Chapter 8

The itinerary from early last year to the present provided by Bian Ranxin showed that she had been on frequent business trips in March and April last year, traveling all over the world, and only occasionally staying in the city for a few days.

The office records showed that on those days when she was in the city, she held meetings at the company all day, and almost always headed straight to the airport after the meetings, rushing to other cities in China or abroad.

After verification by the special task unit of the criminal investigation detachment, this itinerary was proven to be true. Bian Ranxin's entry and exit records and flight records matched the itinerary exactly, thereby confirming that Bian Ranxin had an alibi during the period when the case occurred last year.

The focus of the case returned to the few people around Bai Yong.

Sun Yiyi had stayed in the city from early last year until now. She had no travel records for the past two years, and no one could provide collateral evidence to prove her whereabouts during the period when the case occurred.

In financial terms, Sun Yiyi had no fixed assets under her name, and the property was under Bai Yong's name. Now that Bai Yong was dead, Bai Yong's old mother and Sun Yiyi and her son were the legal co-heirs.

Unexpectedly, the savings Bai Yong left behind amounted to only a few tens of thousands of yuan. His income was not very high, probably just enough to cover Sun Yiyi and his son's expenses.

The son was only five years old. In the future, medical treatment and education would require a huge amount of money. Sun Yiyi maintained an affair with the bar owner Fan Mingyuan, possibly for economic reasons.

At present, there was insufficient evidence to summon and question them, so the members of the special task unit divided up their work and went out separately to visit and search for suspects and witnesses.

On a sunny morning, Sun Yiyi, with a light green thin wool sweater draped over her shoulders and a tired expression, welcomed Yan Dongcheng and Wang Rui into the living room. She seemed to understand the situation before her too. As long as the Bai Yong case remained unsolved for a day, the police could come looking for her at any time.

"Officer Yan, have you found any leads?"

"Mm. Today we want to ask you a few private questions."

"Private questions... about what?" She sat in the chair and uneasily shifted her feet.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Fan Mingyuan?"

Sun Yiyi's face instantly flushed red. After pondering for a long time, she said, "He hates me, I guess..."

"Why does he hate you?"

"I dated Fan Mingyuan," she said, her hand touching her scalding cheek. "Later, I chose Bai Yong. It was only many years later that I realized I may have chosen the wrong person..."

"Chose the wrong person? Bai Yong was tall and handsome. Every girl should have chosen Bai Yong rather than Fan Mingyuan, right?"

"Living life means firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Once you have children, looks can't put food on the table."

"Where is the child?" Yan Dongcheng looked around.

"The child is in a special-care full-time kindergarten for children. I take him to the hospital once a week."

"Special-care full-time kindergarten is very expensive. Was Bai Yong's income enough to cover it?"

"The money spent on the child every year was a huge sum. Bai Yong's income was average, and he didn't agree to send the child to the special-care kindergarten."

"Bai Yong's income was average. How did you cover your expenses?"

"I... relied on friends to help..." Sun Yiyi murmured.

"Fan Mingyuan?"

Sun Yiyi made no sound. She picked up the coffee-colored glass teapot and went to the kitchen to add water.

It was a long time before she returned to the living room. She walked lightly, suppressing the clacking of her thick-soled slippers.

She put down the teapot and sat down opposite the coffee table with her head lowered. Tear stains covered her face, and she had clearly just cried in the kitchen.

"Fan Mingyuan has been supporting you all along?" Yan Dongcheng pressed.

Sun Yiyi nodded hesitantly.

"Did your husband Bai Yong know?"

"Bai Yong didn't know. I always went to see Fan Mingyuan during the time he was performing, and I didn't keep in touch with Fan Mingyuan at ordinary times either. I didn't save Fan Mingyuan's number on my phone, just in case Bai Yong became suspicious."

"What about the money? How did you pay the child's special-care fees?"

"Bai Yong insisted that the child wasn't sick and wouldn't agree to send him to the special-care kindergarten. I told him that the kindergarten director was an acquaintance of my maternal uncle. Seeing how pitiful our child was, they only charged us cost price, the same as an ordinary private kindergarten. Only then did Bai Yong agree to send the child there."

"Does Fan Mingyuan give you money on time every month?"

"Mm. Fan Mingyuan, on the surface, looks like a vulgar man, but in fact he has a very soft heart."

"So Fan Mingyuan was standing up for you, dissatisfied with Bai Yong's behavior?"

"No, no, not like that!" Sun Yiyi burst into tears. "I was the one who let Fan Mingyuan down, who abandoned him. Over these years I have shamelessly used him. To him, it's only because he remembers our old feelings and pities me and the child..."

Yan Dongcheng picked up the tissue box on the table and handed it to Sun Yiyi. "Before Fan Mingyuan opened the bar, what was he doing?"

"Trade," she said, pulling out a tissue, folding it, and pinching her nose with it, speaking in a muffled voice. "He dealt in imported liquor and goods of that sort."

"And before he did trade?"

"I heard him say that in his younger years he worked on ships along the coast."

"Fishing boats?"

"It seemed like a boat that transported people. It must have been a very long time ago. I didn't ask him carefully."

"Do you know Lisa, an employee at Fan Mingyuan's bar?"

"I know Lisa. Once I went to see Fan Mingyuan, in his room... Lisa suddenly knocked on the door outside. Fan Mingyuan didn't open the door, so she kept cursing outside. Fan Mingyuan called the bar's security over, and only then did they persuade her to leave."

"Does Lisa know Bai Yong?"

"It seems..." Sun Yiyi said in surprise. "They probably weren't familiar with each other, right? There are so many servers in the bar. Bai Yong would sing only a few songs and leave every day, and he still had to rush to other venues."

The conversation seemed plain on the surface, but Yan Dongcheng was silently weighing the possibility that Sun Yiyi and Fan Mingyuan had committed the murder together.

"Officer Yan, are you... suspecting Fan Mingyuan?" Sun Yiyi asked in a very soft voice.

"During the investigation and evidence-gathering stage, all relevant people have to be checked."

"Fan Mingyuan wouldn't kill Bai Yong. He had no reason to do that."

"Oh?"

"I know," Sun Yiyi lowered her head. "Fan Mingyuan didn't love me to that extent. He wouldn't kill Bai Yong just to be with me."

"You're that certain?"

"Officer Yan, I won't hide it from you..." She picked up the teacup and took a sip. The tea water made a gurgling sound in her throat. "After Bai Yong's bones were found, I went to look for Fan Mingyuan and told him that I wanted to be with him openly and properly. He... refused."

"Then in financial terms," Yan Dongcheng paused, trying to keep his tone gentle, "do you think Fan Mingyuan will continue to support you?"

"As long as I go to see him on time, he should."

...

After coming out of Sun Yiyi's home, the autumn sun was bright overhead, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of fruit. Two tall figures walked in the sunlight, and the swishing sound of their footsteps startled a few playing birds.

Wang Rui whistled at the birds and opened the car door to get in.

"Captain Yan," Wang Rui said after sliding into the driver's seat, "although Sun Yiyi tried hard to defend Fan Mingyuan, I still think Fan Mingyuan is highly suspicious. A man is abandoned by his girlfriend, and after that girlfriend marries someone else, that man still maintains an illicit affair with her, and even spends money to help raise her child... No matter how Sun Yiyi explains it, I still think Fan Mingyuan couldn't forget the old feelings, and it isn't impossible that he developed hatred for Bai Yong because of that."

"Mm," Yan Dongcheng nodded. "Sun Yiyi said Fan Mingyuan worked on ships in his younger years, transporting people."

"A smuggling boat!"

"Possible. Bai Yong flew to Hokkaido, then was transported back by smuggling, without anyone noticing a thing. If it hadn't been for the landslide on Que Ming Mountain exposing the corpse, this case might have ended with Bai Yong being reported missing."

"This is a murder carefully planned over a long period of time! Fan Mingyuan looks plump and very kind. If he really committed the crime, then his ability to disguise himself is quite strong!"

The car sped along the downtown avenue. Yan Dongcheng looked at his watch. "Let's go to Sunshine Aus City. We'll go up after we finish eating, and the timing will be just right."

"Going to find Fan Mingyuan's girlfriend?"

"Mm."

Wang Rui drove the car into the underground parking lot of Sunshine Aus City, and the two of them walked out to the side street. The midday sun was nailed overhead, carrying an inescapable heat.

"Let's go with this one." Yan Dongcheng took the lead and walked into a fast-food restaurant by the roadside, where it immediately became much cooler.

After ordering two simple meals, the two sat at a table by the window and ate with their heads lowered.

Sunshine Aus City was a mixed-use commercial and residential building in the busy city center. The building housed many small companies and studios started by young entrepreneurs, as well as quite a few rented apartments.

Before knocking on Lisa's door, Yan Dongcheng had already prepared himself mentally. When the door opened wide, everything was fully exposed, yet the mess inside still surprised him.

"Who are you looking for?" Lisa had curlers on her head and was wearing a cute pink set of home clothes.

"Hello." Wang Rui showed his police ID.

"If it's inconvenient, we can talk outside." Yan Dongcheng said.

"Is it about Bai Yong?" Lisa looked nervously at the two visitors.

"Yes."

"I knew it!" Lisa stamped her foot. "Come in, then. It's just a little messy!"

She opened the shoe cabinet by the door and rummaged through it, only finding one pair of slippers.

"It's fine, I don't need shoes." Wang Rui took off his leather shoes, and his black cotton socks stepped directly onto the composite floor.

Lisa went in first, picked up the pile of clothes on the sofa, and quickly stuffed them into the washing machine under the stairs.

The room was a small split-level studio popular with single young people, with the living room downstairs and the bedroom upstairs.

Lisa busied herself back and forth in the small living room, picking up underwear, stockings, and other things scattered around that should not be seen by strangers, and stuffing them into drawers. When the drawers were full, she grabbed a magazine to cover them.

A beauty in a messy room. Wang Rui avoided looking, doing his best not to laugh.

"You two sit here." Lisa patted the orange-red fabric sofa. "I'll pour you some water."

On the small cabinet piled with miscellaneous items, she found two glass cups with stains on them. She washed them at the open counter under the stairs and poured two cups of cold water for her guests.

Wang Rui stood up and moved the mountain of takeout boxes piled on the coffee table aside, clearing space for her to place the two cups of water.

"Oh my," Lisa let out a long breath, pulled over a chair with a backrest, and sat down. "If you hadn't come, I was thinking of coming to find you and asking, who exactly killed Brother Bai Yong? That's too awful!" Her bare face carried a childish air.