The sudden ringing of a phone jerked Qin Guan out of his jumbled memories.
The officer in the passenger seat quickly hung up.
The guy in the back seat turned to scrutinize Qin Guan's face intently, then turned back and whispered, "It's fine, he's sound asleep. Whose call? Your girlfriend's? Aren't you afraid you'll have to kneel on a washboard when you get home for not answering?"
"Nonsense! She's not that kind of person! She's understanding and gentle as water. Ah, you wouldn't get it, you single dog!" The passenger's tone was full of pride.
"Oho, look at that punchable attitude, Captain Zhang!" the backseat guy said, looping an arm around the front passenger's neck. "Let me show you the arm strength of a single dog today!"
They horsed around for a bit, then quickly returned to their earlier topic.
"Do you think Li Yang is a suspect? Could he be playing dumb, a wolf in sheep's clothing?" the backseat guy asked. "Teacher Ding said in class last time that some suspects have incredible acting skills. They can live under a completely different persona—honest, decent, or like Li Yang, a good-for-nothing—only revealing their true selves when they commit the crime."
"If that's the case, isn't Qin Guan just like that?" the passenger said softly.
"True. On the surface, this guy looks like a model youth. You know what? I visited his neighbors, friends, and colleagues at the firm. Apart from this Qi Min business, everyone praised him! Even the boss of the firm, that friend of Xu Ruyi's father, spoke highly of him!" The backseat guy sounded indignant. "Who would have thought he'd be such a hypocrite! And so vicious!"
"Right now, he's only a suspect. Without solid evidence, we shouldn't prejudge anyone as the murderer," the driver, older and calmer, spoke the least but was the steadiest. "We're here to investigate the case, not to judge anyone. Doesn't Teacher Ding always say? Follow the evidence, don't let emotions cloud your judgment."
"Wow, Captain Zhang, you listen to Teacher Ding's lectures too!" The backseat guy laughed, then seriously reflected. "You're right, Teacher Ding always says that. I really need to fix that habit."
"Actually, Li Yang is suspicious too," he frowned, thinking. "It's true he had secret contact with Xu Ruyi. But whether he was being used by her is hard to say. After all, he definitely knew about Qin Guan and Qi Min's affair before Xu Ruyi did. As a man—even a useless, cowardly good-for-nothing—he absolutely couldn't accept his woman cheating on him. So, Li Yang has motive too."
"He also had the opportunity," the passenger said. "If Qi Min really stayed at the Xinhe Hotel that night, Li Yang has no alibi for the time of the crime. The soundproofing in his rental is terrible; people downstairs can confirm he wasn't home all night. There's no surveillance at the old stadium. He can't produce that so-called letter, claims he burned it."
"After killing Qi Min, he had more than enough time to clean up the scene, dispose of the body, then have a taxi driver take Qi Min's travel bag to Dewang Tobacco & Liquor Store by the train station for storage. Sending himself a text afterwards would perfectly clear his own suspicion."
"The message Li Yang supposedly got from Qi Min was a WeChat message. His phone had previously logged into Qi Min's WeChat. Logging in again and sending himself a message would be a piece of cake. He claimed Qi Min changed the password, but look—yesterday at the station, he got the right password on only his second try. So, did he really guess it, or did he know it all along?"
This silenced the backseat guy for a moment.
"Yeah… before the truth is uncovered, he's just as much a suspect as Qin Guan. It depends on when exactly Qi Min died. If it was at the lakeside villa, Qin Guan's more suspicious, though Li Yang also showed up there… If Qi Min really came back, checked into the Xinhe Hotel, determined to leave Li Yang, then comparatively, Li Yang's suspicion might be greater. That said, Qin Guan is still in the picture. Ultimately, it comes down to the evidence…"
"Solid analysis, Xiao Wu! Worthy of Teacher Ding's star pupil!" The two in front laughed.
Xiao Wu in the back chuckled sheepishly, then remembered something. "Oh, right! Li Yang mentioned something else yesterday. He's certain Qin Guan hit Qi Min—her wrist was bruised. Li Yang even provided photos as proof!"
Qin Guan didn't open his eyes. He lay in the back seat, feigning sleep, breathing evenly, but his heart was surging.
Li Yang, that useless coward, took photos?
What was he trying to do? What was he trying to prove?
As a professional lawyer, Qin Guan didn't need to ask; he understood perfectly well the moment he heard—this was proof that he, Qin Guan, had a long-standing entanglement and grudge with Qi Min.
Proof that he, Qin Guan, had a stronger motive to kill Qi Min.
Photos—Qin Guan searched his memory. Probably taken secretly, since Qi Min never mentioned it.
That useless coward was capable of it. He was just a poor, pathetic waste.
A bruised wrist?
It must have been the first time—Qin Guan kept his eyes closed, carefully recalling—he'd only clashed with Qi Min twice. The first time was after his father-in-law was discharged from the hospital. The second time was just before his last business trip when he'd slapped her.
Li Yang probably didn't get a photo of that slap—Qi Min's face was indeed swollen and red, but she'd gone to a salon to fix it. She definitely didn't tell Li Yang, or she wouldn't have been able to go on the business trip with him smoothly.
The bruised wrist, that was definitely the first time.
But Qin Guan hadn't hit her.
That day, after yelling at Qi Min in the parking lot, he bought her gifts to apologize. They quickly made up. Later, on the hotel bed, when Qin Guan took her roughly, lost in his release, he gripped her wrist too hard.
That was when the wrist bruised.
He remembered after their passion, Qi Min holding her bruised, purplish wrist, snuggling against him with understanding, playfully complaining: "Look how violent you are! See? You almost broke my hand. Seriously, have you been under a lot of pressure lately?"
She was right.
The pressure on Qin Guan during that time was immense. Truly immense.
This pressure came precisely from his father-in-law.
The pressure of knowing the full truth about everything yet being utterly unable to speak it—it was like having his heart slowly carved out inch by agonizing inch with a serrated, blunt knife. Like having a sharp sword suspended over his forehead, its tip pointing at his head, the rope holding the other end clenched in the other man's fist.
His life or death rested entirely in the other's hands.
It was an agonizing, living hell, each day feeling like a year.
Just like when he was a child. Just like after his father-in-law first visited their home as his sponsor—
"It's him… it's him… blood… the dog… that dog… he did it… he washed it…"
The teacher and his drunkard father pulled his crazy mother away. Back then, his father-in-law, still a stranger, hadn't clearly understood the madwoman's jumbled words. He smiled kindly, his gaze full of pity when it landed on Qin Guan.
"Poor child. You take good care of your mother. It can't be easy for you!"
His voice was full of paternal warmth.
Only after the sponsor and the teacher had completely vanished down the mountain path did Qin Guan's breath, held so long it threatened to choke him, finally ease.
His forehead, his palms, his back—all were drenched in cold sweat.
It was the first time in his life he'd tasted the feeling of a guillotine blade at his neck.
So painful. So terrifying. So unbearable.
His small body nearly collapsed onto the stool. His legs trembled; his face was deathly pale. He gasped for air, then with shaking hands, picked up the pot of cold tea prepared for guests on the small table and drained it in one go.
"Pathetic coward! Useless! How did I raise such trash! With that loser attitude, you still want to study? Get your ass in the kitchen and cook!"
His drunkard father knew nothing. Annoyed that the sponsor hadn't left any money, he spat contemptuously at his son, then leaning on his crude walking stick, staggered out of the yard in search of liquor.
His crazy mother sat back on the ground, scratching her hair unconsciously, humming a tuneless, incomprehensible song.
A light breeze drifted through. Qin Guan didn't know how much time passed before his terror slowly began to recede.
"Just what do you want?"
He turned his head, for the first time truly, fiercely, glaring at the madwoman.
"You know, don't you? Don't you?"
The yard was empty. Only the grunts of pigs in the sty beside the house and the oblivious clucking of a few chickens broke the silence.
"You know. You guessed it, didn't you?"
Qin Guan panted, staring at his crazy mother. That utterly irrational, completely mad woman. "Why didn't you ask me? Why didn't you ask me why I did it? You didn't even ask! You just told someone else! What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Baby…"
His crazy mother seemed to hear his voice. She turned her head. Her clouded eyes looked at Qin Guan with pure, simple joy. "Baby… baby good… baby not scared…"
"You're pretending!"
Qin Guan sat bolt upright on the stool. His small fists clenched. The energy that had seemed sucked from his soul began to gather back inside him.
"Baby… don't be scared…"
"You're still pretending!"
Qin Guan's shout was sharp and clear. He stared straight into his mother's eyes. All the anxiety, fear, and dread he'd carried for days transformed into pure rage, erupting outwards.
His childish voice was thick with venom. *"You're faking it! You know everything! But you just won't talk to me! You want to ruin me! You want me to lose the sponsorship! You want me to never go to school! Then I'll be stuck in this godforsaken place forever! To serve you for the rest of your damn life!"