CM | Chapter 71

The woman standing across from Xia Ming was actually… Du Tong?!

Xu Luo’s expression shifted for a brief, subtle moment. “How do they know each other?”

Gu Yao was thinking the same thing. “The person who told Zhu Shengxi yesterday that I was at the police station was Du Tong.”

So Xia Ming had been the one to pass the news on to Du Tong.

Xu Luo gave a slow, cold laugh. “Your boyfriend really is something else. He even managed to get a foot in the South District branch.”

Gu Yao shot him a look. “You mean Xia Ming was bought off with money?”

“Not necessarily. If it were really that simple, would they dare stand here in broad daylight?”

As soon as Xu Luo finished speaking, he strode off. Gu Yao reached for him but grabbed empty air, only hearing him say, “If you want the truth, why not go over and listen?”

Go over and listen?

Gu Yao quickly caught up. “Do you think they’re blind? If we just walk over there, who wouldn’t notice?”

Xu Luo said, “That’s still better than standing here like idiots. Don’t you want to test him face to face?”

Gu Yao didn’t answer, but her steps quickened a few paces.

On the other side, Xia Ming was dealing with Du Tong.

This morning, Du Tong had sent him several more WeChat messages, but they were all perfunctory little bits of concern, fake as hell. Xia Ming ignored every single one. In fact, he had also deeply regretted telling Du Tong that day that Gu Yao was at the police station.

Then, until noon, there had been no movement on Du Tong’s side.

Xia Ming had thought she had finally settled down. Who knew that after he finished taking Gu Yao’s statement and his butt had barely touched the chair, his phone rang.

He looked at the caller ID and didn’t answer.

Then a WeChat message came in as well. “I’m at the entrance to your branch building.”

Xia Ming cursed under his breath, nearly soundlessly, just in time for Xiao Wang at the neighboring desk to hear him. Xiao Wang leaned over to ask, “Captain, who’s pissing you off?”

Xia Ming gave Xiao Wang a glare, stood up, and went outside. Sure enough, the moment he stepped out of the building, he saw the relentless Du Tong, like a wandering ghost that refused to let go.

When Du Tong saw Xia Ming, she immediately walked up to him, a smile spreading across her face.

But suspicion rose in Xia Ming’s mind. He had thought Du Tong was here to ask about the case, but on second thought, that didn’t make sense. If she wanted to ask anything, she could ask Zhu Shengxi. And no matter what case it was, Gu Yao was only the complainant, not the suspect. Du Tong didn’t need to go out of her way to ask about it.

As soon as he got there, Xia Ming said, “I’ve been very busy lately. I’ve got things to handle at the bureau right now, so if you have something to say, make it quick.”

Du Tong smiled. “I know you’re busy. I’ve also been careless over the years. I suddenly realized I haven’t gone to see Uncle Xia in a long time, so I wanted to make an appointment with you, find a weekend and go visit him. Uncle Xia isn’t in good health either, so I could bring him some supplements.”

“We don’t need them. Besides, I’m a public servant. I can’t accept gifts.”

“This isn’t a gift. It’s just family taking care of each other. Does expressing concern between family members count as a disciplinary violation that has to be recorded?”

Hearing that, Xia Ming narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t been in touch for years, so why are we suddenly family? My surname is Xia, yours is Du. We don’t even share the same household registration.”

Du Tong was still smiling. “But the same blood runs through both of us. Uncle Xia raised you. As your older sister, I should also do my part to show filial respect.”

At that, Xia Ming fell silent.

He studied Du Tong’s expression in silence, trying to find the thread.

Though he hadn’t been in contact with Du Tong for years, he still knew a little about her personality and how she handled things. For someone with such a thin attachment to family to suddenly become so warm, there had to be a purpose.

But just as Xia Ming was about to speak, he saw Gu Yao and Xu Luo walking toward him from ahead, one after the other, and they were headed straight for him and Du Tong.

Du Tong turned as well, only to freeze the moment she did.

Gu Yao had already reached a few steps away. She gave Du Tong a faint smile. “Assistant Du, what are you doing here?”

Du Tong was stunned. Of course she hadn’t expected Gu Yao and Xu Luo to come to the South District branch again. What was going on? Hadn’t they already given their statements yesterday?

Du Tong took a breath and quickly said, “Miss Gu, why are you here again…”

Before she could finish, Gu Yao smoothly took over. “I’m here to assist the police investigation. South District hasn’t exactly been peaceful lately. As for you, Assistant Du, the company must be swamped, and it’s still working hours. Did you suddenly run over here to handle a private matter, or did my dad send you here on business?”

Du Tong paused. “Oh, I just happened to pass by and came to see a friend.”

“A friend?” Gu Yao flicked her gaze toward Xia Ming, whose expression was turning sour. “Officer Xia, you really know how to keep things hidden.”

At that moment, Xia Ming composed his expression and said, “Assistant Du, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not your friend. I’m working right now and still have a lot to handle. If there’s nothing else, I won’t see you out.”

Du Tong was publicly embarrassed. She suddenly turned her head, as if glaring at Xia Ming, but with Gu Yao and Xu Luo there, she couldn’t lose her temper.

She endured it, then said to Gu Yao, “Then, Miss Gu, I’ll be going first.”

With that, she walked straight toward the branch’s front gate.

Gu Yao watched her back the whole time, and Xia Ming stood motionless as well. Xu Luo, who had been standing two steps away enjoying the show, walked over and said, “Looks like Officer Xia was being harassed.”

That summary sounded a little like hindsight, but Gu Yao had to admit it made sense.

Du Tong had come looking for Xia Ming, but Xia Ming’s face was full of disgust, as if Du Tong had been pestering him.

But why?

If they didn’t know each other, how could Du Tong pester Xia Ming?

Still, whatever the reason, she wasn’t going to get an answer out of it, and there was no need to waste time here.

Thinking of this, Gu Yao said to Xia Ming, “For ordinary people like us, when we run into this kind of harassment, we either call the police or hire a lawyer. But Officer Xia, you’re a police officer yourself, so I don’t think we need to worry about you. We’ll be going now.”

Who knew that just as Gu Yao turned to leave, Xia Ming suddenly spoke. “Wait a second.”

Gu Yao looked back. “Officer Xia, anything else?”

Xia Ming nodded, looking at Gu Yao and then Xu Luo. “For the white bones case, the next step is that we’ll be questioning Feng Zhenghui. I want to know whether the two of you will continue having contact with him.”

Gu Yao and Xu Luo exchanged a glance.

Gu Yao said, “I’m his psychological counselor. He can request to see me, and I don’t want to give up on this patient.”

Xia Ming pressed, “Even if he’s a suspect in this case?”

“Tracking down a suspect’s motive for murder is the police’s responsibility, but as psychological counselors, we also have to analyze that. Unless he’s a born criminal, if a person walks down this road of no return, there must be many unavoidable reasons. Only by uncovering those reasons and drawing society’s attention to them can we reduce tragedies like this.”

“Does that work?”

“Maybe the effect is very small. Maybe it doesn’t work at all. But someone has to do it.”

After Gu Yao finished speaking, Xia Ming was quiet for a few seconds, just looking at her as if he were examining something.

Until Xu Luo smiled faintly and said for him, “Could it be that Officer Xia wants to ask Miss Gu to be a consultant?”

As soon as he said that, Gu Yao froze.

Xia Ming didn’t deny it. He even said, “So far, all of Feng Zhenghui’s relatives have passed away. The whereabouts of Chen Yumin, whom he’s been searching for, are still unknown. The person who understands him best now, and the one most likely to get him to speak the truth, is only you, Miss Gu. Of course, there’s also Lawyer Xu. Before our police began investigating the white bones case, the two of you had already started closely contacting Feng Zhenghui. The bones were also discovered by you. This morning, I discussed it with the bureau as well. If it were an ordinary person, we’d just take a statement through questioning, but neither of you is ordinary. Whether in terms of relevance to the case or professionally, you can further assist the police in the investigation. Of course, this is entirely voluntary. We will never force you.”

Gu Yao didn’t respond immediately. She lowered her eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.

At that moment, Xu Luo stepped closer to her and said quietly, “What are you still thinking about? With police assistance, we won’t have to go looking for the case files ourselves.”

Gu Yao turned slightly toward him and said in the same low voice, “If I make this decision without greeting Feng Zhenghui first, I’m afraid he’ll make trouble next.”

Xu Luo said, “He won’t. Once it’s confirmed that the white bones case is connected to him, that becomes intentional homicide. He’ll need help from others even more, and he still has to find Chen Yumin.”

Gu Yao said nothing.

Xu Luo added, “If he’s willing, I can be his defense lawyer. It’ll be hard to win, but I’ll do my best to fight for a lighter sentence for him.”

Gu Yao looked at him in surprise. “You’d do it even without money?”

Xu Luo said, “Am I short on money?”

After a moment, Gu Yao looked at Xia Ming and said, “Officer Xia, I can agree to your request, but I have two conditions.”

Xia Ming smiled. “All right, go ahead.”

Gu Yao said, “First, Feng Zhenghui has the right to know about this, and I have the obligation to tell him. I can’t hide it from him and extract his psychological analysis for the police. And some things concern his privacy. If he doesn’t want other people to know, as long as it doesn’t endanger national or public safety, I have the right to keep it confidential for him.”

Xia Ming thought about it. “I’ll report that to the bureau, but I think it won’t be a problem. What’s the second condition?”

“To assist the police investigation more effectively and quickly, could you let me know the details of your investigation too? Of course, tell me what can be told and leave out what can’t. The line is for you to decide.”

“That’s fine too.” Xia Ming agreed, then asked casually, “Miss Gu, I heard that a year ago you helped people from the North District branch with a criminal profile, is that right?”

Gu Yao said, “Yes, but I don’t remember the details of the process anymore.”

Xia Ming was startled. “You don’t remember?”

“I was in a car accident a year ago. My memory was damaged.”

A car accident?

Xia Ming had some impression of it. It had been reported on the news at the time, and the North District had also investigated it. But he was in South District, so he had little connection with that side.

He only remembered that the crash had been very serious, and everyone said that for the driver to survive was nothing short of a miracle. He had never imagined that it would turn out to be Gu Yao.

Gu Yao made an appointment with Xia Ming for their next meeting, then went back to the car with Xu Luo.

After Xu Luo drove onto the main road, Gu Yao took out the document bag she carried with her and, while looking through it, said, “There’s still half a day left, and now that the police have offered to cooperate, should we use that half day to look into Fang Qi?”

Xu Luo didn’t answer.

Until Gu Yao asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Only then did Xu Luo lazily say, “What’s with psychological counselors these days? They’re even more eager than police and lawyers to investigate a case. And nobody’s handing you a medal for it. What’s the point…”

Xu Luo had always been like this. A little rotten ever since he was a kid, the kind that needed a beating every three days or he’d crawl on the roof and tear off the tiles. He’d been raised by Xu Haizhen with the principle of “fight violence with violence.” Tough-skinned, thick-skinned, especially thick-skinned, and sturdy too. Hit him once and your own hand would hurt.

And just when he’d been behaving for a few days, he started up again.

Before, whenever Xu Luo ran his mouth, Gu Yao would get angry. But her temper wasn’t what it used to be. If this had been when they first met, she would’ve wanted to skin him alive. If Zhu Shengxi had gone and found some punks to teach him a lesson, she would’ve fully supported it and even waved the flag for them.

But now she had long since figured out Xu Luo’s whole troublesome personality and knew exactly how to talk back.

So the moment Gu Yao opened her mouth, the words came out like little knives, stabbing straight into Lawyer Xu’s heart. “I’m doing it for interest, for happiness. At least I have something I’m doing it for. And you? What are you doing it for? Always showing up whenever I call, at my beck and call, letting me order you around. You’re not short on money, so could it be you’re trying to…”

Here, Gu Yao’s voice trailed off, and she went silent.

Xu Luo jolted so hard he nearly drove the car onto the safety island. Luckily, they hit a red light and stopped, and only then did he stare at her in shock.

“What do you mean? What am I doing it for?”

Gu Yao didn’t look at him. “You know exactly what you’re doing it for. No good deed goes unpunished.”

Xu Luo: “…”

“Oh? Why aren’t you defending yourself? Your eloquence is supposed to be pretty good, isn’t it? Could it be I hit the mark?”

Xu Luo: “……….”

“But let me make this clear first. My current boyfriend is the boss of Jiangcheng Gene, and we’re childhood sweethearts. He’s better looking than you, and our relationship runs deeper too. During this past year when I lost my memory, he took impeccable care of me and indulged me in everything. Even if I were to switch dynasties, I still wouldn’t find someone worse than him in every respect. You understand that, right?”

In other words, Xu Luo wasn’t as good as Zhu Shengxi.

Xu Luo’s ears were already red, practically furious from humiliation. Fortunately, he had been through enough to have his acting down cold. Even though he was clearly angry, his expression management was flawless, and not a single flaw showed.

Ah, if someone measured his heart rate and pulse right now, the numbers would probably be soaring and crashing like waves.

After a few seconds, Xu Luo took a deep breath, raised the corners of his brows, and perfectly controlled his voice. “Gu Yao, I know you’re not only from a good family, but also good at studying and good at work. Your parents love each other, and your boyfriend is always hanging around you. It’s normal to be a little proud and self-absorbed. But I should also clarify something. I have some standards when it comes to the person I’m with. They’re not high, just that I’m not really into your type. I happen to like little white rabbits and little white flowers, the kind that are weak and helpless, ideally the kind I can see being bullied by a tyrant so I can step in and uphold justice through the law… As for you, you really are a fairy, but I, a mere mortal, can’t afford to support one. What kind of lid fits what kind of pot, right?”

Xu Luo made himself look completely righteous and spotless, but Gu Yao only grew more suspicious listening to him. Because if he had said nothing at all and just sat there, smiling dismissively, she might actually have felt she had wronged him.

But now, with only a hint from her, Xu Luo had launched into such a long explanation, it actually made him look guilty.

However…

Gu Yao frowned.

That couldn’t be right, could it? What had happened between them? Hadn’t they just been investigating a case together?

Or were men just this simple at their core, always assuming something unspeakable the moment a man and a woman spent too much time together? After all, Zhu Shengxi had once been jealous because of this too, and now Xu Luo was as well…

Thinking of that, Gu Yao asked, “If that’s not what you mean, then what is your motive?”

Xu Luo lifted his chin with a slightly haughty air and smoothly drove onto the main road, his voice steady and full of confidence. “Tian Fang gave me my first big break, and Feng Zhenghui is my second. If I got involved the first time, people could still say I was lucky. But if I get involved twice in a row, and both cases are the most sensational ones in Jiangcheng, I’ll become Jiangcheng’s number one criminal lawyer before long. This kind of professional achievement doesn’t just let me realize my personal value, it also lets me gain both fame and fortune. Why wouldn’t I want that?”

Oh, so she’d overthought it.

Gu Yao simply turned her head away and looked out the window. “Fair enough. You’ve always been that kind of person.”

Xu Luo grinned. “There’s one more thing I need to state up front. Whatever conflict you and your boyfriend have, that’s your little couple’s business. I’m just an outsider, and I have no intention of stealing someone’s girl. If the two of you go ‘bang’ and split up one day, that’s not on me.”

Gu Yao didn’t speak for a long time.

Xu Luo glanced at her. Seeing her motionless, as if lost in thought, he thought she hadn’t heard him.

Who knew that Gu Yao would suddenly say, “I know. If that day really comes, it won’t have anything to do with anyone else.”

Xu Luo: “…”

For the rest of the drive, Gu Yao remained a complete still life. Xu Luo glanced at her several times in a row.

Only when the car stopped downstairs at the residential complex where Gu Yao lived did she finally come back to herself.

She looked out the window in surprise, then at Xu Luo. “Why did you bring me back? Weren’t we going to look into Fang Qi?”

“Your condition isn’t good. You should go back and rest.” Xu Luo said that, then added, “Oh, I’m not worrying about you. I just don’t want you fainting. You were already showing signs of it at the police station, so you might as well go home and take a nap.”

Gu Yao was quiet for a moment. She didn’t argue with him, only nodded and said, “All right.”

She really was very tired and sleepy. After the car accident, getting back to this point had already been hard enough. Her body was nowhere near as resilient as someone her age should have been.

Seeing how cooperative Gu Yao was, Xu Luo couldn’t help but smile too. He watched as she opened the door, got out of the car, and went into the building, her back disappearing from view, only then did he yawn and start the car again.

But just a few minutes after he drove off, Xu Luo received a call from the court, Tian Fang’s case would be handed down tomorrow!

On the other side, Gu Yao had already gone home. She didn’t force herself against her body, and Xu Luo was right, she really did need a nap. After she woke up, there would still be a long road ahead.

Gu Yao went into the bathroom to wash her face, changed into her pajamas, drew the bedroom curtains closed, put on an eye mask, and then burrowed under the covers. Less than three minutes later, she was asleep.

This sleep was deep and hazy. Afternoon naps had a way of dragging at people, as if some force kept pulling her, refusing to let her wake up.

Gu Yao turned over a few times in her daze, and all sorts of images flashed through her mind, all of them fleeting, too fast to catch.

Until, in the dream, the figure of a少年 suddenly appeared.

He had a solid build, yet was also thin. His school uniform was worn all crooked, soaked through with sweat and water.

The boy lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped his face. Then he looked up, saw her, and smiled.

“Hey, fairy, you looking for me?”

Gu Yao woke up at once, very lightly.

She lay still for a moment, removed the eye mask from her face, and kept her eyes closed.

But the dream image did not vanish just because she had woken suddenly. It still lingered there, vivid and clear.

Who was that boy?

He definitely wasn’t Zhu Shengxi…

Why did he call her fairy, just like Xu Luo did?

Was this something that really existed in her memory, or had she heard Xu Luo call her that and was now dreaming of it by day? Was this just reality projecting itself onto the dream?

Gu Yao lay there thinking for a while, until her phone gave a notification sound. She opened her eyes, picked up the phone from the nightstand, and looked at it.

Xu Luo: “Fairy, how was your rest? I’m sending you a diary entry. Read it when you’re awake.”

A diary entry?

If Xu Luo hadn’t mentioned it, Gu Yao would have almost forgotten about it these past two days.

She propped herself up against the headboard and quickly opened the file Xu Luo had sent.