Suddenly, You Yingjun asked, "A Xu, are you and Han Feng very close?"
You Mingxu replied, "Yeah, we studied together before and worked on cases together. We're old acquaintances."
Yin Feng tapped his chopsticks on the pig's trotter in his bowl: "Then what do you think... think... of him?"
You Mingxu glanced up at him, picked up another warm slice of lettuce and ate it, saying, "He's fine."
Yin Feng fell silent. You could almost feel his entire presence tense up like a beautiful bowstring.
Listening to the bubbling sound from the hot pot and the soft clinking of their chopsticks against the plates, You Mingxu said, "His child is only three years old. He's always out working cases, so his wife has it pretty tough too."
A large, tender pig's trotter was placed in her bowl. You Mingxu looked up to see his beaming smile: "A Xu works hard on cases too. Eat more, put on some weight."
You Mingxu couldn't help but laugh, though she immediately felt annoyed afterward. What was I even explaining just now? She was about to snap back to regain her psychological balance when she noticed Yin Feng arranging some bones with his chopsticks into... some kind of shape?
Seeing her watching, he proudly pushed it toward her: "A Xu, look, doesn't this look like a pig's head?"
You Mingxu: "..."
It did. It really did.
"Fan Jia's making good progress," You Mingxu said while eating. "It's been five days now. She borrowed another 20,000 through Apple Bro using family emergency expenses as an excuse. At this rate, her interest and late fees are doubling. She's pretending not to know, and Apple Bro hasn't made a move yet. They're getting along quite well - he's acting quite ambiguously caring toward her, and Fan Jia is going with the flow, letting him think she's blindly sinking deeper."
Yin Feng thought for a moment and asked, "Apple Bro toward Fan Jia?"
You Mingxu smiled slightly: "No matter how much is real or fake, I think Apple Bro is interested in Fan Jia."
A flicker of amusement crossed Yin Feng's eyes: "Oh, good."
They both thought simultaneously: If they could find traces of sexual crimes, they'd be one step closer to solving Liu Yisha's death.
They locked eyes for a moment, the white steam from the hot pot rising between them, understanding each other's thoughts perfectly.
Yin Feng's lips curved upward - he loved being on the same wavelength with A Xu!
You Mingxu was startled - damn, why was she on the same wavelength with him again!
Yin Feng wanted to say something more to please her further when suddenly he felt something "boom" in his head, like being struck by lightning. His vision went dark, and he slid from his chair onto the floor.
All he could hear was You Mingxu shouting, "Yin Feng, what's wrong? Yin Feng!" But he couldn't see anything clearly, his mind filled with fragmented images colliding: vast amounts of blood, severed limbs... a car speeding toward him... and someone laughing, a very calm, silent laugh.
Yin Feng clutched his head, moaning as he curled up on the floor. You Mingxu had already rushed over, holding him in her arms, urgently asking, "What's wrong? Where does it hurt? Your head?" while pulling out her phone to call an ambulance."Boom"—another tremor, as if long-sealed ice had begun to crack. Yin Feng's entire body trembled violently, shaking like a sieve. He saw more images: a hand holding a pen, marking crosses on criminal record forms one after another. A deeply familiar voice was saying, "None of them deserve to live in this world. Including you, Yin Feng. Because you are all... you are all..."
He let out a howl, tears streaming down his face. In his daze, he saw a pair of eyes—very familiar yet unrecallable. Those eyes were sorrowful yet calm, filled with pity. They were a man's eyes, gazing deeply at him. And in Yin Feng's heart, immense grief, resentment, and even defiance surged forth.
"Brother... brother..." he murmured the word.
You Mingxu's eyes widened. Brother? She had learned most of Yin Feng's background—his biological brother Yin Chen, twelve years his senior, had died over a decade ago.
But seeing him delirious, tear-streaked, with bulging veins on his forehead and a contorted expression, You Mingxu felt as if her heart were being torn apart. She held him tighter, staring at the agonized face in her arms, unsure what to do except press her cheek against his.
"Yin Feng... Yin Feng... You Yingjun, You Yingjun, calm down, calm down! I'm here, I'm here!"
The wail of an ambulance grew gradually closer downstairs, but the person in her arms slowly stopped struggling. You Mingxu looked down to find his eyes tightly shut, brows furrowed, breathing shallow—he had clearly passed out.
——
To make the act convincing, Fan Jia had rented an apartment not far from the two victims' residences. That night, she was curled up on her small bed playing games, while Xu Mengshan sat on the nearby sofa. For the past two days, he had been providing close protection, just in case.
After playing for a while, Fan Jia asked without looking up, "Why did you volunteer to protect me? Don't you always complain this kind of work is boring?"
Xu Mengshan, still reviewing case files, replied, "Sister You needs to oversee the overall situation. Besides her, who has the second-highest combat skills?"
Fan Jia said, "Doesn't Team Leader Han have a few capable people under him?"
Xu Mengshan said lightly, "Does he have the spare time to care about you? Besides, are you close with them?"
Fan Jia fell silent, then chuckled to herself after a moment. She glanced at the overly serious man and thought: He looks refined, but his mouth is vicious. Still, he's quite reliable in critical moments. With him here, she didn't feel nervous.
Just then, Xu Mengshan looked up and met her gaze.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke: "Lift your leg a little higher, and I'll see your underwear. Think carefully—I won't take responsibility. Also, your legs are slightly thick."
Fan Jia: "...Get lost!"
As they bickered, her phone rang with an incoming text.
Fan Jia picked it up, leaned against the headboard, and read with a laugh: "Fan Lingling (ID number: XXXXX), hello. You borrowed 30,000 yuan from our company. This installment's interest and late fees total 1,922 yuan. Please repay by this Wednesday! Legal liability applies for overdue payments! Tsk, 30,000 yuan, and nearly 2,000 in interest in less than two weeks? It'll double and compound later—how shameless."
She forwarded the text to the task force group chat. Everything was progressing as planned.
Xu Mengshan said, "Aren't you going to find your Apple Bro and pull the 'tears, tantrums, threats' routine?"Fan Jia said, "Of course I'm going to find him. Right now, who else can save me from this predicament? Let me build up some emotions. Hey, do you think he might actually fall for me and turn over a new leaf for my sake? Then the case wouldn't be able to proceed further—it's all because my charm is too overwhelming."
Xu Mengshan sneered, "Dream on."
For some reason, Fan Jia felt she had regained some ground in the face of his sinister smile. After steeling her emotions, she called Apple Bro.
It had now been confirmed that Apple Bro's real name was Chen Zhaoci—a rather respectable-sounding name—and he had indeed told Fan Jia his true identity. Three years after graduating from Huaicheng University, he initially took up an ordinary corporate job but soon quit to plunge into the Campus Loan business. No one knew how many college students he had dragged into the mire. According to preliminary police investigations, during Chen Zhaoci's university years, Campus Loans were rampant, and he himself had borrowed from such schemes. After graduation, he became one of the most prominent perpetrators among the offenders.
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