperation. Only by catching this person will you and your child be truly safe. And only then will someone pay the price for Qian Shumao’s death.”
There was a full minute of silence.
Feng Jiamei’s will to resist was like a candle in a fire. As the flame flickered, so did her will. “I don’t know what evidence you’re talking about…”
“Qian Shumao’s recent strange behavior,” Huo Ranyin said. “Any strange behavior will do.”
The fire melted the candle.
Feng Jiamei also began to speak. “There was indeed a very strange incident recently. One night, Old Qian came home… and it was after this incident that Old Qian bought the silver nitrate and milk candy…”
With the woman’s narration, a hidden scene finally unfolded:
On that dark night.
The door to the house was suddenly thrown open. Qian Shumao entered, carrying something. With a flick of his hand, the thing was thrown heavily onto the ground. He didn’t notice her. He stared at the object on the floor, his face twisted into a ferocious grimace, and cursed:
“Old bastard, you tricked me again!”
It was nearing noon again.
Ji Xun was tormented by a succession of dreams until late morning. He hugged the quilt, gave a long yawn while staring at the bright red sun outside the window, and slowly got out of bed. He turned on the TV as he passed through the living room and then went to the kitchen to pour some milk.
By the time he came out with the milk, sipping it intermittently, he had also made a phone call.
He asked Huo Ranyin, “How’s the situation?”
Huo Ranyin: “Proceeding step by step.”
“What specific step has it reached? Are there any new clues?” Ji Xun yawned again.
“Yes,” Huo Ranyin said.
“Oh? What is it?” Ji Xun finally perked up a bit.
“Confidential.”
“…”
“Police department regulations. Please understand. I’ll tell you when the case is over.”
Huo Ranyin said it lightly, but Ji Xun felt he could really hear a lot of amusement in his words, so he also said with a smile:
“You’re really not telling me? Then I’ll go ask Yuan Yue.”
“Captain Yuan won’t tell you either,” Huo Ranyin said calmly.
“But I know Yuan Yue,” Ji Xun said. “I can guess from his words.”
“…”
After a few seconds of silence, Huo Ranyin said:
“Why not try and guess me?”
