Seeing Xu Jiu’s furious departure after being rejected, Ye Zhuxi’s appetite increased, and she ate much more than usual for dinner, even though she probably just imagined Xu Jiu’s fury.
Sure enough, even after ten years, some people are still annoying. Why did she always cling to Xie Huaishi in high school? Ye Zhuxi still remembered that she liked Xie Huaishi back then and would try to get close to her whenever she had the chance, but Xu Jiu was always there, which was incredibly annoying.
She and Xie Huaishi weren’t in the same class, but Xu Jiu was, giving her a significant advantage. However, Xie Huaishi was a very straightforward girl, and in the end, they competed for three years without either of them winning.
Now, ten years later, Ye Zhuxi had long since let go of that youthful crush from high school. If she saw Xie Huaishi again, she would probably wish her well in her current life as an old classmate. But that budding crush vanished just like that, while her dislike for her rival was ingrained in her bones. If Fu Songyao knew, she’d probably call her childish again.
Ye Zhuxi happily returned home, took a nice bath, and then chatted with her girlfriends in bed.
Magic Little Bamboo: [Guess who I saw today?]
Urban Beauty: [Who?]
Moonlight: [Can’t guess? Tell us quickly.]
Magic Little Bamboo: [Do you remember when I liked Xie Huaishi from Class 3 in high school…?]
Urban Beauty: [?? No way? You ran into Xie Huaishi? Little Bamboo, you’re not rekindling your old flame, are you? Please don’t, Xie Huaishi is married!]
Magic Little Bamboo: […Sister, can you let me finish?]
Moonlight: [Yeah, Jiajia, don’t interrupt.]
Urban Beauty: [Shut up.GIF]
Magic Little Bamboo: [Back then, there was this tagalong in Class 3 who always followed Xie Huaishi around, that annoying girl, she also liked Xie Huaishi, remember?]
Urban Beauty: [Oh, you mean Xu Jiu! Of course I remember, she later got into police academy, and I think she became a police officer, right?]
Moonlight: [You always said she was your love rival, that you hated her so much, called her an annoying girl, the whole grade said you two were mortal enemies.]
Urban Beauty: [The first and second in the grade, always seen as rivals by classmates. But Little Bamboo, you said she was your love rival, did she really like Xie Huaishi?] Magic
Little Bamboo: [Definitely! Otherwise, why would she keep clinging to Xie Huaishi? Like Siamese twins, following her everywhere!]
Urban Beauty: [Really…? But when we occasionally see her, she’s never with Xie Huaishi. Yueyue worked with her in the student council before, and she was mostly alone.]
Moonlight: [Yes, I rarely see her sticking to Xie Huaishi. And as far as I know, they’re a trio; besides her and Xie Huaishi, there’s another girl who’s also very close to them. Bamboo, is it possible that she only sticks to Xie Huaishi when you go to see her?]
Ye Zhuxi was dumbfounded. From her perspective, Xu Jiu really was always sticking to Xie Huaishi. But today she realized that other people’s perspectives were completely different from hers.
Ye Zhuxi was stunned, then exploded.
Magic Little Bamboo: [No, what does she mean?! Is she doing this on purpose? Is she deliberately trying to go against me?] “I get it! She must have deliberately sabotaged me when I went to see Xie Huaishi because we’re rivals!”
Huo Jiajia and Jiang Yue: …
Exceptional understanding.
Actually, what they meant was that perhaps Xu Jiu was just a shield for Xie Huaishi to politely refuse to meet Ye Zhuxi alone…
But Xiao Zhuzi clearly believed that Xu Jiu was the annoying rival, and she set up a target and started throwing punches at her, so what others said probably wouldn’t matter.
Oh well, anyway, she and Xu Jiu probably won’t have any more contact.
Moonlight: [Speaking of which, why did you see Xu Jiu today? What’s she doing now? After high school, she went to police academy, so she must be a police officer, right?]
Magic Xiao Zhuzi: [Yes, a police officer. She’s seriously ill. She came to my studio and said she wanted me to help solve a case. She’s obviously not mentally sound.]
Urban Beauty: [Wow—solving cases is so cool! What kind of case?]
Magic Xiao Zhuzi: [Um, I didn’t ask, I just kicked her out.] Come to think of it, she only knew it was about Wei Lian’s case, but she knew nothing about the specifics. Since access to the case files was only granted after agreeing to cooperate, she directly refused.
Magic Little Bamboo: [Anyway, she’s an annoying person, I’m not going to talk to her.]
Ye Zhuxi concluded.
She went to sleep after the chat, only to find a new message on WeChat the next morning. It was from her cousin, who was working like crazy overtime, appearing in the middle of the night, and it was a private message, not a direct reply in the group chat.
Cousin: [Xixi, did you run into Xu Jiu? The one from the Major Crimes Unit? I heard she seems to have taken over Wei Lian’s case. Xixi, did you refuse her? I thought you’d be interested, since this case might be related to your senior.]
Seeing this message, Ye Zhuxi’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She sprang up from the bed, grabbed her phone, and read the message over and over again, word for word, at least ten times, afraid of misreading a single word.
Wei Lian’s case involves Qu Yuezhou? Qu Yuezhou, who disappeared from the public eye for three years, has reappeared?
Qu Yuezhou is Ye Zhuxi’s senior apprentice, a disciple of the great magician Yan Zui, just like her. After the incident three years ago, he left the sect alone and disappeared without a trace.
It’s fair to say that the mere sight of Qu Yuezhou’s name ignites Ye Zhuxi’s fury; a deep-seated hatred wells up within her, creeping over her entire body like vines.
Her verbal complaints about Xu Jiu were somewhat childish, but her hatred for Qu Yuezhou was genuine—a hatred so intense she wished she could kill him herself.
After all, in Ye Zhuxi’s eyes, the death of their teacher Yan Zui three years ago was inextricably linked to Qu Yuezhou! His disappearance, in Ye Zhuxi’s view, was tantamount to betraying their sect.
Sleepiness vanished instantly. Ye Zhuxi trembled as she dialed her cousin’s number. She knew that at this hour, her hardworking cousin would definitely be up and working; unless there was a court hearing, she would surely answer her call.
Sure enough, Ye Lanchuan answered the phone quickly. “Hey, Xixi, did you see my message?”
“Sis, Qu Yuezhou showed up? He killed Wei Lian?” Ye Zhuxi went straight to the point.
“I don’t know,” Ye Lanchuan said calmly. “This case is still under investigation, and I don’t have access to the details.”
After the initial shock, Ye Zhuxi gradually regained her composure. She took a deep breath and asked, “Then how do you know he’s involved in this case?”
Ye Lanchuan explained, “I have a defense case on my hands. Yesterday, I went to the city traffic police detachment to collect evidence materials and happened to see the major crimes unit reviewing a surveillance video. Qu Yuezhou isn’t very well-known; most people don’t recognize him, but I recognize that face. I’m absolutely certain.”
In an instant, many thoughts flooded Ye Zhuxi’s mind, swirling into a jumbled mess, leaving her suddenly feeling somewhat lost. She had just rejected Xu Jiu yesterday, but today she learned such important news. If Wei Lian’s case was really related to Qu Yuezhou, she was afraid…
Thinking of the meaningful look Xu Jiu gave her before leaving the studio yesterday, Ye Zhuxi subconsciously realized that Xu Jiu might have planned all of this long ago, which was why the Major Crimes Unit deliberately let Ye Lanchuan see that surveillance footage at the traffic police station…
But, just to lure her in, would Xu Jiu go to such lengths to scheme?
Ye Zhuxi was momentarily confused, unable to make sense of anything. She only knew one thing: she absolutely could not let go of this opportunity that was presented to her.
After hurriedly hanging up the phone with her cousin, Ye Zhuxi felt she needed time to sort out the current situation, but she knew in her heart that no matter how she sorted it out, there was only one choice for her.
At the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, Xu Jiu repeatedly reviewed a surveillance video outside the scene of Wei Lian’s death. She had just been rebuffed by Ye Zhuxi yesterday, but she was not discouraged at all. Instead, she sat in her office, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
Ye Lanchuan went to the traffic police station to collect evidence yesterday, and she deliberately had her people give her a clue. She knew Ye Zhuxi’s temperament well and knew her first visit would likely be fruitless. Moreover, although Ye Zhuxi knew nothing about her over the past ten years, she was very familiar with Ye Zhuxi’s affairs, even having videos of her every performance. Because of this knowledge, she knew how important the incident three years ago was to Ye Zhuxi, and knew that with just a little bait, Ye Zhuxi would take the bait, even if she likely guessed her scheme.
Bi Sheng brought in a cup of coffee midway through the day. Seeing her captain still sitting in the office repeatedly reviewing the surveillance footage and case files, she couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t we going to the scene today?”
Xu Jiu, looking at the surveillance footage on the computer, crossed her arms and said, “No, we’re waiting for someone.”
Bi Sheng: “…”
She really couldn’t understand where her boss’s confidence came from, especially after being rejected so bluntly and thoroughly yesterday afternoon…
Oh well, she couldn’t change her boss’s decision, so she could only silently back down.
To Bi Sheng’s astonishment, her boss’s seemingly crazy, passive waiting actually brought her the rabbit!
Ye Zhuxi, wearing sunglasses that covered half her face, followed Bi Sheng into Xu Jiu’s office, and unsurprisingly, she saw that face again.
It’s only been less than twenty hours since 5 PM yesterday, and they’ve already met again… Ye Zhuxi feels like she might be having Mercury retrograde these past few days, otherwise why would she be seeing that annoying person so frequently, and even more often in the future…
Xu Jiu saw her and immediately flashed a big smile, “We just said goodbye yesterday, and here we are today! Looks like we’re quite destined for each other.”