Ji Chenjiao looked at Ling Lie’s posture and had the feeling of being entangled by a fox spirit in the middle of the night.

“Sleep!”

Ling Lie himself started talking, “Yin Xi might be hiding something.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…” Okay, if we’re talking about the case, he wasn’t sleepy.

“In the morning, I asked Yin Xi why she took this job. She said Golden Oak paid a lot, and plus, she has no family, so she didn’t have to waste her breath explaining. At the time, it made sense, but if she and Lu Dongyue are considered to be from the same hometown, it’s a bit strange, isn’t it?” Ling Lie said, “Golden Oak gave her fifty thousand. Is that a lot? She might have taken the opportunity to get close to Lu Dongyue.”

Ji Chenjiao: “Both Yin Xi and Weng Keqiu are getting close to Lu Dongyue, and both are using this wedding. And Lu Dongyue ‘fled’ Huangming City. He has no criminal record with the local police there. If the detachment’s team starts by investigating unsolved cases, they might find something.”

Ji Chenjiao was immersed in his train of thought, analyzing a lot. After he stopped, he received no reaction. He waited a while longer, then turned to Ling Lie and saw him facing him, his breathing light and steady.

Ji Chenjiao was speechless. Who was the one who wanted to analyze the case? You fall asleep right after you finish talking. Have you considered your pillow companion’s feelings!

After roaring internally, Ji Chenjiao looked at Ling Lie’s particularly docile appearance in his sleep, and his small fire gradually subsided. Forget it. Seeing as you’re sleeping so乖, I won’t hold it against you.

In the early morning, the search and investigation continued. Ling Lie held the Golden Oak employee list and spoke with each of them.

Trying to attract a huge amount of traffic, but ending up with such a major case, the boss of Golden Oak was listless, his face ashen. “I admit I planned the wedding, but I absolutely have nothing to do with Lu Dongyue’s death. I’m a businessman. I’ll do things that are profitable, but would I do something that costs a life?”

His head was covered in sweat. Ling Lie threw him a bottle of iced mineral water. “Come and break it down for me. How did this plan of yours come about?”

The boss was stunned for a moment, then tried hard to recall. “We just wanted to make a splash. A regular splash wouldn’t do. It had to be explosive as soon as it came out, and it had to fit the theme of Fengchao Island. We had a brainstorming meeting, and the prototype was born.”

Ling Lie: “Did no one object?”

“There were no direct objections, but many potential problems were raised, especially the possibility of being criticized for蹭that underworld wedding. But we weighed the pros and cons and decided it was worth a try.”

“What was Lu Dongyue’s reaction?”

“Him? He didn’t have the qualification to attend meetings. He was hired as a planning assistant, which is basically just an odd-job man.”

“Did you decide from the beginning that he would play the groom?”

“No, no. We wanted to find a model or an internet celebrity. We started looking for the bride and groom at the same time, but the bride was decided on early, while no one was willing to be the groom.”

“Was it easy to settle on Yin Xi?”

“I guess so. She didn’t care about the rumors. Maybe men are more concerned. We offered more money to several models we were in talks with, but they all refused.”

“And then you thought of Lu Dongyue?”

The boss shook his head in frustration. “If I had known, I really wouldn’t have forced him.”

Ling Lie: “How did you force him?”

“It wasn’t really forcing. It was just having people talk to him continuously a few times. I don’t have much contact with the people below. you’ll have to find others to understand.”

Ling Lie then found Lu Dongyue’s nominal superior, Zhang Zi.

This man was only in his early thirties. After a series of disclaimers, he said, “Don’t you guys always say I bullied him. With his personality, speaking in a low, subservient voice, he has no ability. A soft persimmon like him, wouldn’t he be squeezed wherever he goes?”

Ling Lie: “If he has no ability, why did you hire him?”

“His position is full of miscellaneous tasks, no sense of accomplishment, little pay, and no future. Others wouldn’t do it. To be honest, no one targeted him from the beginning. It was because he was easy to bully that people gradually took advantage of him.”

Ling Lie smiled. “A sales talent, quite good at summarizing. Was it you who proposed that he play the groom?”

Zhang Zi nodded, then explained, “I only proposed it at the meeting, but it was someone else who mentioned it to me first.”

“Who?”

Zhang Zi thought for a long time. “I think it was Little Yin? She was already with our company at the time, participating in our activities, often having meals with us and so on. Because we couldn’t find a groom, our team was at our wits’ end. We were talking about it over dinner, and she mentioned Lu Dongyue. There were many people there at the time. After some discussion, everyone thought he was suitable.”

Ling Lie continued to chat with the Golden Oak employees. The few who had eaten together that day all confirmed that it was indeed Yin Xi who had proposed it. They also all said that Lu Dongyue was a taciturn, timid person, with “come bully me” written all over him.

Ling Lie rolled a pen on his upper lip, closed his eyes, and thought. Lu Dongyue was excessively timid and cowardly. He wasn’t really afraid to resist; he needed to use cowardice and being inconspicuous to disguise himself. He probably didn’t expect that this disguise would force him down the dead-end path of playing the “underworld” groom, which was not low-key at all.

So he was killed because he was suddenly exposed to certain people’s eyes?

When Ji Chenjiao got up, he didn’t see Ling Lie and went straight to the central work area that the detachment had temporarily set up at the police station. Last night, Huang Yi had sent a team to Huangming City, and they should have arrived at the Huangming City Bureau by now. Ji Chenjiao immediately contacted the captain and asked him to check for Weng Keqiu in the Huangming City Bureau’s internal system.

Half an hour later, the captain called, excitedly saying he had found him. But the content was beyond Ji Chenjiao’s expectations.

He had originally thought that someone like Weng Keqiu, with his strange behavior and disappearance, might have a criminal record there. He didn’t expect to find out that they were colleagues!

“Captain Ji, it’s like this. Little Weng is a member of our criminal investigation team. He’s a genius at solving cases and wins awards every year. He hasn’t had a break in years and is on vacation recently.” Tai Lu, the captain of the Huangming City Bureau’s criminal investigation detachment, said, “What’s up? Are you looking for him for something?”

Ji Chenjiao was at a loss for words for a moment. How should he put it? I just suspected Weng Keqiu was related to a murder case, and now I find out my entire line of thought was wrong, and I’ve wronged a colleague?

Ji Chenjiao thought for a moment and told the truth, omitting the part about him suspecting Weng Keqiu, only saying that Weng Keqiu had disappeared after the wedding murder case.

Tai Lu immediately became nervous. “Oh no, he might be in trouble!”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Why?”

Tai Lu was a bit old and treated his team members like his own children. “Little Weng is the kind of person who will definitely rush in when he encounters a case. I’ve heard your team members talk about the Fengchao Island case, and it’s being discussed a lot online. You said Little Weng was at the wedding scene at night, the case happened at dawn, and by daytime, Little Weng couldn’t be found. I can only think of one possibility—he sensed something abnormal and, in the process of following…”

Tai Lu couldn’t continue. He sighed heavily and negated his own previous statement. “No, he is an excellent police officer. He should have a way. Captain Ji, you must find Little Weng!”

Ji Chenjiao felt countless black vines churning in his mind, and his temples throbbed with pain. Weng Keqiu was a criminal police officer on vacation. It was understandable that he concealed his identity, but why did he say those strange things on the deck? And Weng Keqiu was clearly very interested in Lu Dongyue. Was he on vacation on the surface, but actually investigating a case?

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Is Weng Keqiu secretly investigating a case?”

Tai Lu answered with certainty, “No. He is very efficient at solving cases. All the cases given to him have been solved. I was the one who forced him to take this vacation…” At this point, Tai Lus tone became heavy again. “If something happened to him, I…”

Ji Chenjiao quickly said, “We will do our best to find Weng Keqiu. If you think of any clues, contact me immediately.”

After this phone call, Ji Chenjiao felt his thoughts were in chaos. Yesterday’s reasoning had to be completely overturned, but the point that Weng Keqiu had come for Lu Dongyue should not be a problem.

The fact that Lu Dongyue was being tracked by a criminal police officer made the possibility that he had fled to Feng City out of guilt even higher. And Weng Keqiu was acting on his own, without reporting to his superiors. The reason for this needed to be investigated.

Weng Keqiu seemed to be just a bystander at the wedding, but he had actually been paying close attention to Lu Dongyue. When Lu Dongyue left, his most likely action was to maintain a certain distance and follow him secretly.

Did he see the scene of Lu Dongyue’s murder? Did he try to rescue him or try to leave? But was he one step too slow and intercepted by the “oriole”?

Or, were Weng K Tong and the mastermind behind the scenes in the same group? Otherwise, how to explain his unauthorized actions?

At this thought, Ji Chenjiao shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn’t want to make such a guess. From the words of the Huangming City detachment captain, Weng Keqiu, like him, was a criminal police officer who had been working diligently for many years, so much so that he couldn’t even take a break.

Why wasn’t he in Xiarong City? Because Xie Qing saw that his condition was not very good, and he owed countless days of leave, so he was forcibly made to take a vacation.

Ji Chenjiao sighed and mentally deleted the line about Weng Keqiu being a suspected rogue cop, but he still left a footnote and a mental note.

Ling Lie was not very shocked to learn that Weng Keqiu was a criminal police officer. He retorted, “Do I look like your superior?”

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

Ling Lie was being cheeky again. “We superiors are all very good at speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts. Little Ji, oh Little Ji, you’ve treated me as a suspect several times. Reflect on yourself…”

Before Ling Lie could finish, Ji Chenjiao stuffed a piece of rice cake into his mouth. Who knew that even then, Ling Lie would stubbornly finish his sentence: “Reflect on yourself-ge.”

Ji Chenjiao thought to himself: What I should reflect on the most is why I gave you chicken wings back then! Why I let you live at my place this year! You debt-collecting thing!

After finishing the rice cake, Ling Lie asked Ji Chenjiao for mung bean soup to drink. Ji Chenjiao really wanted to hit him with a hammer. He beat his chest rapidly, feigning suffocation and pain. “Choking, choking to death…”

Although the activities on Fengchao Island were suspended, life had to go on. Today, the police lifted the restrictions on some of the tourists, letting them take a boat back to Feng City. The remaining passengers had needs for food, drink, and daily necessities, so restaurants, beverage shops, and the like were all open for business.

Ji Chenjiao himself was also hungry and thirsty. He bought a cup of mung bean soup for Ling Lie and had sweet tofu pudding himself.

“I went around to all the hotels and guesthouses today. Guess what I found?” Ling Lie, full and satisfied, started to be mysterious.

Ji Chenjiao ignored him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold it in for long.

Ling Lie: “Every single one has an advertisement for ‘Guiyong Hall’. There are also quite a few people from ‘Guiyong Hall’ active on the island, promoting their one-stop funeral service package.”

Ji Chenjiao stopped his spoon and imagined the scene, finding it a bit unacceptable. Although the entire Feng City was famous for its funeral and ghost culture, and Fengchao Island was a tourist attraction, people’s curiosity was one thing. If you really tried to sell them a one-stop funeral service package while they were having fun, wouldn’t that be like cursing them or their family to die early?

Ling Lie’s eyes sharpened. “This ‘Guiyong Hall’ doesn’t play by the rules, but it seems to have a lot of appeal on the island. Little Ji, want to investigate it further?”

Little Ji: “Little Ji thinks that makes sense.”

Ling Lie’s paw sneakily reached over. Ji Chenjiao was alert. “What are you doing?”

Ling Lie’s action was swift, patting Ji Chenjiao on the head. “Good Little Ji.”

Ji Chenjiao kicked Ling Lie’s stool. Fortunately, Ling Lie ran fast. “If you break it, you have to pay for it! Police don’t get a discount!”

Ling Lie returned to the Nonghai Hotel and noticed a piece of a dress. His gaze followed it, and it was Yin Xi, who was originally in the hotel lobby but had suddenly turned and left when he came in.

Ling Lie jogged over. “Ms. Yin, why did you run when you saw me?”

Yin Xi bit her lip uncomfortably. “I, I didn’t see you.”

“Oh, well since you’ve seen me now, how about a chat?”

Yin Xi frowned. “Haven’t you already asked me? I also gave a statement later. Lu Dongyue’s death has nothing to do with me.”

Ling Lie nodded. “Yes, when he died, you were with the others from Golden Oak. They can all provide you with an alibi.”

Yin Xi: “Then what else do you want to know?”

Ling Lie: “I want to know why you recommended Lu Dongyue to be the groom?”

Yin Xi’s eyes widened instantly.

Ling Lie: “You came to be this bride not because they paid too much, but because of Lu Dongyue, right?”

Yin Xi stepped back, her heel hitting a prop that hadn’t been put away yet. If Ling Lie hadn’t been quick to catch her, she would have certainly fallen. She struggled out of Ling Lie’s arms, still shaken. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“In order to find an actor, Golden Oak did offer a lot of money for the male role, but that’s only because they spent a long time and couldn’t find anyone willing to play the groom, so they had to raise the price again and again,” Ling Lie said. “But you, you accepted after their offer. I’ve asked around. Fifty thousand yuan is not a price that’s hard to refuse in your circle.”

“You could have completely ignored Golden Oak and asked for a higher price, but you didn’t. Why is that? Because you were worried they had other options, and if you raised the price while someone else didn’t, this role wouldn’t belong to you.” Ling Lie seemed to be seriously discussing industry pay with Yin Xi, his tone and demeanor unlike that of a police officer. “Money is not important to you at all. Even if Golden Oak only paid you five thousand, you would have made up a reason—this kind of wedding is a rare opportunity, I want to experience it. What’s truly important is an opportunity to get close to Lu Dongyue.”

Yin Xi’s face was deathly pale, her lips bitten red, bright red. She kept shaking her head. “I, why would I want to get close to Lu Dongyue? I have no relationship with him at all! I didn’t even know him before I came to Feng City!”

Ling Lie: “Good question. I also want to know why you wanted to get close to Lu Dongyue.”

Yin Xi’s panicked gaze suddenly paused. Ling Lie glanced over nonchalantly and easily saw through her thoughts—she was hesitating, judging how much this police officer knew, and what she should say.

“I have nothing more to confess.” Yin Xi managed to calm down. “I’m just a model who acts for money. Since everyone can prove that I’m not the one who killed him, I have the right to remain silent on other questions.”

After speaking, she straightened her dress and turned to leave.

Ling Lie: “You still haven’t answered my question from just now. Why did you recommend Lu Dongyue to Golden Oak?”

Yin Xi was sweating. “It was just that everyone was discussing it, and I said it casually. At that time, all other preparations were in place, only the groom was missing. I was also anxious. And after I said it, everyone agreed. So even if it wasn’t me, someone would have mentioned Lu Dongyue soon. You wouldn’t think I’m guilty just because I recommended Lu Dongyue and then he died at the wedding, would you?”

Ling Lie smiled. “Of course not. What I’m curious about is, why did you lie?”

Yin Xi tensed up again. “What lie did I tell?”

“Before you gave your statement, I chatted with you. You said Lu Dongyue complained to you that he didn’t want to play the groom, that you sympathized with his plight, and even advised him to give up. This contradicts you recommending him.”

“I, I couldn’t let him know it was me who caused him to be the groom, could I?”

“No, no, no.” Ling Lie’s tone was very light, the corners of his eyes slightly raised. “You’re mistaken. How you explain it to him is not important. How you confess to us is what’s important. You, until now, when I come to you with other people’s statements, you are still very reluctant to admit that it was you who recommended him. What are you trying to hide?”

Yin Xi’s expression showed that she was already confused by Ling Lie’s “twists and turns,” not knowing which sentence would be used against her, not knowing how to present herself.

Ling Lie walked half a circle around Yin Xi. “My teammate has already gone to Huangming City. Did Lu Dongyue tell you? That’s his hometown.”

Yin Xi avoided Ling Lie’s gaze. “I think he might have said something.”

“Then did you guys ever exclaim—ah, we’re from the same place?”

Yin Xi’s breath hitched abruptly, realizing she had just said the wrong thing. “We, we’re not from the same place. I’m in…”

“Linyun City, I know,” Ling Lie said. “But in the eyes of the locals, Huangming City and Linyun City are considered the same place. You should know this better than I do, right?”

Yin Xi was silent.

Ling Lie added, “My teammate went to investigate Lu Dongyue’s past and will also look into your background. I believe he’ll find something soon.”

Yin Xi couldn’t help but look at Ling Lie, her gaze flickering, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Ling Lie smiled. “If you suddenly think of any clues, you can come to me anytime. Actually, you don’t have to feel too burdened. You said it yourself, you have a solid alibi.”

Yin Xi stood where she was, looking down at the ground. Her long hair covered her face, and no one could see her expression at this moment.

The team members heading to Huangming City split up. One group went to Huangming Engineering College, where Lu Dongyue had once studied, and the other group went to find Lu Dongyue’s father.

The Lu family lived in an old residential area, a large area of tube-shaped buildings that were decades old. Huangming City’s development was slow, and these old houses would not be demolished in the next few years. Most of the residents in the old residential area were middle-aged and elderly. The weather was hot, and many people were playing mahjong shirtless in the shade of trees and in the corridors.

“Old Lu, someone’s here for you!”

Father Lu had just finished his leftovers for lunch and was sitting at the mahjong table when he was called out. He cursed and picked his teeth, thinking it was a coworker looking for him for work. When he looked, he saw two neatly dressed strangers.

He sized them up. People with this kind of temperament were rare in this area.

The team member showed his ID and stated his purpose. When Father Lu learned of Lu Dongyue’s murder, the loose skin on his face trembled, and the toothpick between his fingers fell to the ground. But that was all. A few seconds later, he coughed hoarsely and turned to go back to the mahjong table. “If he’s dead, he’s dead. He had nothing to do with me long ago.”

The team member hurriedly said, “We’d like to understand some things about Lu Dongyue from you. Could you please…”

“It’s none of my business! We cut off our father-son relationship long ago!” Father Lu was very impatient. He had a loud voice, and this shout made everyone playing mahjong nearby look over. Someone asked, “Old Lu, what’s wrong?”

Father Lu was clearly too lazy to explain. He sat down at the card table. “Continue!”

This kind of “old bone” was the hardest to deal with. They did whatever they wanted, regardless of whether you were the police or not. Anyone who disturbed their mahjong game could get lost!

The team member was at a loss. Just then, Ling Lie called to ask about the situation. When he heard that Father Lu was not cooperating, he said, “This is easy. That kind of old house should have a neighborhood committee, right? You go to the neighborhood committee and find two aunties, explain the situation to them, and ask them for help.”

Half an hour later, under the “education” of the aunties, Father Lu sat in his living room with his head hanging low. The team member sighed at Teacher Ling’s methods. Starting from the matter of cutting off the relationship, he asked about Lu Dongyue.

Father Lu might have come to his senses by now, feeling a trace of sadness for the death of his only son. “Is he really dead? How did he die?”

The team member didn’t mention the wedding that most people couldn’t accept, only saying he was killed during a company event. Father Lu spat. “Then their company has to pay! What kind of work did he do anyway?”

“Marketing and planning,” the team member said. “This is also what I wanted to ask you about. Lu Dongyue studied science and engineering, and Huangming Engineering College is a pretty good university. Why did he leave his hometown to go to a completely strange city to do work unrelated to his major?”

Father Lu was silent for a long time, then smiled bitterly. “He wanted to make a clean break with me. He, he looked down on me, especially after his mother passed away. He hated being born into a family like ours.”

The Lu family’s conditions were very poor. Both Father Lu and his wife had come to the city from the countryside to work. They had lived in this old residential area for decades. Lu Dongyue was born here and had to return here every week after starting university.

Father Lu and his wife had no fixed work. Father Lu usually worked on construction sites and sometimes as a laborer. In recent years, as he got older and couldn’t work as much, their financial situation became even worse. His wife worked in a restaurant and died of illness in her forties. Lu Dongyue lost his mother in junior high, and his originally cheerful personality gradually became introverted. Fortunately, he had always studied very hard and was considered smart in his class. He did well in both the junior and senior high school entrance exams. When he was admitted to Huangming Engineering College, Father Lu was so happy he invited many people for drinks.

Father Lu couldn’t recall any particularly fierce conflicts between father and son, but having depended on each other for so many years, he knew Lu Dongyue looked down on him for being a migrant worker, and even more so disliked his habit of playing mahjong and drinking, and cursing at home when he was drunk.

“My drinking habits are not good, but I never hit him.” Father Lu defended himself. “He went to university and became capable, but didn’t I pay for his university education? Ungrateful wolf. He saw that his classmates’ families were well-off, that his classmates’ fathers were bosses, and he looked down on this old man who played cards and drank! But did I break the law? I worked hard. Why can’t I play cards when I’m resting?”

The team member felt a pang of sadness listening and asked again, “When did you cut off contact?”

Father Lu counted on his fingers. “A year after he graduated.”