[10/30, 09:20, Nanyi City]
“Hey, hey, hey, did you guys see the news? The machinery factory exploded!”
“I heard it was man-made. Someone planted a bomb inside, and a lot of people died!”
“Damn, that’s so insane, it sounds like a terrorist attack. What if it explodes somewhere else?”
…
Yi Shi suddenly opened his eyes. Just as he sat up, he fell back down, his limbs weak and his head pounding. He held back the nausea in his stomach, lying on his side for about a few minutes before he started to feel better.
These were all adverse reactions from the first use of high-concentration sedatives. Sheng Guoning must have given him a dosage several times that of Xiao Shitou’s, and the desired effect was achieved; Yi Shi had “slept” for a full ten hours, completely breaking his usual biological clock.
He wasn’t even worried about Yi Shi waking up halfway through. Even the handcuffs had been removed, and he was left alone in the room without any care, which showed how confident and certain he was.
The Nanyi Machinery Factory hadn’t escaped its misfortune; it exploded again.
At 9:30, Yi Shi climbed up again, this time moving much more slowly. His temples throbbed, and he sat on the edge of the bed, stretching his limbs. After confirming he could move normally, he propped himself up and stood.
Outside, the cleaning lady was discussing it enthusiastically. Yi Shi listened quietly for a while. Injuries, fleeing, collapsing, disappearing—scenes flashed before his eyes, confirming that these established facts were happening again, unbreakable. No one understood the inside story of this case better than him. Besides the dozen or so innocent victims on the surface, there were also two “outsiders” who accidentally got caught up in the case. They were clearly victims of the explosion but left no trace behind.
Everything had just begun. Yi Shi pinched the bridge of his nose and took out the schedule. At the very bottom was March 1st; that day was the endpoint of the entire major case. He still had plenty of time, just enough to verify some of his suspicions.
On December 11th, he had to help Lin Heyu sever ties. During the time before the severance, the schedule was blank, with no memories of meetings between the two. He was likely going to have to act alone during this time.
People came and went in the city bureau, and reporters were lurking at the entrance. The explosion had occurred so suddenly that from that day on, a special task force was established, and the criminal investigation team was busy to the point of not being home for ten days or half a month. The provincial department’s higher-ups held constant meetings to analyze the case and issue directives, demanding the quickest speed to rescue hostages and capture suspects. The entire public security system in Nanyi was thrown into a frenzy.
[11/05, 13:11, Nanyi City, Changlong Garden]
Yi Shi chose a day when no one was home to return to Changlong Garden. He wanted to uncover the secrets that Sheng Guoning was hiding; perhaps he could find some useful clues at home. Every month at the beginning, Lin Zhizhi would attend charity events, and Sheng Guoning was busy at work, leaving him, this “idle person,” plenty of time to search the house thoroughly.
Yi Shi put on plastic gloves, focusing on searching the master bedroom. The previous layout had a small living room and large rooms. Sheng Guoning and Lin Zhizhi’s bedroom was over twenty square meters, with its own bathroom. The bay window was converted into a desk and bookshelf, which also served as Sheng Guoning’s office.
His first target was the wardrobe. The lower drawers contained important documents and items, including the photo album that Lin Zhizhi often flipped through. Underneath the album was a folder filled with various certificates, insurance policies, medical receipts, and a stack of medical reports they had kept from their regular doctor visits.
As he flipped through them, Yi Shi discovered that Lin Zhizhi’s health was worse than he had expected. Besides cervical spondylosis, her digestive system and respiratory tract were not good, and there was even a diagnosis for depression, which had been confirmed three months after Lin Heyu went missing. It lasted for a considerable amount of time, only improving after Sheng Yu’an started kindergarten.
Yi Shi felt a mix of emotions, guilt weighing heavily on him—both for Lin Heyu and for Lin Zhizhi. He suppressed his complicated feelings, put the medical reports back, and opened the next folder.
This one contained various appliance manuals and warranty cards, from large items like televisions and refrigerators to smaller items like kettles and irons. He flipped through it quickly and found nothing of interest. Yi Shi closed the drawer and turned to the bay window, his gaze landing on Sheng Guoning’s desk.
Normally, a three-bedroom apartment would have a study, but with two kids in the family, Sheng Guoning could only place his desk in the bedroom. For someone in a high position, this working environment was quite shabby. After Yi Shi moved out, he had suggested turning his room into a study, but Sheng Guoning had immediately rejected the idea, joking that seeing his wife whenever he looked up was the best way to relax.
A small brass lock hung on the drawer, usually just a decorative piece since Sheng Guoning never took important documents home, opting to keep them in the office safe instead. But today, the lock was secured, making things a bit more complicated.
Only Sheng Guoning had the key to the desk. For an ordinary person, it might be necessary to find a locksmith or break it open by force, but unfortunately for them, they were dealing with Yi Shi. Such an ordinary lock was never a challenge for him. He took two small metal clips from the vanity and, after a bit of fiddling, popped the lock open without any difficulty.
Inside the drawer, the documents were in disarray, along with several professional books that should have been on the bookshelf. Yi Shi removed the book titled “Guidelines for Criminal Investigation” and noticed a corner of a yellow-brown paper sticking out. He immediately pulled out the brown paper bag that had been at the very bottom.
The bag was sealed with glue, and the thickness felt like a file, with edges that were uneven like binding threads. Yi Shi found a utility knife and carefully opened the seal, sliding the blade across the glued surface, ensuring the bag’s seal remained intact. Even if it wasn’t what he was looking for, it would be hard to tell it had been opened again.
He held his breath and slowly pulled out the stack of items. The handwritten label “1.21 Kidnapping Case” caught his eye, instantly shocking him.
Yi Shi hurriedly flipped through it and found that it was indeed a complete record of the kidnapping case involving Lin Heyu. Although the case remained a mystery afterwards, all the investigation materials had been meticulously bound together, and the first page of the case participants was Lin Heyu’s information, stamped with the steel seal marking him as “deceased.”
The case file he had searched for in Haijing’s archives was sitting right in Sheng Guoning’s drawer.
Hearing movement at the door, Yi Shi quickly closed the drawer and “clicked” the brass lock, slipping into his own room and closing the door. He pressed his ear against the door. If it was Sheng Guoning returning, it was best for both sides not to meet, as Yi Shi feared he wouldn’t be able to control himself and end up fighting him in the house.
A minute later, Yi Shi opened the door and heard Lin Zhizhi’s voice.
Lin Zhizhi was picking vegetables on the balcony, sitting on a small stool with her phone placed beside her on speaker mode, chatting with her friends. Yi Shi walked lightly, and it wasn’t until he got close that Lin Zhizhi noticed him and exclaimed, “Ah!”
“Zhizhi, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, my son is back.”
———
Yi Shi’s hands were submerged in the vegetable basin, washing the leafy greens he had just picked. After chatting a bit, he learned that Lin Zhizhi had taken leave from the charity organization this month and had only gone out to shop and buy groceries today, planning to return soon.
“Your health isn’t good; it’s best not to participate in such tiring activities. You should rest well at home,” Yi Shi advised.
Lin Zhizhi laughed, “You sound just like your dad! He’s also afraid I’ll collapse outside and told me to withdraw from those projects, so I can focus on being a full-time housewife.”
Yi Shi only smiled and didn’t say anything. Lin Zhizhi started simmering the pork rib soup and removed her apron, planning to make another trip to the market. Yi Shi stopped her, saying they wouldn’t eat at home and he had to return to the bureau soon.
“Is it about that explosion at the machinery factory? I saw the report a couple of days ago; a hostage was killed and dumped on the street. The impact is too severe! Your dad has been working late into the night without rest; you all must be busy too, catching criminals without any time to relax.”
At 10 PM on the 3rd, Yi Shi had deliberately arrived early at the body dumping site, waiting for the target vehicle to approach. He intended to rush over to seize the car and apprehend the suspect. However, a homeless man appeared out of nowhere, and by a twist of fate, he missed the suspect while trying to save someone else, making him witness again the firmness of predetermined facts.
Lin Zhizhi reached out to brush Yi Shi’s bangs aside: “Your complexion looks good; you’ve been eating well lately, right?”
“Yeah.”
Lin Zhizhi sighed in relief: “That’s good; you need to maintain it. You know, everything about you is fine, but you just don’t take care of yourself enough. By the way, roll up your right sleeve; let me take a look.”
Yi Shi complied, rolling his shirt sleeve up to his arm. Lin Zhizhi examined the tangled scars, saying, “I have a classmate who does cosmetic treatments. She mentioned there’s new technology that can even fix old scars. How about I accompany you to get it checked out one day?”
“No, it doesn’t affect my life.”
“Of course it affects you! You’re wearing long sleeves in the summer; how uncomfortable!” Lin Zhizhi’s fingers traced over the scar lines. “I know you’re not insecure; you just don’t want others to ask questions. If we get rid of the scars, we won’t have these troubles, right?”
Yi Shi fell silent. She continued, “Having these scars since childhood means people have always gossiped behind your back. I’ve heard it a few times, and you must be numb to it by now. Both your dad and I feel sorry for you; if it weren’t for this flaw, your life would surely be better than it is now.”
Does Sheng Guoning actually feel sorry for him? Ha, these hideous scars were a gift from him.
“Don’t bother,” Yi Shi gently pulled his arm away. “Even if people talk behind my back, I’ve been hearing it for years. I didn’t care before, and I care even less now. Besides, these scars are a good reminder for me.”
“A reminder of what?”
Yi Shi smiled, “A reminder not to be careless, even with the people closest to me.”
Lin Zhizhi always felt there was something more in his words, something he was implying. Before she could ask further, Yi Shi left the kitchen and headed toward his room. The file was hidden under his pillow, and he wasn’t in a hurry to take it away. Instead, he pulled out the middle school math problems that Xiao Shitou had touched and the “Mathematics Dictionary” from the drawer.
The text on these two books was mirrored and inverted. If they had been calmly placed in the room, why didn’t he notice anything unusual when he later searched for clues at home? The math problems could be overlooked, but the dictionary had definitely been browsed through.
After pondering for a moment, Yi Shi turned and opened the door across the hall.
The overwhelming presence of two-dimensional culture hit him like a wave. Even though Yi Shi was already accustomed to it, his brows couldn’t help but twitch. He hadn’t paid much attention last time, but Sheng Yuhan had an overly rich selection of entertainment—so many game cartridges that he could never finish playing them all. Some were even unopened. The bookshelf had turned into a collection display for action figures, showcasing a very much otaku style. Yi Shi wondered how Sheng Yuhan had become fond of him.
He was so dull and uninteresting, his personality cold as ice; there were no commonalities between them, making it clear that the only thing Sheng Yuhan was attracted to was his face.
In the slacker’s room, finding a “Mathematics Dictionary” was no easy feat. Yi Shi had purchased this dictionary first because he found it useful, then bought one for his brother as well, but judging by his brother’s future math scores, it seemed unlikely he would have much use for it, and it might have been sold off with old books.
After searching for a quarter of an hour, Yi Shi finally found the dictionary among the clutter on the bedside table. He compared it to his own book in his room; both had similarly yellowed pages, and neither had his name written in it, making it possible to pass for one another.
Yi Shi flipped to the page with the “∧” symbol and circled it with a black pen, then put the dictionary back in the drawer. As for the two inverted text books, it didn’t matter where he left them. Only Lin Zhizhi would come into this room to clean and wouldn’t disturb his things.
He took the brown paper bag from under his pillow. Suddenly, a thought struck him: he recalled the seemingly useless lock in the master bedroom. Since Sheng Guoning dared to let him stay here, did he really think he couldn’t find clues at home? Did he not understand Yi Shi’s capabilities? Was he so confident that a broken lock could stop him?
Yi Shi looked at the file in his hand, growing increasingly suspicious that Sheng Guoning had intentionally left it in the drawer. If he truly wanted it to be confidential, he could have locked it in the provincial office’s safe. This indicated that Sheng Guoning wasn’t entirely obstructing his connection with Lin Huayu; he just didn’t want them to change a critical point in time.
Yi Shi clenched the brown paper bag, feeling more convinced that everything was related to Lin Zhizhi. That copper lock on the desk wasn’t meant to guard against him; it was to prevent Lin Zhizhi from seeing the contents of the file!
“Xiao Yi, it’s getting late. Aren’t you supposed to go back to the bureau?” Lin Zhizhi asked from the doorway.
Yi Shi was stunned for a while before nodding heavily, “…Yeah, I’m leaving soon.”
