The new young mistress who had entered the Wu family’s door had, for some unknown reason, miscarried. The Wu family was throwing her out. While she was still bedridden, the Wu family’s assistant coldly told her that her things had been packed and she should get lost immediately.
Who could bear this?
Never mind that this young mistress was mistress number four who had climbed up the ranks. Weighing a hundred pounds with ninety-eight pounds being lovesick brain, even though she had watched her “predecessor” get kicked out of the villa the day she rose to power, she still believed she and the Wu family patriarch had true love. But then she miscarried, and the next moment she was being thrown out of the villa—how could she accept this?
So she climbed onto the Wu family villa’s rooftop under cover of night, called reporters, and threatened the Wu patriarch to come out and give her an explanation.
…
Chang Yang listened and made two “tsk tsk” sounds, “The Wu family villa’s security is this poor? They easily let someone climb onto the roof? If a thief came, they could steal everything and take a nap without being discovered.”
Ran Qiu looked at the files and rubbed his chin, “Seems like it’s because she got familiar with the Wu family’s dogs, so the dogs didn’t bite her. And because the Wu family fell on hard times, they didn’t hire a security team either.”
Gao Shi frowned slightly. Chang Yang keenly caught Gao Shi’s expression, “Captain, do you know some inside information?”
Gao Shi said, “The Wu family did fall on hard times before, but recently the Wu family has started slowly turning their luck around. Though they haven’t reached their previous status, they definitely can’t be called destitute.”
“Moreover,” Gao Shi lightly tapped the table with his finger, “The Wu patriarch is very afraid of death. There’s no way he would dismiss the security team.”
Ran Qiu suddenly looked up, “Boss, are you saying there’s something fishy here?”
Gao Shi said, “It’s possible. Let’s see what the files say next.”
…
That young mistress climbed onto the rooftop originally because she couldn’t bear this grievance and wanted to question her “soul mate” about why he did this. She also wanted the Wu patriarch to change his mind. But when the Wu patriarch did come out to see her, he actually had another woman in his arms.
Wow! The Wu patriarch was really something—mistress number four miscarried, and the next moment mistress number five was brought in.
Looking at her belly, she must be about five months along.
That meant the Wu patriarch was simultaneously involved with many young girls, and whoever had the biggest belly got brought in?
Mistress number four was so angry she cried and screamed, looking like she wanted to fight this dog couple to the death. The Wu family matriarch—that is, the Wu patriarch’s “legal wife”—stood alone to the side, leaning on her cane, her hair gray and white, watching this farce with no expression.
The firefighters who had rushed over were actually relieved. Looking at mistress number four’s attitude, she didn’t want to jump for a while. To put it bluntly, even if she ended up in the ICU, she’d probably wait until the Wu patriarch had a stroke before dying.
However, just as she was about to turn and go downstairs, she suddenly froze, then took two steps backward, and finally turned and jumped off the building.
The soft cushions had clearly been laid out below. From three stories high, even though she went head-first, it shouldn’t have been fatal.
However, mistress number four hit the ground head-first. With a “crack” sound, her body and neck formed a horrifying angle—just like that, her neck was broken.
The scene fell into dead silence. After a moment, screams erupted.
Mistress number four’s sudden death caught everyone off guard. What had originally been under the fire department’s jurisdiction now called in regular police, then criminal police.
Because mistress number four’s behavior before death was too abnormal.
Since mistress number four had invited many reporters with their cameras, though no one filmed her back, the front-facing video was crystal clear.
You could see that after mistress number four turned around, she first froze. Her two steps backward looked like she had seen something extremely terrifying—her whole body was scared stiff, and she could only shuffle backward step by step.
Then she turned and jumped off the building.
However, the frame froze at the moment she jumped. Her two hands were stretched forward, like a diver preparing to dive, as if she couldn’t wait to escape this rooftop.
But her lower body was pressed against the edge of the rooftop, as if struggling to retreat backward.
This contradictory scene looked like someone was firmly gripping her arms and pulling her downward.
But the video quality was so clear that everyone could see plainly—in front of her was just empty space, three stories up in mid-air. There was no way anyone could be pulling her.
Her jumping posture looked less like she had jumped down herself and more like she had been dragged down.
Some bold reporter had actually zoomed the camera in so close it almost touched her face, capturing her expression before death crystal clear.
Her neck twisted into that horrifying angle, her eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets, her terrified and incredulous expression—one look would give you nightmares for a whole night.
Gao Shi frowned and gently tapped the screen, “Wait, here, reverse this.”
The footage reversed. Before mistress number four died, her lips moved slightly, like the spasms before death.
Gao Shi stared intently at her lips and teeth, mimicking her lip movements word by word.
“I… know… now…”
The group exchanged glances, a chill rising behind them.
Know? What did she know?
Gao Shi’s expression was serious, his voice low, “Go back and see who she was looking at.”
The footage rewound again. Comparing her final gaze direction, they discovered she had been looking in the direction of the Wu family patriarch.
Gao Shi said coldly, “Qiuzi, report the findings to the criminal police unit.”
“Got it!”
Gao Shi returned to his seat. The Wu family incident had already caused quite a stir. There had been too many reporters that day, plus many passersby, so some videos and photos had inevitably leaked out.
Gao Shi had Star help him collect videos and images related to the Wu family, while also reporting their sources to the cyber police. Such bloody and eerie videos circulating online had already violated the law.
After Star finished collecting, Gao Shi finally realized just how many people had been at the scene that day—it was practically like hosting a concert.
This performance ended with the actress taking a leap as her curtain call.
Ran Qiu moved closer to Gao Shi, “Boss, do you think this incident is related to us?”
Gao Shi hummed in acknowledgment, “Has the Spirit Management Office sent anyone over?”
Ran Qiu nodded, “I heard they sent Feiyu over. He left not long ago—no results yet.”
At the mention of Feiyu, Gao Shi noticed Huang Shan showed a moment of stunned reaction.
Gao Shi pretended not to notice and continued, “Good, notify me immediately if there’s news. I suspect this isn’t an ordinary suicide.”
As Gao Shi spoke, the scrolling wheel suddenly stopped, the cursor landing on a photograph.
Ran Qiu looked at it and rubbed his arms, “Really ironic.”
This photograph, taken by someone unknown, was quite artistic.
High up on the rooftop was the small and crazed young woman, the aged man holding his fresh young mistress, and the surrounding “audience” watching the show.
Cameras pointed at the young woman threatening suicide on the rooftop, while the onlookers’ faces bore chilling excitement. The anxious and worried firefighters occupied only a small corner. In the shadows of the frame was the Wu family matriarch, coldly watching this farce.
However, Gao Shi’s gaze stopped at a corner where, in the crowd, there was a woman.
This woman’s face showed no smile, no excitement, and no worry. The emotion on her face looked more like compassion.
Out of place.
She occupied too small a proportion in the frame for Gao Shi to see clearly, but he had a strange sense of familiarity.
Gao Shi browsed through the photos and videos Star had collected and discovered that despite the nearly complete coverage from all angles, this woman barely appeared on camera. Of only two photos, one showed a pitifully small figure, and the other only showed half her back.
Gao Shi stared at this silhouette, always feeling an inexplicable familiarity.
Who could it be…
Gao Shi’s memory was terrifyingly excellent. He closed his eyes, flipping through past experiences one by one, fishing the needle he wanted from the sea of memory.
This woman was named Liao Zitu.
She was the mother of Wen Liang and Wen Yan.
Why would she be here?
The Wen family was wealthy and powerful. As the beloved matriarch of the Wen family, how could Liao Zitu appear alone at the Wu family’s, looking with compassion at a woman willing to be a mistress?
You must know that Wen Liang’s father had been a notorious playboy back then, keeping countless mistresses outside. There had even been mistresses showing up pregnant at their door demanding recognition, causing citywide uproar with many people waiting to see the joke.
As the victim, how could Liao Zitu go and pity a third party?
“Qiuzi, check if there’s any connection between Wen family matriarch Liao Zitu and this woman.”
“Got it, boss!”
With the sound of typing, official files on Liao Zitu and mistress number four were pulled up.
Mistress number four’s real name was Zhou Yun, twenty years old this year.
The records showed her father had severe domestic violence tendencies, having beaten her mother multiple times. There were three recorded police calls for domestic violence, but her mother always chose to forgive in the end, so nothing came of it.
Her father’s absence might have been one of the reasons she preferred older men.
Before the Wu patriarch, she had dated two other men, both middle-aged men over forty years old.
In college, due to poor family circumstances, she worked part-time at a coffee shop. Because of her beauty, she was harassed by local thugs, and it was the Wu patriarch who rescued her from that predicament.
From then on, she and the Wu patriarch were together.
Many people thought Zhou Yun was with the Wu patriarch for money, but from the records, it was clear she was with him purely out of love.
After all, the Wu patriarch was a family head with dignified bearing who could guide Zhou Yun from an elder’s perspective, which fascinated her greatly.
This twisted love that made her lose herself led her to get pregnant for the Wu patriarch and, as the fourth mistress, still happily walk through the Wu family’s doors despite seeing how the family discarded the third mistress.
As for Liao Zitu, clearly her records had been modified later, with her household registration transferred to City B.
But with Gao Shi’s clearance level, he could see the original records before modification.
The moment he saw the original records, Gao Shi’s pupils contracted sharply.
This was…
***
It always seemed to rain during National Day.
Gao Gusheng looked at the dark clouds gathering at the horizon, calculating whether to go home tonight or wait until tomorrow.
Some leaves on the trees were already starting to turn yellow. This tree-lined path would become increasingly colorful.
From far down the path, a familiar figure slowly approached.
The person in front of him wore a gentle smile, with an arc so perfect it seemed artificial.
“A Sheng, can we talk?”
***
