Bai Wu was a great conversationalist. Li Chu had initially intended to enjoy her meal, but Bai Wu’s continuous stream of engaging topics drew her fully into the conversation.
Naturally, those topics all revolved around Ning Manqing.
From Ning Manqing’s childhood to her school days, Bai Wu recounted amusing anecdotes with such vivid descriptions that Li Chu felt like she was watching them unfold before her eyes.
“You know how there are always those people in school who ace the exams but still pretend they didn’t do well? Lao Ning was different. Every time after an exam, I’d ask her how she did, and she’d say, ‘Probably first.’ I’d tell her to be a little more humble, and guess what she’d say?”
Li Chu couldn’t help but ask, “What?”
“Ahem, let me show you,” Bai Wu composed her expression, adopting a nonchalant air and speaking in a deliberately profound tone, “‘I’m already being humble. Otherwise, I wouldn’t say ‘probably.'”
Bai Wu exclaimed, seeking agreement, “Tell me, isn’t she arrogant? That kind of subtle bragging. Back then, I just wanted to squeeze her head and make her share half her IQ with me.”
“Indeed, arrogant.”
Li Chu heard so many amusing stories about Ning Manqing during the meal that the image of the gentle and composed Teacher Ning faded, replaced by a young Ning Manqing who was outwardly aloof but inwardly mischievous and sly.
Unexpectedly, Teacher Ning had also been quite the show-off back in the day.
Ning Manqing had left them to their own devices. Initially, she could still interject, but as their conversation about her grew more animated, she found herself with no room to speak.
Li Chu’s eyes, bright and lively, occasionally glanced over. Ning Manqing rested her chin on her hand, quietly observing her in the light.
The meal lasted nearly an hour. Bai Wu had some wine, so Ning Manqing drove them back.
“If I weren’t catching a flight tonight, I could have kept chatting with you,” Bai Wu said, a little unsatisfied. Then, as if remembering something, she took out her phone and said to Li Chu, “Let’s add each other. We can stay in touch.”
“Sure.”
Li Chu readily agreed. She had a good impression of Bai Wu, and since she was one of Ning Manqing’s best friends, Li Chu scanned the QR code and added her immediately.
Ning Manqing drove back to the film set and got out of the car with Li Chu.
Bai Wu’s assistant loaded her luggage into the car and sat in the driver’s seat.
“Lao Ning, Li Zi, I’m off.”
Bai Wu poked her head out of the window, waving to Ning Manqing and Li Chu.
After the car disappeared from sight, Li Chu chuckled, “Sister Wu is really interesting.”
They had started by formally addressing each other as Miss Bai and Miss Li, but after a meal together, they had switched to Li Zi and Sister Wu.
“She’s quite the character. Just take her words with a grain of salt; she rarely speaks seriously.”
Ning Manqing felt a flicker of wariness. She didn’t want things to take a different turn. If Li Chu developed any romantic feelings for Bai Wu because of this, Ning Manqing would strangle herself.
“I’m convinced you two are true childhood friends, the way you tease each other.”
Childhood friends who could roast each other like this were definitely close.
Li Chu’s tone became unconsciously more intimate. The image of the “perfect” Ning Manqing in her mind seemed to chip at the edges, revealing a real and vibrant aura.
Li Chu’s face was flushed from the alcohol.
“Teacher Ning, I have scenes tomorrow, so I’ll go rest now.”
They were standing in the corridor of the small building where they lived. Behind Li Chu was the door to her room.
The door was open. She walked in and then turned back, leaning against the doorframe and waving to Ning Manqing.
The light was dim at that moment. The light inside the room was on. As Li Chu turned, her clothes tightened around her, accentuating her slender waist.
Ning Manqing nodded in the dim light and only looked away long after the door closed.
Back in her room, Ning Manqing saw several messages from Bai Wu on her phone. Perhaps because Bai Wu was a bit tipsy and too lazy to type, they were all voice messages. Ning Manqing clicked on them, listening while searching for her pajamas, planning to take a shower later.
“Lao Ning, I’ve completed my mission today, haven’t I? I talked myself dry. Is there any employee benefit for working so hard?”
“But your little Xiao Chu is really cute. Her personality seems great. How did you fall for her with your personalities being so different? I thought you’d like someone just as mischievous as you.”
“But what are you up to? I’m completely clueless as your wingwoman. Usually, when good friends help each other pick up girls, they shower them with praises. But you, you asked me to talk about your embarrassing moments.”
“At first, I thought it was because Little Sweetheart had melted your heart, but now it seems different. Tell me, what are you planning?”
Bai Wu had been given this task at the last minute. She had already prepared a draft, ready to sing Ning Manqing’s praises in front of her beloved. Although Lao Ning was quite the dog, and now even more so with her upgraded version, she had to admit that Ning Manqing was exceptionally talented, having been outstanding since childhood.
However, as soon as she finished discussing work with Ning Manqing, Ning Manqing told her to pick some everyday things to talk about, not to exaggerate her good qualities to Li Chu.
For a moment, Bai Wu thought that Ning Manqing didn’t like Xiao Chu but wanted to discourage her. She couldn’t get a straight answer no matter how much she asked, so she did as Ning Manqing said. But the more she talked, the more puzzled she became, because Li Chu seemed more admiring than romantically interested, so there was no need for discouragement.
Ning Manqing wasn’t in the habit of confiding in others and didn’t plan to tell anyone about her plan to “boil Xiao Chu with warm water,” even if the other person was her best friend. This had nothing to do with trust.
Ning Manqing readily increased Bai Wu’s commission. Bai Wu sent three roses and didn’t ask any further questions.
Completely unaware that this was another part of the plan, Li Chu hummed a tune while showering, giggling as she recalled the amusing stories Bai Wu had told her about Ning Manqing.
So much so that, in her hazy sleep, she seemed to see the young Ning Manqing.
Just as Bai Wu had described, aloof and noble, with restrained sharpness yet visible thorns, like a sharpened butterfly knife.
The image of the young girl in her dream gradually overlapped with the Ning Manqing Li Chu knew, smiling gently at her with a familiar warmth.
That glance seemed to pierce through the intertwined fog of time and space, reaching her from a past Li Chu had never witnessed.
Even after waking up, she felt a lingering sense of longing.
If only I could really see Teacher Ning back then, Li Chu thought wistfully.
But that’s impossible.
Li Chu laughed at her own fanciful thoughts, got up, washed up, and started a new day of work.
Qin Mu and Xi Yiyun’s first meeting also took place on a drizzly day.
Qin Mu, dressed in a blue-green cotton and linen dress, sat on a chair in the police station lobby.
Although the police had advised her not to come so often, assuring her they would notify her as soon as there was any news, Qin Mu still came and sat there from time to time. They eventually let her be.
Of course, Qin Mu wasn’t just there to sit. Initially, she wanted to make a good impression on Li Rui and gain his trust. Later, she came to observe Li Rui’s actions. Sometimes, just watching Li Rui racking his brains over the case without any leads was enough to make her eat an extra half bowl of rice.
It was the second day after the explosion. Qin Mu noticed the female alpha standing next to Li Rui.
She was too beautiful to look like a police officer. But when her gaze swept over Qin Mu, Qin Mu inexplicably felt a sense of danger.
Perhaps it was an animal’s instinct upon encountering a natural predator. In that brief exchange of glances, Qin Mu sensed that her plan might be disrupted.
As it turned out, Qin Mu’s premonition was correct.
Xi Yiyun re-examined the thug’s house. Since the thug had been strangled to death without any bloodshed, and there was nothing unusual about the house, the police couldn’t be sure if this was the primary crime scene. However, after a thorough investigation, Xi Yiyun found evidence proving it was the primary scene and reconstructed the scene and the murderer’s method.
The evidence was the friction marks under the square table in the room and the minute remnants of hemp rope fibers.
The thug hadn’t been strangled in one go but had been slowly and repeatedly tortured in the process of suffocation. The rope had been tied to the lower end of the square table. As long as the murderer tightened the rope, they could use the pulling force to tighten the rope around the thug’s neck, thus strangling him.
Therefore, she proposed two hypotheses. Hypothesis one: the murderer wasn’t strong enough, so they needed to use this method to kill instead of relying on their own strength to strangle the victim. This led to another deduction: the thug must have lost the ability to resist before death. Otherwise, with the strength of an adult beta, there was no reason why they couldn’t break free. The autopsy report showed no external injuries on the deceased, suggesting the involvement of drugs.
Thus, it could be inferred that the murderer was likely a relatively weak beta, or perhaps, an omega.
Hypothesis two could coexist with hypothesis one: the murderer had an intense aversion to the deceased and was unwilling to have physical contact with them, deriving pleasure from repeatedly torturing the deceased. It was highly likely that the murderer had a deep grudge against the deceased.
These deductions were supposed to be confidential within the police force, but Qin Mu knew about them, from Xi Yiyun herself.
Just as Li Rui had initially suspected, after understanding the recent cases, Xi Yiyun had noticed the somewhat peculiar Qin Mu and targeted her as a suspect.
They were currently sitting in a cafe, their conversation starting with Qin Chao. Since Qin Mu believed Qin Chao might be the murderer, and given Qin Chao’s disappearance, Xi Yiyun came to inquire about Qin Chao, her preferences and habits. Of course, Xi Yiyun’s ultimate goal was to reveal her speculation about the murderer.
Faced with this almost transparent probing, Qin Mu had to exert great self-control to avoid revealing anything in front of the sharp-eyed alpha police officer.
She looked up and asked nervously, “So, you mean the murderer might not be my sister? Although she’s a beta, my sister is actually quite strong.”
“We won’t wrongly accuse anyone without conclusive evidence.”
Xi Yiyun simply replied, sipping her coffee and casually observing the person sitting opposite her.
From this moment on, Qin Mu knew she had been firmly targeted.
She smiled softly and said, “That’s good. I believe Officer Xi will definitely find the real culprit.”
This was like a continuous cat-and-mouse game. But who was the cat, and who was the mouse?
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