The questioning didn’t last long, and because some details required simultaneous confirmation, Mo Junyi did not separate the two.
Li Jinghan calmly recounted his past with Qi Ying—or rather, Qi Yuan. He omitted unnecessary details and explained why Qi Ying had always harbored a grudge against Su Xingtong.
The first half aligned with what Su Xingtong had mentioned previously, until Li Jinghan brought up another detail: “Back then, when my family first ran into trouble, I called Xingtong many times because I was emotionally unstable. Qi Yuan took great issue with that. One day, he seemed to have been drinking; he came home, heard me on the phone again, and… he laid a hand on me.”
Su Xingtong’s eyes widened in disbelief. “He hit you?! Why didn’t you tell me!”
Li Jinghan calmly avoided his gaze. “That’s not the point. When he did it, he said one thing: ‘If you ever associate with that “actor” again after he returns to the country, I’ll find someone to kill you both.’”
The room fell into a dead silence. Su Xingtong was utterly stunned.
Li Jinghan finally bared the scar he had buried for years. He let out a long sigh and covered his face with his hand, his voice trembling slightly. “Xingtong, I’m sorry. I thought his hostility was only directed at me… I didn’t expect that after we separated, he would be crazy to this extent…”
Su Xingtong snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly tried to comfort him, looking a bit at a loss. “It’s okay, it’s okay… aren’t I fine now? This isn’t your fault; you don’t need to take his sins upon yourself!”
Mo Junyi stood to the side, brow furrowed as he thought about a breakthrough. At that moment, Liu Minghua’s phone call came through. He frowned and picked it up. “Hello, what is it?”
Liu Minghua’s breathing was a bit hurried. “Chief, we got him…”
“Then bring him back immediately,” Mo Junyi said.
Liu Minghua’s breathing steadied slightly. “No, we’re already on our way back… it’s just that this ‘big brother’ is seriously creepy. Holy sh*t, he’s still laughing even after being caught. It’s completely bizarre.”
Mo Junyi hung up with a frown. Seeing this, Li Jinghan asked, “You found him?”
“Mhm.” Mo Junyi didn’t mention the abnormality Liu Minghua spoke of, only asking, “Does Qi Ying like to drink?”
Li Jinghan nodded. “He has a house specifically for wine out in the suburbs. There’s a lot of good wine stocked there. Why?”
“Does he prefer white spirits (baijiu) or something else?”
Li Jinghan replied again, “He prefers foreign liquors. He has baijiu too, but they’re all gifts from others; he doesn’t know much about them.”
Hearing this, Mo Junyi had a general idea in mind. He nodded and didn’t pursue the question further, changing the subject instead. “Do you intend to stay or leave?”
A look of internal conflict appeared on Li Jinghan’s face. Clearly, Qi Ying had left a significant shadow on him, but as Su Xingtong’s friend, he naturally couldn’t just leave him behind.
Su Xingtong seemed to see through his thoughts and urged, “If you don’t want to see him, just go back. Team Mo is here, don’t worry.”
Hearing him pair himself with Mo Junyi so skillfully, Li Jinghan looked at him for three seconds before saying, “The son is grown and can’t be kept at home.”
Su Xingtong acted as if his tail had been stepped on. “What are you talking about!”
Li Jinghan let out a laugh, turned to Mo Junyi, and said meaningfully, “When you have the wedding ceremony, remember to send us an invitation.”
With that, before Su Xingtong could get angry, he stood up and walked out.
Lu Hengyu had been waiting outside for a while. Seeing him come out, he smiled. “How was… what happened?”
Before he could finish, Li Jinghan suddenly walked over and hugged him, burying his face in the kid’s chest. Lu Hengyu was flattered and overwhelmed, for a moment not knowing what to do.
“Nothing.” After a while, Li Jinghan looked up, his tone restored to its usual calm. “Just suddenly felt like I’ve latched onto the best ‘sugar daddy’ in the world.”
He always spoke subtly; it was rare for him to be so explicit. Lu Hengyu was stunned by the praise, only speaking after a long pause: “Do you need a favor?”
Li Jinghan had finally softened once, yet hearing that, his tender feelings vanished. He gave Lu Hengyu a sharp poke in frustration. “You’re just a blockhead!” With that, he turned and left. Lu Hengyu hurriedly followed. “Hey, wait for me!”
Shortly after they left, Liu Minghua finally returned with the team. Su Xingtong hadn’t quite recovered from Li Jinghan’s words, appearing fragile and tinged with lingering fear.
Seeing this, Mo Junyi pressed him down into his seat. “No rush. I’ll call you when it’s time to come over.”
Su Xingtong gave a low response. As Mo Junyi turned to leave, Su Xingtong suddenly spoke: “Tonight…”
Halfway through, he felt embarrassed and bit back the rest of his sentence.
Mo Junyi seemed to share a telepathic connection with him; his tone softened a few degrees. “I might have to work overtime. If you don’t mind, wait for me to get off work and we’ll go back together.”
Su Xingtong’s face reddened, but he nodded. “Mhm, I’ll wait for you.”
After comforting the clearly shaken Su Xingtong, Mo Junyi walked out. The lab team soon delivered the results: aside from residual alcohol, a small amount of sleeping pills was present in the wine bottle. Hearing this news, Mo Junyi’s brow furrowed as a theory formed in his mind.
Liu Minghua said she was “escorting” someone back, but it looked more like she was “inviting” them.
The moment Mo Junyi stepped out, he saw a tall, composed man standing in the Criminal Investigation lobby. He showed not a shred of awareness that he was a suspect. Seeing Mo Junyi, he even gave a gentle smile. “Officer, may I ask if my ex-wife was just here?”
Mo Junyi looked at him coldly. “Sorry, which ex-wife?”
Qi Yuan smiled. “His name is Li Jinghan. I heard he has a close relationship with your cousin. Surely the officer knows?”
Hearing him clearly state the relationship between Lu Hengyu and Mo Junyi, Liu Minghua couldn’t help but frown. Mo Junyi, however, showed no surprise. He didn’t even bother to look up, let alone waste breath on Qi Yuan, simply signaling Liu Minghua to take him to the interrogation room.
Inside the room, Qi Yuan sat in the chair with an air of dignity. Before the police could speak, he took the lead: “You gentlemen invited me all the way from my home; could you tell me what happened first?”
Mo Junyi glanced at him. “You don’t know?”
Qi Yuan shrugged helplessly. “Officer, my time is precious. There are many things waiting for me at the company. Why don’t we be frank with each other?”
Liu Minghua sneered. “If your time is so precious, how do you have time to ‘keep’ a little male star?”
Qi Yuan revealed a confused expression. Three seconds later, he replied, “I’m not sure which one you are referring to?”
Liu Minghua was nearly choked by his response. “You’re keeping more than one?!”
Seeing her indignation, Qi Yuan gave a very refined smile, though his words were anything but. “It’s a matter of mutual consent; your reaction is a bit excessive, Miss.”
Facing such a corrupt capitalist, Liu Minghua gritted her teeth. Qi Yuan carried an air of high-and-mighty superiority, as if he were facing not the police, but a group of insignificant people wasting his time.
However, Mo Junyi was unmoved by his tactics. “Last Thursday—the early morning of the 10th of this month—where were you?”
Under Mo Junyi’s cold gaze, Qi Yuan’s playful expression gradually faded. After a long pause, he curled his lips and replied, “Replying to the officer: I was in the Lime Hotel having sex with a little star.”
Hearing such explicit vocabulary, Mo Junyi looked up and gave him an indifferent glance. “What is that star’s name?”
“I really can’t remember that,” Qi Yuan smiled apologetically. “But you should know better than me, Officer. After all, the reason you called me here is because of him, am I right?”
Seeing his stubbornness, Mo Junyi set down his notebook and tapped the table. “Then let’s change the question. After the matter ended that night, where did you go?”
“I went home,” Qi Yuan said as if it were obvious. “Surely you don’t expect me to stay overnight in a hotel for the sake of a little star?”
“The closest property you own to the Lime Hotel is in Linxi Xincheng; it takes an hour and a half to drive there,” Mo Junyi said, looking into his eyes. “The hotel’s surveillance for that day shows no record of you leaving in the middle of the night. What is your explanation for that?”
Qi Yuan visibly paused upon hearing Mo Junyi accurately state the address of that property. Then, he curled his lips as if nothing were wrong. “Officer, don’t bluff me. That hotel is so dilapidated it doesn’t even have surveillance, how could it—”
Halfway through, Qi Yuan seemed to realize something and abruptly cut himself off. His previously playful demeanor turned cold instantly.
Mo Junyi watched him quietly, like a hunter who had finally seen the prey enter the cage. “So, how did you know that hotel didn’t have surveillance?”