As soon as these words were spoken, the several police officers present looked up. You Mingxu immediately asked, "What did Xu Jiayuan say?"
Jiang Mingxuan's voice lowered: "Xu Jiayuan said... he also wanted to chop Liu Ruoyu to death."
Seeing the police officers fall silent, Jiang Mingxuan said, "This... it was all just angry talk, everyone was just saying things casually, how could they actually chop someone. Besides, a few days later, the two of them were fine again, even rode together to the city to play, gaming and eating together. And tonight, Liu Ruoyu was with us the whole time, didn't go anywhere."
The police officers all frowned.
Yin Feng, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke: "When Xu Jiayuan usually bullied Liu Ruoyu, what did you and Liu Ping do?"
All the police officers immediately looked at this legendary figure. However, seeing that You Mingxu, who was directly responsible for him, didn't even raise an eyebrow, seemingly accepting his questioning, they all quietly listened.
Jiang Mingxuan lowered his head: "We... didn't do anything."
Yin Feng pouted, his expression unusually serious: "Did you not intervene, or did you not participate in the bullying?"
Jiang Mingxuan panicked and said, "That... can that even be considered bullying? It was all just joking around, joking around. He's young, just teasing him for fun..."
Yin Feng shook his head, his gaze cold: "Just because he's young, you can freely mock, order around, and threaten him? Why do adults find it so easy to forgive themselves when bullying children? Is it only because, with children, adults like you can feel powerful and dominant?"
No one spoke, and Jiang Mingxuan was left speechless. You Mingxu looked at Yin Feng; he was clearly angry, his face slightly flushed, but his eyes were sharp and penetrating. At first glance, he didn't seem particularly foolish anymore.
—
The east was already showing the belly of the fish white.
You Mingxu walked down from the rural house to get some fresh air. The villagers who had gathered to watch the commotion in the middle of the night had dispersed, probably all returning home to catch up on sleep. The streets of the small town were very quiet. The noisy, mixed elements that came with urbanization and the influx of migrants had not yet made their appearance in the new day. The long street had finally regained some of the tranquility of a rural village.
Her mind was quiet, but she felt stifled. In their jurisdiction, four people had died over the past few days, including two children. Initially, both cases seemed very ordinary, with clear investigative directions, but upon investigation, they had hit dead ends.
The case of Xie Huifang's family was now at a standstill. There was no clear motive for revenge or any suspects, and the possibility of robbery had been ruled out. She agreed with Yin Feng's reasoning: either they had missed something, and the killer was among those already investigated; or it was a stranger with psychological issues who killed Xie Huifang to vent their anger.
As for the current case, they had intended to resolve it quickly. Any experienced investigator would judge that the killer was likely an acquaintance. But after the first round of investigations, all of the deceased's closest associates had alibis. Just now, surveillance footage and neighbor testimonies had been obtained—a camera happened to capture the building's entrance. All three roommates had stayed in the entire night, and neighbors confirmed this. The location where Xu Jiayuan was killed was a wasteland, with no surveillance nearby, and no valuable evidence had been found yet.
The police could only further expand the search and scope of suspicion to look for suspects.You Mingxu let out a heavy sigh and walked back to the building where the incident had occurred.
The sky was gradually brightening as the group descended the stairs. The three roommates would be taken back to the station for further investigation. You Mingxu looked at each of them in turn—their expressions were identical: dejected, silent, and tense. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Her gaze then fell on Liu Ruoyu. After what had happened, his "child labor" arrangement would undoubtedly be terminated. Colleagues had already contacted his family, but it seemed none of his relatives had expressed any intention of coming from their hometown to pick him up.
Yin Feng was walking at the very back of the group. The moment he reached the ground floor, he spotted You Mingxu and immediately rushed over, asking, "Where did you go? I've been looking for you for ages."
"Just came down for some fresh air."
"Why didn't you take me with you?"
"Weren't you busy having fun?"
Yin Feng scratched his head, recalling how engrossed he had been earlier, so much so that he hadn't even noticed when she had gone downstairs. This realization weighed heavily on him.
"I didn't mean to ignore you!" he blurted out, trailing closely behind her like a bee chasing a flower. "I just got lost in thought for a moment. I won't do it again."
You Mingxu thought to herself: I wish you would. But she couldn't say that out loud—if she did, a certain handsome someone would sulk. She gave a faint smile and said, "Investigating cases is quite interesting, isn't it?"
Yin Feng grinned. "Not bad."
Suddenly, she added, "I think you'll probably regain your memory soon. Congratulations."
Yin Feng's steps faltered. Biting his lip, he watched her continue walking ahead without looking back, feeling inexplicably hurt. He caught up to her and said with feigned indifference, "Hah... Too bad I can't even remember what I ate this morning! How could I possibly recover my memory?"
Yet, despite his emphatic words, You Mingxu merely smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Yin Feng suddenly felt as though she could see right through him with ease. He wanted to resist but had no way to escape her grasp. Pouting, he thought: A Xu is so mean! She's like a big bad wolf, always... always toying with his sincere feelings!
Angry over this, Yin Feng barely paid any attention to You Mingxu after they returned to the police station. But You Mingxu had no time to bother with him either. The team of detectives was exhausted. After briefly summarizing the initial findings of the case and delegating further investigation to other colleagues, they all collapsed onto their desks to sleep.
Every minute of sleep was precious. None of them were made of iron.
You Mingxu kept a folding chair in the office, usually tucked away in a corner. She pulled it out now, laid it flat on the floor, and fell asleep instantly. Yin Feng hadn't participated in their earlier desk work and had stayed in the same conference room as before to rest. Through the window, he watched You Mingxu lying on the ground. She looked most innocent when asleep—her body always curled up tightly, her long hair cascading down, like a little girl. A few slender, pale fingers peeked out from her sleeves. Yin Feng stared at her hand for a long moment, and suddenly, his anger over her earlier teasing faded. He even felt proud of himself—even if You Mingxu didn't apologize, he could manage to let go of his anger on his own.
Then, his eyes twinkling, he turned sideways in his chair, mimicking You Mingxu's exact sleeping posture, and closed his eyes.When everyone woke up, it was already past lunchtime, and they were all starving. With the intense case awaiting them in the afternoon, You Mingxu simply waved her hand and said, "Let's go out for a nice meal—Dutch treat."
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