I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 122: Chapter 120: Highly Likely They Met as Children

That evening, before heading home, Su Miaoyi went to check on Zhuang Yanzheng in his office.

She knocked and entered. The moment she opened the door, she heard Zhuang Yanzheng’s fingers flying across the keyboard.

CLICKETY-CLACK.

’That keyboard must be great for writing,’ was Su Miaoyi’s first thought.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked up at her. ”Wait for me a bit. I’ll give you a ride home.”

”You think you can finish that three-thousand-word self-criticism in ’a bit’?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”Tsk, what kind of talk is that?” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Ten minutes.”

Su Miaoyi watched him.

Zhuang Yanzheng stopped typing and grabbed the mouse to browse.

Su Miaoyi was confused. He had only been in the office... for less than ten minutes.

’What’s he browsing?’

’The mouse wheel is about to start smoking, what on earth is he browsing?’

’Could it be... he has some kind of system that lets him write three thousand words in ten minutes?!’

Su Miaoyi’s eyes widened.

She could see crime scenes, after all.

’So it would be normal for him to have a Special Ability too, right?’

”Alright, all done,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi tilted her head. ”?”

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her and said, ”Jealous? Are you wishing you had this speed for writing your novels?”

Su Miaoyi found it absolutely incredible.

Zhuang Yanzheng shut down his computer, then said, ”Come over, sit down. Let’s talk for a bit.”

Still marveling at his ”three thousand words in ten minutes,” Su Miaoyi dazedly walked to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

The two of them sat facing each other.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, ”You said your head was a mess the night before last. Is it still a mess?”

Su Miaoyi snapped back to reality. She looked at him, paused, and said, ”Not anymore.”

”Figured things out?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi shook her head. ”No, it’s just that I can’t remember some things anymore.”

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned.

Su Miaoyi wasn’t lying.

It was true.

She felt as if her brain was blocking something.

She remembered the process of Huang Haoxu’s throat being slit.

But the other details were no longer as clear as they had been that night. It was as if they were shrouded in a thick fog.

She had an impression, but it wasn’t sharp.

Ultimately, these memories had receded to the level of a dream.

Just like a dream.

You remember it clearly when you wake up, but then, as time passes, some things slowly fade away.

Neither of them spoke, and the office fell silent for a while.

After a moment, Zhuang Yanzheng asked again, ”What do you think about the Sunshine Welfare Institute case...”

Su Miaoyi looked at him again, thought for a moment, and said, ”You mean... could they be the ones who were sold by the director back then?”

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. ”The biggest problem now is that all the old records from the institute were deleted. We don’t know where we can find a list of the kids from back then.”

”That director...”

”He was executed by firing squad years ago,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi fell silent for a moment. After a while, she looked up at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Seeing her hesitate, Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”Go on.”

”I was just wondering... did... did Qin Leyan ever bring back any information about this?” Su Miaoyi asked cautiously.

She had seen how impulsive Zhuang Yanzheng was today.

She was a little worried about touching a sore spot.

Zhuang Yanzheng shook his head. ”No. After she went undercover, we lost contact with her for over two years. We all thought she...”

’...was dead, that her cover had been blown.’

Su Miaoyi silently completed his unfinished sentence.

”Over two years later, she suddenly sent us a message about a transaction happening on the border of Dian City,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”The message only mentioned the deal, nothing else. She was killed in action during that operation.”

Su Miaoyi’s lips trembled slightly.

Losing contact for over two years.

Her parents and friends all thought she was dead.

But then a message from her arrived.

For her parents, it was like having someone they’d lost returned to them, or even like a resurrection. It must have been such a joyous occasion.

But in the end, the news they received was still of her death.

They never even got to see her one last time.

”Was the operation a success?” Su Miaoyi suddenly asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. ”We arrested a lot of people and seized a large quantity of drugs. We thought their boss died, too. He and Le Yan fell off a cliff into the river below. The chances of survival were practically zero.”

”Le Yan’s body was recovered three days later,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”We never found the man’s body.”

Su Miaoyi said nothing.

After another moment of silence, she said, ”From what Huang Haoxu said... it sounds like her cover was blown.”

Zhuang Yanzheng took out a cigarette and rolled it between his fingers. ”Le Yan was very smart.”

She was smart indeed.

Her cover had been blown for two years, and she might have even suffered from amnesia at some point.

But she still managed to send back intel, dealing a heavy blow to the criminal organization.

If their boss hadn’t been so lucky, the operation could have been considered a great success.

”Do you remember I told you I saw Qin Leyan at the welfare institute when I was a child?” Su Miaoyi said. ”What if their boss was also from the institute?”

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”Are you saying their boss might have met Le Yan when they were kids?”

”Qin Leyan didn’t change much as she grew up,” Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng was shocked. After a moment, he asked, ”How do you know she didn’t change much?”

Su Miaoyi froze for a second.

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at her.

Su Miaoyi thought for a moment and said, ”Why don’t you ask me how I can see crime scenes?”

With that one sentence, she choked off Zhuang Yanzheng’s question.

”So, is it true she didn’t change much as she grew up?” Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”...Yeah.”

Su Miaoyi ran through everything in her head. There was no concrete evidence; it was all just speculation, piecing fragments together.

As she thought, she looked at the cigarette in his hand and said, ”If you’re not going to smoke it, put it down. It’s a waste.”

”You want it?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”No way. You’ve gotten it all dirty with your hands,” Su Miaoyi said with disgust.

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”...”

...

The next day, Su Miaoyi came to work early in the morning.

She had just sat down at her desk.

When Zhuang Yanzheng arrived with breakfast for everyone.

The cafeteria served breakfast in the morning too.

But eating cafeteria food all the time could get old.

So, Zhuang Yanzheng would occasionally bring breakfast.

He’d ask what everyone wanted in the group chat the day before and bring it the next morning.

”Come and get it!” Zhuang Yanzheng shouted.

Instantly, everyone swarmed over like a hive of bees.

Su Miaoyi stood up.

”Your jianbing.” Zhuang Yanzheng sent a jianbing flying her way.

Su Miaoyi caught it steadily.

Just as the food was all handed out, Meng Shuyi’s office door swung open, and she yelled, ”Zhuang Yanzheng, get in here!”

Su Miaoyi jumped in surprise.

This was the second time she’d heard Meng Shuyi yell; the first was yesterday outside the interrogation room.

’Is being loud a tradition at the Municipal Bureau?’

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed and went into the office.

The door wasn’t closed, and the sound of Captain Zhuang getting chewed out soon drifted out.

”Who do you think you’re fooling?! Where’s your self-criticism? Is this your self-criticism?!” Meng Shuyi shouted.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”I wrote it myself.”

”What year did you write it yourself?!” Meng Shuyi yelled. ”What’s the difference between this and the one you wrote three years ago? You changed the beginning and the end a bit, so what?!”

Su Miaoyi listened, utterly speechless.

’So I was jealous of him all night for nothing.’

”Go back and rewrite it!” Meng Shuyi yelled.

Zhuang Yanzheng came out of the office, walked over, and saw a crowd of heads bowed low, all enjoying his misfortune. ”What are you looking at?! Keep looking and you can all write reports with me!”

Su Miaoyi hid behind her computer, trying to stifle her laughter.

Zhuang Yanzheng saw her shaking with laughter and walked over. ”Laughing so hard, I see. Looks like you want to write one too.”

Su Miaoyi’s smile vanished instantly. ”This jianbing just makes you laugh when you eat it. Captain Zhuang, why don’t you have a taste?”

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”...”