This person had already been dead for a while, so Le Qiwen hadn’t had time to investigate thoroughly. For now, the only confirmed detail was that the person had died of illness. If they wanted more information, they would need to wait a bit longer.

Knowing that Ding Jianxiu had already begun looking into the matter, Ye Jinchen and Sang Tong didn’t go again.

When Sang Tong returned to the office, she learned that Fang Hui had come around noon and was currently speaking with Mu Ye.

“Fang Hui means the same as Fang Xi, she wants Mu Ye to pack his bags and leave with nothing,” Lao Zhang whispered to Ye Jinchen and Sang Tong.

Inside the reception room, Fang Hui sat expressionless in a chair. Mu Ye, a grown man, no longer cared about the eyes of those around him. He dropped to his knees in front of Fang Hui, crying and begging for forgiveness.

“Huihui, I’ll never dare again. I really do love you. I was just momentarily confused, it was them who came on to me…” Mu Ye cried with dramatic exaggeration.

Standing at the door, Sang Tong glanced at Fang Hui sitting upright in her seat, then at Mu Ye kneeling humbly on the floor. It was honestly quite ironic, if Mu Ye had known this would happen, why make those choices in the first place?

“True love? From what I see, Mu Ye doesn’t love Fang Hui. He loves the Fang family’s money,” Xu Ran muttered sarcastically.

If it were truly love, how could he have had mistresses one after another? Ruan Tiantian wasn’t the first, and she certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“There’s no room for discussion on this matter. Xi Xi and I—after this, just move out. When you’ve made up your mind, we’ll go sign the divorce papers. I hope I won’t be waiting too long,” Fang Hui said coldly and without expression.

Sang Tong looked at Fang Hui. The woman she saw today was very different from the one she’d met before.

Fang Hui used to be the picture of gentleness—soft-spoken, warm, with a gentle aura surrounding her. But today, she was much more assertive, even the tone of her voice had hardened.

“Huihui, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. Please, just give me one more chance…” Mu Ye still refused to give up. He reached out to touch Fang Hui, but she stood up and avoided his hand.

Fang Hui looked coldly at the man on the floor. Her expression was unreadable, but Sang Tong thought she must be deeply disappointed…

“You shouldn’t have—of all things, dragged Xi Xi into this,” Fang Hui said coldly before walking over to Sang Tong and Ye Jinchen.

Fang Xi was Fang Hui’s bottom line. In the past, she could still turn a blind eye. But this time, Mu Ye had touched a nerve. The already fractured marriage had only been held together on the surface, any friction would reduce it to broken pieces.

To Fang Hui, the most important person was no longer Mu Ye—but her daughter, Fang Xi.

“Let’s talk somewhere else,” Fang Hui said softly as she stood before Ye Jinchen and Sang Tong.

Ye Jinchen didn’t object and led Fang Hui to the next room. If not for the faint redness at the corner of her eyes, Sang Tong might never have guessed that someone who had appeared so strong just moments ago actually still had such a soft heart.

“The girl you asked about earlier—her name was Ruan Tiantian, right…” Fang Hui began, her voice hoarse.

“I lied to you before. I’ve always known that my husband had other women outside. But it didn’t matter. As long as my daughter was doing well, I could pretend none of it had ever happened.” Her calm voice held subtle, indescribable emotions.

“But I never imagined that Xi Xi would find out about it,” Fang Hui’s expression twisted with pain.

Fang Hui knew that in her daughter Fang Xi’s eyes, her relationship with Mu Ye seemed good. She had never argued with him, and outsiders also thought their marriage was very happy.

What Fang Xi didn’t know was that the marriage had long been riddled with holes. It wasn’t the first time Fang Hui had discovered Mu Ye cheating. She had wanted to fight, to argue—but when she looked into her daughter’s sweet, smiling face, she always hesitated.

Fang Xi had always believed her father was capable and outstanding, her mother gentle and composed. Aside from some minor struggles with her studies, she thought they were a genuinely happy family.

But all of it was just an illusion. And once that illusion shattered, the blow to Fang Xi would be devastating.

“I gave her a check for one million yuan to leave my husband. She agreed,” Fang Hui said as she took the water Sang Tong had poured for her and offered a quiet thank you.

After all, this was a family disgrace. So Fang Hui hadn’t told Ye Jinchen or Sang Tong about it yesterday. If she hadn’t learned today that something had happened to Fang Xi, she would’ve kept this secret buried forever.

“My daughter absolutely cannot be the murderer. I hope the two of you can clear her name.” That was the last thing Fang Hui said.

“We would never wrongly accuse anyone, and we would never let any murderer go unpunished,” Ye Jinchen replied.

As long as Fang Xi wasn’t the murderer, he would definitely clear her name. But if she was the murderer, then he absolutely wouldn’t let her off.

Fang Hui glanced at Ye Jinchen, opened her mouth as if to speak, but ultimately said nothing.

Sang Tong watched Fang Hui’s departing figure. Compared to when she saw her before, she was different—her aura had changed. It had grown colder, harder, as though she was trying to support something heavy.

Was Mu Ye really seeking her forgiveness?

Probably not. If he divorced Fang Hui, he knew exactly what awaited him. Without the halo of the Fang family, everything Mu Ye had now would disappear like a bubble.

Love or money? Twenty years ago, he might have chosen love. But now, both husband and wife had chosen the latter.

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“Guan Xingwen wasn’t telling the truth. On the day Ruan Tiantian died, he went to her home during the day.” Lao Zhang had discovered a new lead.

According to what Guan Xingwen said earlier, he hadn’t seen Ruan Tiantian since he began working overtime and focusing on his livestreams. But on the day of the incident, he did go to her place, and was even caught on surveillance near the entrance of her residential area.

“I went to bring her some medicine that day. She said she was sick—had a cold, so I brought her some cold medicine,” Guan Xingwen said. “I bought the medicine at Pushan Pharmacy, on the south side of the crosswalk in front of her neighborhood. You can check if you don’t believe me.” He changed his story rather quickly.

At the time, he’d bought anti-inflammatory medicine, fever reducers, and cold medicine from the pharmacy. Those exact medications were still on the victim’s coffee table—some boxes had been opened, and the quantities were reduced, likely because she’d already taken some.

“Then why didn’t you mention this when we asked you before?” Sang Tong looked up at him. The more she interacted with Guan Xingwen, the more she felt that very little of what came out of his mouth was honest.

“You guys were coming to question me, obviously something had happened to Tiantian. If I told you I was there, wouldn’t I just be asking for trouble?” Guan Xingwen replied. “But I really didn’t stay there long. I dropped off the medicine and left. I had to go live-stream that night!”

Ruan Tiantian’s time of death was in the evening, and at that time, Guan Xingwen had been live-streaming—he had no opportunity to commit the crime.

“Are you sure you were just dropping off medicine?” Sang Tong locked eyes with Guan Xingwen. He seemed a bit guilty, trying to avert his gaze, but it was like being stared down—he didn’t even know where to hide.

“I really was just delivering medicine. Yes, I liked Ruan Tiantian, but I’m not the kind of person who takes advantage of others when they’re vulnerable,” Guan Xingwen answered. But sweat had already started to bead on his forehead.

Though Sang Tong usually seemed friendly and easygoing, when she got serious, she exuded a certain pressure. Guan Xingwen had initially wanted to laugh awkwardly, but when he met her gaze, the expression on his face froze and his palms began to sweat.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Sang Tong suddenly changed the topic.

“No,” Guan Xingwen shook his head.

“Then why did you buy a box of condoms from the supermarket next to the pharmacy after you bought the medicine?” she asked.

This time, Guan Xingwen’s face turned bright red. He nervously twisted his left hand with his right, and vice versa. His anxiety was visible to the naked eye.

“They weren’t for me. They were for Ruan Tiantian,” he said, licking his dry lips.

“So you knew what she was doing?” Sang Tong didn’t give him time to think, she fired off her questions one after another.

This time, Guan Xingwen’s hands froze. He didn’t answer immediately. He paused for two seconds, as though something had just occurred to him. He looked at Sang Tong, as if wanting to speak but holding back.

“You didn’t just know she was selling sex, you also knew she was pimping for other streamers.” This time, Sang Tong was certain. Guan Xingwen wasn’t as clueless as he had pretended to be. In fact, he probably knew everything.

Given how close he was to Ruan Tiantian, it was impossible he knew nothing about what she’d been doing.

More than that, he was likely her accomplice.

Guan Xingwen’s silence was the clearest answer. He did know the whole truth.

“She forced me. I didn’t know anything at the time… I… I just fell into a vicious cycle. I was scared too…” After a short pause, Guan Xingwen covered his eyes and said, his voice trembling slightly.

When he found out what Ruan Tiantian was doing, Guan Xingwen had tried to persuade her. After all, they both should’ve known—some money can be earned, some can’t.

But back then, Ruan Tiantian wouldn’t listen to anything. She forcefully dragged him into another world. He had no choice.

He felt like a puppet, completely under Ruan Tiantian’s control, being pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss.

However… he chose to stay silent. He didn’t do the same things she did. He was just… a tool.

He couldn’t even remember how many times he bought contraceptives for her, or how many times he cleaned up her messes. When you do something too many times, you become numb to it.

Guan Xingwen explained how Ruan Tiantian lured those girls in, it was pretty much the same as what they already knew. The pattern was usually getting them drunk and taking advantage of the situation.

“If Guan Xingwen had managed to stop her back then, would things be different now?” Xu Ran shook his head.

“Not necessarily. I don’t think what he had for Ruan Tiantian was love. It was more like he was used to being controlled,” Sang Tong replied. Even if he had tried to stop her, he would’ve gotten pulled in eventually. Ruan Tiantian didn’t turn out this way because of one thing.

It was the accumulated darkness in her mentality over time that created who she became. Guan Xingwen wasn’t the key factor.

It’s rare to see PUA manipulation[[r8kpw7]] to this extent.

“Could the sleeping pills have been brought to Ruan Tiantian by Guan Xingwen?” Sang Tong voiced her speculation to Ye Jinchen.

“Sleeping pills are hard to get nowadays. Guan Xingwen has never taken them before. Even if he did bring them, it must’ve been through other people or channels,” Ye Jinchen replied.

“Got it.” Sang Tong nodded.

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Lunch was at the cafeteria. The food smelled amazing, provincial team meals really were delicious!

“Fang Hui could’ve kicked that scumbag Mu Ye out long ago. But she kept enduring for her daughter’s sake. She’s pitiful in her own way,” Xu Ran said emotionally.

“That’s why this kind of behavior isn’t something people should try, copy and follow. People should love themselves first before loving others,” Sang Tong shook her head, disagreeing with Fang Hui’s years of silent endurance.

“That’s because you haven’t fallen for someone yet, Xiao Sang. When you’re in love, you naturally become more humble,” Xu Ran said, transforming into a love guru.

Love? When those two characters came up, Sang Tong snuck a glance at Ye Jinchen. Unexpectedly, he was very sharp—he looked right back at her. Their eyes met, and Sang Tong’s face flushed. She was definitely affected by those visions of the future! Otherwise, how could she be having such bold thoughts?

Under Ye Jinchen’s confused gaze, Sang Tong pretended to be casually looking around, then calmly withdrew her gaze.

“So you’ve broken up over a dozen times?” Sang Tong recalled some gossip Le Qiwen had shared and teased Xu Ran.

Xu Ran: !!!

That was a lethal blow!

“What happened?” Ye Jinchen walked over with his lunch tray and saw Xu Ran looking like he was about to cry.

“Nothing. Today’s shredded pork with green peppers was way too spicy, it made me cry,” Xu Ran said solemnly.

Sang Tong: …

Brother Xu really is unbeatable!

Since the surveillance in the residential area and underground garage was practically useless, checking the nearby area’s cameras was going to be a massive, detail-heavy job. So after lunch, Sang Tong slipped away early.

She went to the pharmacy and bought two bottles of eye drops. After staring at screens all day, her eyes really couldn’t take it anymore.

Just before she exited, she saw something, stopped, and backed up to take another look. There were rows of small boxes clipped up, mostly blue and pink, with some other colors too.

“There’s more over there. We also have them in other scents,” said the young woman at the counter who had just checked her out.

“No, no, that’s fine!” Sang Tong practically fled with red ears. Scented or not, she really didn’t want any of those!

After returning to the office, Sang Tong didn’t open the eye drops right away. Instead, she stared intently at the screen.

When the others came back from the cafeteria and saw how hard she was working, they couldn’t help but sigh. They hadn’t expected Sang Tong to be even more driven than them! No wonder she was transferred to Team Eight…

“Captain, come take a look at this.” About ten minutes later, Sang Tong called out to the person sitting next to her.

Ye Jinchen looked over, stood up slowly, and walked behind her. Sang Tong didn’t waste time, she hit play on the video.

It was a split-screen of two surveillance videos. One was from the pharmacy, showing clearly that Guan Xingwen did indeed purchase the medicine.

Next was the surveillance footage from the supermarket. Guan Xingwen bought contraceptives, then left the store and walked in the direction of Ruan Tiantian’s home.

“Did you find anything?” Sang Tong asked, a bit excited.

“Hm?” Ye Jinchen didn’t answer, waiting for Sang Tong to figure it out herself.

“The direction—the directions of these two surveillance cameras are different, aren’t they?” Sang Tong gave Ye Jinchen a reminder. Normally, it was Ye Jinchen pointing things out to her, so having the roles reversed this time made her feel a sense of achievement.

“In the morning, I didn’t think anything was off, but during lunch, when I went to the pharmacy to buy eye drops, I noticed something unusual.” Luckily she had made that trip—otherwise, she wouldn’t have caught it.

“The pharmacy clearly sells contraceptives, so why did Guan Xingwen go all the way to the supermarket?” Sang Tong had been confused about that while in the pharmacy, but after rewatching the footage, it clicked.

“Because he wanted to make sure he appeared in the supermarket surveillance footage,” Ye Jinchen said quietly.

Sang Tong: …

He stole her thunder. She hadn’t finished talking yet, and he took the words right out of her mouth. Now she was left in awkward limbo—stuck and frustrated.

“Whether he was going to or leaving Ruan Tiantian’s place, this supermarket’s surveillance caught it all,” Ye Jinchen continued.

“Exactly!” Sang Tong nodded.

Guan Xingwen clearly wanted them to notice that.

“If this isn’t a coincidence, then it can only mean… he did it deliberately.” Sang Tong was leaning more toward the second explanation.

That strange feeling Guan Xingwen gave off had been there since their first meeting. They hadn’t even asked him that many questions, yet from the beginning, he had been constantly feeding them information.

Borderline explicit videos. Public solicitation. Pimping and exploiting other streamers.

Every single piece of information had come through Guan Xingwen. At this point, Sang Tong wasn’t even sure what role he was playing in this case.

A guide? Or a misleader?

According to the footage from the supermarket, Guan Xingwen left Ruan Tiantian’s house in the afternoon. Then, in the evening, he started his livestream and began working—he had an alibi.

But… that alibi felt too deliberate. As if he had foreseen that something was going to happen.

Sang Tong couldn’t be sure, because she clearly sensed that the killer was likely a woman. But Guan Xingwen was a man.

“Captain, is it possible…” Sang Tong met Ye Jinchen’s gaze. He was watching her so seriously, waiting for her next words.

She felt nervous. For a moment, she even doubted herself—but… she still had to say it.

“The killer might not be just one person. There could be two… or more.” Sang Tong pursed her lips, her throat feeling dry and itchy.

Someone drugged her with sleeping pills. Someone suffocated her. Someone, like they were venting their rage, slit her wrists and let her bleed out.

“Guan Xingwen was the person Ruan Tiantian trusted the most. If the sleeping pills really came from him…” Sang Tong didn’t finish the sentence. “Then someone else carried out the actual killing.”

Ye Jinchen didn’t respond to her. He knew she made sense, but they couldn’t jump to conclusions. Everything had to be backed by evidence. Without it, any guess was just speculation.

Meeting his eyes, Sang Tong spoke first, “So I want to go back to the scene and take another look.”

She would find the evidence.

“Alright. Take Old Zhang with you,” Ye Jinchen said.

“Okay.” Sang Tong nodded.

This was the first time since joining Team Eight that Sang Tong wasn’t going out on a case together with Ye Jinchen.

Not long after Sang Tong left, Ding Jianxiu returned from the hospital. He’d been investigating the person with missing information.

Ding Jianxiu had first gone to visit the person’s family, but when it came to discussing the illness, they were evasive and couldn’t explain clearly. They even showed resistance. In the end, he had to go to the hospital personally.

“Captain Ye, I found out. That person died two months ago. The cause of death was…” Ding Jianxiu slowly said three words.

Ye Jinchen, sitting in his office chair, abruptly stood up.