HH Chapter 75

Pei Qinghuai stumbled as Cheng Ye pulled him along and asked, “What’s so urgent?”

Cheng Ye sat seriously on a chair, paused, and then spoke. “Last night, I stayed up all night researching Guo Jiayi’s background and movements over the years. To put it simply, before his divorce, he was completely a puppet controlled by someone else.”

Pei Qinghuai pulled out a chair and sat down, marking something in his notebook. “How so?”

Cheng Ye took a deep breath. “Last night, I had Zhang Yibao work overtime. We found that during the year Guo Jiayi and Li Ru were married, almost all the money in Guo Jiayi’s bank accounts was transferred to Li Ru’s card at the same time each month. Furthermore, by recovering phone messages, we discovered that during their relationship, Guo Jiayi was completely PUAed by Li Ru.”

“PUA?” Pei Qinghuai raised his eyes.

“Yes,” Cheng Ye answered. “Based on the chat records, Guo Jiayi was more like a dog to Li Ru than her boyfriend.”

With that, Cheng Ye pushed the folder he was holding towards Pei Qinghuai. Pei Qinghuai paused his writing and opened the folder, which was filled with dense chat records.

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Li Ru: Jiayi, you have to know, I love you the most. I took you away from your parents. Without me, we couldn’t have made so much money, right?

Guo Jiayi: Hmm… So, are you coming home today?

Li Ru: What do you mean by that? Are you blaming me for not coming home? Do you know why I’m not coming home? It’s because I’m out there working hard every day to support the family. Besides, I’m pregnant.

Guo Jiayi: Okay, take care of yourself.

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Guo Jiayi: I cooked today. Are you coming home?

Li Ru: I have to work overtime at the company, so I won’t be coming back. Be good and eat by yourself. Remember to livestream tonight, and I’ll give you a like.

Guo Jiayi didn’t reply for a long time, and eventually, it was Li Ru who messaged again, seemingly comforting this unresponsive pet.

Li Ru: Be good. After I finish working overtime tonight, I’ll come back to accompany you. You have to livestream, or we won’t even be able to afford formula when our baby is born.

Li Ru: Sigh, I’m not as good as others. I’m just a useless person…

Guo Jiayi finally replied.

Guo Jiayi: Don’t talk about yourself like that. Take care of yourself outside. I’ll cook and wait for you at home.

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Guo Jiayi: Can I stop livestreaming? I want to go out to work.

Li Ru: What’s wrong?

Guo Jiayi: I just don’t want to livestream anymore.

Li Ru: But you can’t go out to work now. Think about it. Since you came here, you haven’t worked outside. I’m not at ease with you unfamiliar with the place. Besides, someone needs to take care of the home. I can work alone, and you can earn money by livestreaming at home. Why do you insist on going out?

Guo Jiayi: But I want to see the outside world.

Li Ru: If you keep saying that, I’ll get angry, and getting angry isn’t good for the baby. Do you want to make me angry?

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Afterward, each message was filled with Li Ru’s self-blame and constant belittling of Guo Jiayi, even using her unborn child as a threat.

Cheng Ye saw Pei Qinghuai close the folder and continued, “Last night, I contacted the local police to summon Li Ru. I thought it would take a long time, but surprisingly, her mental defenses were so weak that she confessed everything before even reaching the interrogation room.”

He shrugged and added, “Even the prostitution allegation was a setup by Li Ru. At that time, the village they lived in was very traditional, and ‘family scandals should not be exposed.’ As a result, Guo Jiayi’s reputation in the village was ruined. Even the old police officer, who was also Guo Jiayi’s father, didn’t investigate further out of momentary confusion.”

Pei Qinghuai placed his pen aside and looked at Cheng Ye. “So, Li Ru took advantage of the situation, married Guo Jiayi, and pretended she never despised him?”

Cheng Ye clapped his hands and nodded. “Exactly!” He then smiled. “This woman’s tactics are impressive. So why did she think she could make money by sticking with Guo Jiayi?”

“First of all, Guo Jiayi wasn’t bad-looking, right?” Pei Qinghuai began analyzing.

Cheng Ye: “Hmm…”

Pei Qinghuai: “Secondly, in that village, aside from Guo Jiayi’s family working in government positions, others were either laborers or farmers. If it were me, I’d also choose Guo Jiayi.”

Cheng Ye sighed, looking at Guo Jiayi’s photo lying on the table. “He should have had a better life. It’s hard to imagine that Guo Jiayi’s livestreaming was forced by Li Ru.”

“And, have you noticed? Every time Li Ru talked to Guo Jiayi, it was always about money.” Pei Qinghuai pushed the folder back to Cheng Ye.

“Yes.” Cheng Ye’s face darkened. “I’ve never seen anyone love money so much.”

“So…” Pei Qinghuai propped up his notebook, looking in Cheng Ye’s direction. “Shouldn’t we get to know this guy better?”

Cheng Ye looked at the simple sketch Pei Qinghuai had drawn in his notebook. Guo Xiaofei’s features were strikingly clear, with a slight smile that now seemed somewhat unsettling.