Xie Chongyang finished collecting the evidence, but he still felt a lingering sense of concern, so he turned back toward the interrogation room. Du Like was still there, playing the long game of “wearing down the hawk.” The most crucial parts of the questioning were finished; the rest was a test of physical and mental endurance. By repeatedly cross-examining every detail and unravelling the story bit by bit, they might pry a few more useful pieces of information from the witness.
Cui Renwang knocked and entered, tossing a bottle of water to Du Like. Du Like laughed, twisting it open for a sip. “Yo, look at you, knowing how to look out for your brother Du.”
Xie Chongyang asked, “Still working overtime today?”
“You bet,” Du Like said, pointing at the dejected Luo Feng. “Unless this kid clears everything up, neither of us is leaving this room.” He lowered his voice to whisper to Xie Chongyang, “Luckily the Captain and the Director left, though, or I would be too nervous to ask anything.”
Xie Chongyang smiled and said, “I have one more thing I am curious about.”
“Ask away,” Du Like said, leaning back in his chair. “The Captain said if we think of any details, we should ask directly. But he might not answer; this kid is not being very cooperative.”
“I will try first.” Xie Chongyang sized up Luo Feng and called his name. “Luo Feng, do you know Cui Renwang?”
Luo Feng’s fingers twitched slightly as he kept his head down. Xie Chongyang continued, “I saw his information in your notes. Did you consider borrowing his luck too?”
“It was not borrowing,” Luo Feng said, slowly lifting his head. His expression was focused and stubborn. “It was plundering.”
He looked ordinary with somewhat long hair and a severe case of sanpaku eyes, which made him look exceptionally difficult to deal with. When he looked up, his gaze was particularly sinister.
“Fine, plundering,” Xie Chongyang said, staring at him. “You considered plundering Cui Renwang’s fate?”
Luo Feng avoided his gaze and looked down again, picking at his fingers one by one. “No.”
“Liar!” Du Like slammed the table. “If you did not consider it, why did you write his information in your notes?”
“Reference,” Luo Feng said, looking at his fingers as he spoke slowly. “When I was searching for wealthy people in Fengcheng online, I found a post. It was a ranking of Fengcheng’s Noble Sons, basically a list of the wealthiest second and third-generation heirs in the city. Someone in the thread mentioned that purely in terms of net worth, the heir of the Fengcheng C Group was higher, but almost no one had ever seen him. They suspected the Cui family protected him very well.” Luo Feng continued picking at his nails. “These people actually have fans. Information about them is easier to find than you would think.”
Du Like pressed him, “Is that where you got the information on the others too?”
Luo Feng nodded slowly.
“But you only pasted a photo on the page for Cui Renwang,” Xie Chongyang asked. “Where did that Polaroid come from? Were you stalking him?”
Luo Feng shook his head. “He has been abroad the whole time. I have never been out of the country. I bought the photo.”
“From whom?” Du Like asked, tapping the table with an unfriendly tone. “Confess! Do we have to ask you every single thing?”
“I bought it from his classmate,” Luo Feng said, picking at his fingers even harder. “In that thread, someone claimed to be his classmate. While arguing with the original poster, they mentioned some things about his family. That person said Cui Renwang was not being protected by his family abroad; he just could not return to the country. Several times he tried to sneak back, but even when he made it to the airport, he never ended up leaving.”
“Some people did not believe it and argued with him. To prove it, he posted a photo of Cui Renwang at the airport,” Luo Feng said, keeping his head down. “I sent him a private message, lying that I used to know Cui Renwang and wanted news about him. But he did not know much else, only that Cui Renwang did not like dealing with people. He told me to give him my address and promised that if he returned to the country, he would send the photo to me as a gift via courier. I had almost forgotten about it, but about two or three months later, I actually received the package.”
Du Like asked, “Can you call that buying? Did you pay for it?”
“I paid for the shipping,” Luo Feng said, letting out a sneer as he picked at his fingers. “Rich people are petty about those things too. He sent it cash on delivery.”
Xie Chongyang frowned. “What did you want his photo for?”
“He looks good,” Luo Feng said, lifting his eyes slightly but carefully avoiding direct eye contact. He seemed to have an extreme dislike for looking people in the eye. “With that face and such a high net worth, having a few flaws in other areas would have been worth considering.”
“So you were being picky?” Du Like mocked him. “And the result? Why did you not choose him?”
“I searched for news about him,” Luo Feng said, lowering his eyes again. “And I found other things. His background is not good; he is an illegitimate child. He can never inherit the Cui family business. News about the eldest son of the Cui family and a starlet committing suicide together twenty years ago can still be found today. I heard that when the actress died, she was nearly at full term. Her body was being carried out, but her stomach was still moving. The forensic doctor was the one who delivered him.”
Luo Feng looked at the ground sinisterly. “He is a child who survived from a dead person’s belly.”
Du Like snorted in disdain. “Are you telling us ghost stories now?”
“I searched the news; it is true,” Luo Feng said, still picking at his nails. “The incident received a lot of attention back then. If he truly was a child taken out of a pregnant woman’s womb at the scene of a suicide pact,” he suddenly pressed down on his finger, and blood instantly seeped out, “then he is a Yin-born child.”
Du Like frowned. “What is a Yin-born child?”
“A child born tainted by evil and ghosts, with a Yin fate, born at the worst time, in the worst place, and in the most terrible way.”
Du Like let out a snort of contempt.
“It is true,” Luo Feng emphasized repeatedly, squeezing his wound to try and force out more blood. “Old Man Cui is very superstitious. He specifically named his grandson Cui Renwang in the hope that he would die early abroad. He is afraid of this child! The Cui family has not acknowledged him at all! The one working beside the old man in Fengcheng now is Cui Renwang’s cousin.” His voice grew louder until Du Like glared him back into a low murmur. “His luck is not good at all.”
Jiang Ding, who was taking notes, stood up and took a bandage, wordlessly wrapping the finger Luo Feng had picked raw.
Luo Feng: “…”
“If you had used this talent as a paparazzi, you might have made money long ago,” Du Like snorted, giving Xie Chongyang a look. “Anything else you want to ask?”
Xie Chongyang shook his head and patted his shoulder. “Keep it up. If you get tired, find me to swap shifts.”
“Alright,” Du Like said, looking touched. “You are a good friend. Then help me write the report”
“Do not push your luck,” Xie Chongyang snapped, leaving the interrogation room.
Once outside, he let out a slightly frustrated breath. It had not been his intention to pry into Cui Renwang’s private life. It seemed Cui Renwang was indeed not a con artist, but his situation did not seem much better either.
He leaned against the wall, pulled out his phone, and opened his chat with Cui Renwang. He wanted to say something, but it all felt too intrusive. After thinking it over, he sent a message: “Did you eat? You only had those two buns earlier.”
Five minutes later, Cui Renwang replied with an emoji of a black cat with a question mark over its head.
Xie Chongyang scratched his chin, feeling that his sudden concern was indeed a bit strange. But Cui Renwang followed up with two words: “I ate.”
Xie Chongyang’s mood brightened again. He laughed and asked, “It was not sweet porridge again, was it?”
Cui Renwang sent him a photo. In front of him was a bowl of noodles covered in a layer of chili flakes, so much so that it was hard to tell what kind of noodles they were.
Cui Renwang: “Eating noodles.”
Xie Chongyang asked curiously, “You eat that much spice?”
Cui Renwang: “A challenge to eat insane spice for a free meal.”
Xie Chongyang: “…”
For a moment, several tragic scripts of people who could not afford food or clothes flashed through his mind. He immediately sent: “I will treat you!”
Cui Renwang sent the question-mark black cat again.
Cui Renwang: “Thanks, no need.” He suspected Xie Chongyang might have misunderstood something, so he took a screenshot of his wallet balance and sent it.
Xie Chongyang: “…”
Looking at the string of numbers that was longer than his police badge number, Xie Chongyang realized profoundly that some online news was probably inaccurate.
The next day, Cui Renwang woke up on the sofa in his hotel room. He had switched to a different type of calming incense, but judging by his complexion, its effect was still limited. He slowly opened his eyes and reached for his phone. The group chat with Old Zhang and Xiao Tao already had over ninety-nine unread messages.
Carrying the curiosity of how those two could have so much to talk about when they were acting together, Cui Renwang reviewed the records. Old Zhang was accompanying Xiao Tao to find an apartment. Whenever they found something suitable, they posted it in the group as a record, and Old Zhang would add a feng shui review. Beyond that, there were photos of their meals and tourist photos Old Zhang had taken. It was quite lively.
Having absorbed some life from the group chat, Cui Renwang did not reply. He simply closed the chat and scrolled to the bottom. A message from a courier boy was buried underneath: “Boss! The commemorative banner has been delivered!” Below was a series of photos.
The courier boy Cui Renwang had hired to deliver the banner was quite dedicated. He had a bright, enthusiastic smile and was holding the banner while posing for photos with Xie Chongyang. He had taken photos from almost every angle, fully showcasing the friendly atmosphere between the police and the public.
On the banner were three large characters: “Disbelieving in Evil.” Combined with Xie Chongyang’s wide-eyed expression, it was exceptionally humorous. The photography was quite good too. Xie Chongyang’s expression might have been silly, but he was still handsome. Cui Renwang suspected he would soon see this photo on the local police department’s official social media account.
After admiring Officer Xie’s silly face for a while, Cui Renwang sent the courier boy a satisfied tip and received a grand display of “Thank you, Boss” emojis. Cui Renwang sat up, feeling the grogginess of the night vanish as his mood improved.
Scrolling further down, he saw that Xie Chongyang had indeed sent him a message.
Xie Chongyang: “Did you send the banner?” The message had been sent three or four hours ago. Cui Renwang replied with an emoji of a black cat licking its fur.
Xie Chongyang’s status immediately changed to “typing.” After a long while, the message came through.
Xie Chongyang: “Are the flowers yours too?”
Cui Renwang had just finished washing up. He raised an eyebrow at the message while drying his face. Was the man actually touched? Officer Xie really did seem quite easy to fool. He replied with “Yes.”
Xie Chongyang replied instantly this time: “Why did you send me roses!”
Cui Renwang stopped drying his face and sent three black cat question marks in a row.
Xie Chongyang sent a picture. From the photo, one could tell the photographer was very tall and completely lacked photography skills, that the photographer was likely surrounded by colleagues, and that it was indeed a large bouquet of red roses.
Cui Renwang: “…”
He took the photo, switched to his food delivery app, and sent it to the flower shop.
Cui Renwang: “Roses? I asked for foxtail grass.”
Flower Shop: “Hello, we are here! We did include foxtail grass for you! You ordered the 888 yuan choose-your-own-main-material combo and only specified foxtail grass, leaving the other flowers up to us. Our florist specifically designed this Fluffy Love bouquet for you!”
Cui Renwang clicked on the picture again and finally saw the green foxtail grass twisted into heart shapes nestled within the large, eye-catching bouquet of red roses. What a Fluffy Love.
The flower shop seemed to realize something, as the customer service agent continued: “If the other person is not your lover and you are worried about a misunderstanding, you can tell them that red roses also represent passion and courage! Fluffy Love can also be Fluffy Courage! More important than the language of flowers is the heart of the sender!”
Cui Renwang: “…”