Qin Xiaolei sat in the interrogation room, with four buns in his stomach, having neither been beaten nor scolded on the way there. Although the investigators maintained stern expressions and remained silent, they did not seem like ruthless villains.
He was quite calm, neither anxious nor afraid.
In the whole world, only Sanfu was injured, and even though the forensic officer, Sir Xu, had applied medicine, he was still in pain.
Qin Xiaolei’s statement essentially matched the murder process deduced by everyone after inspecting the scene at She Jingjing’s house.
He had come to the city to earn money, and nobody expected such an incident to occur.
Normally, earning a hundred or so yuan a day made him very happy. He felt he could quickly save a lot of money, no longer worrying about providing for his mother’s retirement and medical care, or building a tiled house and taking a wife.
But on his most profitable day, he nearly lost his life at the hands of his employer.
This simple and strong man, though simple-minded, gave his statement as if he was chatting at home, meandering and including a couple of complaints.
“Hong Kong is too dangerous. There’s nobody this twisted in our village, who would kill without any reason.” He felt truly wronged; a plain man who had never been favored by women, nearly had his throat cut the first time a woman flirted with him.
Who knows if he will have psychological shadows in the future.
After recording his statement, Qin Xiaolei signed it, and Uncle Jiu, along with Gary, took him back to the crime scene for a reconstruction of the murder.
With all procedures completed, this case finally came to a close within the CID department.
Just before finishing work, the investigators leaned back in their office chairs, each lost in silent contemplation, replaying the case in their minds.
When it was time to leave and no new cases had emerged, everyone was almost in disbelief; they could actually leave on time today.
…
…
After work, Jiayi practiced moving target shooting for 40 minutes, then had dinner with her instructor Alison, sharing many insights and experiences about shooting, before ending her day both mentally and physically satisfied.
Yet, she did not go home but instead headed to Hengxiang Wangye to wait for Ding Wanzhi.
Now, she too had a social nightlife.
Ding Wanzhi picked up her bag and linked arms with Jiayi, taking her to another corner bar.
The hall was small, with dim lighting. The walls were stacked with various bottles of liquor from different countries, and looking up, the ceiling was designed with exposed wooden beams, giving the feeling of walking into a cabin surrounded by various types of liquor.
The music was soft, mingling with the scent of alcohol, wrapping around you. As you sink into a corner sofa, there’s a sense of safety and secrecy, as if hiding away to observe the world.
It was strange and comfortable.
“Are we still ordering the lowest proof alcohol?” Ding Wanzhi asked.
“We could go slightly higher this time.” Jiayi, who hadn’t gotten drunk last time, decided to challenge herself a bit more.
Ding Wanzhi smiled, raised her hand to call the waiter, and skillfully ordered two cocktails with odd names that only regulars seemed to know how to order.
While waiting for their drinks, Jiayi planned that if she didn’t get drunk this time, next time she would boldly try the famous Mojito.
“Should we go to the restroom first? Otherwise, it’ll be awkward if you need to go pee in the middle,” Ding Wanzhi raised an eyebrow.
“Hahaha, no, no, that won’t happen this time.” Jiayi, embarrassed, covered her face.
When the drinks arrived, the two women settled into the oversized, plush sofas, crossed their legs in a relaxed pose, gazed at the wooden beams and hanging beer bottles above them, and listened to the soothing country hum, gradually spacing out.
This must be why many people enjoy bars after work, Jiayi thought, squinting slightly, feeling like she was truly a corporate drone.
“I saw the news, is the case going smoothly?” Ding Wanzhi asked casually.
“It’s going pretty well. Sister Wanzhi, what is She Jingjing like at Hengxiang Wangye normally? Can you tell she’s a cold-blooded killer?” Jiayi was curious about the fierce woman involved in the case and whether she seemed detestable in daily life.
“She’s indeed a bit extreme, very emotional. Sometimes when faced with setbacks, she doesn’t objectively analyze the situation and feels targeted by others, thus directing her hatred towards someone. I’ve felt her intense hatred over trivial matters too,” Ding Wanzhi thought for a moment before continuing:
“Her improper relationship with the Business Department Manager Cho was probably the breeding ground for her mental breakdown.”
“She Jingjing is very proud and extremely confident in her feminine charm, but she felt let down by Cho.”
“At the beginning of such a twisted relationship, shouldn’t she have been clear about her position and the risks of coming up empty-handed?” Jiayi asked while slurping her drink through a straw like it was bubble tea.
“Many people don’t look for problems within themselves. ‘Having problems’ is a painful realization. Most choose to believe ‘it’s all his fault, I did nothing wrong.’ She Jingjing is probably like that too.”
“Avoiding the issue not only doesn’t help but also causes one to fall deeper,” Jiayi sighed.
“Yes, many people face setbacks and never get up again. The only difference is that some turn into invalids, others go mad. In my view, it’s all because of ‘a sense of betrayal,'” Ding Wanzhi snorted coldly.
“What is ‘a sense of betrayal’?” Jiayi, intrigued by her experienced sister’s words, sat up quickly from the sofa.
“Feeling betrayed by a friend, normal friendships get destroyed;”
“Feeling betrayed by one’s child, otherwise decent parent-child relationships get ruined;”
“Feeling betrayed by a lover, stable romantic relationships also get disrupted… In short, it’s a very negative mindset of feeling that others owe you something.”
“‘You should repay me’, ‘You should be filial to me’, ‘You should take care of me’—it’s that kind of thinking.”
At this point, Ding Wanzhi lowered her gaze and fell silent for a moment before suddenly looking up and snorting disdainfully:
“It’s a mentality of the weak! It’s the biggest stumbling block that prevents us from sprinting towards grand goals!”
“Absolutely terrible. Let me tell you, sister, you must be cautious. If you find yourself feeling resentful, thinking that someone has wronged you, you must sound the alarm in your head immediately! You absolutely cannot.”
“At best, you become unhappy; at worst, you end up like She Jingjing.”
“…” Jiayi tilted her head and thought for a while before nodding, “I think I understand now.”
“I used to not understand this at all, always feeling like others owed me something, constantly unhappy, with a face that wasn’t quite right. As a result, I didn’t make others treat me any better, but instead, I messed up a lot of things.” Ding Wanzhi suddenly slumped her shoulders and sighed deeply.
“Are you talking about your marriage with Sanfu?” Jiayi took a big sip of her drink,
Ding Wanzhi drifted into her memories, and said softly:
“Sanfu and I met at a friend’s birthday party while he was attending police academy, and I was still in high school. We got along very well; he took good care of me and was very accommodating. It felt like we always had endless topics to talk about. I would tell him which university I missed, share the tiniest interesting things I saw each day. He would tell me about his good grades, how he was well appreciated, and how skilled he was with firearms.”
Jiayi silently thought to herself: Not as good as me, though.
“After he graduated from the police academy, a lot of things changed. Being a uniformed officer is so tiring. In his first year at the police station, two uniformed officers were killed by criminals while on patrol, which scared me a lot.” Ding Wanzhi frowned and ground her teeth before continuing:
“Once, when he finally had a day off and we were on a date, he had several scratch marks on his face. If I didn’t know he wasn’t that type of person, I would have thought he was cheating. It was a domestic violence call, you see. He went to mediate, and without any sense of measure, he reached out to break it up and ended up being scratched by the wife. In a marital fight, you can advise, but don’t get involved; he knew nothing and suffered so many losses in silence.”
“Every time we dated, he was either too tired to talk or we would go to a movie, and he would just snore in the cinema.”
“My mom said who knows if he might die one day, and told me to break up with him.”
“Later, I also graduated and started working as a salesperson at a distillery, and I was very busy too. Everyone else had boyfriends who took care of them, but mine was busier than me.”
“Just then, a pretty good guy also asked me out, and I decided to break up with Sanfu.”
“And then?” Jiayi couldn’t help but sigh softly.
“Sanfu didn’t agree, of course. We had grown from teenagers to young adults together, and neither of us wanted to let go, so we decided to give each other one more chance. He quit his job at the police station, took another job that paid about the same, and finally had time to spend with me. We went by the book, talked about marriage, took wedding photos, booked hotels, organized the wedding… But married life was not what we expected.”
“Tan Sanfu is just despicable!” Ding Wanzhi suddenly cursed loudly, taking a couple of sips of her drink before continuing:
“Day in and day out, living the same life, he spoke less and less, occasionally showing signs of weariness towards life.”
“It’s as if the person who married me was left with just a shell, no soul… Jiayi, have you ever seen what a person looks like when they’ve lost their passion for life?”
Jiayi thought back to the people she had seen and the stories she had heard, vaguely knowing what it looked like.
She herself had probably experienced such times, not knowing why people lived.
“Everyone knows the story that followed; we divorced, and he returned to the police force, wearing his uniform and patrolling the streets of Sham Shui Po, walking the same route, checking in at the same patrol points, catching petty thieves; he responded to calls from the dispatch center to manage couples reported by neighbors for quarreling…”
“Dealing with trivial police matters like ‘neighbors not taking out the trash on time, making the hallway stink,’ ‘neighbors not wiping up water spills at their door, breeding mosquitoes,’ ‘upstairs neighbors’ clothes dripping water onto my balcony,’ and such. He would go door-to-door to mediate and resolve these issues.”
“Such an annoying, tiring, boring, yet dangerous job, and he relished it. Saw him a few days ago, he looked spirited, didn’t he? His complexion has improved, and he’s more talkative, right?”
Ding Wanzhi scoffed a few times, then couldn’t help but sigh:
“The year I remarried, he was transferred to the major crime unit with Sir Fang.”
“Are you doing well now? Are you happy?” Sister Wanzhi chose a man who did not place her first in his life.
“…Very happy.” Ding Wanzhi smiled forcibly, perhaps thinking of something amusing, but then sighed again:
“I’m doing very well now, having found someone with the same values and focus in life. Marriage is the most beautiful social relationship. It’s just… sometimes when I think back on these things, I get angry, but I also feel pity for Tan Sanfu. He might end up single for his whole life, for the sake of his job, he gave up everything.”
“He really loves being a policeman, doesn’t he?” Jiayi looked down.
Listening to Ding Wanzhi’s story, her heart ached, empathizing with the separation that had occurred, and also admiring Sanfu’s full commitment to his job.
It’s just a pity that a good lover and a good policeman couldn’t coexist.
“Yes, the choices of adults can’t be all-in. Only beloved children can afford that luxury,” sighed Ding Wanzhi, her emotions complex.
But adults can reminisce about the past, yet they cannot dwell in it.
“I wonder if he’ll ever regret it,” Ding Wanzhi said, looking down at the drink in her glass, suddenly smiling.
Asking such silly questions about regret.
Once you’ve made a choice, you can only move forward, no turning back.
She committed herself to a new marriage, striving to find happiness.
Sanfu had tried different ways of living and ultimately made a choice.
They were all sprinting down the road of life, courageously pursuing their own paths.
“Thank you, Officer Yi, for taking the time to listen to an old woman’s ramblings.” Ding Wanzhi finished her drink in one gulp and tilted her head with a laugh.
It was rare for her to have a friend to talk about her past marriage, and today she had finally vented her feelings.
“I also had a great time drinking, getting to know my colleague anew.” Jiayi propped her cheek, toasting the other.
“He must be a good cop, right?”
“He is.” Jiayi nodded without hesitation.
“Ha… how are you going to get home? You’re drunk, you can’t drive.” Ding Wanzhi stood up, slightly tipsy, which was the most comfortable state.
“No worries, nobody cares if I drink and drive.” Jiayi stated confidently.
“?” Ding Wanzhi raised an eyebrow, are detectives that powerful?
“I’m on my bicycle.”
“Ah?” Ding Wanzhi paused, then burst out laughing.
The two women left the small bar arm in arm under the moonlight.
On her bike ride home, Jiayi forgave Sanfu, who sometimes picked on her and competed with her, showing occasional malice.
Everyone has something they pour their heart and soul into chasing; she had hers, and he had his.
There was no right or wrong, they were just predators who occasionally collided in the fierce rush of life.
……
……
In another bar in the city, two Long Island Iced Teas sat between Fang Zhenyue and Sanfu, with bitterness accompanying their conversation.
They were also chatting casually.
“Isn’t Eleven a bit reluctant to accept the highest commendation?” Fang Zhenyue suddenly steered the conversation back to Team B, touching on what Sanfu had been focusing on lately.
Sanfu eyed Fang Zhenyue, noting that nothing escaped Fang’s observation.
“Unwilling, for sure, but the merit is hers, I have nothing else to say.”
“Have you noticed that we haven’t been pulling all-nighters on cases recently? And today, we clocked out on time.” Brother Yue gestured, his drink finished, asking for another, “Have you noticed that since the eleven joined Team B, what conclusions can you draw from our case-solving rate and the duration of investigations?”
“Brother Yue means to say, all these are Eleven’s credit?” Sanfu raised an eyebrow.
“Being a policeman, you can’t deny that coincidences in this world are very rare. If everything were like this, with coincidences happening over and over, then they wouldn’t be coincidences.” Fang Zhenyue and Sanfu looked at each other.
Sanfu pursed his lips, recalling slowly the changes within the team these days. He reviewed every case, where Yi Jiayi’s presence was faint yet noticeable in every aspect, along with those moments when she burst with brilliance.
Her newly acquired knowledge, her reasoning, her insight, her meticulousness, patience, and perseverance…
Perhaps all along, he wasn’t unable to see, he just didn’t want to admit it.
“Sanfu, with Eleven here, promotion is just a matter of time,” a wine glass obscuring Fang Zhenyue’s expression.
“Actually, I’ve been observing Eleven recently, too, I know, she’s quite impressive,” Sanfu finally conceded.
“Everything will be fine, we work on cases together, all glory shared,” Fang Zhenyue smiled.
Sanfu’s smile twisted, somehow it sounded like: As long as you cling to Eleven’s coattails, promotion will follow?
“Sir Fang, I’m an adult, to cling to a young girl’s coattails, wouldn’t I lose face?” Sanfu shook his head with a bitter smile.
“What’s there to complain about? Maybe I’ll have to cling on too,” Fang Zhenyue said earnestly.
The two joked and laughed for a bit, and surprisingly a beautiful woman came over to flirt, asking for Fang Zhenyue’s phone number.
Fang Zhenyue was startled for a moment, then sat up straight, but what he said was: “Police on a stakeout, please do not interfere with official business.”
“…” After the beautiful woman left dejectedly, Sanfu shook his head wordlessly, “She just wanted to get to know you, why be so unfriendly? Planning to stay a bachelor forever?”
“Being a bachelor is quite fine,” Fang Zhenyue glanced at him, “People in their thirties aren’t rushing, why should I worry in my twenties?”
Sanfu scoffed indignantly, took a sip of his drink, and then asked meaningfully in a low voice:
“When you’re alone at home, do you still get headaches?”
“I do,” Fang Zhenyue laughed, seemingly unconcerned, self-deprecatingly adding, “It’s part of my soul now, probably will be with me for life.”
Sanfu sighed, fearing too much talk might spoil Fang Zhenyue’s mood, and quickly changed the subject.
For the time that followed, their conversation shifted back to work, discussing cases they had handled, cases others had handled, and about the people in their team, engaging in casual, rambling chatter.
But whenever Yi Jiayi came up, praises abounded. Sanfu no longer harbored any bitterness or competitiveness, gradually showing mature acknowledgment and appreciation.
If Major Crime Team B was a pack of wolves, then Yi Jiayi, fully accepted by this pack of beasts, was no longer the lowest wolf.
She was conquering this small community bit by bit with her god-given ‘intuition’, unique resilience, and gradually growing capabilities.