Capital City, midsummer.
A woman around thirty-three years old had jumped to her death in Xizi Bay Residential Community!
By the time the police arrived, the body had already been taken away by the forensic examiner.
The scene was cordoned off with warning tape. The site of the incident was beside the flower beds in the community, where a large pool of blood had spread out like a blooming poppy, silently signaling the event that had just occurred. Passersby who walked past felt their stomachs churn.
Among the residents who had witnessed the entire ordeal, those with stronger nerves managed to stand trembling as they answered the officers’ questions, while those who were completely shaken had fainted and been rushed to the hospital.
Murmurs of discussion surrounded the area.
“That poor woman—her child was only three years old when he was abducted. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to go on living either!”
“Exactly. I heard her son went missing over half a year ago, and the case still hasn’t been solved. The couple fought every single day…”
“I’ve heard that in recent years, cases of missing children have been happening frequently in the Capital City, but in the end, they all just fizzle out…”
At that moment, Nami walked toward him, her face full of gravity. “Captain Shen, according to eyewitness accounts, the deceased is named Xie Aixian. Six months ago, her son Xie Jingnan went missing at an amusement park and has not been found to this day.”
Shen Yan stood beside the crime scene, facing the wind, gazing up at the tenth floor. What could have made her jump without a second thought? Besides her missing child, was there another reason?
Seeing his silence, Nami continued, “Additionally, over the past six months, Xie Aixian and her husband Qin Lang frequently argued. Neither of them could move past Xie Jingnan’s disappearance. According to the testimony of resident Wu Nan, who lives on the same floor, she often heard the deceased and her husband yelling and fighting at night. Domestic violence cannot be ruled out.”
Shen Yan narrowed his eyes, withdrew his gaze, and pressed his lips into a thin line. After a moment, he asked, “Collect the statements from all relevant parties first. Also, Xizi Bay has three units per floor—who is the other resident?”
She flipped through her records. “The other resident is named Wen Xin. I heard she’s still an art student. She’s also signed with an influencer incubation company—she’s a beauty expert with over ten million followers on Weibo. She’s quite famous.”
His spine stiffened for an instant, and an image of the girl from his memory surfaced unbidden in his mind—her eyes curving like crescent moons when she smiled, starlight shimmering within them. Such beautiful eyes, yet on that night four years ago, they had cried like a child’s over him after drinking too much.
To him, Wen Xin had been not just a child but a little sister.
Shen Yan’s large, well-defined hand fumbled in his pocket for a cigarette and a lighter. After a moment, he put the lighter back, clamped the cigarette filter between his teeth, and said in a low voice, “Contact her. Have her come to the station for questioning.”
He turned and walked away.
Suddenly, a Camry slowly drove into the community. Inside the car, Wen Xin was resting with her eyes closed, while Shu Shuangyue muttered, “Xinxin, why are there so many people in the community today?”
“So many police officers in uniform—did something happen?”
Wen Xin slightly parted her eyes, peering through a narrow slit to observe the outside.
Moonlight poured down. A man in a police uniform, tall and upright with a commanding presence, slowly walked in her direction. What was most impossible to ignore was his shoulder insignia, gleaming brilliantly even in the flickering dimness of the night.
The distance wasn’t far, but Wen Xin felt her heart pounding violently, her entire body frozen as if under a spell, unable to move an inch.
No!!! It had to be a hallucination!
Wen Xin furrowed her delicate brows, closed her eyes, and opened them again.
At that moment, the car was forced to stop. Someone knocked on the window, and the man was the first to produce his badge. “Hello, I’m Jiang Shisan from the Quanxiu Criminal Investigation Unit in the capital. Are you Wen Xin, the owner of unit 1005?”
She snapped back to reality, rolled down the window, and gave Jiang Shisan a gentle smile.
Her heart had calmed, yet there was a hint of disappointment that it wasn’t him.
Jiang Shisan said seriously, “The owner of unit 1003, Ms. Xie Aixian, suddenly jumped to her death today. Please cooperate with our investigation and come with us to the police station.”
Wen Xin was shocked. Just three days ago, Xie Aixian had given her a box of mung bean cakes. How could she have…
Shu Shuangyue, in the driver’s seat, was a bit unhappy. Wen Xin had just finished her livestream, and it was already 10 p.m. If they went to the police station, who knew when they’d be able to come back. Still, adhering to the principle of police and citizens being one family—
Shu Shuangyue unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car, walked around to Jiang Shisan’s side, and asked with a bright smile, “Officer, could we possibly do the questioning right here? We still need to get home and rest.”
Jiang Shisan twitched the corner of his mouth, his gaze landing on Wen Xin inside the car. “Miss Wen, please cooperate!”
Shu Shuangyue… (Was she invisible to him?)
Then, from behind him came a hoarse yet magnetic voice, “Shisan, what’s going on?”
The deep male voice poured into her ears like the wind, gradually becoming clearer.
“Chief, I’m in the middle of communicating with Miss Wen about going to the police station.”
Wen Xin listened to their exchange word by word, her breathing quickening, her expression tense yet excited.
So that person earlier really was him! Then Shen Yan must have lived up to expectations and become an outstanding officer, right?
Shen Yan stared at the car, the two locking eyes through the air.
She sat inside the vehicle, her ears flushed red, her gaze drifting toward him intentionally or not.
Jiang Shisan took Shu Shuangyue to another spot to take her statement.
Shen Yan stood by the car, clenching his back teeth. His pale hand rested on the car door as he produced the summons, his face devoid of extra emotion. He bent down to meet her eyes at level. “Miss Wen, please come with us to the police station.”
Wen Xin forced herself to stay calm and looked up. Their gazes inevitably met, and time seemed to slow down, stretching endlessly. She looked at him—his buzz cut, his facial contours having shed their youthful greenness, his features deep and sharp, his gaze cold.
Lowering her eyes, his shirt button sat just below his Adam’s apple, the protruding prominence looking seductive and alluring in the dead of night.
Wen Xin had imagined the scenario of their reunion, but never that it would involve going to the police station.
Her gaze rested on his face without any attempt to hide it. Looking more closely, when had a one-centimeter scar appeared above the brow bone of Shen Yan’s right eye? If she hadn’t looked carefully, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Shen Yan’s faint voice came through, “Miss Wen?”
At that moment, Wen Xin felt a faint scent lingering around her nostrils. She wrinkled her nose and snapped back to attention.
Great. He used to call her “Little June,” and now it was “Miss Wen.”
That made things sound a bit distant.
She lifted the corners of her lips in a smile, masking her fatigue, and her sweet, charming voice rang out, “Alright~ Officer Shen.”