Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 160

Some people could always talk non-stop, while others were unable to speak due to bad luck.

Although Lin Chen didn’t know exactly what means the other party used to prevent Song Shengsheng from going to the police, there were dark forces at play that had many ways to make them shut up obediently.

Xing Conglian put his hand on Lin Chen’s shoulder and gently pressed it. Then he asked Li Jingtian, “Li Jingtian, was it really your idea to ask Liu Ying to trick Xu Ran into doing those things?”

Li Jingtian raised his head suddenly, seemingly inexplicable, but the shock hidden in his eyes couldn’t be concealed.

Lin Chen couldn’t grasp Xing Conglian’s question, so he turned to look at him.

“Answer me.” Xing Conglian slammed his hands on the iron table, leaned forward, and stared at Li Jingtian.

After a while, Li Jingtian pinched the cigarette butt tightly and casually said, “It’s really interesting for you to ask that.”

“Consultant Lin, does his answer represent ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” Xing Conglian asked.

“No direct denial means acquiescence.” After Lin Chen finished speaking, he suddenly came to a realization and was frightened. “What do you mean?”

Xing Conglian nodded and spoke to Li Jingtian with a sneer. “Nine years ago, your grandfather was the ambassador here. CA Entertainment might have shut Song Shengsheng up to protect you, but nine years have passed now. Your family is just at the end of its strength in Xinni. Have you ever thought that this time, the abandoned son has become you, and the person who is replacing your high position is Song Shengsheng?”

Li Jingtian’s face showed uncertainty.

However, Xing Conglian didn’t plan to let him go. “You know, Xiang Ye asked Song Shengsheng to work in a bakery near our place as early as three months ago. He did this just to let us relax our vigilance. He had been planning Song Shengsheng’s comeback as early as three months ago. Looking back now, in those three months after you raped Xu Ran, all you needed to do was calm down and keep your mouth shut. You can still be a big star and enjoy the admiration of passersby and the screams of fans. But you planned that throat-slitting case at Hongjing Ansheng International Mall and bumped into Consultant Lin.”

Li Jingtian suddenly pushed the table and chair away frantically and yelled at Xing Conglian. “Shut up! Shut up!”

“Sorry, the person who could shut me up hasn’t been born yet.” Xing Conglian smiled and took out a cigarette, lighting it. He took a puff and narrowed his eyes as he blew out the smoke. “You have chosen a good meeting place and a good candidate. Where did you find that girl who was superb at acting and looked like Xu Ran? It also happened in Hongjing… Tsk, it’s a suicidal attack.”

Li Jingtian’s hideous face finally appeared to crumble.

With a cigarette in his hand, Xing Conglian walked step by step toward Li Jingtian. “No matter who the person behind you is, they just need to give you a little guidance that even you won’t notice was guiding you into an abyss of self-inflicted crimes. Then, they just needed to gently push you. For example, they could just give us some tips in time, then it wouldn’t be difficult for you to not die.” Xing Conglian paused, pinched the cigarette butt, and said to Li Jingtian, “Of course, this is all my personal speculation. So, does this person really exist, Mr. Li Jingtian?”

Li Jingtian raised his head violently. Aroused by fierceness, he actually reached out to grab Xing Conglian’s neck but was easily kicked to the ground.

Xing Conglian seemed to think he was too dirty to even touch, so he lightly kicked Li Jingtian’s leg and feet. “Someone has done a lot of harm to you. If I were you, I wouldn’t make that person feel better. So, tell me, who is that person, okay?”

……

When they walked out of the airport interrogation room, the narrow room was filled with Li Jingtian’s screams. The cry was like the wailing of a wild boar that had been grabbed by the neck at the last moment of its life. With a strong sense of unwillingness and resentment, the escorts wrestled with Li Jingtian in the room.

Lin Chen walked out of the airport with Xing Conglian amidst the sounds of those screams and tables and chairs colliding.

The sky was blue and still high, and the scorching sun made people unable to keep their eyes open.

In fact, things were simpler than they thought. Although simple, they completely grasped Li Jingtian’s true feelings.

According to Li Jingtian, that person was one of his ardent fans. By chance, the other party added him on WeChat and sent him nasty and fanatical confessions every day, sometimes praising his songs and sometimes scolding the occasional attacks on him online. After Xu Ran’s incident, the other party made it clear that no matter what he thought, she would do a great thing for him, so the bitch who dared wrong him would taste the feeling of being reviled to death, and she would use this method to help clear his grievances.

A fanatical fan with unspeakable reverence. What Li Jingtian did was just simply push the boat along the water and let Liu Ying deceive Xu Ran to come to Hongjing.

“What the hell can I do? If I can’t get Xu Ran here and she pretends to be her on stage, those stupid mad dogs online will say I made it all up!”

Similarly, Li Jingtian wouldn’t have anything to lose if the rabid fan hadn’t come on stage and slit his throat. Besides, with a great opportunity to attract everyone’s attention, Li Jingtian was obviously tempted.

In the whole plan, the only thing Li Jingtian didn’t expect was that the other party planted a nightingale in the bouquet of roses.

Lin Chen stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the airport. The sunlight shining on him was hot, but he actually had a cold, biting feeling.

The roses left at the scene of the crime were nothing more than clues created by those behind the scenes for him. One hinted at the wandering warbler, Xu Ran, and the other hinted at Li Jingtian’s psychological condition. If he guessed correctly, the other party simply induced him to track down Li Jingtian’s rape on Xu Ran, and they were sure if he had followed the trail, he would stumble upon Song Shengsheng’s old case back then.

If so, it was no accident that Xu Ran walked into that room; someone deliberately arranged it through the prostitution app.

After that, with Li Jingtian’s reputation in ruins, the effects of a short-term news outbreak would be terrifying, and Song Shengsheng could naturally recover his reputation quickly. Lin Chen remembered the public opinion data that Wang Chao had summarized. The second information outbreak was far more terrifying than the first.

And the person behind the scenes wasn’t afraid that he would find out someone was behind Li Jingtian’s instigation, because if Song Shengsheng wasn’t dead, Lin Chen would naturally suspect all this was planned by him for revenge.

At that time, Song Shengsheng, under the control of others, could only remain silent again.

Proficient in the media, hype the entertainment industry, and have a possible vested interest in this case; it seemed it could only be Xiang Ye and not CA Entertainment. CA was already exposed to being involved with Royal One in this case and compromised two of their big names, Li Jingtian and Mu Zhuo. Song Shengsheng, who hadn’t been in the news for ten years, wasn’t worth this kind of loss at all.

Lin Chen clenched his fists tightly. The question now was, how did Xiang Ye control Song Shengsheng. Who was he and why did he plan these series of events for Song Shengsheng’s comeback?

And the only way they could make things clear was to ask Xiang Ye himself.

Xing Conglian bought two cans of iced coffee from the vending machine. He opened one and handed it to Lin Chen and asked, “Do you regret it?”

Of course, this regret was referring to whether he regretted clearing Song Shengsheng’s name and bringing Li Jingtian to justice, just as Xiang Ye had hoped.

“I don’t.” Lin Chen found that he didn’t hesitate when he answered Xing Conglian’s question. He would never regret this kind of thing.

“Isn’t this the end?”

Xing Conglian pressed the iced coffee to his cheek, and the sudden cold and refreshing feeling made Lin Chen raise his head.

“It may be cruel to say these things to you now, but it’s not over. Please keep your chin up, Consultant Lin.”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s calm and resolute eyes and nodded. “I understand.” He turned and leaned on the floor-to-ceiling window and said to Xing Conglian, “This is almost an exhaustive plan, and even the retreat has been thoroughly thought out. If it weren’t for Song Shengsheng’s suicide, Xiang Ye’s plan might not have been exposed.”

Lin Chen once again remembered the man who ended his life with a blade in the bathtub. Only then did he realize that the deeper he investigated the case, the more reluctant he was to let Song Shengsheng leave.

But as Xing Conglian said, it wasn’t over yet. Xiang Ye still hadn’t faced the law, so now wasn’t the time to reminisce.

They quickly rushed back to the police station.

While on the road, Xing Conglian called the Yongchuan police officers and told them that Xiang Ye was a suspect and they had to detain him, but when they arrived at the police station, Xiang Ye wasn’t there.

“What happened?” Xing Conglian asked with a frown.

“Our people are with Mr. Xiang and have detained him, but the entire line at the Ludi Lake Tunnel is blocked by traffic, and the road development in that zone isn’t smooth, so they haven’t arrived yet.”

Lin Chen’s heart was slightly relieved. At this moment, the police officer said, “The autopsy of the deceased, Song Shengsheng, has been completed. Do you want to go and have a look?”

……

Lin Chen walked to the front of the autopsy room with Xing Conglian.

He was about to push open the door, but Xing Conglian held his hand.

“It’s okay. It’s not the first time I’ve seen a corpse,” he said as he was about to enter.

“Lin Chen, this isn’t the crime scene. You going in now will just be purely torturing yourself.”

This was probably one of those rare moments when Xing Conglian called him by his name.

Lin Chen couldn’t think of any words to refute Xing Conglian. He quickly woke up, took a step back, and said to Xing Conglian, “Then, let’s ask Mr. Medical Examiner to come out and talk about it in detail.”

He sat on the bench outside the autopsy room and watched Xing Conglian’s figure enter the door. When the door panel closed, it made a soft squeak.

Song Shengsheng’s cause of death was obvious. At that time, the medical examiner had already stated it clearly. He slit his throat without hesitation with a blade.

The reason he committed suicide was to let them find Li Jingtian and tear off Xiang Ye’s mask, but deep down in Lin Chen’s heart, he always felt that Song Shengsheng’s death wasn’t that simple.

Song Shengsheng… Song Shengsheng…

You have persisted for so many years. None of them have been able to make you succumb. You have said so many things with your death. So, is there anything I haven’t heard yet?

After Xing Conglian entered the autopsy room, he walked out again shortly after. Lin Chen could smell the scent of formalin floating on him.

Xing Conglian walked quickly towards him. Lin Chen stood up and asked, “How is it?”

“There are not many suspicious things about the autopsy. It was suicide.”

Lin Chen thought, ‘Sure enough.’ Before he had time to think of what to say, Xing Conglian said, “But there’s a problem.”

“What?”

“Song Shengsheng is missing a tooth.”

Lin Chen suddenly raised his head. “What do you mean?”

‘The second molar tooth of his lower jaw. According to the medical examiner, he could have lost it more than ten years ago. It was pulled out from the root. At the same time, there are obvious signs of dentures installed there.”

Lin Chen still didn’t know what Xing Conglian meant by this. Xing Conglian said, “I know a little bit about this kind of device. If I’m not mistaken, this is why Song Shengsheng couldn’t speak.”

“I don’t understand.” He couldn’t help but grab the cuffs of Xing Conglian’s uniform.

“This method is commonly used in espionage. Many things can be installed in a small denture, such as bugs, positioning devices, and the like. More than ten years ago, this technology had already matured.”

Lin Chen felt as if lightning had struck him. “You mean, Xiang Ye pulled out Song Shengsheng’s tooth and installed an eavesdropping device on him, so no matter what he said, he would be monitored, and he couldn’t take off this tooth because Xiang Ye would find out? So, are you telling me that Song Shengsheng has lived under 24-hour, non-stop surveillance for nearly ten years?”

“I’m afraid it’s more than that. Because even so, there’s still no way to avoid other forms of communication.”

“You mean writing?”

“Yes, Song Shengsheng has a lot of time to be interrogated separately at the police station. He could write on paper and tell the police what happened. So, how on earth could Xiang Ye make him obedient when he’s unable to write?”

“I can’t think of it. Please tell me.”

Every word that Xing Conglian was saying was so cruel that Lin Chen couldn’t imagine the experience behind this cruelty.

“In fact, the tooth itself is meaningless, but it’s like a sword of Damocles* hanging high on top. It’s telling Song Shengsheng, don’t step out of line. This is all I know. To find out how he could control a person to the point of no resistance, you still need to go from here.” Xing Conglian raised his finger and poked his heart.

*Commonly used as an allusion to imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power.

“So, Xiang Ye was threatening Song Shengsheng with someone.”

Lin Chen thought about this issue, but he thought about it for a long time and couldn’t come up with a correct conclusion. How could Song Shengsheng have so many important people worth caring about? At that time, he couldn’t figure out this question. It was simply too evil to think about.

Besides his fans, who else did Song Shengsheng care about?

Lin Chen raised his head, and Xing Conglian was staring at him with clear eyes.

Xing Conglian was one step ahead and said the most difficult thing on their minds. “If I were Xiang Ye and wanted to control Song Shengsheng, I just need to install a bug on him and tell him as long as he dares take it out or disclose any information to the police, I’ll kill one of his fans. There are thousands of fans out there. Please believe me and the forces behind me that we have ways to kill many fans before the police can act.”

Lin Chen really wanted to deny Xing Conglian’s guess, but he searched his guts and found that it was the most suitable shackle for Song Shengsheng. The other party could even tell him that as long as he dared to die, he would kill his fans as well, so he could certainly try it.

Anyone under such torture either would become a lunatic or would choose to die, but Song Shengsheng even lost the right to die freely. He had an arduous psychological struggle and may have been on the verge of collapse, but he was still sober and alive until he died.

Song Shengsheng remained silent. He walked into prison and gave up any chance that anyone would like him again, and Lin Chen finally knew what kind of belief was behind the symbol Song Shengsheng drew.

He looked at Xing Conglian and asked solemnly, “If you guess right, why did he choose to commit suicide today?”

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 159

“Song Shengsheng is the stupidest person I have ever seen.”

Li Jingtian was finally able to sit down properly. He asked Xing Conglian for a cigarette, which Xing Conglian handed over, although his face was full of displeasure.

Lin Chen always felt that he had seen evil in the world, but the story told by Li Jingtian still made him unable to feel any light.

According to Li Jingtian, the first time he saw Song Shengsheng was at a global concert tour. At that time, Song Shengsheng sang high on the stage, tore off his shirt, and then winked in his direction. Li Jingtian felt that Song Shengsheng was seducing him.

What happened later was that one party was deliberate while the other was unaware.

For Song Shengsheng, Li Jingtian joined CA Entertainment as a trainee, but his status was far from Song Shengsheng. At that time, Song Shengsheng was the darling of the media, blessed by the gods. He was chic and willful and even dared to kiss female models directly at cocktail parties. Seeing these things every day, Li Jingtian had the urge to cut Song Shengsheng’s throat directly and watch him lie in a pool of blood and bleed to death, but he knew he couldn’t, not because of his conscience, but because he hadn’t gotten Song Shengsheng yet.

Later, Li Jingtian was able to make inroads into the company and was about to make his debut. He finally got a little closer to Song Shengsheng’s circle of friends. Their singing practice room was downstairs from Song Shengsheng. He could always see Song Shengsheng talking or laughing with someone, but occasionally, when passing in front of him, he never glanced at him once. He even deliberately tried to walk up to Song Shengsheng once, bending over and bowing, greeting “Senior Song”, but Song Shengsheng just nodded slightly at him, said nothing, and didn’t even ask his name. This was the most unbearable thing for him. Song Shengsheng had completely touched his bottom line.

Li Jingtian couldn’t bear it anymore. He inquired about an underground bar that Song Shengsheng often went to. It was a place that the paparazzi didn’t even know about. It was secretive. Li Jingtian used some methods and started working at the bar. He slowly observed and understood Song Shengsheng, knowing that there were always different girls around him, knowing that although he liked to play with girls, he was always alone when he went home, and knowing that he liked to drink a lot and would black out after getting drunk.

Sure enough, the roles of a bartender and customer were the easiest to cultivate. He and Song Shengsheng slowly became familiar. Song Shengsheng sometimes would get tired of playing and would sit down alone in front of the bar, squinting in the dim light while drinking ordinary soda water, and would chat with him. When they first met, he unabashedly told Song Shengsheng that he was also an artist at CA Entertainment. Because he couldn’t accept the company’s unspoken rules, he had a hard time, and it was difficult to make a living, so he was forced to work in a bar.

“He actually believed the story I made up casually and said he admires me very much.” Li Jingtian laughed. “Don’t you think he’s stupid?”

“What happened later?” Lin Chen asked.

“Later, later on, he started to work hard for the company’s senior management to let Mu Zhuo and I make our debut as soon as possible. He also recorded a video with us. He actually helped me.” Li Jingtian narrowed his eyes. When he recalled that time, he actually showed a sarcastic smile on his face. “Then I thanked him, and we became friends. Sometimes, when he gets drunk at the bar, I will send him home. He was defenseless against me. He thought I was poor and would often secretly bring me delicious food. Why do you think there are such innocent and lovely people in this world?”

Lin Chen sat opposite Li Jingtian, unable to restrain himself from imagining the scene at that time.

Maybe at the bar, maybe under the streetlight, Song Shengsheng would confidently talk to Li Jingtian from the bottom of his heart and take care of him like a junior brother in class. He would pat Li Jingtian’s head, looking casual about it, but he actually cared about Li Jingtian’s feelings. He protected him and took care of him, but he never knew what kind of beast he was facing.

“Then one day, Song Shengsheng got drunk in the bar again. He hugged a woman and refused to let go. He would always ignore it when he drank happily. I took him away from the woman and sent him home. I think that time was simply given to me by God.” Li Jingtian hooked the corner of his mouth proudly and looked at them. “Consultant Lin, you’re smart. Can you guess what happened after?”

Lin Chen took a deep breath and said slowly, “For a person like Song Shengsheng, it’s impossible for you to imprison him in chains, because even if you break his legs, he will desperately climb out as long as he’s still breathing. Then, to control such a person, you can only use his kindness.” Lin Chen didn’t know how he could maintain such a calm tone. “He was drunk that night, and you made him mistakenly believe that he hurt you. Only in this way will he be firmly controlled by you. Am I right?”

Hearing what he said, Li Jingtian suddenly choked on the smoke and burst into tears of laughter. “Consultant Lin, you’re really the smartest person I have ever seen. The next morning, I deliberately made a lot of noise and spread blood everywhere. I sat on the bed and cried and told Song Shengsheng that he had raped me. I desperately said no, but he forcefully held me down and inserted it. I didn’t expect he would actually believe it. Don’t you think he’s an idiot?” Li Jingtian wiped away his tears from his laughter and continued, “Actually, as long as he turned me around and looked at my ass, he would know it wasn’t blood that came from my anus, and the bruises were done by me knocking into things, but for a dumbass like him, how could he know to check?”

Lin Chen didn’t dare stop and think about the scene at that time. As long as he thought of the deception Song Shengsheng had suffered, he wished he could go back decades ago, dragging Song Shengsheng from back then to look at exactly who Li Jingtian was…

But now it was decades later, and he didn’t have the ability to travel through time, so he could only ask coldly, “Then, I think if a person like Song Shengsheng found out he raped you, he might actually impulsively go to the police station and surrender himself. How could he obediently be controlled by you?”

“I praise you for being smart just now, yet you’re being stupid again? At that time, I begged him not to call the police. I still wanted to make my debut. An undoubted trainee who was sexually assaulted by a big star would definitely be abandoned by the company.”

Lin Chen lowered his head slightly, then raised it and stared at Li Jingtian. “Continue.”

“Consultant Lin, it’s not easy for you just now. This is just the appetizer. The content behind is quite heavy.”

“I pretended to be recuperating and lived in his house for a while. I faked having a mental illness, and sometimes I started to self-harm or lock myself in my room all day without saying a word. He was very worried and afraid that I had developed psychological issues, so he sent me to a psychiatrist. In fact, this was just ordinary acting. The me who saw him for the first time was the real me, but he thought I was crazy. I pressed him against the tiles of the bathroom. He resisted desperately, but he didn’t dare to hurt me. I said to him over and over again, ‘I love you’ as I entered him again and again. His body was really soft and hot. His blood dripped on my feet and his eyes—you should’ve seen it—it was so sad and heartbreaking.”

The cigarette in Li Jingtian’s hand had already burned out, but he still took a puff through the filter without tobacco.

“You made him mistakenly think you were mentally disturbed because of his violation, so he felt guilty and let you do whatever you want?” Lin Chen was a little suspicious.

“Yes, after I fucked him, I hugged him and said I was sorry. I left him disappointed and started to self-harm. I told him the psychiatrist said it was post-traumatic stress disorder. I asked him to stay away from me, and he softened again.” Li Jingtian chuckled. “How can there be such a soft-hearted and easy-to-deceive person in this world?”

“There’s a problem,” Lin Chen said.

“What problem?”

“Since you completely controlled him, why did you frame him for raping Mu Zhuo and send him to jail later? Did you get tired of him?”

“That’s him looking for death by himself, okay? If he obediently listened to me, there wouldn’t be any problems. I still ‘love’ him well…”

“How was he looking for death?”

“He went to seduce others in front of me. He was lewd and went around making waves. At that time, he was on tour, and the news was all about him getting a room with someone else. He had the smell of another woman on him. He also provoked me and said that if I can’t get him up, he’s going to find another man.” Li Jingtian smiled cruelly. “Don’t you think he’s courting death?”

“He noticed something was wrong, and he was testing you.”

“Do you think Song Shengsheng’s IQ is that high? You can say whatever you want.”

“I’m pretty sure he was testing you, and you did expose your crazy nature under his persecution at that time. He knew what kind of person you were, and he said he was going to the police, but you did it first.”

Li Jingtian shrugged. “At first, I didn’t think much of it and took some videos and warned him that if he said anything, I would put them on the internet and let all his fans know what a slut he is. But then, suddenly one day, he had the guts to tell me I could make it public, and he didn’t want to play with me anymore. He was really courting death~”

“So, you acted ahead of time, and together with Mu Zhuo, falsely accused him of rape?” Lin Chen spoke slowly, word by word. “You used the same method to frame him twice.”

“Aren’t I amazing?” Li Jingtian asked with a smile.

“It’s still wrong.” Lin Chen looked up at Xing Conglian. “If he already knew your true face at that time, he would have no reason not to tell the police what kind of person you are.”

“Maybe he wanted to go to jail and get fucked by more men?” Li Jingtian said.

Lin Chen ignored him and glanced at Xing Conglian, then continued, “Li Jingtian, let’s sort out the clues. First, Song Shengsheng mistakenly believed he hurt you and was controlled. Then, after a period of patience, he realized that you have a problem and noticed your true face by testing you. Then, you threatened him with a sex video and the like, forcing him to submit to you. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore and expressed his desire to go to the police, but before he could, you conspired with Mu Zhuo to get him ahead of time. Am I right?”

“Basically.” Li Jingtian smiled again. “I’m taking the initiative to report the crime and have a good attitude. Can I ask for leniency?”

Xing Conglian frowned and said, “Two questions. First, why didn’t he call the police immediately after he noticed your true face, and even gave you a second chance to coerce him. Second, when he finally couldn’t stand you anymore, he still gave you the opportunity to turn yourself in, and even didn’t tell the police what you did to him in the end.”

“Yes, it’s very strange, which is why I said he loves me, but you don’t believe it.”

“What do you think?” Xing Conglian asked Lin Chen. “Why did Song Shengsheng do this?”

Song Shengsheng tested Li Jingtian for the first time and discovered his true face, but in the end, he didn’t go to the police. Something must have happened during this time that forced him to give up this idea.

The only possibility was that Song Shengsheng’s idea of calling the police was known to someone, and the other party used some method to stop him, and that person was most likely Xiang Ye, who brought him to his debut and whom he had always trusted deeply. Assuming Xiang Ye represented the will of CA Entertainment and forced Song Shengsheng to give up the idea of calling the police in order to protect Li Jingtian, who had a powerful family background, then Xiang Ye was truly terrifying.

Lin Chen pondered for a moment and drove all emotional thoughts out of his mind. He asked Li Jingtian, “In fact, there’s another question. When such a big thing happened, CA Entertainment protected Mu Zhuo and gave up on Song Shengsheng. Was it your family that put pressure on CA?”

Li Jingtian said, “Consultant Lin, use your brain. Song Shengsheng raped Mu Zhuo. What does that have to do with me?”

“This is strange.” Lin Chen’s mind turned. “CA has no reason to give up a superstar to protect a pawn, unless…”

Xing Conglian said, “Unless, Song Shengsheng’s imprisonment is what CA Entertainment wanted to see, and they are the ones who silenced him.”

“But this still doesn’t make sense,” Lin Chen said. “The proportions of the two sides are too different. If I were a senior executive of the company, I would definitely put Mu Zhuo, who dared to make trouble, to death. Why would I abandon Song Shengsheng?”

Xing Conglian said, “If it weren’t for the power behind Mu Zhuo, there could be only one possibility.”

“What?”

“Song Shengsheng was out of control,” Xing Conglian replied.

Lin Chen suddenly woke up.

That’s right. They always regarded Song Shengsheng as being weak and easy to deceive. Since Song Shengsheng dared to test Li Jingtian, he wasn’t a soft persimmon who could be squeezed by others. Indeed, Song Shengsheng was too kind, but that didn’t mean he was really stupid. Smart and kind were not contradictory words.

Looking back at all this, the motivation behind Song Shengsheng’s deliberate provocation of Li Jingtian for the second time and causing him to go to jail was completely different.

Lin Chen suddenly realized that if he were in Song Shengsheng’s situation, he would have to face a perverted rapist and a company that firmly controlled him. If he wanted to get rid of this terrible darkness, he could only choose to die or hide in a place where their tentacles were difficult to reach, such as a prison.

It was even very likely that he was provoking Li Jingtian and also his own company at the same time in order to force both parties to the extreme and see what they would do. If he still wanted to survive, then going to jail was his best choice at the time.

Lin Chen thought that if he were Song Shengsheng and lived in such a hopeless and painful situation, he might have chosen to commit suicide much earlier, rather than insisting on looking for a ray of freedom in the darkness of despair. Lin Chen suddenly felt so uncomfortable that he couldn’t help it. Song Shengsheng, I think I have started to respect you even more. I really want to talk to you.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 158

According to Xiang Ye, the reason why Song Shengsheng was working at the bakery at that time was because the doctor who counseled him suggested he try to make contact with society for restorative treatment. But now that Song Shengsheng chose to commit suicide, even if Xing Conglian wasn’t proficient in psychology, he felt that the level of the psychiatrist must be extremely problematic.

And what they were discussing was seemingly happening below.

Even before the police finished the on-site investigation, the police officer who had just come upstairs quietly sent a message that a lot of people had gathered downstairs. Of course, the first of them were the reporters who came with inquiries. Song Shengsheng’s fans also arrived, and it was also said that Song Shengsheng’s psychiatrist also came.

They didn’t even have to go downstairs; instead, they turned on the TV. The live broadcast at the entrance of the Lihao Hotel caught their eyes.

Compared to when they came, the vehicle downstairs had grown astronomically, with all kinds of light shining and reflecting the dawn.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen worriedly, but Lin Chen just watched with a cold face and crossed arms without saying a word.

“Breaking news!” A female reporter stood in front of a police car with a serious expression. “Our reporter on scene just got news that Song Shengsheng, a famous singer who was unjustly imprisoned for eight years and suffered in the past, committed suicide in the Lihao Hotel in Yongchuan that’s behind me. Next, we’ll interview Mr. Song Shengsheng’s agent, Mr. Xiang Ye, the current general manager of the Yasheng Performing Arts Group.”

As the reporter’s camera moved around, Xiang Ye’s figure appeared in the live broadcast.

“Mr. Xiang Ye, did Shengsheng really commit suicide?”

Xiang Ye looked sad. His suit was wrinkled, and he covered his mouth and nose with his hands as he nodded to the camera with a gloomy expression.

“How is this possible? Isn’t Mr. Song Shengsheng’s fan meeting about to be held soon?!” The reporter shouted loudly. “Do you know what caused Mr. Song Shengsheng to choose to commit suicide before the fan meeting?”

Xiang Ye shook his head, as if unwilling to answer the question.

“Mr. Xiang Ye, the public and fans alike need your answer,” the reporter said forcefully.

“Because of psychological reasons,” Xiang Ye replied reluctantly.

“Do you know what psychological problem?”

“Depression.”

At this moment, a calm voice sounded behind Xiang Ye. The cameraman hurriedly pointed the camera at the visitor.

It was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His clothes were neat and meticulous, giving him a scholarly look.

“Excuse me, who are you?”

“I am Song Shengsheng’s psychiatrist. My surname is Tan.”

The reporter became a little excited. She didn’t expect her question to be answered. “Hello, Doctor Tan. Can you tell me more about Mr. Song Shengsheng’s condition?”

“It’s a matter of patient privacy. It’s inconvenient for me to disclose the specifics. I’m very sorry. In the end, this was a choice he made.”

“But isn’t Shengsheng’s fan meeting about to be held?!”

“Yes, it has always been his wish to see his fans again. He has been going through very difficult psychological struggles, and he wasn’t able to overcome his mental illness. I regret this.”

“But didn’t Mr. Xiang Ye say before that Shengsheng has already reconnected with society under your guidance and that he was recovering well to the point he could hold a fan meeting? How could he suddenly couldn’t overcome his depression?”

“The reasons for this are very complicated, but Mr. Xiang Ye has always wanted to keep the noise and distraction away. But we couldn’t maintain this. I’m sorry.”

Looking at the solemn face of the psychiatrist on TV, Xing Conglian looked at the person beside him. Lin Chen stood still with his arms crossed, rubbing his chin with his knuckles, looking extremely irritated.

“Xiang Ye’s fox tail is exposed,” he said to Lin Chen. “And what does he mean by, ‘failing to keep him away from the noise and distractions’?”

He didn’t know how this sentence poked Lin Chen. Before his voice fell, Lin Chen ran out of the room, rushed to the elevator entrance, and was desperately pressing the elevator’s down button. When Xing Conglian followed out, the elevator door just opened, and he squeezed in with Lin Chen. “What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Defend myself.” The floor was dropping rapidly. Lin Chen said, “Xiang Ye accused the media of caring too much about Song Shengsheng’s privacy a few days ago, but now that Shengsheng is dead, he actually called his psychiatrist to analyze Shengsheng’s state. Sure enough, he really wants to put the blame for Shengsheng’s death on us. What does this mean?”

“It proves that Xiang Ye has never been sincere with Song Shengsheng,” Xing Conglian answered.

Lin Chen nodded with a firm gaze. Although Xing Conglian thought that given Lin Chen’s state, he would be blaming himself for not seeing through Xiang Ye’s impure motives earlier, his gaze this time seemed to be saying: “You have to hold on. Hold on until the end.”

When the elevator reached the bottom floor, they walked out. The psychiatrist and Xiang Ye were answering reporters’ questions about Song Shengsheng’s condition.

He didn’t know what the two said in front of the media reporters, but the moment Lin Chen rushed out of the hotel lobby, he became the protagonist under the spotlight.

Flashes of light were directed at his face.

“Mr. Lin Chen, do you have any opinion on what Mr. Xiang Ye said?”

“Did you really keep harassing Mr. Song Shengsheng?”

“For what purpose did you want to meet with a victim of sexual assault?”

“Do you regret the live broadcast?”

“Mr. Xiang Ye is accusing you of making Mr. Song Shengsheng’s painful past public without his consent, so that it came to a point where he could no longer bear it and chose to commit suicide. What do you think of this matter?”

Xing Conglian wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Lin Chen had already been targeted by all the cameras. Just when Xing Conglian thought Lin Chen would refuse the interview, he said, “Come, one by one.”

“What did you say?” The reporters were stunned.

“I said I will answer your questions one by one.” Lin Chen stood calmly under the focus of the media. “You asked me what I thought of what Mr. Xiang Ye just said. Although I was going downstairs just now and didn’t hear what he said, I can guess from your questions that Mr. Xiang Ye and Doctor Tan must have been explaining the cause of Shengsheng’s suicide just now, right?”

The reporters nodded.

“First, the police did not make any judgment on the cause of Mr. Song Shengsheng’s death, yet an agent and a psychiatrist are telling you that he died of suicide. Don’t you think this is odd?”

It was obvious to Xing Conglian that the faces of Xiang Ye and the doctor darkened when he said this. Lin Chen had never lost a fight to anyone.

“Second,” Lin Chen turned to look at the psychiatrist, “I don’t know where your qualification came from, but anyone who has studied psychological counseling knows that protecting the privacy of patients always comes first. I have never seen a psychiatrist explain his patients’ psychological problems to the media with great fanfare after the patient’s death.”

“Aren’t you guilty, Consultant Lin?” Xiang Ye suddenly asked. “Are you trying to gag us?”

“Not at all.” When Lin Chen heard this, he took a half step back, turned around, and looked at Xiang Ye, showing a cold smile. “But I suddenly wanted to ask a question. Did Song Shengsheng’s death catch you by surprise?”

Xiang Ye was stunned for a moment. It was impossible for him to escape the panic of being poked at the center for a short time. Lin Chen didn’t even need to hear his answer, but said clearly, “Thank you, I understand.”

Xing Conglian turned back to the hotel with Lin Chen.

In fact, Lin Chen’s last question was hardly a meaningful one. Song Shengsheng committed suicide suddenly. This was normal for Xiang Ye, as an agent, to be caught off guard.

However, Xiang Ye’s reaction still allowed them to eliminate a possibility. Xiang Ye didn’t force Song Shengsheng to commit suicide. Song Shengsheng died voluntarily.

After avoiding the camera, Lin Chen leaned against the door of the stairwell and said to Xing Conglian, “Light a cigarette, Xing Conglian.”

Without asking why, Xing Conglian took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

Lin Chen took a deep breath of smoke in the air, then said in a calm tone, “Look, now that our speculation has come true and there is indeed something wrong with Xiang Ye, we can deduce the motives of his behavior. The reason why he’s uncharacteristically asked a psychiatrist to explain the reason for Song Shengsheng’s suicide, and even wanted to put the blame on me—it seems he’s trying to cover up the real reason why Song Shengsheng committed suicide in front of the public. So, what do you think is the real reason?”

“For whatever reason, Xiang Ye imprisoned Song Shengsheng so he couldn’t speak out. Song Shengsheng chose to commit suicide in order to get rid of him.”

Lin Chen lowered his head and nodded with difficulty.

Xing Conglian thought for a while, then said, “But there’s still a problem with your speculation. Even if Xiang Ye imprisons Song Shengsheng, Song Shengsheng has countless opportunities to ask for help. Why didn’t he?”

“Yes, this problem goes way back then. Song Shengsheng silently endured Li Jingtian’s torture, and even after being falsely accused by the other party, he didn’t defend himself, let alone accuse the other party of rape. Why?”

“There’s something shady here,” Xing Conglian said.

“So, we have to start investigating this case again,” Lin Chen responded.

Thinking of the cruel and terrifying scars on Song Shengsheng’s neck, Xing Conglian suddenly said, “I feel the reason why he chose to cut his throat to die was because he’s trying to guide us to find Li Jingtian?”

……

Lin Chen always had an inexplicable feeling. Although Song Shengsheng never said a word to him, and even though he said he didn’t want to see him, Lin Chen always felt that Song Shengsheng didn’t actually hate him. Rather, it seemed as if Song Shengsheng had something to tell him.

If Xing Conglian guessed correctly, if Song Shengsheng really wanted him to find Li Jingtian, he would do as he wished.

The arrival time of the flight escorting Li Jingtian was 10:00 a.m. on June 1^st.

The sky towered over the tarmac, and the traffic in the terminal hall was weaving.

The news of Song Shengsheng’s suicide was circulating on the big screens at the airport. Xiang Ye stood in front of the Lihao Hotel and announced to all the fans that the fan meeting scheduled for 1:00 pm had been canceled.

Everyone around him looked at the news, and many travelers were sighing.

But Lin Chen just looked steadily in the direction of the exit. He once hoped that Song Shengsheng could see Li Jingtian stand on the trial bench with his own eyes, but it was a pity that Li Jingtian was still alive while Song Shengsheng was dead.

For this reason, he didn’t believe Song Shengsheng would commit suicide due to depression on the day Li Jingtian would be extradited back to China.

He hadn’t returned to the stage yet and hadn’t avenged his grievances. Even if he wanted to die, he should have done it after his wish was fulfilled.

The flight landed, and the sign turned green.

Far away, Lin Chen saw Li Jingtian’s inhumane face.

Li Jingtian, who had been in prison for more than ten days, no longer looked like a noble son of that day. His back was hunched, and there was no disguise on his face. There was no previous decent smile or humble expression. There wasn’t even any look that could even be considered human. That look was completely that of an ugly body filled with malice from hell.

When he saw him, Li Jingtian smiled slightly. He said, “Consultant Lin, you care about me so much that you came to pick me up? Do you want to be fucked by me?”

Lin Chen swung his arm and punched him without hesitation. Li Jingtian stroked the corner of his mouth and laughed happily.

Xing Conglian greeted the guards escorting Li Jingtian, and they took him directly to the interrogation room at the airport.

The moment the door closed, Xing Conglian directly pinched Li Jingtian’s neck with his backhand and pressed him against the table.

Xing Conglian’s hands were extremely strong, and it caused Li Jingtian’s face to flush, but his mouth kept talking. “Captain Xing, are you jealous? Then you have done Consultant Lin? Is he particularly energetic? Does he moan when he gives you a blowjob and wraps his legs around your waist like a bitch, begging you, please hurry?”

While listening to Li Jingtian’s words provoking Xing Conglian, Lin Chen walked up to him, dragged a heavy iron chair, and sat down in front of him.

“Li Jingtian, Song Shengsheng is dead. He committed suicide.”

He said this to Li Jingtian.

Before his voice fell, Li Jingtian laughed. “Really, that’s great. I’ll go to hell and find him sooner. You let him escape faster.”

If possible, Lin Chen would never want to say another word to Li Jingtian in his life, let alone personally tell him of the news of Song Shengsheng’s suicide.

This seemed to make him personally admit to a criminal like Li Jingtian: “Yes, you won.”

But sometimes, there weren’t that many truths in the world, and the so-called truths were just fabricated by people in search of beliefs.

Lin Chen asked, “Do you know why he committed suicide?”

“Are you asking me for advice, Consultant Lin?” Li Jingtian’s eyes were excited. “I’ll tell you if you give me a blowjob.”

Xing Conglian’s movements became more forceful. Lin Chen glanced at him and motioned for Xing Conglian not to kill him.

He crossed his legs, leaned on the back of the chair, and just looked at Li Jingtian coldly. “Okay, you don’t need to use this kind of language to attract my attention. It’s all on you now.”

“My pleasure.”

“In fact, you still haven’t learned to be smart. You can’t control yourself. I told you the news of Song Shengsheng’s suicide. You’re not surprised. Why?”

Li Jingtian didn’t answer his question and instead reached towards the zipper of his pants.

“Antisocial personality disorder is not the same as exhibitionism. Don’t lower your perverted style,” he said. “Since you refuse to speak, then we can only continue to play the game of ‘it doesn’t matter if you answer or not’. I can always guess, anyway.”

Li Jingtian’s face sank.

“Okay, let’s just start from the beginning.” Lin Chen didn’t care about Li Jingtian’s uncomfortable position. He just stared at his eyes and said to him, “You controlled Song Shengsheng, tortured him repeatedly, and raped him. This is an undeniable fact. You don’t have to say that you haven’t done it. What I want to know is, how on earth did you do it?”

Li Jingtian laughed triumphantly. “He loves me!”

“We all know this is impossible. He didn’t suffer from Stockholm syndrome*. If he loves you, why did he choose to go to the police station after you were arrested to state your criminal history instead of jumping out and telling the world that he did it voluntarily?”

*Condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors.

Li Jingtian paused.

Lin Chen felt relieved. “You also think it’s strange, right? Yes, why does he dare walk into the police station to report a crime now but not nine years ago?” He observed Li Jingtian’s expression and continued, “Your reaction tells me that you also think it’s a bit strange that he chose to acquiesce after being falsely accused by you and never mentioned to the police that you raped him, right?”

“He loves me so much that he would rather go to jail than report me.”

Lin Chen ignored Li Jingtian and continued, “I think, at the very beginning, you should have threatened him to submit to you with a sex tape or something. I can barely understand that he didn’t report the crime, but later, he was framed by you, and there was no way for him to get out of it. Why didn’t he tell the police the truth? However, since you’re not so clear about the reason why he chose to be silent, it’s…”

Li Jingtian’s expression was uncertain.

Lin Chen said lightly, “You may not know, right? Rather than provoking me, telling me what happened to him can torture me more. So, Li Jingtian, do you want to see my pain? Tell me, what happened back then?”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 157

Song Shengsheng would not commit suicide.

No one would die before their wish was about to be fulfilled.

Lin Chen thought so before walking into that bathroom.

But when he really walked through the door of the bathroom in the face of the flashing lights of the forensic camera, the scene inside still made him almost kneel to the ground. He forcibly pulled the door frame so that he wouldn’t lose his composure when he met Song Shengsheng for the first time.

He had never seen such a scene of death. The scene in front of him was too miserable, too astounding, that his five senses seemed to shut off. He watched everything in front of him coldly, as if he were a ghost in another world.

At the end of the dark green tiles, there was an ivory-white bathtub. There was a man sitting quietly in the tub. He was resting his hands on the tub. Because he hadn’t seen the sun for so long, his skin was pale, and the corners of his mouth seemed to have a tinge of a naïve smile. The withered but soft short hair stuck to his cold forehead. He really didn’t look young anymore. Eight years of imprisonment had tortured him to the point where he had lost his human form. He was like a skeleton that had a thin layer of skin covering him, but even so, at the moment of his death, he seemed to return to his 18-year-old appearance.

He was so relaxed and at ease. Although the bathtub was full of blood, he seemed to be lying in snow-like light, and all his suffering had disappeared.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, walked into the bathroom, and went up to Song Shengsheng.

This was the first time he had met Song Shengsheng, and it was also a meeting he had been looking forward to for a long time. However, this meeting came too late, and they were already separated by life and death.

Lin Chen bent down, trying to touch Song Shengsheng’s cheek.

At this moment, Xing Conglian grabbed his hand. The moment the warm palm touched his skin, the surrounding scene instantly took off its transparent shell, and all the colors, smells, and sounds rushed into his mind frantically. The strong scent of blood submerged his entire body, choking him, and he wanted to vomit, but he still endured.

He stood straight and looked at Song Shengsheng’s body carefully.

There was a bloody gash on Song Shengsheng’s neck. It was an extremely ugly wound, like a black hole that could absorb all light.

The blood was half-dry, and his head fell limply to the edge of the bathtub, like a long-dead white swan in a pond under the pure blue sky that illuminated the transparent lake water; it was heartbreakingly beautiful.

“What is the preliminary determination of the cause of death and time of death?” Lin Chen stood in front of Song Shengsheng’s body, not knowing how he could still speak.

“Suicide,” the medical examiner who was beside him said. “The time of death was around 3:30 in the morning on June 1^st.”

“He couldn’t have committed suicide,” Lin Chen said categorically.

“Are you questioning my professional ability?” Mr. Medical Examiner asked rhetorically.

Xing Conglian interrupted them, “What did he use?”

“Razor blade.” The medical examiner squatted down, unfolded Song Shengsheng’s curled hands, and showed it to them. “Mr. Song Shengsheng removed the blade from the razor and cut his throat vigorously. The scars on his fingers can prove this.”

Lin Chen’s gaze fell on Song Shengsheng’s throat again. The wound was bloody, but he could still feel Song Shengsheng’s decisive attitude from the depths of the incision.

Song Shengsheng was determined to die without hesitation.

“Give me a pair of gloves,” Lin Chen said to the police officer next to him.

The other party quickly brought a pair of rubber gloves. Lin Chen put them on and began to examine Song Shengsheng’s body.

The moment he pulled Song Shengsheng’s finger, there was a shout from behind him. “Lin Chen, what are you doing? Why are you touching him?!”

He turned his head and saw that Xiang Ye was standing at the bathroom door. He looked angry. If the police officer hadn’t stopped him, Lin Chen felt that Xiang Ye’s fist would have swung at his cheek.

Lin Chen looked at Xiang Ye coldly. “Don’t get emotional. I’m just looking for evidence that he won’t commit suicide.” After saying this to Xiang Ye, he looked at the two police officers opposite the door and said, “Please remove all idlers from the crime scene.”

After saying this, he no longer cared about Xiang Ye’s yelling and began to carefully check Song Shengsheng’s fingers.

Although Song Shengsheng’s fingers were covered with blood, the nails of his right index finger were shorter and flatter than his other four fingers, and there were thick calluses growing from there.

He still remembered that on the edge of that small bed in the Yanjia Lane bakery where Song Shengsheng slept, there was also a very deep & engraved on it. That & was caused by his countless tracings. It represented his agreement with the fans. It contained countless meanings, such as persistence, faith, and protection. If Song Shengsheng didn’t die by suicide, if he had faith, this symbol would definitely appear around him, and he had a blade in his hand, so he would carve something on the inner wall of the bathtub…

With such thoughts in his mind, Lin Chen checked Song Shengsheng’s hand over and over again, then he checked the inner lining of the bathtub. The inner lining was indeed filled with countless small scratches, but there were no nicks of any shape resembling an “&”.

The more he couldn’t find it, the more flustered Lin Chen’s thoughts became. It must have been blood that covered this last symbol, or for some other reason. How could Song Shengsheng lose his faith? How could he suddenly commit suicide?

He and Song Shengsheng were so close, as if he could pull the person in front of him back from the shadow of death with his hand, but he couldn’t do anything. He looked at Song Shengsheng’s face and thought solemnly, ‘What should I do? I don’t even have evidence to prove that you won’t die so easily.’

Lin Chen gradually felt desperate, and he could hardly control his movements.

At this moment, Xing Conglian grabbed him.

The man’s metallic voice sounded in his ears. “Enough.”

Lin Chen propped his hand on the bathtub. He hung his head and slowly turned it. He saw the police officers around him looking at him like a madman. He looked at Xing Conglian again, only to hear the other party say, “Let’s go out and take a breather.”

Xing Conglian’s gaze was so firm that it was like his dark green eyes were burning with some kind of flame, and that indestructible, firm emotion made Lin Chen instantly wake up.

“Okay,” he replied.

Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian out of the bathroom and handed over the scene to the on-site police officers.

Song Shengsheng was staying in a luxury suite on the top floor of the hotel. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire city seemed to be in a deep sleep. The scattered streetlights were like tears, and the place farther between the sky and the earth was showing a dark blue that could only be seen at dawn.

This was the third time he had been to Yongchuan recently. Although the mood was different every time, whether he was facing the collective subconscious of those students or Li Jingtian, he always believed he could overcome everything. Not only did he no longer have faith, he also lost hope.

Xing Conglian put his hands on his shoulders, overlooking the entire city with him. “I’m sorry.”

Hearing this, Lin Chen stared blankly at Xing Conglian and asked, “Why?”

“The responsibility for Song Shengsheng’s death should be borne by me. It has nothing to do with you.” Xing Conglian looked at him deeply and didn’t give him any chance to counter. “In fact, your hunch wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t fully believe and support your judgment. Specifically, I had many ways to help you see Song Shengsheng in advance, such as by forcibly breaking into Song Shengsheng’s residence. It was my failure to do my best that caused this consequence.”

His tone was gentle but sad. It was the first time Lin Chen saw Xing Conglian speak with such regret, but it wasn’t self-blame. In his own words, he was taking responsibility.

Lin Chen didn’t pay attention to what Xing Conglian said, but when he looked into Xing Conglian’s eyes, he realized that Xing Conglian was also deeply sad at this moment. It was only then that he discovered that, in his mind, he had always believed that Xing Conglian was unparalleled and invisible, but in fact, Xing Conglian was also human and could be sad. Lin Chen thought that for Xing Conglian, he needed to be a little stronger.

He suppressed those painful emotions again and turned to Xing Conglian and said, “The two of us should not rush to take responsibility.”

Xing Conglian glanced at him hesitantly, as if he were trying to find his true emotions in his eyes, but Lin Chen thought he was still more professional. “I don’t think Song Shengsheng committed suicide.”

He quickly used the topic to deflect Xing Conglian’s attention.

“So, what were you looking for just now…” Xing Conglian frowned and asked, “That symbol?”

Lin Chen nodded.

“Have you seen Song Shengsheng’s finger? He kept drawing that symbol repeatedly to the point where he developed calluses. He kept reminding himself to persevere. Even in that dark prison life, he persisted. Why would he die before he got what he wanted?” Lin Chen looked back. There was no one around them, but he still lowered his voice. “I think there’s a problem here.”

“But you didn’t find that &.”

“Yes, this is what I can’t grasp.” Lin Chen continued, “Although I have never met him, I am probably the person who knows him best in the world. People who choose to commit suicide mostly do so because they want to use death to relieve the pain, but Song Shengsheng has already experienced Li Jingtian’s painful torture and a hopeless life in prison. If he’s capable of enduring that kind of suffering and pain, then I don’t know what other pain there is in this world that he can’t bear?”

“In other words, there are two possibilities now. First, someone forced him to commit suicide. Second, there is something more painful than his prison life that he could no longer endure, and this pain overcame his remaining love for the world…”

Lin Chen couldn’t bear what Xing Conglian said and shook his head. “I don’t know whether he was forced to commit suicide, but I think it’s not because he couldn’t bear the pain that he chose to die.” He gently put his hand on Xing Conglian’s neck, wiped it, and said solemnly, “It’s just a feeling, but you see, choosing to slit your own throat is one of the fastest ways to die. If it goes well, he will die within ten seconds. No matter what the cause of his suicide was, his determination was unmatched.”

Xing Conglian asked, “Then let’s change the question. Apart from the shortest death time, why did he choose to slit his throat? This really makes me think about what Li Jingtian did.”

“I don’t know.” Lin Chen felt a splitting headache again. Everything seemed to be inextricably linked, but he couldn’t see through the thick blood. “Li Jingtian will arrive today. Of course, we have a chance to ask him face to face, but, no matter why he chose to die, I suspect there’s something wrong with Xiang Ye.”

From the earliest phone call, Xiang Ye had an unwarranted and inexplicable hostility towards him.

Although he also agreed in his heart that the reason for Xiang Ye’s dissatisfaction with him was because he forcibly opened Song Shengsheng’s painful past, he still suspected that it was Xiang Ye who prevented him from meeting Song Shengsheng.

Xing Conglian glanced at him and said, “Song Shengsheng is dead. The hotel surveillance also proves that Xiang Ye was in his room when Song Shengsheng died. We don’t have any evidence to prove that there’s something wrong with him.”

“Indeed, not only do we have no evidence, we also don’t have any direction to find evidence,” Lin Chen said, then he paused for a moment. “But it doesn’t seem that there’s no direction at all. The reason why I think Xiang Ye is problematic is that just now, Xiang Ye wanted to put the blame for Song Shengsheng’s suicide on me.” Lin Chen smiled bitterly. “It’s not that I don’t want to take responsibility. In fact, I’m probably the only person in the world who wants to take responsibility for his death besides you, but at least it’s not time for us to make our closing statements and condemn ourselves.”

“As of now, on the surface, Xiang Ye treated Song Shengsheng pretty well. To prove your point, the first thing to do is to prove he isn’t as good as he appears. He either hurt Song Shengsheng or forced Song Shengsheng, which indirectly led to his suicide.” Xing Conglian raised another critical question. “How do you prove this?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “I don’t know. There may be problems that we can’t imagine now, but I know that if Xiang Ye wants me to take responsibility, he will definitely find witnesses to prove that Song Shengsheng’s death was my fault and then set off a huge PR offensive, making me the target of the public. Then, when he starts to act, it may also be the time he starts making mistakes.”

“For example, finding the psychiatrist who treated Song Shengsheng?” Xing Conglian asked.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 156

In the end, Song Shengsheng’s fan meeting still adopted the internal ticketing model. Of all the 1,116 tickets for the meeting, 90% were allocated proportionally to the major support clubs, while the remaining 10% were open to the public.

And all the ticket revenue would be donated to a public charity that helps victims of sexual assault.

Although ordinary people were dissatisfied with the lack of public tickets, most of them still admired Song Shengsheng’s decision. The fans were even happier because, according to the detailed rules given in the ticket announcement, internal tickets would be allocated according to the number of years the fans have been at the fan club. Members who had been registered for more than 10 years were more likely to get tickets than those who had been registered for just 1 year. Specifically, it involved a complex proportional allocation method. In short, after Lin Chen listened to Wang Chao’s explanation, he asked, “Can you get them?”

Wang Chao stared at him with wide eyes. “A’Chen Gege, you actually doubt me!”

Later, it turned out that Wang Chao had managed to snatch more than a hundred tickets within a second after the tickets were issued. Xing Conglian had to twist the teenager’s ears and force him to relinquish the tickets he had snatched, and then beat him severely. He was also fined half of his allowance money after everything was settled.

Lin Chen looked at the electronic ticket he had just been sent on his phone.

The venue of the meeting was at the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center, the place where they found the key evidence to convict Li Jingtian.

Their positions were in row 7, seats 11/12/13.

The start time of the meeting was June 1^st, which was the day they negotiated with the Xinni Embassy to extradite Li Jingtian to China.

Later, Lin Chen discovered that all this was perhaps the result of God’s machinations in the dark.

……

The popularity of the Li Jingtian case online had gradually declined. After all, major events that could affect the history of the world happen every day. The attention of ordinary netizens would always be quickly attracted by these things. Except for Song Shengsheng’s name and the topic of his fan meeting, which started trending on Weibo the day when his tickets were issued, his name seemed to be fading away, which may be what Song Shengsheng wanted.

And in order to prepare for the fan meeting, Song Shengsheng had even more reason not to see Lin Chen.

According to the police officer who passed over the message to Xing Conglian, when Song Shengsheng went to the police station to make his statement, they had privately asked his opinion, but Song Shengsheng still refused to see him.

Lin Chen finally stopped clinging to this matter.

During the time they spent waiting for the fan meeting, he and Xing Conglian did other things. Of course, they would never admit that this matter had anything to do with them. After all, it was all done by Wang Chao.

On May 15, it was Xu Ran’s seventh day*.

*Clarity: According to Buddhist traditions, many mourning periods last 49 days, with prayers conducted every 7 days for 7 weeks. They believe that rebirth takes place within 49 days after death, so these prayers are used to facilitate the deceased’s journey into the afterlife. It is thought that 7 days after death, family members would gather as it is thought the departed returns home.

Xing Conglian worked overtime at the police station. In the morning, Lin Chen and Wang Chao went to the suburban cemetery first.

Because Xu Ran didn’t have any relatives, Lin Chen took the initiative to buy her a small plot in the beautiful cemetery.

On the tombstone, Xu Ran was smiling brightly. She was painted with light makeup, like a carefree little girl that had neither pain nor worry.

Lin Chen put down the lilies in his hand, stroked the tombstone gently, and then stretched out his hand to Wang Chao.

The teenager hurriedly took out a piece of paper from his backpack. It was the ticket to Song Shengsheng’s fan meeting. When Wang Chao grabbed tickets that day, he also grabbed one for Xu Ran. Not only did he print out the electronic ticket, he also used very thick cardboard to make it look like a real ticket.

Lin Chen looked at the picture of the girl on the tombstone, took out a lighter, and lit the paper.

The flames swallowed the ticket, which rolled up in gray burrs. As the embers fell, Lin Chen turned and left with Wang Chao.

They took a break that day. After going to the cemetery, Lin Chen took Wang Chao to the public library. The teenager finally recovered from some indescribable sadness. He carried his bag in the library hall and excitedly chatted with him, but after only walking for a while, Wang Chao refused to leave again. He lay outside the public rest area of the library with his backpack in his arms and said, “A’Chen Gege, I just remembered that I have an appointment with the trade union to form a group. You can pick me up later.”

Lin Chen understood and went into the library.

He remembered that more than a week ago, he and Xing Conglian were still discussing youth education issues with a relaxed attitude. Xing Conglian said he would give him the burden of choosing books for Wang Chao. He was thinking about bringing Wang Chao to the library on his next day off, but only after a week, when he really brought Wang Chao here, did he feel as if that was a lifetime ago.

He stood in front of the lined bookcases and walked aimlessly through rows of books. He would take one out, turn it over, and look at the strange drawings, then proceed to the next shelf.

In the rest area of the library, Wang Chao had found a place with his back towards the camera and sat down next to a long table.

The teenager pressed the brim of his hat, threw the red backpack full of various odds and ends on the table, pulled out his laptop from it, and pressed the power button.

But in fact, Wang Chao didn’t open Battle.net but clicked on a certain video website.

Lin Chen had already picked out a fifth book.

The progress bar on the computer screen in front of the young man was slowly advancing. Finally, when the file was uploaded to 100%, he quickly pressed the enter key, slammed down his laptop, and hurriedly walked out of the lounge.

Lin Chen’s phone vibrated slightly. He glanced at the text message he had just received, picked up the seventh book, and walked to the librarian’s counter.

The weather was hotter this summer than in previous years.

Lin Chen waited for the bus at the bus stop with Wang Chao.

In the many air-conditioned rooms, netizens who had just opened MeTube, the most famous online video platform in the world, found that a newly uploaded video appeared on the homepage of the website.

Someone clicked on it and was so shocked they couldn’t speak. They watched the video twice, quickly downloaded it, and then uploaded it to another domestic video website. The initial secondary uploader changed it to be a more sensational headline than the original uploader—[Fengchun Royal One Surprising Underground Prostitution Den. Tragic Scene Like Hell on Earth.]

It had to be said that the second uploader was a born master of social media because the headline was too provocative. Within just half an hour, the video’s click rate had exceeded 500,000.

Countless netizens watched this brutal video on their phones, desktops, and tablets.

The video was dark and didn’t have any dubbing.

However, despite the picture being taken with a pinhole camera, they could see a fat, middle-aged man torturing a thin-looking girl on a water bed.

The girl was dragged by her hair, and her head slammed into the bedside table. The man kept punching her in her stomach. Though the girl’s face couldn’t be clearly seen in the video, the man’s excited and cruel expression made many people unable to bear to look at it again.

It was precisely because this video was too challenging to the bottom line of human morality that it aroused the monstrous anger of all netizens in an instant. Soon, the identity of the perpetrator was revealed. It was a famous entrepreneur in Fengchun who always played the role of a good husband.

What happened next was beyond anyone’s control.

When Xing Conglian connected the call to the captain of the Fengchun police force, Lin Chen and Wang Chao were eating curry rice in a small shop 3 kilometers away from the library.

The teenager was happily flipping through the books Lin Chen had borrowed.

When he saw <Tractor Maintenance Guide> he explained even more excitedly, “A’Chen, how did you know I like tractors!” He spoke as he stuffed a spoonful of curry rice into his mouth. “When I was young, I told my dad that my dream was to be a tractor driver.”

“Then what?”

“Then my father said okay,” Wang Chao said happily.

Inside an office of the police station.

Xing Conglian pulled the phone one meter away from his ears, desperately denying that the lewd video that had just occupied the top spots on major video sites and was spreading virally in his circle of friends was his masterpiece.

“Lao Chen, how could this be me? It’s really not. I’m at the station right now. Do you know how high the reports are piling up in front of me? Life is really hard!”

“Lao Xing, don’t think I don’t know how capable your technician under you is. Who else could it be if it wasn’t you? You’ve made a huge mess, you know!”

“I swear to God, there are many capable people in this world. You can’t wrong me just because someone under me is capable. Where’s the evidence? I also want to know who did this. It’s so great. Though, if you want me to think that you can tolerate this kind of cancer like Royal One for so long, I’ll start to doubt the purity of your team…”

Xing Conglian kept talking, and finally, the person on the other end of the line abruptly hung up, as if he were extremely annoyed.

Xing Conglian looked at the phone screen and smiled coldly.

Inside the curry shop.

Lin Chen just finished his drink that came with the meal. He hadn’t touched the lunch in front of him. He handed the teenager a napkin when his phone screen suddenly lit up.

He picked up the phone. Out came the pleasant voice of Xing Conglian. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Eating.”

Opposite him, Wang Chao suddenly stopped his movements with his spoon and made an O shape with his mouth. The curry that was stuffed in the boy’s mouth almost fell out.

Lin Chen hummed a few times on the phone, then set it down and said to Wang Chao, “Your captain was indiscriminately reprimanded by the captain of the Fengchun police force. He’s very angry.”

“What, was my action that remarkable? This is simply a windfall!” Wang Chao excitedly.

Lin Chen nodded and continued, “At the beginning, the internet surveillance department wanted to ban that video, but it didn’t. Now the entire network has exploded.”

“Brilliant!” The teenager raised his Coke and clinked glasses with Lin Chen lightly.

Lin Chen put down his Coke and said in a low voice, “However, the matter involved was so wide-ranging that even the high-level officials were shaken. It is said that they are already looking into the uploader.”

Wang Chao smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t worry. The advantage of public libraries is that even if they are powerful enough to find the real IP, it’s still useless. At any given time, hundreds of people are online in the library, so only a ghost can be found. Also, I chose to delay the upload time. When the video was uploaded, we were on the bus, and there’s also surveillance evidence, though that wasn’t particularly planned!”

Lin Chen raised his drink again to clink lightly with the teenager. “Thank you.”

……

Although there was only a short video about Royal One, this short video had become a fulcrum to pry open the above-ground and underground worlds of Fengchun, and not only Fengchun but the entire country was shocked by it.

Xu Ran’s case was reopened. Although Lin Chen and Li Jingtian confronted each other in the attack, and the audience had seen Xu Ran’s handwritten letter, there was no clear evidence in the letter that Xu Ran had been assaulted in Royal One. Therefore, after investigation, the clubhouse had strangely escaped, but now the situation was different.

The police department once again formed a task force to investigate Royal One. The scale of such an investigation was no longer something an individual could stop.

As the investigation gradually unfolded, names were unearthed one by one. The police then claimed that they had mastered the secret account books of Royal One and began to investigate the relevant people involved.

In those few days, gossip flew all over the country, and everyone in Fengchun and its surrounding cities was at risk.

The relationship between Royal One and CA Entertainment was unearthed, and some trainees at CA, including senior executives, were investigated. The public was most happy to see this kind of serial drama and was fascinated to see such ups and downs from it.

As a tainted witness, Mr. Lu Xu played an important role in the investigation process. Through his testimony, the police were finally able to investigate the communication equipment of the people involved.

Although most of the people involved in the case had already deleted the shady software on their phones in advance, if the prostitution software mentioned by Lu Xu really existed, then this kind of software would inevitably leave traces on the user’s phone and server. As long as the user wasn’t smart enough to throw their phone into the ocean, where it could no longer be salvaged or burn the memory, the existing data could always be restored.

Xing Conglian then used some means to get Fengchun to pass on that piece of data.

Wang Chao sat in front of the computer and stretched. He held up the lemon black tea he had just bought with one hand while he was typing on the keyboard with his other hand.

Lin Chen looked at him as he sat at the desk beside him and continued filling out reports.

Because the investigation into Royal One gradually deepened, he and Xing Conglian couldn’t hide the fact that they had sneaked into Royal One to investigate. Thus, a new round of questioning and detailed reports ensued. He felt that he was back to that painful career of scribing in high school again.

The sun was shining outside the window. After writing for a while, he let go of the pen and rubbed his arm. Suddenly, he saw the knife wound on his arm again.

The two cuts he made on his arm at that time had gradually healed and scabbed. The wound still looked a bit hideous, but when those scabs fell off, they would only leave shallow scars.

Lin Chen once again flipped out the electronic ticket for Song Shengsheng’s fan meeting on his phone. ‘I hope you are alright,’ he thought silently.

At this moment, Wang Chao suddenly began to tap the keyboard frantically.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” The teenager shouted.

Before Lin Chen could react, the boy pushed his chair away like crazy, rushed out of the room, and began to dash to the police station compound. Lin Chen was stunned for a while, then hurriedly sent a text message to Xing Conglian, who was in a meeting, and followed after him.

Wang Chao ran very fast. Looking at the crazy back of the teenager, Lin Chen decided to stand still and wait for him to come back after a lap.

Xing Conglian quickly pushed the door open. He was out of breath as he looked around. Wang Chao had already run away, but the roar of the teenager could still be heard in the wind.

“What’s wrong with that kid? Did he become crazy looking at codes all day?” Xing Conglian asked.

Lin Chen frowned. He was worried.

Finally, Wang Chao’s figure running wild appeared again. Without saying a word, Xing Conglian outflanked him. Wang Chao seemed completely lost in his running and didn’t seem to care about the figure in front of him. When he reacted, he had no time to brake and slammed into Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian took two steps back, failed to hold his ground, and was knocked down. However, he didn’t forget to protect the teenager’s neck and waist before he fell.

There was a muffled bang. Wang Chao was lying on Xing Conglian’s chest. He rubbed his head and didn’t react for a while. When he saw who he had bumped into, he immediately sat back in fright. “Captain, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Lin Chen hurried over and squatted down beside the two of them.

“Are you okay?” He asked Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian simply propped his body up without any expression on his face. “What’s the matter with you?” he questioned sternly.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s back. It seemed that he had scratched a large area of his back.

Wang Chao sat on the ground, dumbfounded, and was afraid to speak.

Lin Chen patted him on the back lightly. When Wang Chao was touched, he finally said, “Captain, I thought it looked familiar, but I can’t remember it.”

“What looks familiar?” Xing Conglian asked as he reached his hand out. Lin Chen understood and helped him up.

Xing Conglian patted the dust off his uniform pants.

Wang Chao said, “It’s the restored version of the prostitution software that Fengchun passed over. I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

Xing Conglian suddenly stopped bending over. “Speak clearly.”

Even though he asked the teenager to speak clearly, there was no way to explain clearly what he felt.

Wang Chao sat back in front of the computer and pointed to the source code of Royal One’s self-made prostitution software and said to him, “Every programmer has his own style when writing programs, just like everyone has their own style of speaking and writing. For example, the code you write is different from the code I write.”

“Of course I can’t write code,” Xing Conglian said coldly.

“That’s what I mean, Captain. Although programming language is relatively fixed, such as variable names and comments, everyone’s habits of writing things are different. What I mean when I say I think this source code is very familiar is that I have seen something similar written by the creator.”

Xing Conglian frowned. “There are so many mobile software programmers across the country that write thousands of codes every day, and you can tell?”

“I just think I’ve seen it!” Wang Chao couldn’t help but raise his voice.

Xing Conglian still wanted to speak, but Lin Chen glanced at him, so he stopped.

In fact, Xing Conglian was right. Not counting web pages, the source codes of phone software programming that Wang Chao have seen were astronomical. It was simply impossible for him to tell which codes were written by the same person.

But looking at the teenager’s sad face, he had no choice but to say, “Don’t worry. You can try to recall it slowly.”

“I can’t remember now.” Wang Chao clicked on various software irritably and kept turning it off.

“Is there a search algorithm that can be used?” Lin Chen asked.

“But I don’t know what to search for, so I can’t search for it. If it’s an article, I can use the audio link to establish a statistical model for comparison, but I really can’t think of the source code, and it’s impossible to store all the phone source code I’ve ever read on my computer.” Wang Chao kept scratching his head with anxiety. “A’Chen, you’re right. Why didn’t I pay attention? This may be my chance to save the world!”

The words of the teenager made Lin Chen feel a strange premonition.

He and Xing Conglian looked at each other and said to Wang Chao, “In fact, our brains are far more powerful than any computing machine we know now. If this is an unimportant piece of source code written by the same person, you’ll definitely not have such a big reaction. You’re even likely to ignore it, as you have done countless times before, but just now, your subconscious reminded you that the source code in front of you is very important, and the writing pattern reminded you of another code that the same person wrote that is important, which meant that the previous source code must have left a very deep impression in your mind. You can start from here.”

“I see…” Wang Chao said weakly. “But I’d better try searching or using keywords first, but do you know how many people in the world like to name variable names as food-related? Freaking foodies!”

Lin Chen patted the teenager’s head soothingly and went out with Xing Conglian.

“Is your back okay?” Lin Chen asked with a frown.

Xing Conglian leaned against the wall carelessly, lit a cigarette, and said, “What are you worried about?”

“You.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I have a bad feeling. No matter what, try to use a tough approach. I must meet with Song Shengsheng.”

……

Lin Chen didn’t know why he thought about Song Shengsheng after seeing the familiar source code from Wang Chao. It was a knot in his heart that he couldn’t untie. He was afraid that if he couldn’t see Song Shengsheng, then the moment the wind sways the grass*, he would worry.

*(风吹草动) Idiom referring to extremely small changes.

14 hours before Song Shengsheng’s fan meeting.

May 31, 11:00 p.m.

Lin Chen sat on the wooden sofa at home, watching the rehearsal. Song Shengsheng had entered the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center earlier today.

Wang Chao was still thinking about the source code of the prostitution software sold by Royal One in his room. Even in the living room, Lin Chen could hear the teenager’s collapse.

The incident at Royal One was becoming more troublesome as there were some high-level figures involved, so Xing Conglian was invited to have some tea by the task force, so he hadn’t returned despite how late it was at night.

Lin Chen held the remote control and turned up the volume a little.

The towering, giant building stood on the outskirts of Yongchuan. The camera moved forward. There were reporters who came to interview, and fans who heard the news crowded in the square of the convention center. The fans held various solidarity banners and lined up in a disciplined row. They looked more like a well-trained brigade than fanatical groupies. Only when Song Shengsheng’s van drove by did they start screaming.

The reporter was very excited and said, “Did the audience hear the shouts behind me? After going through many tribulations, Mr. Song Shengsheng finally decided to hold a small fan meeting to give back to the hardcore fans who have always supported him. Although the meeting refused media interviews, our TV station will still broadcast live the entrance of the arts center for everyone. Please lock in to Yongchuan Satellite TV.”

Before the reporter’s voice fell, the van drove into the VIP passage and stopped.

Xiang Ye, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, got out and opened the door for Song Shengsheng and his female assistant.

Song Shengsheng was styled up today. He wore a skull burnout t-shirt, and his hair was slick back. He still wore a mask, and he just glanced at the fans on the sidelines before he withdrew his eyes and walked towards the entrance.

The picture flashed away, but the screams were endless.

Lin Chen’s brows furrowed tighter. He didn’t know if he was seeing things. Although Song Shengsheng looked very good, he didn’t have the firm look of that day in his eyes when he was looking at the camera.

The media reporter said, “We see that Mr. Song Shengsheng seems to be recovering well. We sincerely hope that tomorrow’s fan meeting will go smoothly.”

The reporter then put the microphone in front of the fans behind him and said, “Are you excited?”

“Excited!” The fans shouted in unison.

“Is there anything you want to say to Mr. Song Shengsheng?” As if infected by that happy atmosphere, the reporter asked with a smile.

The fans looked at each other, then one of them made a gesture of counting down to three, two, one.

The girls, who were different in age and appearance but all equally happy, shouted in unison, “Shengsheng, no matter what happens, we will always protect you!”

Lin Chen would never forget such a bright and brilliant voice for the rest of his life.

The entertainment news began to broadcast different content.

There was a creaking sound from the door opening outside the house. Lin Chen put down the remote, opened the door, and went out.

Xing Conglian was at the door with a haggard face.

Lin Chen looked at his slightly smiling face and asked from a distance. “Looking at your expression, I’m afraid there’s good news, right?”

Xing Conglian walked towards him and said, “Song Shengsheng said he will meet you, but the time will be after the fan meeting.”

“Can’t it be before the meeting?” Lin Chen asked suddenly.

Xing Conglian stopped.

Lin Chen knew his request was excessive. He knew how hard Xing Conglian worked to get Song Shengsheng to agree to see him. According to Xing Conglian’s style of doing things, he might have entrusted the Fengchun or Yongchuan police to apply pressure on Song Shengsheng.

But he still looked at Xing Conglian firmly. “I have to see him before the fan meeting.”

Xing Conglian stared at him with tired eyes and then nodded. “Okay, let’s go right away. You go and call Wang Chao.”

Countless times later, Lin Chen deduced what happened in those days, trying to find a possibility to prevent it from happening.

For example, he should believe more in his feelings and block Song Shengsheng from the start to question him about what was going on, instead of being blinded by some seemingly good appearances; or he shouldn’t have planned action against Royal One in those precious ten days, so that most of his and Xing Conglian’s time were filled with never-ending official investigations and paperwork; even, if Xing Conglian could drive the car faster that day, maybe everything would end in a completely different way.

However, in the words of Xing Conglian, the occurrence of established facts couldn’t be changed by human will. They weren’t gods, let alone having the ability to reverse time. They were truly ordinary humans, so the only thing they could do was to move forward with sadness and gratitude.

……

Although they set off quickly, it was almost 4 a.m. when they arrived in Fengchun.

Along the way, Lin Chen forced Xing Conglian to play Song Shengsheng’s songs in the car. Wang Chao was singing along as he recited codes while he was half asleep.

Even in the early hours of the morning, Yongchuan was still brightly lit. Lin Chen looked down at the entire city from the bridge and suddenly felt heartfelt despair at a certain moment.

The light was still there, but the thick blackness spread from the ground, as if it were about to devour all living things, and everything would never get better. At that time, he felt boundless despair.

He covered his eyes and burst into tears for no reason.

4:13 a.m.

He would always remember the time when Xing Conglian stopped the car at the entrance of the Yongchuan Lihao Hotel.

Downstairs in the hotel, there was the sound of deafening sirens, and the ambulance and four police cars lined up in turn. The night sky was strangely purple, with miserable red and blue. He looked around blankly. He didn’t know how he was able to walk to the door of the hotel.

In the lobby of the hotel, Xiang Ye had his back to him, but his body was hunched over. He was talking with a policeman and looked exhausted, while another girl beside him was desperately crying. A few hours ago, Lin Chen had seen that girl on TV. She was Song Shengsheng’s assistant.

The bad premonition that had lingered in his heart for many days finally came true. Lin Chen walked towards Xiang Ye, step by step. He directly reached out and grabbed the social elite by the collar and said, in a trembling voice, “What happened?”

Xiang Ye’s eyes cracked. Lin Chen was, in turn, yanked by his neckline by the other party.

Xiang Ye roared, “Lin Chen, how do you still have the face to come here. Shengsheng is dead. You killed him. He said he didn’t want to see you. Why did you have to force him over and over again!”

Xiang Ye’s shouts were loud. Someone around him was secretly filming with a camera, but all Lin Chen could feel was as if someone had bashed him with a hammer.

At this moment, a powerful arm stretched out and gripped Xiang Ye’s arms with his backhand.

Lin Chen saw Xing Conglian.

Xiang Ye howled in pain and screamed miserably, but he kept talking. “I protected him, and I didn’t want him to get hurt again. Why do you keep pushing him? Yes, you did him a favor, but why did you keep putting pressure on him when he doesn’t want to see you? He said that if he sees you, he’ll think of Li Jingtian. He’s right in the end. You’re all the same.”

The dazzling light from the crystal chandelier caused countless emotions to surge in Lin Chen’s chest. He could no longer distinguish the colors in front of him, but after hearing what Xiang Ye said, he forced himself to calm down. He said in a cruel tone that even he felt was inhumane, “First, I did not murder Song Shengsheng. Because I was on my way here, I have a sufficient alibi. Second, I have never had contact with Song Shengsheng. The person who could’ve forced him to die could be you. Finally, tell me how he died.”

Beside him, the girl’s sharp cry was about to pierce their eardrums. Lin Chen turned his head and glanced coldly at the source of the sound. The girl stopped crying instantly.

“If your boss doesn’t answer, it’s up to you to answer me personally and tell me how Song Shengsheng died.”

“Shengsheng… Shengsheng…” the girl sat on the ground sobbing. “Shengsheng… in the bathroom… in the bathroom…slit…slit his throat.”

Hearing these words, Lin Chen could hardly stand still. He staggered violently. At this moment, Xing Conglian held his back firmly.

He suppressed the bloody feeling in his throat, pinched his palm hard, and looked around, forcing himself to stay awake.

“Take me to the scene,” he said to the police officer next to him.

“Why are you going? Shengsheng didn’t even want to see you when he was alive!” Xiang Ye shouted almost frantically, unlike his gentlemanly persona.

“Mr. Xiang Ye, please cooperate with the police investigation. Otherwise, I will arrest you for obstruction of justice.”

Under this situation, Xing Conglian still maintained a transcendent calmness. He quickly showed his credentials to the police officers in the hotel lobby and said in a businesslike tone, “Hongjing police force, Xing Conglian.”

The policeman nodded quickly. “I know. I know you and Consultant Lin.”

“Now take us to the scene.”

Seeing that the police officer looked hesitant, Xing Conglian nodded and continued to say, “You can refuse me, but believe me. I will call everyone at the scene, and there will always be someone who will nod, so don’t waste time.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

The fuck? What is going on here? Why are all the people who don’t deserve to suffer being killed, while those that should suffer are still alive? I didn’t sign up for this dog abuse.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 155

Seeing Song Shengsheng was originally just a matter of going to the bakery for breakfast, but now it had become a huge problem, and the complicated public relations matters involved were beyond Lin Chen’s imagination.

When he got off work, he and Xing Conglian stopped by to take Uncle Chen home.

It was already evening, and the people at the entrance of the shop had scattered.

The alley was quiet as Uncle Chen opened the rolling shutter door. He had left in a hurry, so the tables and chairs weren’t wiped clean, and the pot of soy milk in the shop had already spoiled.

Xing Conglian took out money to compensate for the loss, but Uncle Chen refused to accept it. Xing Conglian had no choice but to help Uncle Chen clean up his shop.

Lin Chen wanted to help, but he was pressed to a chair.

This was a rare scene. Xing Conglian had rolled up his cuffs, revealing his fair, strong arms, and began wiping the tables and chairs.

Outside the shop, the slanting sun hung on the eaves and was gradually sinking west. Lin Chen watched Xing Conglian doing the most ordinary labor under the warm sunset light. After he finished his drink, he said to Uncle Chen, “Can I go see where Song Shengsheng slept?”

“Feel free. It’s in the back,” Uncle Chen replied.

The back kitchen was cleaner than imagined, with neat utensils and bright countertops. Lin Chen stroked the long table, imagining Song Shengsheng wiping every tile here.

There was a small room separated from the innermost side of the back kitchen, which should be where Song Shengsheng had lived for three months.

But the compartment was too small—so small that it was impossible to put anything else down after setting up the bed. Luckily, there was a window.

Lin Chen sat down on the bed.

The air was clean, with the smell of lemon detergent. He stroked the soft and clean bedding. If he had doubted whether Song Shengsheng was really working here before, when he sat on the bed, he was sure that Song Shengsheng indeed did stay here.

When the sun finally set, he took off his shoes and laid down on the bed in a smooth manner.

He was certainly not such a casual person, but when he sat on the bed where Song Shengsheng once slept, he felt that he needed to lie down.

It was quiet all around as he lay down, one hand resting on his head and the other leaning on the edge of the bed. The sound of water could be heard from a distance. Lin Chen gradually closed his eyes.

It wasn’t comfortable, but it was quiet enough. He only needed to work in the back kitchen every day. Except for the shopkeeper, who would sometimes nag, no one could disturb him. No one could disturb him…

Lin Chen’s thoughts gradually drifted far away, until the sound of creaking and the door being pushed open brought him back.

“What, too tired?”

Xing Conglian stood at the door with a broom in his hand.

Lin Chen opened his eyes and held the edge of the bed to stand up, but suddenly, he was stunned.

Probably seeing him suddenly awake and in a strange posture, Xing Conglian squatted down in front of him and asked, “Cramp?”

Lin Chen shook his head, sat up straight, then stared at his hand for a long time, and then said to Xing Conglian, “Go a little outside the door.”

Xing Conglian was confused, but he still backed out the door. Lin Chen squatted down and gently stroked the edge of the bed with his hand, then he stopped suddenly. Sure enough, what he touched just now wasn’t an illusion.

The room was dim. He was just about to take out his phone from his pocket when Xing Conglian had already turned on the flashlight on the cellphone.

With that bright light, Lin Chen could clearly see that there was a clear scratch on the edge of the wooden bed where Song Shengsheng slept. The mark was very deep. It looked like it had been carved with just nails. Only after countless tracings would it form such a deep impression.

At this moment, Xing Conglian also came over. The two of them squatted in the narrow aisle, looking at the symbol carved by Song Shengsheng. They had a creepy feeling it was an “&”.

The symbol “&” logically meant that the two were indispensable, and it could also mean one person and another person, which was synonymous with “and”.

In order to figure out what this symbol meant to Song Shengsheng, Lin Chen chose the fastest and easiest way. He asked Wang Chao to log into Song Shengsheng’s personal website “Be With You” and register a new account to post for help—[Newcomer here asking for help on what & is and what it means.]

The post written by Wang Chao attracted too many two-dimensional fans, and soon, many enthusiastic sisters responded to the post.

In the living room, when Mu Wenhua saw the post, she smiled lightly and posted a video.

In the old house on Yanjia Lane, Wang Chao slid over the mouse wheel. “Oh, it’s really a meme.”

Lin Chen sat beside him and read the replies carefully. Sure enough, the symbol & was of great significance to Song Shengsheng and his fans. Rock musicians always invent something with special symbolic meaning, and this symbol was something like that.

[The name of our website comes from this symbol. I will be with you forever~]

Wang Chao continued to refresh the page, and a video appeared in the replies. He clicked on it, and Song Shengsheng’s panting voice came from the speaker.

It was a grand concert stage. Song Shengsheng sat crossed-legged on the edge of the stage during the break between songs.

He looked very young on the video. He had silver-dyed hair that was drenched in sweat. He obviously looked tired and was still smiling. His brows were glowing, like the brightest star in the night sky.

The girls in the audience were screaming, shouting some slogans together.

“You said you’ll protect me forever?”

Song Shengsheng held down the headset and held up the microphone with a smile.

The girls screamed louder. “Yes!”

They shouted excitedly.

The singer in the black leather jacket tipped his head slightly, listening quietly to every word the girls were shouting.

After a long time, the surroundings gradually quieted down. He suddenly held the microphone and laughed. “Because I’m more handsome, I’ll protect you.”

The girls were so excited that they screamed again. Their bright smiles seemed to blend into the sea of bright lights in the background.

Song Shengsheng tilted his head to the outside of the stage. As if he had heard something wrong, he raised the microphone to his ear again. “Well, let’s make an agreement.” He waved his arms and casually drew a symbol in the air. “Because I’m stronger, every time you draw this symbol, I’ll come to you and give you good luck and strength.”

The young man on the stage smiled so brightly. His eyes were firm and powerful, as if he could shatter all darkness.

All the fans in the audience followed his movements.

Lin Chen couldn’t help but also draw an & on the desk.

The picture ended with Song Shengsheng’s handsome figure standing up. “In English, it means I will be with you forever, so the following song is dedicated to me, who’s the strong. If one day I die, please sing this song for me.”

Song Shengsheng laughed.

For a long time after the video ended, the room was quiet.

Lin Chen remembered that during the rehearsal of the Watermelon Music Festival, Mu Zhuo kept drawing symbols when he was almost out of strength on stage.

If he guessed correctly, Mu Zhuo should’ve been drawing this &.

So, even Mu Zhuo was willing to join in on this belief.

Lin Chen thought that even people who hated Song Shengsheng, framed him, and plunged him into the abyss of hell were still trying to draw powerful energy from him. What kind of person was Song Shengsheng?

Wang Chao asked, “A’Chen Gege, so what does the symbol next to Song Shengsheng’s bed mean?”

“I’m afraid he wants to remind himself to persevere for the sake of people who once loved him.”

Lin Chen sat on the shores of the riverbank, looking at the stars in the sky as he said this.

In the two days since then, he had been watching Song Shengsheng’s interviews and had commissioned Wang Chao to get all of his concerts on Blu-ray through special channels.

When he had time for leisure, he would sit on the balcony by the river, watching Song Shengsheng sing over and over again as he gazed at the starry sky dyed with the colors of the setting sun.

In fact, he had very little free time these past few days. He and Xing Conglian were extremely busy. After all, they had made a huge mess. They not only have to accept questions from various departments but also write a small mountain of reports regarding the case. Even the matter concerning Li Jingtian’s extradition needed numerous phone calls and written reports to be completed.

Only at very late hours could he and Xing Conglian occasionally sit down face to face.

Xing Conglian brought a cup of tea, set it down on the coffee table, and then sat opposite of him.

The sound of water on a summer night was intoxicating.

Lin Chen took a sip of tea and found that today’s drink had been changed to chrysanthemum tea. He put down the cup and looked at the person sitting opposite of him.

Xing Conglian had a low smile and said, “Those grandma and grandpa from across the street asked me if Wang Chao finally disliked those songs sung by sticky little girls and had changed to men.”

Lin Chen turned down the volume and asked him, “How did you answer?”

“Oh, I said yes,” Xing Conglian replied naturally.

Lin Chen raised the teacup and clinked it lightly with Xing Conglian’s. “Thank you, Wang Chao.”

“Thank you, Captain Xing,” Xing Conglian said.

Lin Chen looked at the night. The river breeze blew across the face of the other person as he smiled and drank half his cup of tea.

Xing Conglian put down his teacup, crossed his legs, and asked, “What is Consultant Lin’s fan experience today?”

“I like Song Shengsheng very much,” Lin Chen said calmly.

Xing Conglian raised his brows. “Are you being empathetic?”

Lin Chen didn’t expect him to use such a psychological term, and he was stunned for a moment. “I can’t say it’s empathy, because Song Shengsheng is really cute.”

Although Song Shengsheng had been tough for the past two days and refused to see him, and even Lin Chen felt that he shouldn’t bother him anymore, it shouldn’t be too much just to look at his video materials. As Lin Chen spoke, he turned the laptop over in front of him so Xing Conglian could also see it.

On the screen was the campus concert when Xiang Ye discovered Song Shengsheng. This was extremely precious information. According to the veterans of Song Shengsheng’s personal website, it took a lot of effort to find it in the archives of Song Shengsheng’s high school.

Lin Chen turned up the volume. Perhaps because the singing was too noisy, Xing Conglian covered his ears as if he had a headache.

In the dark, yellowish picture, a young man was holding a guitar. The young man had dyed blond hair and a row of shiny earrings, giving him the standard look of a bad student. He stood on the stage of the school gymnasium, singing loudly and playing his guitar. He jumped up and down on the stage, roaring and shouting, looking arrogant and domineering but smiling brightly.

At the end of the song, the teenager panted on the stage and winked at all the female students in the audience.

The campus host in a suit looked like he had the same headache as Xing Conglian. He walked up to the teenager and put the microphone in front of him. “Classmate Song Shengsheng, how do you think you did today?”

“What do you think?” Song Shengsheng raised his voice and asked the girls in the audience.

Several groups of girls screamed.

“It seems that Classmate Song is very confident in himself, so what if the judge doesn’t let you advance?”

Song Shengsheng proudly gave the middle finger to the old men in the judging panel and said, “So what? I’m not singing for them. Only those who are beautiful can understand the songs I sing.”

As he said this, he continued to wink at the audience.

Song Shengsheng, who was only 16 years old at the time, already knew how to release his charm.

Lin Chen pressed the pause button.

Xing Conglian gave him an incredulous look. “So you like this?”

“It’s really cute,” Lin Chen said with emotion.

“So, if Song Shengsheng has a concert, do I need to book tickets for Consultant Lin?”

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian and said very seriously, “Captain Xing, you shouldn’t be able to get them. You must recruit Wang Chao.”

“So scary?”

Lin Chen opened the Be With You webpage and pointed to the thousands of high-rise buildings for Xing Conglian to look at. “Related news revealed that Song Shengsheng may be holding a fan meeting in the near future with no entry for the media as the first stop of his comeback. Of course, this is just internal gossip. It’s even very likely that this fan meeting won’t be announced to the public.”

“Just because of this rumor, fans are discussing it this much?”

“Of course not.” Lin Chen pointed to another post with 3,000+ replies and showed it to Xing Conglian. “That’s the building where the meeting is being discussed, and this is the building where the discussion on how to grab tickets.”

“What are they talking about?”

“It’s not talking. It’s arguing.”

Lin Chen said helplessly. “Song Shengsheng’s fans are arguing with Xiang Ye’s performing arts company. That is to say, if Shengsheng really wants to hold a fan meeting, the way to grab tickets online is too unfair. Maybe there will be people with ulterior motives mixed in. There are so many die-hard fans who have supported Shengsheng for more than ten years. It’s not appropriate for them to compete with those new fans. So, they were arguing about these things. Later, the performing arts company put out a notice to reassure everyone. Xiang Ye said that what Shengsheng wanted to see was the people who have always supported him, so he might not be able to use the method of online ticketing at this time, but rather they will distribute the tickets directly from Shengsheng’s personal website, Baidu, and the fan club. In short, it will satisfy everyone.”

“So in order to get a ticket, you want Wang Chao to create a fake identity as a senior fan club member?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Ah, this is what he should do,” Lin Chen said.

Xing Conglian suddenly asked, “But isn’t the fan meeting still undecided?”

“Planning ahead.”

“Wait, you want to meet Shengsheng now?”

“Yes, Shengsheng.”

Hearing what he said, Xing Conglian reluctantly took a sip of his tea. “I think your purpose of wanting to see Song Shengsheng is now impure.”

Lin Chen laughed. “I really hope that he can stand on stage again.”

The waterside was peaceful, and the wind was calm under the serene starry sky. When Lin Chen remembered what happened in those days much later, he still felt it was all too unreal.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 154

At least this was what it looked like.

For example, that person looked like Song Shengsheng. For example, he looked as if his personal safety wasn’t restricted. For example, Xiang Ye seemed like a kind person.

Xiang Ye’s hand was placed on Song Shengsheng’s back to protect him. The picture of the two in front of the camera flashed away, and all that remained were their backs crossing the field into the police station. Finally, the door opened, and Xiang Ye put his hand down from Song Shengsheng. It didn’t look like Song Shengsheng was being coerced. Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the end.

It was only a short-lived broadcast, but even the police officers in front of the TV had a nervous feeling of witnessing a major event.

Lin Chen stood by the window and looked out.

He felt he had no reason to doubt Song Shengsheng’s personal safety. After all, Xiang Ye dared to take Song Shengsheng to the police station openly, which meant that Song Shengsheng should be free and safe. After all, if Song Shengsheng was really being controlled by others, he could ask the police for help when he walked into the station, let alone in those three months that he was working in that bakery full of oily smoke, where he could have asked any passersby for help.

Or maybe Song Shengsheng didn’t dare ask for help because he was being coerced, but he was alone and didn’t have any family or a lover. The previous information didn’t show he didn’t have any serious relationships with anyone, so what could Xiang Ye use to threaten Song Shengsheng?

Besides, what reason did Xiang Ye have to control Song Shengsheng? So he could return to the music scene and earn high profits?

If this was the case, it would go back to the original point. Unless Xiang Ye used something to coerce Song Shengsheng, why would he cooperate?

There was also a possibility the person wasn’t Song Shengsheng at all, but since Song Shengsheng had been in jail, his fingerprints were in the database. It was impossible for Xiang Ye to not know this. It would make no sense to find a substitute.

Lin Chen’s thoughts were running wild. In the distance were stretches of blue roofs. The river was glowing with the clear and quiet colors of the early summer light. Lin Chen looked at the city where he lived, and in the distance was a peaceful life within his reach. Everything looked fine.

He felt the worries in his heart could only be chalked up to suspicion and should be stopped. The world wasn’t always full of conspiracy, and this was simply an occupational disease…

At least he persuaded him so, until the faint smell of tobacco suddenly wrapped around him.

Lin Chen turned around and saw Xing Conglian standing beside him.

“Worried about Song Shengsheng?” Xing Conglian asked.

“How can I not?” Lin Chen said with a wry smile. “This is really the first time I have encountered a situation. In fact, I can understand why Song Shengsheng would rather return to the Fengchun police station than see me. If someone forcibly revealed my unspeakable tragic past, I would also be angry.”

“Don’t think like that.” Xing Conglian took a deep breath. “It’s too pessimistic.”

“Is it?”

Xing Conglian took a puff of his cigarette. The blue-gray smoke billowed up. “You have to believe that Song Shengsheng isn’t that kind of person. Maybe he has a knot in his heart now, maybe he has a hard time saying something, maybe what he needs now is your seemingly meaningless but never giving up effort.”

Lin Chen felt that Xing Conglian seemed particularly handsome right now.

“Xing Conglian,” he called out his name.

“Here.”

“But I don’t have any ideas now.”

“Fortunately, I still do.”

As Xing Conglian spoke, he held up a statement, shaking it at him.

……

Apparently meaningless effort, in other words, meant that some things would not necessarily bear fruit no matter how much effort was put into them.

The statement that Xing Conglian brought was something similar.

It was a statement that Xing Conglian instructed the other police officers to make to the planner of Ansheng International Mall and the person in charge of Li Jingtian’s fan club. The core question was: Who arranged Li Jingtian’s assailant at that time?

Unfortunately, when Lin Chen read the statement, he found it was still a dead end.

The planner said that the assailant was arranged by the fan club, but the person in charge of the fan club denied this. After the planner showed the text messages to prove their innocence, facing the text message marked with her own number, the person in charge of the fan club denied she ever sent those texts. In short, it was unclear who was responsible.

“Do you remember Li Jingtian’s Weibo post?” Xing Conglian asked.

Lin Chen nodded. “Are you saying that someone hacked into the phone of the person in charge of the fan club, just like they did with Li Jingtian’s Weibo account?”

Xing Conglian didn’t answer but instead dialed Wang Chao’s number.

“Sir, I’m just downstairs. Why are you calling me specifically?” Wang Chao’s tone was brisk.

“Your sentence isn’t good. Change it,” Xing Conglian said.

“Sir, your assistant, Xiao Wang, will serve you wholeheartedly!” Wang Chao doggedly said.

Lin Chen raised his brows and glanced at Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian said to the person on the other end of the line with satisfaction, “How can the text message I send to you display your A’Chen Gege’s number?”

“My lord, you can do it with any dumb software that can be casually downloaded online, over.” When Wang Chao finished speaking, he added, “Honestly, you have to learn advanced scientific and cultural knowledge well…”

Before the teenager finished talking, Xing Conglian had mercilessly hung up. He put the phone on the table and fell into contemplation.

Lin Chen looked at the dim screen on the table. Li Jingtian said his photo was posted after his Weibo was hacked. “So, what if Li Jingtian didn’t lie?”

“This is a conspiracy theory, and similar conjectures have approached the direction of thrillers.” Xing Conglian changed the subject. “But we can still check this thread.”

“Liu Ying?”

“Yes. It’s impossible for a big star like Li Jingtian to do these things by himself, so there must be a specific person in charge.”

“So, where is Liu Ying?” Lin Chen asked.

“Consultant Lin, as a citizen of our country who is not under diplomatic protection, Liu Ying is also a suspect in this criminal case, so she’s…”

Lin Chen opened his eyes wide. “Here? Downstairs?”

Lin Chen didn’t know when Xing Conglian had arranged this matter, but Xing Conglian always had the ability to consider all details thoroughly.

That night, they had interrogated Li Jingtian’s fans in the basement detention room, and now it was Li Jingtian’s manager’s turn.

Ms. Liu Ying no longer had the aura she had previously. Her hair was messy, and her face was haggard. On the small bed in the detention room, she only sat at a small corner since she disliked the bedding.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Liu Ying rushed to it excitedly.

Xing Conglian walked in first. Liu Ying grabbed his cuffs and said forcefully, “Captain Xing, when can I leave? I really can’t stay anymore!”

“I know… I know…” Xing Conglian looked at her kindly. He patted Liu Ying’s hand and found a chair. “Do you want to be released on bail?”

Lin Chen entered behind Xing Conglian. The moment she saw him, Liu Ying’s face turned pale. Seeing this, Lin Chen finally knew who the stick and who the carrot should be.

“Not possible.” Lin Chen sat down in the chair and said to Xing Conglian. “If she doesn’t explain clearly, I won’t agree to bail.” He looked at her coldly.

Xing Conglian said, “Ms. Liu, you see, your current problem is really serious. Li Jingtian fled back to Xinni by himself, completely pinning the blame on you. You also know how serious the Ansheng International Mall incident is. Throat-slitting is a trivial matter. The key is the accidents caused by the stampede. This is something that isn’t just punishable for three to five years, but on the scale of ten to twenty. What else can you explain?”

“I already talked!” Liu Ying looked like she wanted to spill everything. “All this was planned by Li Jingtian and has nothing to do with me!”

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian and said to Liu Ying, “Li Jingtian will be escorted back to China soon. Don’t think you can just push it all on him.”

“It’s really him. I didn’t know he was so crazy.” Liu Ying gritted her teeth. “Before the fan meeting at the mall, he told me that it was because of the influence of the rape case. In order to eliminate the influence, it was good to abuse the fans.”

“Abuse the fans?”

“It’s like making something happen so the fans can feel sorry for you. As long as they’re abused, the cohesion of the fan group will rise… Besides, fans are braindead. They will defend you indiscriminately. As for the public, with a new event, it would attract their attention, and no one would be paying attention to the rape case anymore.”

“Good method.” Lin Chen sneered. “Was this Li Jingtian’s idea?”

“Yes, he asked me to arrange for a girl to go on stage and pretend to slit his throat, and he said that in order to clear the suspicion, he would put the blame on the person who framed him…”

“So the text message received by the mall planner?”

“It was sent by me,” Liu Ying whispered.

Sure enough, his suspicions were still wrong. Li Jingtian did lie.

Lin Chen only felt shocked when he recalled the chaos from a few days ago. A huge poster suddenly appeared in his mind with Li Jingtian’s hideous smile on it.

“So, that huge poster in the mall was also Li Jingtian’s idea?”

“Our company posters are all that size, but Jingtian did say that his picture must be hung at the highest point, so I emphasized this to the mall manager.”

“I understand.”

After listening to Liu Ying’s statement, Lin Chen didn’t feel relieved.

The story was consistent with his reasoning, and there was no problem, so he decided to go in a different direction. “So, what about Xu Ran? Did you call her to come to Hongjing?”

At the moment he asked this question, the woman who was still holding on suddenly looked miserable, and her face finally showed a desperate expression. “Consultant Lin, I’m going to jail, right?”

Lin Chen nodded.

“I think so too.” Liu Ying’s eyes turned red. “That incident is true. I should pay for her life.” Liu Ying covered her eyes with her hands and lowered her head deeply. “But I didn’t know… I, like everyone else, didn’t think how Li Jingtian could possibly touch a dirty chicken…”

Lin Chen took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it over.

Liu Ying took the tissue, endured the pain, and narrated in a whisper. “Jingtian asked me to call Xu Ran and let her come to Hongjing so they could meet. So I lied to Xu Ran and said that I had been raped and defiled by Li Jingtian. I wanted to help her and asked her to put on the outfit of the fan club and said I would take her to the fan meeting to reveal Li Jingtian’s true face…” At this point, Liu Ying started crying. “I pretended to go to the bathroom and threw her at a McDonald’s. I told her not to be seen by anyone, and then I went to the hospital. She must have waited for me for a long, long time before she went out. She believed in me so much. She called me sister and treated me as a good person, but I lied to her. I killed her…”

But I lied to her. I killed her…

Liu Ying repeated this sentence over and over again. Lin Chen walked out of the detention room with her words of sorrow and self-blame echoing in his ears.

Behind the iron gate, the lady who always held her head high looked empty as she sat on the bed and cried tearfully.

……

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian walked upstairs again from the dim, damp underground. The sunlight coming from the windows made him uncomfortable.

He lowered his head and stretched out his hands to block his eyes.

“I’ll try and get Li Jingtian extradited as soon as possible.” Xing Conglian stopped him by the shoulder and was about to say something more when his phone rang.

Xing Conglian signaled to wait a moment, then picked up the phone. “Hello, Captain Liu.”

Lin Chen didn’t know what the person on the other end said, but Xing Conglian was silent the entire time. He finally spoke up, only saying, “I understand. Thank you.”

He hung up the phone and only said, “Captain Liu of the Fengchun police force said that he has checked the fingerprints. It is Song Shengsheng.”

Lin Chen once again had a nervous feeling, as if his heart was being tugged.

Perhaps it was because his gaze was too eager that before he could ask, Xing Conglian said, “He made his statement. There are no problems with Xiang Ye. The story is roughly consistent with what we inferred.”

“Song Shengsheng… Why did he work there?”

Xing Conglian said, “He said the reason he went to work at the bakery was because the psychiatrist Xiang Ye found for him advised him to slowly get in touch with society.”

“Psychiatrist?”

“Right.”

Lin Chen thought that if he gave Song Shengsheng psychological treatment, then in the middle to late stages of the treatment, he would also encourage Song Shengsheng to try to re-connect with society and live a normal life. This was the normal treatment process carried out by every psychiatrist.

It was just that the worries in his heart didn’t dissipate. “Can you find out what kind of psychological treatment that psychiatrist did with Song Shengsheng?”

He regretted it after asking this question. Although he really wanted to see the psychiatrist’s treatment records, knowing he would be truly relieved if he saw them, he was clear that this was something he shouldn’t read, because one of the first rules of counseling was: Psychological counselors are responsible for keeping the privacy of their clients and shall not disclose it unless the person agrees or has special needs.

This was the moral bottom line of psychotherapy.

Finally, he held back the impulse in his heart and said to Xing Conglian, “Please pretend I didn’t ask that question just now.”

Xing Conglian glanced at him deeply and said, “They should be out soon. Let’s go watch.”

They stood in front of the TV again.

In these two short days, they had watched too many live TV broadcasts and experienced too many moments of seeing others from afar.

On the TV screen, the Fengchun police station stood majestically with lush green grass under the blazing sun.

A reporter was standing in front of the camera with his phone. While looking down at something, he broadcast the report excitedly. “Dear audience, just now, the media have received a letter signed by Mr. Song Shengsheng. Right now, the electronic file of this letter is on my phone.”

A moment later, the reporter read the full text, then suddenly raised his head and said, in an uplifting tone, “Mr. Song Shengsheng said that he has been actively receiving psychological treatment since he was released from prison and has been doing restorative training with the goal of being able to return to the stage. Even in the darkest time of his life, he has never given up. Today, since the truth has come out, he sincerely thanks the many fans who have always trusted him and supported him wholeheartedly. At the same time, he hopes everyone will not care too much about his private life, but instead pay attention to his next activities. The darkness of the past has passed, and he will continue to work hard for a bright future. He will not succumb to bad luck. Fans and friends, please wait patiently!”

Before the reporter’s voice fell, a flash of light lit up.

The camera suddenly shifted as the gate of the Fengchun police station suddenly opened. Facing the bright lights, Song Shengsheng and Xiang Ye walked out of the police station.

Reporters flocked to the front and spat out all kinds of crazy questions to Song Shengsheng.

“Shengsheng, Shengsheng, will you file a claim against the police?”

“Did the police reveal when Li Jingtian will be extradited back to China for trial?”

“Shengsheng, how do you feel after going through so many things?’

“Shengsheng, is there anything you want to say to your fans?”

At that moment, Song Shengsheng stopped.

Xiang Ye put his hand on his back, as if he wanted to say something as well.

Lin Chen looked at the slim figure wearing a white t-shirt on TV.

Song Shengsheng looked at the camera.

He took off the mask that had been covering his face. His eyes were resolute, like fire. He looked deeply at the camera, then bent over and bowed.

But he didn’t say a word.

Lin Chen stared at Song Shengsheng’s bent back. Time seemed to have frozen at that moment. He said to Xing Conglian, “No matter what, I still want to see him.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 153

The phone was suddenly disconnected. Lin Chen couldn’t help rubbing his brows.

Xing Conglian kept driving, and didn’t say much to comfort him.

Because the car was relatively quiet, Wang Chao, who was sitting next to him, should have heard what Song Shengsheng’s former agent said just now. He had a look of indignation on his face as he said, “Damn, A’Chen Gege, I finally know what good intentions are like a donkey’s liver and lungs* is. How can Song Shengsheng’s agent do this? Although there’s nothing wrong with what he said, I think he’s really worse than Liu Ying. It makes me want to punch him.”

*It’s a saying basically meaning your good intentions are useless (because a donkey’s liver and lungs are unpalatable and often discarded and not eaten).

Lin Chen soothed his emotions and patted the teenager’s head. “What is Xiang Ye’s address?’

“Uh… He’s in Fengchun, so I think Song Shengsheng went back to Fengchun.”

“What do you mean?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Xiang Ye is from Fengchun, as is his company. The car also had a Fengchun license plate.”

“They said they would go to the Fengchun police station to give their testimony,” Lin Chen said to Xing Conglian.

“In other words, they told us not to intervene anymore?” Xing Conglian accurately grasped the key point.

Lin Chen nodded.

“Just because he asked, do we have to agree?”

This sounded familiar. Lin Chen couldn’t help rubbing his brows again.

Xing Conglian said disapprovingly, “At least you have to confirm that Song Shengsheng is indeed safe and that his personal freedom isn’t restricted.”

“Then are we going to Fengchun again now?” Wang Chao couldn’t help wailing.

“Not for the time being.” Xing Conglian drove the car onto the ramp in the direction of Hongjing. “We still have some things to go back and deal with.” He thought for a while and then said, “You and your A’Chen Gege can monitor movements online first.”

Wang Chao opened his software and naturally began to summarize the current public opinion index. He asked while doing it, “But why do I have to organize the online forums now…”

“Mr. Xiao Wang,” Xing Conglian said lightly.

“Ah?”

“A brain is a good thing to have. I hope you have it.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

Lin Chen had to explain it to the young man. “In any case, we still have to be careful before things are clear. Online public opinion can help us infer the direction of events, and sometimes, it’s difficult for you to know if the things you occasionally pay attention to one day will suddenly save the world.” Lin Chen patted the teenager on the shoulder. “At least don’t be as careless as I am.”

Wang Chao opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he probably felt whatever he was about to say wasn’t useful, so he lowered his head and began to focus on his work.

In the end, a public opinion data analysis chart similar to that at the time of Li Jingtian’s incident appeared in front of Lin Chen.

Wang Chao said, “A’Chen, the detonation must be at least the level of a nuclear bomb!”

Although Lin Chen knew well what kind of influence Song Shengsheng’s case would have after the live TV broadcast, he was still shocked by the bursting nebula of public opinion in front of him.

The comments and retweets of related incidents on the internet had grown to astounding levels. Lin Chen patiently read through it and found that all the comments online were roughly divided into several categories.

A group of people were accusing the police of being biased. They focused on the Fengchun police officers who handled the case in the past and strongly demanded that they be strictly investigated for their conduct.

Another group was demanding severe punishment for Li Jingtian. Under the merciless offensive of online public opinion, Li Jingtian, a former superstar, had now become a street rat that everyone was cursing at and beating. All of Li Jingtian’s once arrogant fans no longer dare to defend their former idol.

The last category probably included fans who didn’t participate in the melee on either side and only cared about Song Shengsheng silently.

Those fans who once were dormant have sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain. Many of them had written posts reflecting nostalgia and paying homage. They hoped that the person they once liked would be well, no matter   what, and also hoped that Song Shengsheng would appear on stage again one day.

Looking at the chaotic scuffle on the internet, Lin Chen only felt that there didn’t seem to be a problem—at least he couldn’t find any clues from it.

……

In a residential district.

In order to track Song Shengsheng’s recent situation, Mu Wenhua had left the TV on at home for two consecutive days.

After her husband went to work, she sat with her little daughter on the crawling mat in the living room but didn’t have much mind to play with her daughter. She knew that this situation was wrong, but she couldn’t stop watching the TV news.

When those reporters went to the bakery and when they called Mr. Xiang Ye, she was also sitting in front of the TV. Her mood gradually changed from excitement to irritability and then depression. Yes, Mr. Xiang Ye was right. Those reporters were simply following the trend of gossip and were completely different from her.

She stood up from the crawling mat, grabbed her laptop, and opened the Song Shengsheng personal website she used to go to every day—”Be With You”.

There was a time when, after Song Shengsheng was imprisoned, she never dared to come here to read any news about Song Shengsheng’s situation, but yesterday, she actually found her long-sealed account that lurked on this website. In the member’s online section, she saw the friends who used to chase stars with her. Seeing their bright avatars lit up one by one made her gradually happy.

She really didn’t know how many years it had been since she had seen so many people appear on the forum. The mouse scroll was reeling, with replies dripping down like flowing water. Among those who were new or old, there were many people begging for the old files of concerts, and there were many veterans who had been guarding the forum. The veterans worked tirelessly to upload all kinds of interviews that they thought would never see the light of day again.

When she saw all this, Mu Wenhua’s restlessness suddenly calmed down. Mu Wenhua thought that the biggest difference between the fans and spectators was that they really loved Song Shengsheng.

Suddenly, a post caught her attention because it had been moderated with red text.

The theme of the post was—[They can’t compensate, we will accompany].

At Mu Wenhua’s age, posts with similar titles like these seemed numb to her, but she still clicked on it.

After looking at the main post, she roughly understood what the poster meant, and she was even a little moved.

Due to yesterday’s shocking reversal, the internet was now full of complaints against media reporters and the police and investigators at that time. Many people were saying how could they afford to compensate for the glamorous life that Shengsheng used to have?

The post she was reading now was mainly written with similar remarks.

The poster wrote quite a bit.

[In fact, like everyone else, I’m also very concerned about where Shengsheng is now and how he’s doing, but I think that as fans, the difference between us and ordinary people who care about the “Song Shengsheng incident” should be that we must restrain our inner curiosity. Although we really want to see him and know how he’s doing, we can’t affect his current life. We have to give him space and a chance to recover. Maybe he’s recovering well now and is preparing to surprise us, or maybe he’s traumatized and doesn’t want to see us again, but in any case, we agree to protect him for the rest of his life. Those things that they can’t afford, we will accompany him and return them to him.]

The poster added: [In the same way, we can’t accuse and insult others like Li Jingtian’s fans. Yes, it was the police who put Shengsheng in jail, but it was also them who revealed the truth. Ah, we can only trust that the police will give him justice. In the past, Shengsheng would rather bear it himself than hurt us, so we have to be a good person for him…]

For some reason, reading this made Mu Wenhua tearful.

[To love someone is to become a better person for them.]

The poster ended it with that.

[Although it may be too selfish to say this, I still hope that one day, Shengsheng can overcome the pain and return to the stage. I hope he can become that proud 18-year-old boy again. I hope this day will come soon.]

Just as Mu Wenhua was reminiscing, Lin Chen also saw this post, but the location he saw it was not on Song Shengsheng’s personal website, but on Weibo.

Just when he and Wang Chao were observing public opinions on the internet, a new nebula was rapidly forming. Wang Chao quickly opened this initial Weibo. Just when they thought something big was going to happen, they saw this long article of sincere text.

Amidst countless accusations, insults, and quarrels, this long article seemed to pass like a clear stream. It was so calm and serene, that, although people were arguing back and forth violently, when there were truly neutral and calm remarks, people were still willing to listen.

This post on Weibo was retweeted more than a thousand times in a short period of time. It had spontaneously brought topics such as #Accompanyyouforyourcomeback and #WaitingforShengsheng to spawn.

Song Shengsheng’s long-standing but leaderless fans seemed to have found a backbone. This simple, long post was like a clear spring rushing through the sludge, allowing a clearly visible thought to appear in front of the fans.

Many people abandoned their fights one after another and began to forward this long article.

Wang Chao closed his laptop.

Lin Chen looked away. There were still long reeds that seemed unchanging outside the window.

He thought that, in any case, no matter how cruel the story was, there would always be calm afterwards. Everything would be fine, and he shouldn’t worry about it anymore.

……

As if to show him that things weren’t always as bad as he thought, when they returned to the police station, they encountered an unprecedented welcome.

Lin Chen thought they didn’t seem to notify too many people of the news of their return to Hongjing, but when he opened the door to the station, he saw a large group of people waiting for them inside. Even the old director, who rarely came downstairs, deigned to walk down from the second floor.

There was no sound in the office. Looking at their serious faces, Lin Chen wondered if they were going to be fired in front of everyone.

He glanced at the director tentatively. The old director walked out behind everyone with a stern face while holding a teacup in his hand. The police officers in front separated into two sides. When Director Wu walked in front of them, the first thing he did was kick Xing Conglian.

“Your boss is old that you almost caused him to have a heart attack and sent him to the hospital!” the old director roared.

Xing Conglian staggered with a face full of grievance. “Boss Wu… the situation was compelling…”

“Compelling…” The old director shook his hand vigorously as if he wanted to smack Xing Conglian, but the direction of his hand abruptly shifted from the back of Xing Conglian’s head to his shoulder, and he patted Xing Conglian vigorously. The teacup he was holding in his other hand didn’t spill a single drop.

He said, “Xing Conglian, you really did a great job this time!”

Xing Conglian was stunned. As if he didn’t expect the rebuke to turn into praise halfway through, he was unprepared.

“Are you okay, old man?” Xing Conglian asked tentatively.

But before his voice fell, a very light round of applause rang out. Then, everyone in the entire office began to applaud. The applause wasn’t loud or eager, but every face that applauded was solemn.

Lin Chen stood beside Xing Conglian and was patted on the shoulders or back by those hands that stretched out from all sides. Many of them just patted him, but they didn’t say much in the way of congratulations or appreciation because there were no congratulations on this matter. Only people with the status of the old director could say to them, “Well done.”

Lin Chen felt he should have some emotion, but at that moment, he suddenly no longer regretted the choices he made.

This was enough. Indeed, it was enough.

As if the wind had passed without a trace, something similar that could be called a welcome party only lasted for a very short time. After the old director left, Xing Conglian coaxed everyone else away. He directly asked his subordinates about the status of the owner of the bakery where Song Shengsheng worked part-time.

Comrade Zhang Xiaolong’s face flushed. After all, as a police officer who had investigated the Li Jingtian case, she should have enjoyed the moment just now.

Lin Chen patted the police officer on the shoulder and said, “Good work”.

The police officer’s face turned redder. “Consultant Lin, Boss Chen is waiting in the lounge.” She led the way as she spoke. “Oh, by the way, Boss Chen said he didn’t recognize the person on the warrant. That person wasn’t the person who took Song Shengsheng away.”

The police officer stopped in front of the door, suddenly turned around, and asked in a low voice, “Who is that person in the photo?”

Xing Conglian glanced at her and didn’t answer.

The bakery owner in the office had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing them, the owner of the bakery immediately got up. “Oh, Mr. Police Officer. You won’t believe it, but I’ve received countless calls for interviews ever since my shop was filmed by that TV station!”

Lin Chen didn’t respond but sat down directly opposite of the boss.

The boss glanced at him and was suddenly surprised. “Mr. Police Officer, have we met before?”

“Uncle Chen, I often go to your shop for breakfast,” Lin Chen said.

“Oh, yes. You guys do come here often.” The owner of the bakery was completely relaxed when he saw an acquaintance. “On my way here, I heard some news. So our A’Guan is really that big star, Song Shengsheng?”

“It should be,” Lin Chen replied.

“Oh, then do you think I should ask A’Guan for an autograph and hang it in our shop? No, no, I have to get a picture! A picture!” Uncle Chen said happily.

Seeing him so happy, Lin Chen was suddenly relieved. This kind and simple shop owner might be the reason why Song Shengsheng chose to work there.

“You said earlier in the interview that Song Shengsheng started working in your shop three months ago?”

“Yes, I remember it clearly. It happened to be my old lady’s birthday that day.”

“So, can you tell me what happened at that time?”

“There’s nothing really special. I posted a job ad, and the young man came over and said he wanted to work, but he had no experience. He asked me if I was okay with it. He looked like an honest kid, so I hired him.”

The employment in ordinary small shops was casual. Lin Chen thought for a while and asked, “Can I take the liberty of asking if you checked his ID at the time?”

“Oh… I remember. He said he came to Hongjing to work, and his wallet was stolen at the train station, so I didn’t look at his ID card. I mean, I still have some security awareness…”

Uncle Chen took a sip of tea.

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian looked at each other. “Are you sure he came by himself and didn’t look like he was forced?”

Uncle Chen didn’t seem to understand what they were saying. He was taken aback for a moment and answered rhetorically. “Force? Of course, A’Guan did it of his own volition. He doesn’t have a family or home and sleeps in the store as soon as it closes at night. He basically never goes out. Ah, it makes me quite envious.”

“But is there even… a place to sleep in your shop?” Lin Chen asked.

“Oh, there’s a small bed in the back kitchen. Since A’Guan lived there, he could also watch the shop.”

Lin Chen nodded and wanted to ask more, but a knock came from the small door of the office.

Xing Conglian walked to the door and opened it. Outside was Zhang Xiaocong’s excited face. “Captain Xing! Song Shengsheng came out!”

Lin Chen didn’t care to ask Uncle Chen further questions and rushed directly to the TV in the police lounge with Xing Conglian.

There were a lot of people in front of the TV, and several colleagues moved aside to give them some space. Lin Chen looked at the TV screen and found it was the entrance of the Fengchun police station.

There was a very large crowd of onlookers outside the black iron gate, and naturally, all the media reporters were there as well. Lin Chen was pretty sure he and Xing Conglian didn’t reveal to anyone that Xiang Ye would take Song Shengsheng to the Fengchun police station, but most likely these media outlets found out when they called Mr. Xiang Ye.

The cameraman moved the camera to the gate. A black Mercedes-Benz stopped at the entrance of the station. The driver got out and opened the door.

Lin Chen finally saw the polite gentleman that he spoke to over the phone.

He was wearing a fitted gray shirt, a navy-blue striped tie, and his cuffs were pinned with sterling silver cuffs. He got out of the car, walked to the back, and bent over to open the door.

On the screen, Xiang Ye reflected the posture of a social elite. The most important thing was that he didn’t look like Meijing.

But Lin Chen had no time to observe Xiang Ye. His gaze was completely focused on the person who walked out of the passenger door.

Clouds of flashing lights suddenly lit up. In the first few seconds, Lin Chen couldn’t see the figure of the person who got out of the car. Xiang Ye used his hand to block the reporters who surrounded him, almost covering the person’s body tightly.

After the officers of the Fengchun police station removed the reporters, the area around Xiang Ye was cleared up, allowing Lin Chen to see the figure of the man clearly.

Although he was wearing a mask, although his eyes were lowered, and although he no longer had the iconic earrings and nose ring, it was Song Shengsheng. It was indeed Song Shengsheng who seemed to be living freely.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 152

The voice didn’t belong to Song Shengsheng.

But if a voice could reflect the personality of the speaker, then the person who just picked up was a typical gentleman. His voice was low, magnetic, and academic. In short, he didn’t sound like a vicious kidnapper.

Perhaps it was because the voice on the other end was so calm that the reporter who dialed the number was a little speechless. “Ah… Hello.”

“Excuse me, is there something I can do for you?” The man asked.

“Hello, sir. I’m a reporter from Hongjing TV.”

“Really? A reporter?”

“I am indeed a reporter. Can I take the liberty to ask what your name is?”

“Xiang Ye,” the person on the other end replied.

“Hello, Mr. Xiang. Well, I’m calling you to ask if you took someone from Yanjia Lane at six yesterday afternoon. Before leaving, you left your number with the owner of Chen Ji Bakery?”

“Yes.” The man’s response was concise and simple.

“So, is the person you took away Mr. Song Shengsheng?”

The air suddenly stagnated, and everyone was waiting for his answer.

“Heh.” The man gave a low chuckle. “How fast.”

“It’s true! A’Guan is Mr. Song Shengsheng, right? You took him away, right?” the reporter asked eagerly.

“Why should I tell you?”

“You left a number!” The reporter was confused.

“How can you be sure that my number is left for you?”

“This…” The reporter began to become irritated. “What do you mean? Now everyone is very concerned about the safety of Mr. Song Shengsheng. You…”

“Where were you a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, nine years ago?” The man’s tone was merciless. “Now it’s your turn to care about his safety?”

“Please understand, Mr. Xiang, the truth didn’t come out until yesterday. Before, I, including the majority of our audience watching now, were completely blinded by Li Jingtian.”

“So what are you going to do now?” Xiang Ye’s tone became stern. “Don’t think I don’t know. In fact, you just want an interview under the premise of caring. You want to know how he was tortured by Li Jingtian. You’re even thinking dirty, like if he’s in a good mood, he will give you some good material about his painful life in prison. That’ll complete your headlines, right?”

When the reporter was questioned by him, he started to stutter. “You have completely misinterpreted our motives. There are many fans and friends who silently support Mr. Song. We are all worried about Mr. Song.”

“Oh, so are you his fan or a visitor with wretched curiosity?” The man’s tone became colder. He paused and interrupted the reporter, who wanted to respond. “Don’t answer me. Let the police captain who should have gotten the note call me.”

After the person on the other end of the phone finished speaking, he hung up the line decisively.

Because Xiang Ye’s speed of speech was clean and neat, it took less than a minute and a half before the entire call ended.

Xing Conglian turned the volume down without the slightest irritation at being named.

“Xing Conglian…”

Lin Chen spoke in a low voice. It was actually him who decided to wait for the reporter to call first, but this decision obviously caused dissatisfaction from the person on the other end of the line.

Xing Conglian interrupted him. “It doesn’t matter. You’re right.”

As he said this, he took out a cigarette and stuffed it into his mouth but didn’t light it. “Okay, time is running out. Now let’s talk about what we know. First, Song Shengsheng was released from prison with a reduced sentence more than a year ago. During this period, his whereabouts became a mystery, and even Wang Chao couldn’t find a trace of him. It wasn’t until three months ago that he started working at the Chen Ji Bakery in Hongjing. Second, according to the information revealed by Mr. Xiang Ye, who left the number, he should be someone like a friend who supported Song Shengsheng for many years.”

“Captain, your summary is accurate!” Wang Chao said.

“Wang Chao…” Xing Conglian said, “Check the background of this Mr. Xiang.”

As soon as Wang Chao was about to move, Lin Chen held the teenager’s hand and said, “No, I know who it is.”

“Ah! What A’Chen? Who is it?”

“It’s the agent who discovered Song Shengsheng, Mr. Xiang Ye.”

“An agent again?”

Lin Chen nodded and recalled the information he had read before. “It was from one of the interviews. Xiang Ye had a chance a few years ago to attend a campus concert of his sister’s high school. He originally thought it was boring, but during the concert, Song Shengsheng performed a heavy rock song on stage. Although all the teachers and students in the audience wanted to cover their ears, Xiang Ye felt that Song Shengsheng’s music was wonderful, and when he learned afterward that it was his own original music, the famous agent belonging to CA Entertainment was determined to sign the 16-year-old. Xiang Ye supported Song Shengsheng for his debut and managed him during his rookie period, the most difficult time for Song Shengsheng. It could be said that Song Shengsheng was able to reach the top of the music scene because of the vision and courage of his agent.”

After Lin Chen repeated the report, Xing Conglian asked him, “So this Mr. Xiang Ye, is he still working at CA Entertainment?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “I don’t know what happened after that. I need Wang Chao to check that out.”

“A’Chen, I’m already on it!” Wang Chao shouted.

The young man pressed the enter button and then said, “Reporting to leader, Xiang Ye hasn’t worked in CA Entertainment for a long time. After Song Shengsheng was unjustly imprisoned, he resigned from CA. After several twists and turns, he now seems to be working as a manager of the Yasheng Performing Arts Group.”

“It seems that this Xiang Ye is quite a kind and righteous person?” Xing Conglian murmured.

In fact, Lin Chen could fully understand Xing Conglian’s feelings. They were very suspicious before. First, they suspected that the person who took Song Shengsheng away was Mr. Meijing, and now they suspect that the motives of Xiang Ye taking away Song Shengsheng were impure, but facts proved that their two conjectures were complete bullshit.

“What does Consultant Lin think?”

Xing Conglian was asked for his opinion.

Lin Chen thought for a while and said, “It may not be appropriate for me to say it, but we still have to plan for the worst.”

“You mean, Song Shengsheng is being controlled by this man named Xiang Ye?” Xing Conglian asked.

“But Song Shengsheng got in the car by himself. How can he be controlled?” Wang Chao interjected.

“I really don’t know, so I can only say we need to plan for the worst.”

Xing Conglian said, “Your intuition for planning never comes for no reason…”

“No, in fact, my intuition has already been irrational.” Although he said this, he really suspected that his intuition was wrong.

“Hey…” Xing Conglian sighed.

“However, the crux of the problem this time is, why do we want to find Song Shengsheng? If the fans want to know if their beloved idol is safe, and the media wants to get news and hits, then why are we also disturbing his current life?”

“It can’t be said to be a disturbance. After all, there are still doubts in this case. One recording can prove that Li Jingtian forced Song Shengsheng to have sex, but Song Shengsheng’s detailed confession is also required. The other is that the false accusation case and the rape case aren’t actually within our jurisdiction. That is the duty of the Fengchun police. When I contacted the Fengchun police yesterday, they only invited Mu Zhuo for an inquiry. They don’t have any evidence to detain him. Therefore, we have to wait for Li Jingtian to be extradited back before we can re-interrogate him. Song Shengsheng’s cooperation is also required. Otherwise, I’m afraid Mu Zhuo can get off scot-free.”

“Yes, the false accusation…” Lin Chen said thoughtfully.

“Consultant Lin is thinking of something again.”

“Don’t you find it strange? Why doesn’t anyone know that Li Jingtian committed those crimes against Song Shengsheng? I have read the file. After being falsely accused by Mu Zhuo, in the police station and court, Song Shengsheng stated that there are many opportunities for the world to know the true face of Li Jingtian, but he never mentioned it. Even in the case of Mu Zhuo’s false accusation against him, he just denied it until the very end without ever mentioning more details. This is one of the reasons why his innocence plea failed.”

Xing Conglian stared at him deeply in the rearview mirror. “Is there something else hidden here?”

“I don’t know if there’s a hidden story. It’s possible that Song Shengsheng didn’t mention what Li Jingtian did to him due to mental trauma and shame. This situation is also common among rape victims. It’s even possible that Li Jingtian threatened that if Song Shengsheng reveals the true story, he’ll release sex videos or audio to the public. There are many similar possibilities, so I still have to wait for Li Jingtian…” Lin Chen paused and asked Xing Conglian. “How long will it take to extradite him?”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian frowned. He didn’t seem to expect that his decision to let Li Jingtian return to Xinni would bring these follow-up uncertainties. “If it goes well, it’ll take two weeks at the earliest. The premise is that the Li family won’t be a hindrance.”

“I see.”

Lin Chen didn’t ask any more questions.

Just like Xing Conglian didn’t blame him for calling Xiang Ye right away, there were too many uncertain factors then. All they could do was make the best choice at the time.

He said to Xing Conglian, “I’ll make the call.”

“But the other party wants to talk to me.”

“This is the strange thing. Obviously, it was me who was in the limelight yesterday, but he wants you to contact him.” Lin Chen paused, then said, “Moreover, do you agree with everyone who wants to talk to you?’

Hearing what he said, Xing Conglian was stunned at first, then smiled. “Consultant Lin has a point.”

Seeing that Xing Conglian agreed, Lin Chen looked at Wang Chao. “Can you build a signal tracker platform? Let’s see where Xiang Ye is now.”

Wang Chao nodded. “His phone should be easy to track. Wait a bit.”

The teenager moved fast.

Lin Chen rubbed his phone case. He knew very well that what he was doing now was being paranoid to the extreme, but since he knew that Song Shengsheng had been working at that bakery where he occasionally went to eat for three months, he developed a strange thought in his heart. He reasoned that if he hadn’t been a primary school teacher for three years, he would not have had such a thought… This was completely delusional thinking, but if it was really those people in the past, why did they let Song Shengsheng work beside them? This was against common sense and logic.

So, this should be a coincidence…

“A’Chen.”

The soft voice of Wang Chao called him back from his thoughts. The teenager signaled to him that he could make the call.

Lin Chen nodded and dialed the string of numbers.

The ringing tone on the phone lasted for 50 seconds. It wasn’t picked up until it almost hung up automatically.

“Hello, who’s this?” The voice coming from the speaker was the same as what they heard on the radio, but the cold words revealed an irritability that they didn’t have before.

“Hello, Mr. Xiang Ye. My name is Lin Chen, and I’m a subordinate of Police Captain Xing Conglian.”

“Oh, I know you. Thank you very much for what happened yesterday. Thank you,” Xiang Ye said, but Lin Chen didn’t feel any gratitude from his words. After all, he just received an accidental but sincere thank you last night.

“This is my duty, so please don’t be polite.” Lin Chen knew exactly how fast Xiang Ye’s speech and reaction were, so he continued, “Although it is a bit abrupt to say so, I want to talk to Mr. Song Shengsheng.”

For some reason, after making this request, Lin Chen felt his heart beating violently. He was nervous.

But the expected voice didn’t sound.

The person who spoke was still Xiang Ye. “Your request is indeed very abrupt. I’m sorry. I can’t agree.”

“Can I ask you to ask Mr. Song for his opinion?”

“Lin Chen, don’t you understand why I specifically asked to talk to your boss instead of you?”

“First, I really don’t, and second, I really need to talk to Mr. Song Shengsheng to determine his personal safety.”

“Heh.” Xiang Ye sneered. “So, what you mean by that is, you want repayment for your kindness and to appear in front of Shengsheng as his benefactor?”

The deeper the hostility on the other end of the line, the calmer Lin Chen became. “I don’t know where your prejudice is coming from. I just want to confirm Mr. Song Shengsheng’s personal freedom.”

“Freedom?” Xiang Ye sneered again. “Isn’t it the police that deprived him of his freedom and gave him his freedom?”

“I’m sorry,” Lin Chen said sincerely.

Xiang Ye was speechless for a while before he said, “Lin Chen, if you can put yourself in another’s place, you should understand why Shengsheng doesn’t want to see you. You have made his most unspeakable things public, and now you’re like those media reporters coming here to skin him again?”

Lin Chen couldn’t speak. Xiang Ye’s words seemed as if they were wet cotton stuffed down his throat, which blocked him so firmly he couldn’t utter a word.

Yes…

What was the use of fans’ gratitude? If Song Shengsheng didn’t want this to be brought up again, his aggressive action might have hurt Song Shengsheng again.

He raised his eyes and looked at the rearview mirror. Xing Conglian’s dark green eyes were staring at him firmly as he nodded at him.

Lin Chen took a deep breath and said to the other end of the line. “Please don’t question my compassion or my purpose. If my actions hurt Mr. Song Shengsheng, I’m really, truly sorry. But please understand that rape is a public prosecution case, and the direction of the case will not depend on the will of the criminal or the victim. Even if Mr. Song Shengsheng does not seek legal redress against Mr. Li Jingtian, the police and public prosecution agency will pursue criminal charges in accordance with the law.”

Lin Chen suppressed the extremely uncomfortable emotions in his heart. It was very difficult to finish the last passage. If this case had progressed to the present, there was someone he wanted to protect, and he didn’t want the other party to suffer any more harm. That person was first Xu Ran, and now it became Song Shengsheng. But it was very possible that what he was doing now caused just the same harm as the media reporters in the eyes of Song Shengsheng. He forcibly and willfully revealed a privacy that Song Shengsheng did not want to be exposed under the sun, and because of his duties, he must continue to do so.

Xiang Ye pondered for a moment, but his voice remained cold. “I see. We will go to the Fengchun police station to report what happened, but if you have any trace of compassion, I sincerely ask you not to forcefully come see us. Thank you.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Controversial as it is, once a crime is committed, it will be up to the prosecutor to press (criminal) charges or not. This goes both ways, in terms of whether the victim wants to or doesn’t want to. It’s usually dependent on how much evidence they can gather and how likely they are to get a conviction based on that. This is generally the case, but I don’t know much about China’s judicial process.

Though, TBH, in this case, slim evidence like a master tape probably won’t be enough for the prosecutor to press charges, especially given that the victim isn’t willing to testify, and even then, that’s still really slim evidence (especially since 9 years have already passed and most likely all conclusive evidence has been erased or is gone). To actually hope to convict Li Jingtian, they would need Mu Zhuo and other witnesses (assuming there were other corroborators) to testify against him.

But, we are reading a fictional novel, so just go with it.

Also, I’m not a lawyer, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. If any lawyers or law experts are reading, do chime in.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 151

On TV, a reporter was interviewing a resident.

It was a gray-haired old lady wearing a red armband. The old lady was very excited and said to the reporter, “Oh, I watched the news yesterday. Aren’t you all looking for that big star? When I saw him, I thought he kind of looked familiar! I thought about it and seemed to have seen him somewhere. Guess what? Before I went to bed, my old man told me what we’re having tomorrow morning, and suddenly, I knew where I had seen this big star you were looking for.”

The old woman finished speaking and began to walk while the reporter was asking her dozens of questions.

The camera followed her steps, sweeping past a pink wall. There were green bricks and a slated bridge recorded by the camera. A turquoise river was on the side of the road, and the bricks and tiles that appeared on TV gave Lin Chen a familiar feeling.

He was like Wang Chao. He turned his head blankly and looked at Xing Conglian for a while, speechless.

Because the old lady was walking through what was Yanjia Lane, the same street he would walk through every day.

Song Shengsheng was living in a place that was close to them?

How was this possible…

The old lady walked along the river for a while, then turned left into another alley, and finally stopped in front of the entrance to a large bakery.

The camera lens moved to the signboard of this breakfast shop, and Lin Chen was so shocked he almost forgot to breathe. He clearly remembered that it was the morning before yesterday; on the day before the accident at Ansheng International Mall, he and Xing Conglian were at this shop.

They sat opposite each other and had breakfast in the shop, which had a strong smell of oil.

The cameraman recorded the steaming fritters and snow-white soy milk and finally pointed the camera at the shop owner.

All of a sudden, there were so many people in the shop, and many of them were holding microphones and cameras. The boss was very surprised. “What’s the matter? Is my Lao Chen’s fritter finally famous?”

“Boss Chen, who is the little kneader in your family? Who’s in the back of your kitchen? Can he come out?” the old lady asked mysteriously.

As soon as the old lady said this, Lin Chen almost bit himself. He finally remembered why he felt Song Shengsheng looked familiar.

He should indeed have seen Song Shengsheng. The old lady was right. It was the person working in the back of the bakery—the worker who was kneading dough and never spoke.

Sometimes, Boss Chen didn’t have enough dough at hand, and he was too busy to go get it himself, so he would shout, and someone would come out from the back kitchen and deliver the dough to him, then he would bow his head and walk to the back again…

The appearance of the worker gradually overlapped with the picture of Song Shengsheng after he was released from prison.

Lin Chen thought that in that bustling shop, he must have had the opportunity to pass by Song Shengsheng once or twice. Maybe Song Shengsheng glanced at him, maybe he glanced at Song Shengsheng. Why didn’t he remember this earlier?

But was it really Song Shengsheng?

Without all the rivets all over his body and his unique silver hair, the kneader’s face was pale, and his skin was dry and chapped. He appeared to be an overworked small worker at the city’s lowest level. Except that he looked much older than those people and didn’t have any traces of what he had used to look like before.

Lin Chen had many ideas about how Song Shengsheng should look now, and he even preferred that Song Shengsheng become a crazy executioner to exact revenge on Li Jingtian, as he had feared, rather than this: ordinary, introverted, and lifeless…

Would the once proud soul that was dragged to the depths of hell really become humble and rickety, to the point of being almost unrecognizable?

Lin Chen covered his face with both hands, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

He felt his shoulder sink. At some point, Xing Conglian had put his hand on his shoulder. Lin Chen raised his head, and Xing Conglian added more pressure, as if to comfort him.

Xing Conglian looked at him and said to Wang Chao, “Wang Chao, find Boss Chen’s number right away.”

The teenager, who was bare-shirted, nodded, then rushed to the table and opened his laptop. “A’Chen Gege, do you know the full name of Boss Chen?”

“I don’t.” Lin Chen thought for a moment and said, “The bakery must have records in the Bureau of Industry and Commerce and the Department of Health. You can check there.”

During the live TV broadcast, the boss nimbly took the cash. When he was looking for change, he thought about answering the old lady’s question just now. “He’s gone.”

“What? Gone?” The reporter raised his voice and asked, “Are you sure? When did he leave?”

“Gone. He left after getting off work yesterday. What’s the matter? Is this a TV show looking for people?” The boss wiped his hand on his apron and asked perplexingly, as if unaware of the situation.

“Lao Chen, you didn’t watch the news yesterday? It’s a big deal!” The old lady shouted at the top of her lungs in exasperation.

“My little grandson hogs the TV all day watching bears. What kind of news can I watch?” The boss lowered his head and continued to roll out the dough.

The old lady batted the boss’ arm. “That’s Song Shengsheng! A formerly famous big star. Did you check his ID card when you hired him? Was that his name? Is it Song Shengsheng?”

Boss Chen burst out laughing. “What big star? How could our A’Guan be a star? It’s not like you have seen A’Guan…”

Hearing what the boss said, the reporter was a little disappointed. “Is it true that his name is A’Guan? But why did he leave yesterday after he got off work? Do you know the details?”

“Tsk.” The boss stopped suddenly and looked at the reporter suspiciously. “He said his name is A’Guan, but now that you mentioned… He left in a hurry yesterday. He said he didn’t want the rest of his salary. Later, I chased him down, but he got into a big Benz…”

Hearing this, the reporter’s eyes lit up, and he became excited again. “Did you really check his ID card? Isn’t he really Song Shengsheng?”

Boss Chen smacked his mouth and waved his hand. “Our small shop doesn’t want trouble. We only need someone who is honest and willing to work hard. He’s been working here for three months and is very honest and responsible. How does he look like those stars on TV?”

“In other words, you don’t know who he is?”

“Of course I do. He’s A’Guan!”

The reporter then turned around and looked at the live broadcast camera and said very excitedly, “Dear audience, the trail of Mr. Song Shengsheng is becoming more confusing. Whether the bakery worker is the former King of Music, please keep watching Hongjing TV station as we track the clues down for you.”

The boss looked confused. He scratched his face, then leaned into the camera and suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, the person who drove the big Benz left me a number. Do you want it?”

“I want it! Thank you!” The reporter almost lost his composure in front of the TV because of the upcoming exclusive.

At the same time, Wang Chao shouted in front of the computer. “Captain, I found it!”

“Call,” Xing Conglian said heavily.

Wang Chao hurriedly dialed the number. During the live news broadcast, the boss was strangely taking out a note from his pockets when suddenly a ringtone sounded. He first handed the note to the reporter before answering the call.

“Hello, Boss Chen. I am the captain of the Hongjing Police. My name is Xing Conglian. Please take back the note and don’t reveal anything to reporters. Later, our colleagues will pick you up and escort you to the police station to get your statement. Please rest assured, this is just a routine inquiry.”

In the picture, the reporter had just opened the note.

Hearing this, Boss Chen hurriedly reached out his hand and snatched the note back. As if in an absurd comedy, he said to Xing Conglian carelessly in front of the camera, “Captain Xing, I snatched the paper back. Don’t worry, I won’t give it to anyone except the police!”

“Thank you, and please send me the number on the paper as soon as possible.”

After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he hung up the phone and also took out a piece of paper from his pocket. There was a circle left by the soup bowl on the paper. That was the warrant that he had previously placed under the bowl. He slowly opened it, and the sketch of the strange-named Mr. Meijing was smiling at them.

Lin Chen frowned tightly. Someone driving a Mercedes to pick up Song Shengsheng. Who was it? He hoped it wasn’t that terrifying person.

Xing Conglian turned his head and looked at him and asked, “You’re not worried about the same thing as me, are you?”

Lin Chen could only nod.

……

Song Shengsheng worked at the bakery, where they would occasionally go for breakfast. This was almost an incredible coincidence, but if this wasn’t a coincidence, then this matter had begun to approach the scope of a thriller. Lin Chen didn’t dare make any speculations about it.

They packed up quickly. Xing Conglian and Wang Chao stuffed everything into their backpacks at lightning speed. During the packing period, Xing Conglian didn’t disconnect the phone once. He kept assigning tasks to their Hongjing colleagues. First, he sent someone to Yanjia Lane to pick up Boss Chen, and then he said to the colleague on the other end of the line, “Take people from the forensic department to the bakery and see if there are any fingerprints left by that A’Guan, and scan them for inspection. Also, I have a picture here. When you see Boss Chen, ask him if he recognizes this as the person who picked up Song Shengsheng.”

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone again, took a picture of the wanted warrant, and sent it over.

After doing all this, Xing Conglian’s text message notification buzzed. He clicked on the message, and a phone number consisting of 13 digits appeared, which was sent by the owner of the bakery.

“Consultant Lin, should we make this call right now?” Xing Conglian asked him as he stared at the number.

Lin Chen fell into contemplation. This was a really difficult question to judge, so even Xing Conglian hesitated.

Judging from the other party’s action of leaving a number, it was obvious they hoped someone would call them. This showed that the other party wasn’t afraid of them knowing they had picked up Song Shengsheng, and Song Shengsheng also voluntarily left with them. This shouldn’t be a kidnapping, so why?

“Consultant Lin.”

Xing Conglian called to him again.

Lin Chen thought for a while and said, “Anyway, that reporter has seen the number, so he might already be calling now, so let’s wait and see.”

Xing Conglian nodded, as if agreeing with his judgment.

Soon they got into Xing Conglian’s Jeep and rushed back to Hongjing.

Lin Chen sat in the back seat with Wang Chao, who didn’t care anymore about the cute pink strawberry t-shirt that he was wearing.

The vehicle started. Wang Chao put his hands on the keyboard, but he didn’t know what to do.

“A’Chen Gege, I… What should I check?”

Lin Chen pinched the bridge of his nose and said to Wang Chao, “Let’s take a look at the situation on the internet first, then search the peripheral surveillance. Can you make sure that the A’Guan from the bakery is Song Shengsheng?”

Xing Conglian turned on the car radio channel to Hongjing broadcasting. The host’s magnetic and gentle voice flowed out. He said with some excitement, “The news about Song Shengsheng, the former King of Music, has affected the hearts of hundreds of millions of fans. Just now, the host of our Hongjing TV station has called the number of the mysterious gentleman who took Song Shengsheng away. Our director has cut to the audio. Let us hold our breath and wait quietly.”

The host said this in an almost chant-like tone. He was full of reverence when he spoke the name Song Shengsheng. It was always the nature of the media to follow the trend¹ and praise high and step low².

¹Red top white (跟红顶白) Cantonese slang referring to following the trend.
²(扒高踩低) Idiom refer to flattering/clinging to the superior while bullying and suppressing the inferior.

The tone of the call ringing sounded, one after another. Finally, the line was connected, and everyone’s hearts had reached their throats.

A very calm and humble voice came from the car stereo. He said, “Hello, may I ask who this is?”

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