HH Chapter 62

“Why are you apologizing?” Cheng Yuanjun folded the plastic bag and put it in his pocket, a slight smile forming at the corners of his mouth. “It’s never been your fault.”

Cheng Yuanjun took a deep breath, looked into the distance, and suppressed the tears in his eyes. He patted Cheng Ye on the shoulder. “Let’s go, Xiao Xiao needs to sleep.”

After the case was closed, it started to gain massive attention online. Chen Mengyao and Cheng Xiaoxiao were thrust into the spotlight. Although the police tried to suppress the news, they couldn’t keep up with the speed of the internet.

Once the case was over, Cheng Yuanjun left Beilin City with his wife. Looking at the news online, Cheng Ye wanted to call him, but he never did.

Even though positive news outweighed the negative online, for the victims’ families, a single negative comment could outweigh a thousand praises.

For Cheng Xiaoxiao, it was never justice that caused her death, but those evil-doers.

In this highly developed internet society, this case will eventually be forgotten, occasionally remembered and talked about.

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“Captain Cheng, where were you this morning?” Fang Yuan asked, leaning back in his chair, head tilted.

“Nothing much, just went for a walk in the suburbs,” Cheng Ye replied. “I’m going to take a nap. Call me if anything comes up.”

Chen Xiaonuan peeked out and asked softly, “What’s been up with Captain Cheng these days? He seems distracted.”

Fang Yuan shrugged and shook his head. “No idea.” Then he looked at Pei Qinghuai. “Maybe you should check on him?”

“He’s fine,” Pei Qinghuai said. “Just no cases recently, and he’s bored.”

Pei Qinghuai stood up, seeing the suspicious looks from the others. He sighed. “Alright, I’ll go check on him.”

Pei Qinghuai knocked on Cheng Ye’s door for a while but got no response, so he just pushed the door open. Cheng Ye was slumped on the sofa, earphones in, holding a freshly brewed cup of tea, looking quite relaxed.

Seeing someone enter, Cheng Ye quickly adjusted his posture, but upon realizing who it was, he slumped back down. “Why didn’t you knock? You scared me,” Cheng Ye said.

“I did knock, you didn’t hear,” Pei Qinghuai replied.

Cheng Ye blew on his tea, took a sip, and squinted his eyes. “Sit, sit, don’t stand.”

“Are you alright lately?” Pei Qinghuai asked directly, sitting down.

Cheng Ye blinked, taking an earphone out. He chuckled. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

Pei Qinghuai pouted. “Your team members are worried something might be up with you, so they asked me to check.”

Cheng Ye laughed louder. “What could be wrong with me? They worry too much.” Then he held out an earphone to Pei Qinghuai. “Wanna listen?”

“Listen to what?” Pei Qinghuai asked, taking the earphone.

“You’ll know once you listen.”

Pei Qinghuai, puzzled, put the earphone in, and was taken aback by the 80s music that filled his ears.

‘Betrayed my love, forcing me to leave.’

‘Finally knowing the truth, my tears fell.’

‘Betrayed my love, you carried a debt of conscience.’

‘No matter how much emotion I give, I can’t buy it back.’

‘You wanted to separate, so we separated.’

……

Pei Qinghuai took out the earphone and laughed. “You have quite an interesting playlist.”

Cheng Ye took another sip of tea. “Just tell me, is it good?”

“Not bad,” Pei Qinghuai stood up. “You continue, I won’t bother you.”

As he opened the door, Pei Qinghuai almost jumped back in shock.

“Captain Cheng is okay?” Fang Yuan asked, peeking inside.

“He’s fine,” Pei Qinghuai exhaled.

Chen Xiaonuan was about to ask something when the phone rang. The group exchanged glances as Jiang Fei answered the call.

Jiang Fei: “What’s up?”

“Okay, got it. We’ll be right there.”

Jiang Fei hung up just as Cheng Ye came out of the office. “What’s up?” Cheng Ye asked.

Jiang Fei walked up to Zhang Yibao and patted his shoulder. “We received a report from a netizen that a streamer named ‘Guo Qian’ committed suicide in their live stream.”

As Jiang Fei spoke, Zhang Yibao quickly searched online. As soon as he opened the stream, an eerie sound effect came from the speakers, and the chat was filled with comments.

Realizing something was wrong, Zhang Yibao quickly gathered information, and within ten minutes, two police cars were on their way to the scene.

“Guo Qian’s real name is Guo Jiayi, male, 29 years old. He’s a cross-dresser on a certain platform,” Zhang Yibao said. “He also has a child, look.”

Zhang Yibao played a video showing a little boy and Guo Jiayi being affectionate.

“Not to mention, he does look convincing in drag,” Fang Yuan commented.

In Sunshine Community, the police cars attracted a crowd of onlookers. Zhang Yibao kept an eye on his phone; the live stream was still running, and the viewers had increased from 50,000 to 100,000.

It was noon, peak elevator usage time. Cheng Ye, impatient, took the stairs. When they reached the apartment, Cheng Ye, panting, knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” a voice called from inside.

Cheng Ye and Fang Yuan exchanged surprised looks and signaled for silence.

Not a suicide? Cheng Ye stepped back. “Property management,” he called out.

After a moment of silence, the sound of the lock turning was loud in the hallway. Cheng Ye and Fang Yuan held their breath as the door opened.

A woman with elaborate makeup stood at the door, surprised to see them. “Who are you?”

Cheng Ye showed his badge. “Guo Jiayi, right?”

The ‘woman’ nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“We received a report of a suicide,” Cheng Ye said, staring at Guo Jiayi.

Fang Yuan sniffed the air and whispered to Cheng Ye. “Captain, there’s a smell.”

Cheng Ye’s expression hardened. Guo Jiayi noticed the change and hurried to explain. “Officer, I was just killing a chicken.”

Anyone would want to check such a claim. Ignoring Guo Jiayi, Cheng Ye walked straight in, followed by Guo Jiayi. As they reached the kitchen, Guo Jiayi cried out.

“Guo Xiaofei! What are you doing?” Guo Jiayi yelled, rushing forward to pull Guo Xiaofei off a stool. “I told you to stay in your room!”