HH Chapter 74

He rested his left hand on his cheek, his gaze fixed on the woman in the video. After a moment, he lifted his head and looked at Pei Qinghuai. “What does this prove?”

Before Pei Qinghuai could respond, Cheng Ye turned off the phone screen and pushed it back to Pei Qinghuai. “Does it show that Guo Jiayi was deceived by someone? Or that Li Ru divorced Guo Jiayi for money?”

Pei Qinghuai crossed his hands and spoke. “It shows that the Guo Jiayi in the evidence might not be as bad as we perceive.”

He continued, “They say seeing is believing, but what if what we see isn’t the truth? Should we still believe it?”

Cheng Ye was taken aback. Pei Qinghuai went on, “Guo Jiayi’s father once mentioned that Guo Jiayi had engaged in prostitution, but upon investigation, we found no such criminal record for him.”

Before Pei Qinghuai finished, Cheng Ye suddenly stood up as if he had remembered something. He looked at Pei Qinghuai. “I forgot to tell you something. You asked me before about the person in that black-and-white photo at Guo Jiayi’s house. I forgot to mention that the person in the photo is Guo Jiayi himself, in his original state.”

“Original state?” Pei Qinghuai was slightly puzzled.

Cheng Ye coughed. “That photo is from a long time ago. The difference between the Guo Jiayi in that photo and the one with the messed-up face now is like night and day.”

Pei Qinghuai nodded, noticing a glint in Cheng Ye’s eyes. He smiled lightly. “Have you thought of something?”

Cheng Ye pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’ve been busy with other things these past few days and almost overlooked this. Guo Jiayi prepared his own memorial photo.” He looked at Pei Qinghuai. “It seems he knew he was going to die in advance.”

He stood up again. “I’ll recheck the prostitution allegation against Guo Jiayi, but this case increasingly seems like a suicide.” He mumbled the last part, but Pei Qinghuai heard him.

“Have you forgotten that there’s still someone close to Guo Jiayi?” Pei Qinghuai’s voice, neither loud nor soft, exploded in Cheng Ye’s ear.

Cheng Ye’s eyes narrowed, and he stood at the door for half a minute, frowning deeply as a chill ran down his spine. “You mean Guo Xiaofei?”

Pei Qinghuai simply blinked, not verbally answering Cheng Ye’s question. Only after Cheng Ye closed the door did Pei Qinghuai lean back in his chair and take a sip of water.

It’s too easy to conclude that someone committed suicide. Even a poorly written suicide note could lead to such a conclusion. When the public perceives a criminal as a good person or believes that the person wouldn’t do such things, that person might successfully escape with an unwarranted reprieve.

The window was still open, and the evening breeze made the room chilly. Pei Qinghuai stood up and walked to the window. Downstairs, a few children were gathered, chattering excitedly about their newly acquired cards. He took a breath of the cold air and closed the window.

Often, the things you fail to notice are the most important.

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Cheng Ye was equally shocked by the new revelations. That night, unbeknownst to Pei Qinghuai, he and his team worked through the night to thoroughly investigate the matter. When Pei Qinghuai arrived the next day, he saw everyone sporting panda eyes.

“What did you guys do last night?” Pei Qinghuai was bewildered, feeling he had missed something important.

Before anyone could explain, Cheng Ye rushed over, grabbed Pei Qinghuai, and dragged him towards the conference room.