HH Chapter 38

Li Tianqi muttered under his breath, “It was just some petty squabble, not worth calling the police over. We didn’t really do anything.”

“Didn’t do anything?”

“Really, we didn’t. It didn’t even last ten minutes,” Li Tianqi said, leaning back lazily in his chair and muttering, “So melodramatic…”

“Do you know that Guo Rui is dead?” Pei Qinghuai’s voice was sharp and penetrating. The moment he heard it, Li Tianqi froze, his leg stopped shaking, and he looked at Pei Qinghuai in disbelief.

After a few seconds, seemingly realizing something, Li Tianqi shook his head frantically, “I just kicked her a few times. I wasn’t involved after that. If she’s dead, ask the other two. It wasn’t me. Don’t blame me.”

Pei Qinghuai stared at Li Tianqi for a few moments before turning and leaving the room.

Cheng Ye and Fang Yuan each interrogated the other two suspects. After comparing their statements, it became clear they were telling the truth. These immature individuals spilled everything under a bit of pressure.

“According to the surveillance footage, it seems like Li Tianqi dealt the fatal blows. Although he didn’t participate afterward, those initial kicks were enough,” Fang Yuan said while reviewing the video footage.

As they entered the visitors’ room, a cacophony of shouting parents greeted them. The noise was overwhelming.

“My son is so well-behaved. Even if you’re the police, you can’t slander him!” one woman shouted, pointing at Chen Xiaonuan. “Is this how the police behave? Accusing a high school senior so carelessly?”

She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “He’s just a child. He’s surely scared here.”

“Give us an explanation! The kid can’t stay here forever!” another parent chimed in.

The woman’s husband patted her shoulder, addressing Chen Xiaonuan. “If you don’t release him soon, I’ll call my lawyer.”

“Captain Cheng,” Chen Xiaonuan called out, feeling relieved as she saw Cheng Ye enter.

“We have the surveillance footage here. Don’t you believe it?” Cheng Ye asked the parents.

“What’s the use of footage? Who knows if it was tampered with to frame our kids?” a woman retorted arrogantly.

Fang Yuan, clearly annoyed, snapped, “This is a police station! Not a place for your theatrics!”

Cheng Ye nodded and pushed the laptop towards them, speaking softly, “Your children confessed.”

The parents exchanged glances and fell silent, watching the footage. One of the women straightened her clothes and haughtily asked, “Officer, how did the girl die?”

“Ruptured spleen.”

The woman nodded. “Since it was a ruptured spleen, and my daughter only slapped her face, this matter shouldn’t concern my daughter. Investigate who kicked her.”

Li Tianqi’s mother immediately protested, “Oh, your daughter hit her the hardest. Who knows if she did more?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What’s it to you?”

Within a minute, the scene devolved from a unified front against the police into parents blaming each other. Cheng Ye, exasperated, threw down the laptop and walked out.

Pei Qinghuai followed Cheng Ye outside.

“Quiet!” one of the parents finally shouted, just as Li He and Zhang Yuni entered.

The man who shouted adjusted his glasses. Being a high-ranking official, such disgraceful behavior wasn’t his usual style. He approached Li He and spoke, “Can we settle this privately?” He even played the sympathy card. “The kids are young. We’re heartbroken about what happened, but they need to continue their education. Ruining their reputation isn’t good.”

Li He took a deep breath, “How much do you want?”

Before he could continue, Fang Yuan interrupted, “You want to settle privately?”

“Yes,” the man replied.

“Leave,” Fang Yuan said impatiently. “This is the police station.”

He pointed to the door, his eyes slightly red, “I’ll release them now. You, out!”

“Let’s go,” the woman said, linking arms with her husband and glaring at Fang Yuan as they left. Once the room was quiet, Fang Yuan slammed his notebook onto the table in frustration.

He cursed, “Damn it!” and stormed out of the room.

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Outside, Cheng Ye leaned on the railing, staring at the streetlights. His thoughts were complex.

“Surreal, isn’t it?” Pei Qinghuai said, standing next to Cheng Ye. “Stuff that even novels wouldn’t dare to write actually happens in real life.”

“What do you think?” Cheng Ye asked, turning to Pei Qinghuai.

“What can I think? We’re mediators, unable to fully intervene. Our role is to initiate and conclude cases as best as we can,” Pei Qinghuai replied, watching a car emerge from the shadows.

“Individually, this seems like a rare event, but globally, with a population of 7 billion, it’s not so rare. Everyone pretends not to know, but deep down, they do.”

Pei Qinghuai patted Cheng Ye’s shoulder, “Look on the bright side, both in the past and now.”

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Quite the philosopher, aren’t you?”

“Just speaking the truth,” Pei Qinghuai said.

“You mentioned something about psychological profiling before…”

“Criminal profiling,” Pei Qinghuai clarified.

Cheng Ye nodded, “Right, criminal profiling. Have any leads? Can you sketch something out?”

For a few seconds, there was a tense silence between them. Then Pei Qinghuai tilted his head and said, “Cheng Ye, I’m human, not a deity.”

“You could even guess he was impotent…”

Pei Qinghuai interrupted, “That was a hypothesis.”

Cheng Ye, seemingly teasing Pei Qinghuai, said, “If you can guess that, you can sketch out a direction too, right?”

Predictably, Pei Qinghuai showed a mix of frustration and helplessness, “Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor’s research shows human impulses last only 20 seconds. I wouldn’t mind using those 20 seconds to fight you.”

Cheng Ye laughed, stretching his neck, “Alright, I’m just teasing. Let’s go back. Chen Yuxin is still waiting for an answer.”