Blank Charge

Ren Wenli called and as expected, the son of the victim in the first Building case was not well-behaved. He often ran around in his mother’s convenience store and even knocked down the shelves, causing trouble in the store.

But that was in the past. Now the child has become mute, unable to speak or interact with others, completely transforming into a different well behaved individual.

Jin Zhou and Ren Wenli sat at a small round table in a bubble tea shop across from the convenience store. Two cups of bubble tea were placed on the table, but they hardly touched them.

“The killer must have had contact with the victim and the victim’s child at the same time in order to conclude that ‘the child is was indeed stubborn.'”

Ren Wenli wrote down keywords in her notebook, drawing circles and arrows. Jin Zhou glanced at it, finding it messy and incomprehensible, unable to understand Ren Wenli’s thought process.

“This way, we can narrow down the scope.” Jin Zhou shifted his gaze, picked up his bubble tea, took a sip, and felt the cold liquid slide down his throat, driving away his drowsiness.

“The child goes to school and straight home , and doesn’t wander around, so it’s unlikely that the killer had contact with the child. The only possible time when the mother and child could be seen by the killer at the same time is on the way to school and on the way back from school.”

Ren Wenli drew a long solid line on her notebook, representing the twenty-four hours of a day. But the blank space on the paper was not enough, and the solid line unavoidably intersected with the other information she had written, making it messy, unclear, and confusing.

“I have to say, sis, can you make it look better, why is it all scrambled up?” Jin Zhou couldn’t bear it anymore. He took the notebook and pen from Ren Wenli’s hand, flipped to a clean page, and listed various possibilities in an organized manner.

“First, let’s consider the time period on the way to school. Normally, people include breakfast and transportation. Just a guess, but the killer could be the owner of a steamed bun shop or a bus driver. However, Luo Xueqing has her own car, so we can probably exclude transportation.”

“Next is the time period during school. I don’t think we can exclude this time period. What if the killer is a teacher at the school? I don’t know which elementary school the convenience store employee’s son attends, but that little girl and Luo Zihao go to the same elementary school, so we can investigate the school gatekeeper, janitors, and so on.”

“Finally, the time period on the way back from school. This range is a bit broader. You mentioned earlier that the convenience store employee’s child often stays in the store, so the killer is likely a frequent customer of that store. As for the contact with the other two individuals, maybe he passes by that elementary school on his way home from work.”

Jin Zhou said a lot in one breath, then put down the pen in his hand and picked up his bubble tea, taking another sip.

Perhaps due to the cold wind blowing outside the bubble tea shop for a long time, the refreshing feeling from the ice-cold bubble tea was gone, replaced by a chill.

“You’re really wasting your talent by not becoming a police officer.” Ren Wenli took back her notebook, looking at the content Jin Zhou wrote. “ I will have people investigate these three possibilities.”

“To be honest, you probably could have figured it out without me saying it,” Ren Wenli praised straightforwardly, and Jin Zhou didn’t think much of himself. “Previously, there were only two cases, so it’s normal I was unsure of the direction. Now we have more clues, otherwise, I wouldn’t have any ideas either.”

“But you’re different,” Ren Wenli put away the notebook and looked at Jin Zhou. “My director also told me that I’m messy when it comes to taking notes and tend to overlook some details, but the way you take notes is very clear and organized.”

“It’s a habit,” Jin Zhou shivered as he drank his iced milk tea. “After all, I’m a lawyer.”

“By the way,” Ren Wenli finally took a sip of her milk tea. “WangTai has been released.”

Jin Zhou’s expression froze, and he sighed with mixed emotions. “Not surprising.”

The masquerade party was purely personal freedom of WangTai. The content in the photos or videos didn’t show any explicit actions either, so they couldn’t be punished in that regard.

However, despite his release, the police did not give up on investigating WangTai. The guests at the party would all undergo investigation, and it depended on how WangTai would respond next.

“But the director of the city TV station has been suspended,” Ren Wenli continued. “And he seems inclined to speak up.”

“really?,” Jin Zhou said without hope.

“Don’t worry,” Ren Wenli said. “The provincial department is paying close attention to this case.”

“The provincial department?” Jin Zhou expressed surprise.

It seemed that the situation had indeed escalated due to Luo Xueqing’s actions. She didn’t suffer through all that in vain.

After parting ways with Ren Wenli, Jin Zhou went straight to the hospital.

Now Luo Zihao was taken care of by his distant relatives, and overnight, the child seemed to have grown up. He no longer always wore a sour face and even took the initiative to bring water to his mother to wipe her face.

“Uncle Jin, you must help my mom catch the culprit.”

Rarely hearing that brat call him “uncle,” Jin Zhou felt somewhat sad. He rubbed Luo Zihao’s head and asked, “Didn’t you see what the culprit looked like?”

Luo Zihao shook his head. “He was wearing a mask and knocked my mom unconscious as soon as he entered.”

“Wait a minute,” Jin Zhou frowned suddenly. “How did he enter?”

“Mom opened the door for him,” Luo Zihao said.

Someone familiar?

Before he could ponder further, his train of thought was interrupted by the vibration of his phone.

“Attorney Jin, it’s me,” a voice rang from the other end of the phone. It was Xie Yao. “The court has decided to prosecute Liu Yongchang.”

Jin Zhou felt a throbbing pain in his temples and realized he had never had such a headache before.

“Why?” he asked. “The evidence in this case is clearly insufficient.”

“There was still room for discussion before, but…” Xie Yao paused and changed the subject. “We have a new witness now.”

“A witness?” Jin Zhou asked in disbelief.

“Liu Qian,” Xie Yao said, “she testified that Liu Yongchang planned the murder that night. First, he went over and killed Wang Wu, then he returned to the scene to clean up, but he still missed the blood footprints on the wall.”

“Wait, Liu Qian??” Jin Zhou asked incredulously, “Is it the Liu Qian I know?”

“Yes, Liu Yongchang’s wife,” Xie Yao said.

 Jin Zhou immediately felt his brain spinning and held onto the window frame of the hospital room with his hand.

“It’s impossible.” He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “Liu Qian couldn’t say such things.”

Isn’t this clearly fabricated?!

“She came to testify, and we recorded it,” Xie Yao said. “You can come and check for yourself.”

That night, Jin Zhou received a stack of photos sent by Sun Yi.

The freshly taken photos all had the same person—Liu Qian, dressed up and extravagantly spending money in the Paris Temple.

The same person who lost a watch worth over 400,000 in the Paris Temple and begged Jin Zhou to help recover it.

No, that woman wasn’t that foolish; she was blatantly malicious.

She used to pretend to care about Liu Yongchang, but now her true colors were revealed.

After struggling together for so many years, they had accumulated considerable wealth. If Liu Yongchang were sent behind bars, she would have complete control over that wealth.

As Liu Yongchang’s lawyer, Jin Zhou would naturally not allow Liu Qian to have her way, but he had no idea how to tell Liu Yongchang about his wife’s betrayal.

“Yang Shiyu.” In the quiet bedroom, Jin Zhou half lay on the bed, leaning against a pillow, his head resting on Yang Shiyu’s shoulder. His fingers idly played with the gold anti-slip chain in front of him. “Do you believe in love?”

“What’s wrong?” Yang Shiyu put down the file in his hand and turned to look at Jin Zhou. The anti-slip chain slid over Jin Zhou’s head, causing his fingers to miss it.

“Liu Yongchang’s wife,” Jin Zhou withdrew his fingers, slightly raised his chin, and looked at the line of Yang Shiyu’s jaw. “She is testifying that Liu Yongchang committed the murder.”

“Why?” Yang Shiyu asked.

“She has been entertaining many male escorts outside marriage,” Jin Zhou said, “Although Liu Yongchang isn’t much better, they were still a married couple. It shouldn’t have come to this. If Liu Yongchang is convicted, it could be the death penalty.”

“You can argue that she is close to the suspected criminal and request the exclusion of witnesses,” Yang Shiyu gave a professional opinion without as much sentiment as Jin Zhou.

“I know.” Jin Zhou lifted his head from Yang Shiyu’s shoulder. Dissatisfied that Yang Shiyu didn’t understand his point, he said, “What I mean is, they have been married for so many years. How did it come to this?”

“No one can say for sure about matters of the heart.” Yang Shiyu straightened his head and continued reading the file in his hand.

“What about us?” Jin Zhou faced Yang Shiyu with his legs crossed, looking straight at him. “Do you think we will end up like them?”

“No,” Yang Shiyu’s gaze remained on the file, his tone flat.

“Why not?” Jin Zhou was truly filled with mixed emotions. After all, he had known the Liu Yongchang couple for so many years, unlike Yang Shiyu, who was merely observing the story of two strangers.

Seeing that Yang Shiyu didn’t react at all, Jin Zhou suddenly felt a little unsure. He snatched the file from Yang Shiyu’s hand and stubbornly said, “I’m asking you, Yang Shiyu. Will there come a day when you suddenly stop loving me?”

” Jin Zhou.” Yang Shiyu took off his gold-framed glasses, sounding somewhat helpless and slightly amused. “Why would you think that I would stop loving you?”

“You just said that no one can say for sure about matters of the heart.” Jin Zhou rested his elbow on his knee, propping his chin with his palm. “I don’t think I will stop loving you, Yang Shiyu. After all these years, my feelings for you have never changed.”

“Me neither.” Yang Shiyu raised his hand and rubbed Jin Zhou’s head. “Training a puppy takes too much energy. I don’t think I’ll have the energy to train any other puppies in my lifetime.”

“You’re the puppy here!” Jin Zhou completely forgot who originally claimed to be the fierce dog. “I suddenly thought of something. I might change my mind because you always curse. Maybe one day, I’ll stop loving you”

“You’re itching for it again, aren’t you?” Yang Shiyu raised an eyebrow.

“Fuck, can’t you stop being like this?”

Yang Shiyu rolled over and pressed Jin Zhou down. The familiar breath filled their lips and teeth.

In the depths of their emotions, Jin Zhou stopped the kiss and impulsively said to Yang Shiyu, “Yang Shiyu, let’s just get married somewhere.”

“Alright.” Yang Shiyu said and sealed Jin Zhou’s lips once again.

“If we get married,” Jin Zhou moved his chin away from being nibbled and said distractedly, “we must decide on our titles.”

“Husband.”

The two words Jin Zhou had longed to hear were spoken between their burning lips. He pushed Yang Shiyu’s chest, unable to believe it, and stared at him. “What did you call me?”

“Don’t like it?” Yang Shiyu responded with a question.

“No, no, say it again.” Jin Zhou stared at Yang Shiyu eagerly, but Yang Shiyu didn’t continue the conversation and focused on burying his head in Jin Zhou’s chest.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Jin Zhou desperately grabbed his pants that were being pulled off. “Let’s make things clear today. What will you call me in the future?”

“Jin Zhou.” Yang Shiyu called out his full name.

“No!” Jin Zhou frowned in protest.

“Zhou Zhou?” Yang Shiyu changed his address.

“Don’t act stupid!” Jin Zhou shouted.

Yang Shiyu smiled and lightly opened his lips. “Husband.”

“Hey! My dear wife!” Jin Zhou excitedly pulled off his own underpants. “I’m yours!”