Chapter 57

Ding Guoqiang said: "But you have no evidence."

Chen Pu said unhappily, "If I had evidence, I would have come to you a few days ago. Isn't this just a bold assumption? You should verify it carefully."

Ding Guoqiang pondered for a while and looked at Li Qingyao who had been silent: "What about you? Do you have the same idea as him?" He also wanted to hear whether this future newlywed had any ideas of his own.

Li Qingyao did not show any panic or embarrassment at all because of the questions from her superior's superior - such an expression never appeared on her face.

She said slowly, "First of all, I agree that it was definitely not Sun Dazhi who did it. Judging from the crimes he committed before, they were all crimes of passion, without any plan, and were crude, which is completely different from the methods used in the Luo Hongmin case. Moreover, he had not arrived in Xiangcheng three days ago, so this time was not enough to plan the crime.

As for whether it was really murder for money, Chen Pu and I have different opinions on this point. I think it is not necessarily true. Maybe the murder was for money, or maybe the money was just to cover up the deeper motive. But no matter which one, I think it was committed by an acquaintance. "

"Oh?" Ding Guoqiang became interested. "Why?"

"These past few days, I have watched all the surveillance footage from the cameras outside the residence three days before Luo Hongmin was murdered, as well as the Saturday two weeks before that, which was the day he stayed overnight at the villa. The van and the man did not appear, nor did any other suspicious persons. In other words, the murderer did not set foot at that location."

Chen Pu had also thought of this, but had not had time to do anything. He turned to look at Li Qingyao: "Where do you have the time to watch the surveillance?" The two of them have been going out early and coming back late every day recently, running around everywhere, and are as tired as dogs.

Li Qingyao: "Every night."

Chen Pu's gaze fell on the dark circles under her eyes and frowned: "You are the only one who can endure it, right?" If he had known earlier, he would have hurried up and watched the surveillance video himself. Damn it.

Seeing that the two of them were actually chatting among themselves, Ding Guoqiang pressed his forehead and said, "Okay, stop gossiping!"

Li Qingyao's smile flashed across his face. Chen Pu was not afraid of anything in front of his master. He said, "Just tell me what to do next."

Ding Guoqiang said, "Well, the two of you can investigate according to your previous idea first, and then ask me for more if you don't have enough manpower."

-

It was already past eight o'clock, and both of them were exhausted, but now they had a new direction for investigation, and they were both eager to try. When they walked back to the door of the second team's office, Chen Pu looked at Li Qingyao, and she immediately looked at him.

He asked, "How about a quick meal first?"

Li Qingyao: "I think I can eat a cow."

Chen Pu said, "You have a bad stomach! But I can't take you to eat good food today, so just make do with what you have."

"Okay. Are you done eating?"

"Back to the office?"

Li Qingyao frowned: "I have to go back and take a shower first." He pulled up his collar and sniffed it, with a look of disgust: "It stinks."

Chen Pu wondered what was smelling like, but he still said "OK."

The two of them went downstairs to order a bowl of noodles. Chen Pu ordered two extra portions of sized noodles, while Li Qingyao ordered a normal bowl.

As a result, Li Qingyao actually finished the whole bowl of noodles. Chen Pu was very pleased to see this and said, "After more than a month of working on the front line, your appetite has finally become like that of a criminal police officer."

Li Qingyao: “…”

She didn't want to eat like a criminal police officer, okay? It was already 9 o'clock, and she hadn't left any of this solid bowl of red soup and carbohydrates. She wanted to cry. She, Li. Elegant. Control Sugar. Qingyao, could never go back. Li Qingyao could imagine how she would look like in a few months with a round face, double chin and round belly.

“I’ll lose weight after I finish investigating this case,” she said bitterly.

Chen Pu had finished his powder long ago, so he stood up and poured two free glasses of water. He gave her one and drank it slowly, saying, "Why lose weight? You'll look better if you're a little fatter."

"nerve."

-

After eating the noodles, the two went home. Chen Pu gave Li Qingyao 15 minutes to take a shower - including the time to go up and down the stairs. Li Qingyao also wanted to investigate the case immediately, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.

Chen Pu found some clean clothes and went to take a shower. He stripped naked, turned on the shower, and as usual, poured a dollop of shampoo into his palm, then rubbed it vigorously on his head, rubbed his hands vigorously, and then rinsed it off. This time his head was washed, and the whole process took 2 minutes. He poured shower gel again, and just washed and scrubbed it. Finally, he opened his hands and rinsed them under the water, and suddenly he was stunned.

He stared at his fingers, slowly made a few grasping movements, frowned, and then he had an idea and looked up at the mop hanging on the wall.

He took the mop off, stood on the ground, looked around, coughed lightly, stretched out his hands and hugged them lightly.

After thinking about it again, he stretched out just one hand, estimated her waist circumference, and "hugged" her again with one hand.

After doing these simulated movements, Chen Pu laughed in silence, hung the mop back, pressed his arms against the wall, lowered his head, slightly arched his back, letting the water continue to hit him, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

In the falling water curtain, Chen Pu opened his eyes and watched the thin streams of water chasing and entwining each other on the ground. After a while, he closed his eyes and sighed softly.

-

"Luo Huaizheng."

Luo Huaizheng turned around and saw a woman in a burgundy off-shoulder dress walking gracefully towards him in the dimly lit corridor.

Luo Huaizheng frowned. Xiang Siling smiled, as if the more he frowned, the more disgusting her smile would be. She said, "It's been so many days, do you still feel disgusted when you see me?"

Luo Huaizheng sighed in his heart and was about to ignore her and go back to the private room, but she stretched out her arms, as tender and white as new lotus roots, and stopped him.

Today is an important milestone for the project. After the project is successfully completed, Luo Huaizheng and his people invite the project manager to dinner. Halfway through the meal, Xiang Siling comes over and says that he is talking to someone in the next room and comes to visit the project team.

Luo Huaizheng has now been able to ignore Xiang Siling, but no matter how cold and silent he is, Xiang Siling becomes more and more courageous, and from time to time, like today, he would condescend to kill him by surprise.

"What on earth do you want to do?!" Luo Huaizheng said coldly.

Xiang Siling drank two rounds of wine today. Her face was as pink as a peach blossom. She couldn't stand very steadily, swaying and smiling: "What I want to do... What I want to do..." She looked up at him with her bright eyes: "You always don't know."

Luo Huaizheng didn't want to talk to this drunkard, so he said coldly, "Get out of the way."

But she reached out and grabbed his sleeve, saying, "Luo Huaizheng, I already had one father dead, and now another one has died."

Luo Huaizheng suddenly raised his arm and pulled out his sleeve.

Xiang Siling chuckled and said, "Luo Huaizheng, you have to believe that I want you to live a good life more than anyone else in this world. Don't avoid me like a snake or scorpion anymore. I really, really won't hurt you again."

Luo Huaizheng sneered and said, "I am living a good life now. As long as you don't appear in front of me, I can live a better life than now."

Xiang Siling seemed to be drunk, and shook his head and said: "You are different from before. You would never say such cruel words before. But it's okay, be a little cruel, so that you can protect your life in the future."

Luo Huaizheng was about to leave when he heard her say faintly, "I'm different from you. I've been very, very happy since I was a child. My parents love me very much and treat me very well. The only drawback is that my dad is a loser, my mom is lazy and doesn't work, and our family is too poor. But it seems like God deliberately wanted to change my fate and gave me a rich dad. Tell me, am I very lucky?"

Hearing her mention the past, Luo Huaizheng stopped, looked at her deeply, and remained silent.

"My stepfather provided me with food, clothing, and college education. When I was in college, my cell phone, clothes, and everything else were the best. I didn't even want to tell my classmates that he was my stepfather. They all said he was my biological father, so they could be jealous. After graduation, I didn't have to scramble to find a job like everyone else. He directly arranged for me to join the company as a department manager. How great! I could cover a path that ordinary people would take ten years to complete in one step. He also introduced me to the most promising boy in the company. Unfortunately, I was not ambitious enough and couldn't get along with people, so we got divorced. But it doesn't matter. I have money and power now. What does a woman need a man for when she has these things? Haha!"

Seeing that Luo Huaizheng had been listening and not leaving, Xiang Siling's face was filled with joy, but she did not dare to pull his sleeve again, and continued to nag: "But things are unpredictable. My father, who was so good to me, was also killed. His parents died a long time ago, and he has no brothers or sisters, no biological children, no relatives or friends, so pitiful. Only my mother is his legal wife. But my mother does not know how to do business, and she managed the massage parlor in a mess. Now, the whole group is in my hands. Tell me, do I deserve it? Why do I get more without giving anything? Life is so unfair, isn't it?"

Luo Huaizheng then realized that Xiang Siling was probably very drunk, but her eyes were too bright, as if burning with flames, giving Luo Huaizheng a strange feeling: that flame was both fanatical and cold.

"The only thing in my life is not good, that is, I meet you." Xiang Sixi stared at him. The pair of black eyes flashed. "Do you know that everyone scolds me and ignores me in the class. No one accepts me again. I walked to the road and lost the eggs. They were blocked in the alley. "

Luo Huaizheng suppressed the slight sadness in his eyes.

Xiang Siling walked forward a few steps, wiped her tears, and said, "And Li Qingyao, she was originally my favorite and most envied girl in high school. I regarded her as an idol. However, she also hated me and never spoke to me or looked at me again. But Luo Huaizheng, what did I do wrong? I was only 17 years old at that time, and my father died in front of me. I obviously did nothing, I did nothing!"

Luo Huaizheng finally spoke up. He said, "Over the years, I only want to ask you one thing: Did Xiang Wei rape you back then? Did I see it wrong?"

Xiang Siling fell silent.

After a while, she raised her head. Although her eyes were still blurry, she was much calmer. She smiled at him, a surprisingly beautiful smile, and said, "Luo Huaizheng, you only need to know one thing."

Luo Huaizheng looked at her.

Tears finally welled up in her eyes. She bit her lower lip several times, as if she could finally say with a smile: "You are me, me... the only person I have ever loved. Any way, I approached you with no other intentions, just simply wanting to make up for it. Now I finally have the ability to do so. We are all adults now, so let's be more mature and give me a chance, okay?"

-

Tonight, Luo Huaizheng also drank a few glasses of wine with the project manager of the other party. When he got home, his cheeks were flushed. The house he rented was near the company, a simple one-bedroom. After spending several years in prison, he thought that even a house with simple decoration was habitable.

After entering the room, he did not turn on the light, but walked to the computer desk and sat down. All the energy he had accumulated during the day seemed to have drained away. He sat in the dark, leaning back with his head, motionless.

After a while, Luo Huaizheng opened his eyes, and his bloodshot eyes were now sharp and clear. He turned on the computer and searched for the name Luo Hongmin.

All of them were news reports about Luo Hongmin's death. The media speculated that it was a crime committed by a vagrant criminal who was murdered for money.

Luo Huaizheng closed the page, lowered his head deeply, and a very indifferent smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

After a while, Luo Huaizheng looked up again, stared at the page for a few seconds, and typed in the name "Li Qingyao".

There wasn't much information, so he read all he could. Finally, his mouse landed on a photo of Li Qingyao in police uniform.

His girlfriend at that time, although she had a cold personality, always had a little warmth in her eyes when she looked at him, and only he could feel it. But the person in this photo had frost-like eyebrows and eyes, and the whole person exuded a sense of alienation and coldness.

Luo Huaizheng exhaled slowly, closed the page, looked up and stared at the darkness outside the window, like a wooden statue.

Finally, he remembered that on the day of the incident, he was reporting at Huayu Group, and Xiang Siling was also there, sitting in the main seat. After receiving the call informing her of her stepfather's death, she looked wooden, and then tears welled up in her eyes.

She looked at him, her eyes, lonely and bright, like the silent Gulf Stream in a chilly night.

……

Luo Huaizheng lowered his head and took out the phone from his pocket, but did not operate it immediately. Instead, he held the phone in his palm and turned it several times, staring at it without any expression on his face. Then, he opened WeChat, clicked on Xiang Siling's profile picture, and sent a message:
How are you going to compensate me?

A sigh.