Lin Shaohuai came from an ordinary family. His parents were just regular workers—enough to live comfortably, but hiring a hitman or helping a doctor rise to power despite being ostracized? That was beyond Lin Shaohuai’s reach.
“This suicide note is full of holes.” Captain He concluded, snuffing out his cigarette with a decisive twist.
Xiao Wang, always the eager note-taker, quickly jotted down: Captain He said, ‘full of holes’ (snuffing cigarette).
Zou Shuyang, on the other hand, remained calm, shifting his position slightly. “What puzzles me more is this: If the killer wanted Lin Shaohuai to take the fall, why not stage the scene better? Leaving behind such an obviously flawed suicide note—what was the point?”
Xiao Wang added to his notes: Team Leader Zou said, ‘poor staging’ (looks up in confusion).
At that moment, Old Li and Xiao Zhao came downstairs carrying their toolbox, looking disappointed. “Captain He, Team Leader Zou, we didn’t find anything unusual. No signs of a second person at the scene.”
Zou Shuyang and Captain He exchanged a glance, both falling silent for a moment. Then, Zou Shuyang pointed at Xiao Wang. “What’s this kid writing down?”
Captain He took a peek, his face darkening as he replied, “The daily life of the Serious Crimes Unit.”
Zou Shuyang: ???
Xiao Wang quickly scrambled to explain. “No, no, it’s not like that!” But in his haste, he tripped over his own feet and fell right at Zou Shuyang’s feet.
Just as he was about to get up, Xiao Wang suddenly let out a small, surprised sound. “Huh?”
“What’s up?”
Rubbing his elbow, Xiao Wang reached under the sofa and pulled out a small, glimmering object.
“Is this… a surveillance camera?”
Zou Shuyang, seeing the red light blinking underneath the camera, patted Xiao Wang on the back. “Well done! You’ve just earned yourself a major credit this time.”
Xiao Wang grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
“There’s a laptop upstairs. I’ll go grab it.” Xiao Zhao, ever the helpful one, ran upstairs to fetch the laptop and brought it down to the dining table. The group gathered around as Xiao Zhao connected the surveillance camera to the laptop using a data cable.
After a brief wait, the video footage finally appeared on the screen.
The camera had been installed under the sofa, so the angle made the captured footage rather awkward to view.
At 3:10 PM, Lin Shaohuai returned home. From the reflection on the floor tiles, it was clear that he wasn’t in good shape—he looked despondent and defeated.
After entering the house, he slumped down onto the sofa.
Xiao Zhao sped up the video, and around 3:30 PM, Lin Shaohuai made a phone call.
“I’m sorry, but it looks like our trip to the cemetery to visit the teacher might not happen.”
“Oh? I’m glad you understand, but since I know how close you were to Teacher Shen, I left you a gift. I hope you’ll find it.”
“I’m fine, really. No need to worry about me.”
“Alright, alright. I know you’re not actually worried about me, but to be honest…”
After a long pause, Lin Shaohuai softly said, “I like you.”
At Captain He’s signal, Xiao Zhao rewound the footage and played it again.
“Who was he calling?” Zou Shuyang wondered aloud, though he already had an idea, staying silent as they continued watching.
At 3:40 PM, footsteps could be heard approaching. Shortly after, Lin Shaohuai said, “He’s still not convinced I’m okay.”
The owner of the footsteps replied, “Anyone who might pose a threat to him must die.”
Lin Shaohuai nodded. “Just like Teacher Shen back then.”
The other person added, “You don’t seem scared anymore?”
Lin Shaohuai didn’t respond, but the other person didn’t seem to mind. They walked forward a few more steps, and just as they were about to reach Lin Shaohuai, a low grunt could be heard, followed by the sound of blood dripping onto the floor.
“You were hiding a knife?”
Then came the sound of a brief struggle, and after that…
“Shaoheng, I’ll give you money. I’ll give you all my money. Just spare me, please. I’m begging you, let me go.”
Shaoheng sneered in response. “Begging now? Too late.”
After a few more desperate cries and struggles from Lin Shaohuai, everything finally went quiet.
“PHR769—what an amazing thing. It works so fast.”
Shaoheng calmly began tidying up the scene. The red blood slowly spread across the floor, entering the camera’s field of view.
Before anyone could say anything, Old Li stood up. “I’ll go investigate this Shaoheng right away.”
Zou Shuyang waved him off. “Lin Shaohuai knew from the moment he returned that he wasn’t going to survive.”
Captain He added, “Because he’d been exposed. The person backing him was afraid that he’d be implicated, so they chose to silence him.”
The progress bar on the video continued moving, and suddenly, more footsteps could be heard.
“Is that…”
Zou Shuyang listened closely, catching the sound of paper rustling.
“The person who switched out the suicide note.”
Captain He clicked his tongue. “What do you think they’re trying to achieve by switching it?”
Zou Shuyang flipped through the suicide note once more. “They probably want us to find the real killer.”
After a pause, he added, “The one who killed Shen Tinglan and Ding Jing.”
——
Hao Yiming finished his dinner and returned to his office. Standing on the 26th floor, he looked out through the large windows at the bustling streets below, the neon lights twinkling in the distance.
After a long while, Hao Yiming asked, “Are you sure everything has been handled?”
Shaoheng nodded respectfully. “Everything is taken care of. I slit Lin Shaohuai’s wrists, left the suicide note, cleaned up the scene, and replaced all the surrounding surveillance footage with footage from a few days ago.”
Hao Yiming nodded but still seemed uneasy. “But something feels off. It’s like something is about to happen.”
When he didn’t get a response, Hao Yiming suddenly turned around, his expression halfway between a smile and a sneer as he stared at Shaoheng. His voice, low and threatening, emerged from his throat. “Shaoheng, you wouldn’t betray me, would you?”
Shaoheng’s eye twitched, and he quickly lowered his head, his back drenched in sweat. “No, I would never betray you.”
Whether Hao Yiming believed him or not was unclear, as he shifted the conversation to another topic. “You don’t think anyone will find out about what happened ten years ago, do you?”
Shaoheng’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you referring to that girl from the Jian family?”
Just as Shaoheng was about to say more, a commotion erupted outside the door.
“Sir, this is the boss’s office. You can’t go in. You can’t!”
Amid the noise, the heavy door was pushed open, and Hao Yiming and Shaoheng turned to see Zou Shuyang and his team standing at the entrance.
Zou Shuyang gave them a polite but awkward smile. “Sorry to disturb you, gentlemen.”
“What’s going on?” Hao Yiming asked.
Zou Shuyang turned serious. “Shaoheng, we suspect you’re involved in a murder case. Please come with us to assist in our investigation.”
Hao Yiming’s eyes flickered as he subtly glanced at Shaoheng, his thoughts spinning behind his calm expression.
Shaoheng, however, remained as unflinching as ever, coldly staring at Zou Shuyang.
“Please, Mr. Shaoheng.” Zou Shuyang said.
Hao Yiming stepped forward to block Zou Shuyang’s path, asking, “May I know why my secretary is being investigated?”
Zou Shuyang’s smile remained, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “This afternoon, there was a murder at Yunshang Villa. The victim is one of your company’s high-ranking executives, Lin Shaohuai.”
Hao Yiming furrowed his brow. “Him? He’s dead?”
Zou Shuyang chuckled. “The victim was lucky. When we found him, he was still alive.”
Both Hao Yiming and Shaoheng froze, their expressions instantly stiffening.
——
Inside the interrogation room, Shaoheng sat with his hands on the table, completely silent.
His mind was in a haze, struggling to piece together the events of the past few hours.
Murder was something he had done plenty of times over the years, and he knew exactly how to kill someone efficiently.
He had injected Lin Shaohuai with PHR769, ensuring he wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. The wrist cut was deep enough to sever an artery—there should have been no chance of survival.
Should have been…
Shaoheng’s head snapped up, staring at the mirrored glass in the room. He suddenly realized where the problem was.
Behind the mirror, Zou Shuyang checked his watch, feeling that enough time had passed. He motioned to Xiao Tang, then grabbed his thermos and entered the interrogation room.
As soon as the door opened, Shaoheng’s sharp gaze fixed on him like a knife.
“Don’t look at us like that.” Zou Shuyang said nonchalantly as he shut the door and walked over to sit across from Shaoheng. “You killed someone, so you should be prepared to be caught.”
Convinced that Lin Shaohuai wasn’t actually dead and that the police were just trying to trick him into confessing, Shaoheng shifted in his seat. “I killed someone? Do you have any proof?”
His demeanor had completely changed from before.
It didn’t take much for Zou Shuyang to figure out Shaoheng’s thought process, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “You think Lin Shaohuai’s survival is a lie I made up to get you to confess?”
Though Shaoheng didn’t say anything, his expression and body language made it clear: Isn’t that the case?
“It’s really not.” Zou Shuyang replied.
As Shaoheng’s body unconsciously tensed, Zou Shuyang continued, “Lin Shaohuai really didn’t die. You did cut deep enough—almost severed his artery completely.”
Shaoheng stared intently at Zou Shuyang, waiting for him to reveal the flaw in his plan.
“But unfortunately.” Zou Shuyang shrugged innocently, “life is a strange thing. Not only did he survive, but the hospital just informed us that his condition is stable. He just lost a lot of blood and was injected with some unknown substance. He’ll wake up soon.”
Nonsense.
In his mind, Shaoheng dismissed Zou Shuyang’s story as complete rubbish, and his tension quickly dissipated.
Going from extreme tension to sudden relaxation twice in such a short time was exhausting, both physically and mentally.
When Zou Shuyang saw Shaoheng slumping slightly against the chair, he raised an eyebrow. “Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention—Lin Shaohuai’s house has surveillance cameras.”
Seeing Shaoheng’s unconcerned expression, Zou Shuyang grinned mischievously. “While you did replace the exterior cameras with older footage, you probably didn’t know that Lin Shaohuai had cameras installed in his living room.”
“And they caught everything you did, clear as day.”
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