❝In front of others, we always tend to disguise ourselves, but in the end, we end up deceiving ourselves as well.❞ — François de La Rochefoucauld

After Yu Yang's case was concluded, Sang Tong was pretty much buried in stacks of case files, most of them were from Team Eight’s past investigations. The main reason she had joined Group 8 was to learn. Practice mattered, but so did experience, and studying case files was one way to learn.

The others were still wrapping things up on the case. Everyone looked busier than she was, and she hadn’t seen Ye Jinchen for two days.

“If Yu Yang was so obsessed for so many years over his mother’s departure, didn’t he ever think about looking for her?” Gao Feibai still couldn’t make sense of it.

“Of course he looked for her. He searched during his college years,” Le Qiwen poured him a cup of coffee.

“Unfortunately, he did find her—but she’d already been dead for many years.”

“Huh? How did she die?” Gao Feibai asked in surprise.

“The man she got together with later was a drunk. Died in a drunk driving accident. Everyone in the car died,” Le Qiwen said flatly.

Actually, Yu Yang’s maternal grandparents knew about this, but they just never told him. They kept it from him for all those years, and in the end, this was the result.

Everyone’s faces were complicated. Hard to describe, just a sense of sorrow and regret.

The death of Yu Yang’s mother was one of the many factors that twisted his personality. When an avalanche comes, no a single snowflake is innocent.[[50isb7]]

Xiang Tiancheng had been stubborn at first, but the moment he saw his daughter, he caved. This big, rough guy over six feet tall stood there crying like a child.

Luckily, his daughter’s condition wasn’t serious, just needed medication. Sang Tong didn’t know what happened to the little girl afterward. She’d heard that relevant departments would take over the case. As for Xiang Tiancheng, with his situation, he’d likely be imprisoned for years. All he could do now was behave and hope for early release.

Such is life. In this line of work, you see all kinds of people. And people, after all, are emotional beings. Sang Tong figured she could finally understand what Ye Jinchen had been thinking that night.

As for the one million yuan that had been scammed during the case, it was never recovered—no trace of it found.

“There’s a gathering at eight tonight. Don’t be late,” Le Qiwen said, changing the subject.

“Celebration party?” She’d attended these kinds of things back in the county, she hadn’t expected Team Eight to have them too.

“What celebration party? It’s a welcome party for you. Weren’t we all too busy these past few days…”

Sang Tong: “…”

At that moment, Sang Tong was overwhelmed and slightly panicked. A whole welcome party just for her? She was just a newcomer, what had she done to deserve this?

Still, she went. After work ended at 5:30, Xu Ran called her to go. The restaurant wasn’t far—right next to the noodle shop they frequented.

This was also the first time since joining Team Eight that Sang Tong had a meal with all the members together.

“Thank you all for looking out for me. I’ll definitely work hard and learn from each of you…” Sang Tong smiled as she gave a heartfelt little speech, sincere and full of gratitude.

Ye Jinchen took a quiet sip of tea—loquat leaf herbal tea, very refreshing.

“Beer?” Old Zhang leaned over and asked.

“No thanks. I’m going straight to bed after this. I’m exhausted,” both Gao Feibai and Xu Ran waved their hands.

“What about you, Captain Ye?” Zhang Weimin turned to Ye Jinchen.

“I have to write a report tonight. Can’t drink,” Ye Jinchen also declined.

Sang Tong’s gaze drifted toward Ye Jinchen. He was just sipping the hot tea in front of him, which seemed a little out of place compared to the lively atmosphere.

Does he even drink? the thought suddenly popped into her mind.

Maybe he noticed her staring, because Ye Jinchen looked back at her. There was a glimmer of questioning in his otherwise icy eyes, probably thinking she had something to ask.

Caught red-handed, Sang Tong quickly lowered her head and pretended she hadn’t been doing anything at all.

She guessed he probably didn’t drink. But then what about that scene she’d seen before? The thought made her cheeks heat up again.

God help me! I’m not a fangirl!

When she looked up again, Ye Jinchen had already turned away and was talking to Xu Ran. She finally let out a sigh of relief, it seemed he hadn’t caught on to her stolen glance.

Afterward, the group just had a simple meal. Around 7 PM, they all started heading home.

“Say what you will, but our Captain Ye can really hold his liquor—he’s the kind who doesn’t get drunk even after a thousand cups,”[[dxclns]] Le Qiwen chatted quietly with Sang Tong as they trailed behind the others.

“Hm? That impressive?” Sang Tong had noticed over time that, setting aside the ‘captain filter,’ Le Qiwen was a loyal fan of Ye Jinchen.

“Of course! He can mix red and white alcohol and still not get drunk, I’ve never seen him drunk. He’s amazing,” Le Qiwen praised.

Ha… If Sang Tong hadn’t witnessed that drunkenly passionate moment, she might’ve believed it!

If it weren’t for being tipsy, how could something like that have happened? Absolutely impossible, okay?

Looks like she needed to stay away from alcohol in the future too. Drinking only leads to trouble!

“Does the captain know you’re his fanboy?” Sang Tong suddenly asked.

“How did you know?!” Le Qiwen was shocked. He thought he had hidden it well, but Sang Tong just gave him a “What do you think?” look.

Le Qiwen: ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?

“What a coincidence, are you here for Captain Ye too? Captain Ye is basically my god, okay? If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have joined Team Eight at all!” Le Qiwen said proudly.

Sang Tong glanced at him but said nothing.

She wasn’t. She hadn’t. She was poached, this wasn’t voluntary.

Looking at the man walking in front of them, Sang Tong couldn’t help but sigh.

She still had to work hard—very hard. If she didn’t perform well, she’d be transferred to Team Three.

Getting transferred isn’t shameful. What’s shameful is being transferred because you’re incompetent…

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It was a rare weekend off. Sang Tong hurried to stock up on household supplies, then spent most of the day lying in her dorm. With the air conditioning on and warm sunlight filtering in through the sheer curtains, it made her feel incredibly lazy.

She’d only meant to rest a little, but ended up falling fast asleep.

She was jolted awake by an urgent knocking at the door. Groggy, she felt like she’d just had several dreams, none of which she could remember when she opened her eyes.

She shot up from bed and opened the door.

In the second the door opened, her sleepy eyes cleared, her gaze becoming sharp and alert.

“Mission,” Ye Jinchen said the moment the door opened, his deep voice tinged with seriousness and urgency.

“Right away.” Sang Tong quickly changed her shoes, grabbed her phone, and ran out of the room. As she stepped outside, she saw Xu Ran coming out from the room across the hall.

The two exchanged a glance, then immediately followed after Ye Jinchen.

Pingjiang New District was a newly developed area, with electronic locks, security guards, and full amenities. Most residents were young people.

The developers had targeted young adults, so most units were compact with multiple households per floor.

“Who made the report?” Ye Jinchen asked in the elevator.

“A neighbor. Said the apartment next door had been smelling really bad the past couple of days—worse by the day, so they finally called the police,” a colleague from another department who had responded to the report replied.

The elevator stopped on the 27th floor. As soon as the doors opened, a strong stench hit them, it was a smell they were all too familiar with.

“It’s hot these days. At first, the neighbor thought it was just some garbage someone left at the door and tolerated it for a day or two before calling.”

So, at least two days had passed.

The closer they got to the apartment, the stronger the stench became. When they opened the door, the overwhelming reek of decomposition made them want to gag.

But what shocked Sang Tong more was what she saw inside: the once-white walls were now smeared with red stains, covering every corner of the room. Flies buzzed throughout the space. One glance was enough to make one’s blood run cold.

Putting on shoe covers, Sang Tong followed Ye Jinchen inside. She scanned the room and headed toward the source of the smell.

On the large bed lay the female victim. The bedsheet beneath her was so soaked in blood it was impossible to tell its original color—now it was a dark, dried black-red. Blood was everywhere.

There was a deep cut on her wrist. Her face had been slashed beyond recognition, unidentifiable.

All over the living room and bedroom walls were chaotic smears of red. Just how much hatred did it take to leave the place like this?

Sang Tong frowned and looked around. There were many luxury goods in the room, branded packaging visible to the naked eye.

There were no signs of theft. Clearly, that wasn’t the motive.

The walls were a mess, but the floor was surprisingly clean—clearly wiped. No footprints—neither from the victim nor a second person could be found.

“Ruan Tiantian, 23 years old. A streamer under Feiyun,[[szguyp]] mainly did luxury product reviews. Has hundreds of thousands of followers,” Xu Ran reported to Ye Jinchen. “However… she was using a fake ID. We’ll need to verify her real identity.”

“Hmm.” Ye Jinchen responded, eyes falling on the victim’s wrist. The cuts were deep and chaotic, slashed several times—gruesome and terrifying.

He stared at the wound and frowned.

“So clean?” Sang Tong stepped closer.

Although the wound was gruesome, it was strangely clean. Normally, blood would flow down and leave residue after drying, but her wrist was spotless—as if it had been wiped.

Sang Tong’s gaze turned to the red-stained wall. Though it looked blood-red, she rubbed it with a gloved hand—it was paint, not real blood.

No wonder the flies weren’t on the walls but all congregated in the room.

There were no other wounds on the body. It was likely the victim lost the ability to fight back before her wrist was cut.

No murder weapon was found on site, likely taken by the killer.

The whole apartment reeked, nauseatingly so no wonder the neighbor couldn’t stand it anymore. The stench alone could make one dizzy.

“Go to the property manager and get the surveillance footage,” Ye Jinchen said to Sang Tong.

“Yes!” Sang Tong replied immediately, turning and leaving the apartment quickly.

Once outside and down the stairs, the stench finally began to fade from her nose—though traces still lingered, making her stomach churn.

Sang Tong walked a few steps and realized that this area was mostly filled with young people. In fact, these kinds of modern residential complexes often had higher crime rates than older neighborhoods.

In the old neighborhoods, most people were familiar with each other. The old uncles and aunties could sit downstairs all day, and the moment a new face appeared, they would immediately question them. By the next day, everyone in the area would know a newcomer had moved in.

But it was different in modern residential complexes. Even though they had electronic locks and security guards, neighbors rarely knew each other. Sometimes they wouldn’t exchange a single word in a whole year.

That’s why it had taken days for the deceased to be discovered.

Sang Tong rubbed her fingers together with a bit of the red substance. After waiting for a moment and seeing no reaction, she realized she had touched paint on the wall. She switched hands and rubbed it off.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her right wrist throbbed painfully, and all she could see was darkness.

A razor blade scraped across her wrist again and again, the metal slicing into her skin—sharp and chilling, making her body tremble uncontrollably.

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It was already half an hour later when Sang Tong returned after checking in with the property management. As she entered, Ye Jinchen was on the phone. He glanced at her briefly, then hung up a short while later.

“Let’s go meet someone,” Ye Jinchen said, taking off his gloves and heading toward the door.

“Oh.” Sang Tong stood by the door, waiting for him to remove his shoe covers. The two of them returned to the elevator. If she had known, she would’ve just waited downstairs earlier.

She glanced at him—Ye Jinchen seemed deep in thought, his expression pensive. Sang Tong didn’t dare interrupt.

“Have you been reading case files[[uljkyz]] lately?” he suddenly asked.

“Yes, reading case files is also a way to gain experience,” Sang Tong replied earnestly.

Ye Jinchen looked at her face—quite obedient, he thought.

Being stared at like that made Sang Tong nervous. Her throat bobbed involuntarily. The intense pressure made it feel like even her breathing had grown lighter. She didn’t dare meet his eyes, her heart pounding with unease.

Could it be that the captain thought her answer was too rehearsed, like she was just saying what people expected while thinking something else inside?

“If you don’t understand something, you can ask me or Old Zhang,” Ye Jinchen said, withdrawing his gaze.

“Yes! Thank you, Captain. Brother Zhang has been teaching me a lot these past few days. I’ll work hard,” Sang Tong said, relieved, as if she’d come back to life.

Ye Jinchen glanced at her but said nothing. She hadn’t come to him even once…

Feiyun wasn’t a big platform—there weren’t many streamers, but it still had a decent number of viewers and some recognition.

It was already past 5 PM. In this residential area filled with tall buildings, the lighting on the lower floors wasn’t great.

Ye Jinchen motioned for Sang Tong to ring the doorbell. No one answered. He gestured for her to keep ringing. After about three minutes, a voice finally came from inside.

“Who is it?” The voice sounded a bit annoyed.

Sang Tong looked—it was a man in his twenties, still wearing makeup, with half-applied lipstick on his lips.

The moment he saw her, he froze. As he was about to switch the camera on his phone, Ye Jinchen reached out and blocked it.

“Turn off the livestream first,” he said, taking out his badge with the other hand.

The man hesitated for two seconds but backed down when met with Ye Jinchen’s cold stare.

“Brother, I’m just doing a livestream. I’m not doing anything shady or illegal…” the man said nervously.

“Selling counterfeit goods is illegal,” Ye Jinchen said coldly.

As soon as he said that, the man’s expression became even more dramatic.

“It’s the platform that makes us do it! We’re just small-time streamers trying to make a living. We don’t even know if what we’re selling is real or fake!” the man said anxiously.

“There are some things I want to ask you. Are you going to answer at the door?” Ye Jinchen asked.

The man hesitated for another second, then stepped aside and said, “Come in.”

As they stepped inside, Sang Tong noticed the interior looked similar to the victim’s home—simple decor, but there were luxury packaging boxes everywhere.

“You’re Guan Xingwen?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“Yes, that’s me.” The man nodded, now more cooperative and calmer than before.

“Do you know this person?” Ye Jinchen showed him a photo on his phone.

“Yes, Ruan Tiantian—we work at the same company,” Guan Xingwen nodded. “But she’s been sick and hasn’t streamed in days.”

“You two had a good relationship, right? Why didn’t you go check on her?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“We were close, sure, but it’s the end of the month!” Guan Xingwen explained. “I messaged her on WeChat, and she said she just had a cold and needed a few days to rest. Look.”

He handed his phone to Ye Jinchen, showing his chat with Ruan Tiantian.

“Why does it matter that it’s the end of the month?” Sang Tong asked curiously.

“We streamers have monthly quotas for livestreaming hours. If we fall short during the month, we have to make up for it at the end,” Guan Xingwen said, pointing to his half-made-up face. “See? I’m working overtime…”

“Oh!” Sang Tong nodded in understanding.

“Miss, you’ve got a good look, why not try livestreaming too? No need for a 9 to 5. Just stream 2–3 hours a day. It could be a nice side hustle,” Guan Xingwen said, giving her another once-over.

Sang Tong: …

“With that attitude and no remorse, the punishment tends to be heavier,” Ye Jinchen suddenly said coldly.

Guan Xingwen: !!!

From their conversation, they learned that he and Ruan Tiantian were indeed fairly close. He had joined the company a bit earlier than her. They’d collaborated on some livestream events and gradually got to know each other.

They often had meals together offline as well. The last time he video called Ruan Tiantian was six days ago, and he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her. Plus, he’d been busy rushing to meet deadlines these past few days, so he didn’t make plans to meet with Ruan Tiantian. Beyond that, he didn’t know much.

Sang Tong glanced at the chat, his last WeChat conversation with Ruan Tiantian was two days ago. Ruan Tiantian had said her cold was better, only her voice was a little hoarse, and that she would start streaming again in a couple of days.

But Ruan Tiantian had already been dead for two days. So, who was chatting with Guan Xingwen? The chat record clearly showed a timestamp from two days ago, meaning someone really had used Ruan Tiantian’s phone to reply to Guan Xingwen.

And that person was very likely the murderer.

“So, is Feiyun making their streamers sell counterfeit goods?” In the quiet car, Sang Tong brought up a topic.

“Hard to say, but most of the stuff Ruan Tiantian and Guan Xingwen’s family had were fakes,” Ye Jinchen replied.

Sang Tong’s expression was complicated. She hadn’t been able to tell anything was fake—it looked pretty real, just like in the advertisements.

So is Ruan Tiantian really dead, or did someone else take her phone? That was what Sang Tong cared about most now.

She took out her phone and downloaded Feiyun’s livestream app. After opening it and looking for a moment, she saw the livestream room was bustling.

“This FG bag is a limited edition. Original price on the official site is 9,999. Today, we’re not asking for 9,999, not even 8,888. Just today, we’re giving it to you for only 6,666! You can take it home today…”[[di6ufx]]

In the comments section, tons of viewers were crying that it sold out in seconds. It looked like it was extremely popular.

Sang Tong, who had absolutely no desire to buy anything, was about to quietly exit the stream…

“This one’s real.”

Ye Jinchen, driving beside her, suddenly said.

“Oh, so I guess Feiyun doesn’t sell all fake goods…” Sang Tong nodded.

“But only the one in her hand is real. The one her assistant is holding is fake.” Ye Jinchen glanced over.

Sang Tong: …

Was he some kind of eagle-eyed hawk? How could he tell with such a heavy filter on?

“The hardware has a different sheen, and the leather reflects light differently,” Ye Jinchen explained. “This happens a lot in e-commerce: they display the genuine item, but ship out fakes.”

Sang Tong nodded, indicating she’d learned something new.

“We handled a related case before. You can check the case file when you have time,” Ye Jinchen said.

Sang Tong’s heart skipped a beat. Was he implying she hadn’t been studying diligently? Now she felt the pressure shift to her…

Sang Tong kept scrolling down; it was mostly these kinds of product-pitch videos. After about a dozen swipes, a pop-up suddenly appeared, saying she needed to activate VIP to enter the next livestream room. She could also choose to skip.

Just as she was about to click skip, Ye Jinchen—having just parked the car, happened to catch a glimpse and said, “Activate it and take a look.”

Obediently, Sang Tong quickly registered, activated VIP, and spent 199 gold coins—painfully.

The next second, the VIP video popped up. Sang Tong only took one glance before nearly throwing her phone away in shock, her face flushed red.