Chapter 3: The Truth of the Matter
"What, you know each other?" Li Fei asked curiously.
"He," Wang Sizhen started angrily, "a grown man, actually grabbed the parking space meant for us ladies just now. Oh, he looks refined, but actually acts so foolish!"
"I say, miss you——"
"What's the matter?"
"Just tell the truth, hmph!"
"Feifei, it's like this: when I arrived, I took a parking space. Later, this young lady ran over saying that she had discovered the spot first and wanted me to give it up. At that time, because I was eager to see you, I didn't pay attention to her."
After listening, Li Fei roughly guessed what had happened. "Juncai, don't let this happen again. As a man, you should have gentlemanly manners, not be reckless, and especially show care and tenderness toward beautiful women!"
Hearing the reproach, the man immediately said, "Sorry, miss, please forgive my careless behavior."
Ma Xiaoling quickly followed the stairs down and said, "It was also caused by circumstances, you can't blame this gentleman. I think: love is never wrong!"
The man immediately cast a grateful look. Li Fei was very pleased as well. "This is my boyfriend, Situ Juncai. I hope Miss Wang and Miss Ma can forget the unpleasant incident just now. My boyfriend is a really good person, very easy to get along with."
"Miss Li, you are too polite. Actually, I'm also at fault. I stomped on Mr. Situ's car twice at the time! Please forgive my rude behavior too."
"Really?" Li Fei got excited, "If it were me, I would have done the same! I might even have beaten him up! Miss Wang, we really get along! Juncai, don't all women need special care? Do you understand now?"
Ma Xiaoling was greatly surprised—this Miss Li is dating Situ, but why is she talking about her boyfriend like that? And seeing Mr. Situ nodding, seemingly unconcerned yet pleased, she really didn't understand how this couple could be so intimate today.
"I really envy you both. If Miss Li doesn't mind me being stingy, whenever you have time, come to my flower shop. I'll personally arrange the most meaningful love flowers for you."
"Miss Ma owns a flower shop? I really didn't expect that. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people care about romance in life, but fortunately, in the vast world, I met you. What a fate! Here's my business card.“Please make sure to invite Miss Ma, Miss Wang, and your families to the birthday party the day after tomorrow.”
“Thank you, here's my business card.”
“Okay, I'll send the invitation to your residence as soon as possible. Miss Wang—”
“Oh, she's with me. We'll go together then.”
“Great, we'll be waiting for you. We can have a good chat then.”
“Then we won't bother you anymore. We're going shopping now,” said Wang Sizhen.
“Go ahead and choose freely. Have fun!”
As they reached the door, Ma Xiaoling suddenly asked, “Mr. Situ, may I ask a bold question: what relation is Situ Fenren to you?” Since she had felt a sense of familiarity from the first time she saw him, it wasn't until she heard the name Situ that she finally remembered Situ Fenren.
“He is my cousin elder. Miss Ma, you know my cousin elder?” Situ Juncai was very surprised.
“More like an acquaintance. Alright, sorry to bother you.” Ma Xiaoling turned and walked away. Situ Juncai looked at Ma Xiaoling's background with curiosity, wondering who she really was.
Police Station. Many officers greeted Kuang Tianyou with “Old Commander.” Some even held higher ranks than him. Kuang Tianyou nodded and smiled in response. Speaking of “Old Commander,” there was a reason for it. As mentioned earlier, Kuang Tianyou had solved numerous difficult cases. Normally, he would have been promoted long ago, and becoming a police superintendent would have been no problem, but he refused all promotions, staying wholeheartedly as a mere detective. Many of his subordinates had been promoted to become his superiors, but because when they were his subordinates they had experienced his righteous and generous character, they respected him greatly and referred to him as “Boss.” Moreover, Kuang Tianyou never aged, remaining youthful for years, which puzzled others. According to him, such appearance was due to practicing a certain type of qigong, taught in a way passed down within his family and forbidden to share externally. Combining these reasons, many in the police station called him “Old Commander.”
Kuang Tianyou arrived at the Criminal Investigation Records Department.
“Hey, Ah Ken!” he greeted a middle-aged, slightly overweight man.
“Yo, Old Commander, you have time today? How have you been lately?” Ah Ken said warmly.
“Not bad. I happen to have some free time today and came specifically to see you.”
“You're up to something, I can tell. What do you need my help with? Go ahead and tell me.”
“You know me well. I won't be polite then. I want to investigate a case.”“What kind of case makes the Old Marshal come personally?”
“Actually, I don't know what kind of case it is either.”
“Ah? Old Marshal, you're not teasing me, are you?”
“Don't get me wrong. All I know is that the possible location of the case is Room 21 on the third floor of Building A, Yinhua Apartments.”
“That will take some time. Please wait.” After speaking, he left. Despite his weight, his style was quite efficient.
Fifteen minutes later.
“Old Marshal, the results are out. There have been three incidents in this apartment. One was a burglary, one was gas poisoning, and one was a suicide. Which one do you want to see?”
Kuang Tianyou was startled, not expecting it to be so troublesome. Suddenly remembering that the restless ghost was female, he said, “The victim is female.”
“Then it's the suicide case. I already knew that a case the boss comes to investigate personally must be extraordinary. The deceased woman is quite notable.”
Kuang Tianyou uttered an “Oh.”
Seeing Kuang Tianyou interested, Axin was about to speak but suddenly looked around cautiously, “Old Marshal, this is not a place to talk, please follow me.”
Kuang Tianyou's curiosity grew even stronger. “Aken, what's going on, why so secretive?” They arrived at a small room and closed the door.
Ignoring Kuang Tianyou's questions, Axin started reciting: “The deceased is a female, named Situ Liqi, born in March 1983. She was an artist contracted with Tianbao Entertainment Company. She won the Hong Kong Most Popular Female Singer Gold Award in 2004. Especially the song ‘My Heart Belongs to You' once swept fans like a craze. On July 3, the building manager attempted to deliver dinner to Situ Liqi but after pressing the doorbell for a long time with no response, considering that she had been very punctual and never missed deliveries during her three years of residence, suspected a problem and called the police. Upon entering the apartment, they found the deceased lying on the bed, with a knife in her chest. The knife was 20 inches long and completely embedded in her chest.”
“How could such a deep wound be suicide?” Kuang Tianyou asked.
“At first, the police also considered it homicide, but this was quickly dismissed.First, there was nothing of value stolen from the room, including bankbooks, gold necklaces, or jewelry. Second, there were no signs of a struggle or any traces of the body being moved. Third, there was no information about any suspicious third party, such as photos or phone recordings. Fourth—and this is the most frightening—the deceased's face showed no sign of pain and even bore a smile.”
“What?” Kuang Tianyou was shocked.
“Unable to determine otherwise, the police had no choice but to rule it as a suicide. But then the trouble began.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“During the investigation, we discovered that Si Xuliqi was actually the third daughter of the jewelry tycoon Si Xifenqi! Although he was merely a businessman, he had good relations with many legislators. After learning that the police had ruled his daughter's death as suicide, he was extremely dissatisfied. He was convinced that his daughter had been murdered, because she was lively and cheerful, and showed no signs of trouble before her death. Therefore, he secretly pressured the police through legislators, and some media outlets also reported extensively, claiming that the police were incompetent.”
