None of the three children are his!
Interrogation room.
Zhao Chengye sat in the interrogation chair, his face paler than the glow of the overhead fluorescent lights.
Lu Zheng stepped in slowly, his gaze sharp and cold as it settled on Zhao Chengye.
Zhao Chengye met Lu Zheng’s eyes for a moment, then suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing.
A mouthful of blood sprayed out.
Lu Zheng’s expression hardened. “Call the team doctor at once.”
Zhao Chengye waved a hand weakly, his voice hoarse and raspy. “Don’t bother. I’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness— I have at most a month left to live. Even if you call a doctor, there’s nothing to be done.”
Silence stretched through the interrogation room for several seconds.
Lu Zheng stood up and poured Zhao Chengye a cup of warm water.
After a few sips, Zhao Chengye’s breathing steadied and the tightness in his chest eased.
Lu Zheng sat down opposite him, his dark eyes deep and unyielding. “Tell me. Why did you kill Qi Sheng?”
Zhao Chengye leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.
The light caught his prominent cheekbones and sunken eyes; he looked far older than his forty years.
“Officer, have you heard the fable of the farmer and the snake?” Zhao Chengye gave a bitter, mocking smile. “Qi Sheng came from the mountains. He became a household name entirely because I pulled him up. And yet— he conspired with my wife to destroy me!”
Blazing fury and hatred burned in his cloudy eyes.
After a long pause, he spoke again. “I grew up in the mountains too. I studied computer science in university, and from childhood I swore I’d change my fate. I started my own business while still in school, doing software outsourcing. It took years of grinding, but finally I made it— I built something of value.”
“When I was twenty-eight, I had some money saved, and that’s when I met my wife.”
A faint, fleeting softness touched his face, as if recalling the happiness they’d once shared. “Back then she was a nobody actress, barely scraping by. I was at a business dinner one night, and I saw her in the next private room. She was being forced to drink, and a producer tried to take advantage of her. She refused to submit— even when he slapped her, she fought her way out and ran for help.”
“I happened to be walking down the hall. She threw herself at my legs, sobbing, begging me to save her.”
Zhao Chengye closed his eyes briefly, then looked back at Lu Zheng. “Officer— have you ever seen that kind of look? The look of someone who’s lost all hope, and suddenly spots their only lifeline?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “I have. Go on.”
“I helped her, got her out of there. After that, we grew close. To keep her from ever being mistreated again, I founded an entertainment company— Starlight Media— and put her in charge. She became the lady of the house.”
“After we married, my wife and I did a lot of charity work. Because I’d come from nothing, I funded many students from poor backgrounds— including Qi Sheng.”
“I went to his high school with my wife to present him with a scholarship in person. When he got into university, I kept supporting him. Later, he told us he wanted to get into show business. He had the looks for it, and I thought— he’s a kid from the mountains, just like me. I wanted to protect him, keep him from getting corrupted by the industry.”
“I paved his way, got him the best resources, put people in charge of guiding him. Before long, he was famous.”
Zhao Chengye let out a hollow laugh. “I was still busy running my software company back then, so my wife handled most things at Starlight. I never imagined— never imagined— that Qi Sheng would end up with her.”
“Until—”
His voice rose sharply, eyes flashing with rage and pain, his lips trembling uncontrollably. “Until I found out— none of the three children are mine!”
For a moment, his throat felt as if it were being crushed by an invisible hand. “Officer— my eldest daughter, my second son, my youngest son— not one of them is my blood! They aren’t triplets— the oldest is nine, the second seven, the youngest three. If even one had been mine, I wouldn’t hate them this much!”
He’d adored those three children, given them everything they asked for.
And for his wife Su Mo— she’d been the very center of his world.
He’d never dreamed she’d betray him.
Worse still— right after he learned the truth about the children— he was diagnosed with his terminal illness.
“Officer— do you know how I got sick?”
……
At Ming Tang’s apartment.
Once she was home, Ming Tang pulled out old photos, autographs, and banners from the times she’d met Qi Sheng in person. Tears spilled down her cheeks again.
Watching him fall to his death had shattered her.
Wen Qingli handed her a glass of warm water. “Tang, you have to take care of yourself. You’ll get through this.”
Ming Tang’s shoulders shook.
Wen Qingli wrapped her arms around her gently. “The police will get justice for Qi Sheng. I promise.”
Ming Tang blinked back tears. “Li— it’s just… it’s all so sudden.”
Wen Qingli nodded.
It was too sudden for anyone to take in— not just Ming Tang, but all of Qi Sheng’s fans.
Though the police hadn’t released an official statement, word had already leaked online, and the internet was in an uproar.
Some fans refused to believe it; others gathered outside the police station with banners, demanding answers. Many more started online petitions, praying and begging for their idol to be alive and well.
Wen Qingli glanced at the old autograph Ming Tang had laid out, narrowing her eyes slightly.
She picked up the signature Qi Sheng had given that very night, and held them side by side.
At a glance, they looked identical.
But on the old one— the vertical stroke on the right side of the character “Qi” dipped almost imperceptibly at the start, a tiny pause that came from years of habit. That was muscle memory, carved in over time.
She checked several more old signatures— all had that same faint dip.
The new one didn’t.
To anyone else, the difference would have been invisible. But as a police sketch artist, trained to pick up on the finest details, Wen Qingli saw it clearly.
The new signature was almost perfect— but it was a forgery.
A wild, impossible thought took shape in her mind, and her breath caught.
If she was right… this was more than absurd. It was unbelievable.
Then she wondered if she was just seeing things.
She bit her lip, pulled out her phone, and took photos of both signatures.
……
The interrogation continued.
Zhao Chengye’s face was ashen and twisted with pain. “When I found out none of the children were mine— I wanted to kill her. I really did.”
“But I held back. I needed to know who the man was. Back then, I never guessed it would be Qi Sheng— after all, my eldest daughter was conceived before he even started university.”
“But the truth… it was cruel.”
Lu Zheng and the officer taking notes looked at Zhao Chengye with profound sympathy.
To learn that not one of the children you’d raised and loved was yours— there was no crueler blow.
“To find out for sure, I slipped a listening device into my wife’s bag. Once, while I was away on business, I heard her take all three kids to meet Qi Sheng.”
“At home, those kids were brats— they’d tell me I looked plain, that they were lucky their mother had married me. But with Qi Sheng? They were perfect angels, calling him ‘handsome daddy’ over and over. It felt like lightning had struck me.”
“That same night, I heard them together. Afterward, Qi Sheng asked her— ‘How’s the plan coming along?’”
“That’s when I realized— my illness… it wasn’t bad luck. It was because—”