148 Cunning

The direction is wrong?

Bai Muchuan squeezed her hand. "Why do you say that?"

Xiang Wan looked into his eyes and shared her views.

"Ye Lun is someone who could really stir up trouble. He gives off a natural evil aura as though he could commit a crime any moment. Well, otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten the role of the antagonist in 'The Grey List'. Furthermore, as he happened to have a link to Sun Shangli's case as well as Mao Guigui's case, inevitably, it had become a psychological hint that something must be up with Ye Lun…"

There was a sudden silence inside the car.

Tang Yuanchu, who was driving, chimed in instead of waiting for Bai Muchuan to reply.

"Teacher Xiang, so are you saying that there isn't a problem with Ye Lun?"

Tang Yuanchu had always dislike Ye Lun. After coming in contact with Ye Lun several times, Tang Yuanchu had already automatically "classified" Ye Lun as one of the suspects, which was why the moment he heard Xiang Wan was trying to clear his name, he immediately raised his objection.

"This is an era of people going after looks. We better don't believe our eyes too much. Especially young women like yourself who are too prone to be charmed by these hot young studs. Men who are too good-looking might not be good men…"

"…" Xiang Wan felt speechless.

Did she really look a lot like a woman who was crazy about hot young studs?

Cough! Xiang Wan put on a serious expression. "That's exactly why we shouldn't believe our eyes too much. Maybe our direction is wrong because we'd chosen to believe in our eyes."

Screech!

Tang Yuanchu made a sharp turn.

"You really believed that bleeping rascal, Ye Lun…"

That sudden sharp turn almost made Xiang Wan land in Bai Muchuan's thighs.

She supported herself up but her hands were on Bai Muchuan's thighs. She felt so abashed that her face felt warm. "Detective Tang, don't be so agitated. Drive safely…"

"Earlier on, a motorbike suddenly appeared out of nowhere," Tang Yuanchu explained the reason for the sharp turn. "I don't think our direction is wrong. Ye Lun, that rascal, definitely has a problem. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many coincidences that every time when a case happens, he would definitely be somehow involved…"

"Tang Yuanchu!" Bai Muchuan interrupted him. "Don't be in a hurry to raise your views. Let Teacher Xiang finish her analysis."

"… Yes sir!"

Our Detective Tang felt a little grieved, but he listened and kept quiet.

Xiang Wan took a peek at him and felt like giggling.

"Actually, it's not that complicated. I'm not saying that Ye Lun is definitely not a suspect or something. I just feel that we should change the way we look at a problem. I have been researching various cases of criminal psychology these two days and found that although criminal psychology is complex and ever-changing, all criminals actually have a common trait—to keep themselves hidden.

"A person like Ye Lun who has no scruples about making sarcastic remarks about the police… Let's be honest, he's being stupid by behaving this way. If he's really the one who committed the murder, that would be too stupid of him. What good will it do for him to offend the police?"

"I don't really agree." Tang Yuanchu laughed. "Some criminals are so confident that they do not take the police to heart at all."

"Yes, you're right to say that." Xiang Wan furrowed her brows. "But people like that most probably only exist in movies or novels. In reality, do such people… really exist?"

She turned to ask Bai Muchuan. "Have you met someone like that before, Captain Bai?"

Bai Muchuan smiled, looking relaxed. "I did."

When Tang Yuanchu heard this, he had as though gained a supporter and he began to speak louder subconsciously.

"Teacher Xiang, you might not have known, but Captain Bai used to be from the ICPO…"

Tang Yuanchu seemed to have activated his daily "admiration" mode toward his boss.

From the nature of the ICPO, it was true that Bai Muchuan could be exposed to different kinds of cases and different methods of crimes. The level of crime was definitely more advanced as well, like international crimes and so on…

Xiang Wan was speechless.

Bai Muchuan suddenly interrupted Tang Yuanchu and gave his opinion, "Teacher Xiang is also right about her point of view. Except for the armed crime syndicates and outlaws who have nothing to fear, as long as one still wanted to live, they would subconsciously try to stay hidden and not deliberately expose themselves…"

After obtaining his approval and affirmation, Xiang Wan pressed her lips together and felt more confident.

"I was doing my profiling analysis this afternoon. Kong Qingping stole the doll; Xie Wanwan got threatened; Yu Hui's accidental death; Cao Mengjia's strange suicide and Mao Guigui's head without a body… These people do not have any common social relationship, but all of them are related to something very clearly."

Related to something very clearly?

When Tang Yuanchu heard this, he got curious.

"Teacher Xiang, what is it?"

"Celebrity, entertainment! Public. Mass media."

After Xiang Wan said these terms, she suddenly scrunched her eyebrows closely after giving it a thought.

"And, the cases are also related to the film crew of 'The Grey List'."

"…"

After keeping quiet for a few seconds, Tang Yuanchu gasped.

"You're right! It really seems to be the case. If so, does that mean that the suspect must be related to the film crew?"

"You can say that." Xiang Wan contemplated for a while and glanced at Bai Muchuan before adding another sentence. "At the very least, as far as these series of cases are concerned, there must have been something about the film crew."

As Tang Yuanchu was there, she did not directly address her deeper doubts about the case… as well as her conclusive analysis where she and Bai Muchuan shared the same view.

She believed that even if there really was a "manipulator" hiding behind all of these cases, it would not affect the suspect that should exist in the film crew of "The Grey List" for these consecutive cases.

It was as though there was a rule.

Just as all the previous cases, the "manipulator" might not appear, but the suspect would most certainly be found.

Even if they couldn't find the suspect… there would be people who would guide them toward the suspect.

"Seems like the probability of the suspect hiding within the film set is very high?" Tang Yuanchu remarked as he pondered, "Captain Bai, shall we do 24-hour monitoring on the film crew?"

Bai Muchuan stayed silent for a moment.

Those words that Xiang Wan chose not to say, Bai Muchuan knew that very well in his head.

After pausing for a while, he accepted Tang Yuanchu's suggestion.

"Arrange that tomorrow."

After that, he squeezed Xiang Wan's hand and spoke softly.

"No matter how deep that person is hiding, I'm going to find him and drag him out!"

…

They reached Grand Orchid Pavilion in no time.

Standing beside the neon lightings of the signboard were a man and woman.

They held hands and were talking amongst themselves. They seemed to be very much in love.

Tang Yuanchu laughed as he drove over. He tapped once on the car horn and drew down the car window.

"Brother Huang! Over here—"

The man and woman turned around.

It was Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan.

Huang He laughed when he saw Tang Yuanchu. "You're here!"

"You've waited for long?" Tang Yuanchu chuckled. "Get on the car!"

Then he turned for a look at Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan who was sitting at the back passenger seats. "Brother Huang, you sit in front. Sister-in-law, you sit with Teacher Xiang!"

Five people were just nice to fit in nicely in a car.

Tang Yuanchu's arrangement was appropriate.

Fang Yuanyuan took a look at Xiang Wan and got on the car without a word.

"Xie Hui and the others have arrived," said Tang Yuanchu, "we have to be faster!"

Tang Yuanchu was a cheerful young man. He did not feel the weird atmosphere in the car but was busy talking with Huang He after "reuniting with him after a separation". Huang He, on the other hand, knew about the fight between Fang Yuanyuan and Xiang Wan. However, he talked to Tang Yuanchu and Bai Muchuan, as though he did not know of the fight at all.

The three men chatted happily.

Whereas Xiang Wan and Fang Yuanyuan remained silent.

As the car drove past street after street, Xiang Wan could not take it anymore.

"Why are you like this?" she asked Fang Yuanyuan softly, "still angry with me?"

Fang Yuanyuan snorted faintly, "No."

When a girl says she is angry, it might not be the case.

But when a girl is obviously unhappy and she said she is not. That means she is really angry.

"I know this incident really put you in a difficult position…" Xiang Wan smiled, "I really have no choice. I have apologized and explained to you… If you continue to be angry like this, I don't know what to do, either."

"That's an explanation?"

Fang Yuanyuan was a quick-tempered girl.

When they messaged each other via the internet, she could behave coldly by ignoring Xiang Wan. However, now that both of them were sitting together, face to face, how would she be able to control her hot temper?

"You never bleeping explained clearly, alright? You want to stop updating your story without rhyme or reason. I got chastised by my Chief Editor because of you. Not only that, those moron colleagues of mine gloated and mocked me…"

"…"

The office politics in the editorial department was also very exciting.

Xiang Wan would occasionally hear from Fang Yuanyuan about her office politics amongst the editors and would laugh at it, never taking it seriously. However, as it was she who caused Yuanyuan being given the cold shoulder and being derided, she put herself in Yuanyuan's shoes and felt she was really… a bad cousin.

"I'm sorry!"

Xiang Wan said softly and added, "I'm serious."

"Hmph, what can a word of sorry do?" Fang Yuanyuan rolled her eyes, still fuming. "When your books didn't do well, how did I help you? I told everyone that you can definitely make it… Now that you are finally starting to do well, you actually pulled the rug from under…"

When Fang Yuanyuan said this, she was gritting her teeth.

Xiang Wan felt helpless and kept quiet.

Then suddenly they heard Bai Muchuan's cold voice.

"I'm the one who told her not to continue writing!"

They did not expect him to listen in to their conversation—after all, they had actually tried to control their volume.

What was more unexpected was that he actually spoke up for her.

Xiang Wan turned around suddenly and blinked. "Bai Muchuan!"

"I know." Bai Muchuan smiled at her and patted on her hand secretly, a gesture that asked her not to worry.

"Xiang Wan's story is now linked to the case we are currently handling," he said in a business-like tone, "in order to cooperate with the police to solve the case, I have requested her to stop updating her story. The reason that you wanted to know and she's unable to tell you was because we didn't want to make it public."

"What?" Fang Yuanyuan was surprised. "What does solving a crime has to do with her writing a book? So she can't write a book all her life because of the case?"

Bai Muchuan smiled casually. "Well, it's not for sure yet. She might be able to continue writing the novel in future too."

"…"

In the silence, he peered at Xiang Wan.

"When the case's solved and if she's willing, she can always continue to write."

"…"

He made the decision for her, just like that.

He took all the blame for her, just like that.

Xiang Wan looked at him quietly, not knowing what to say.

Fang Yuanyuan was always in awe of Bai Muchuan. After hearing his explanation, and with the name of the police as support for Xiang Wan, although she was still doubtful, her anger toward Xiang Wan had subsided by a lot.

"So, can I explain this reason to the Chief Editor?" Fang Yuanyuan asked and glared at Xiang Wan as though still fuming. "Detective Bai, you don't know the cruelty of this industry and you don't know the competitiveness amongst the authors in order to get recommended. If we can't solve this matter, not only her book would be ruined, her reputation in the industry would be ruined as well."

Xiang Wan's heart twitched at her words.

She believed what Fang Yuanyuan had said…

She also believed that half of Fang Yuanyuan's anger was because of her for not striving harder.

"By then, don't talk to me about your dreams, your goals, or you want to become a legendary author! It's all bullsh*t!"

"Hm, I understand." Bai Muchuan nodded his head and thought for a moment. "How about this? You can tell your Chief Editor what I've said. Of course, you can choose not to tell. Basically, it's what is convenient for you… Actually, as long as the book is good, why would you not recommend it? You don't have to overthink this too much."

"…"

Fang Yuanyuan did not say anything seeing his nonchalant behavior.

But inside, she couldn't help but retort, Hurhur, not to overthink? It's better not to talk to someone who doesn't know about this industry.

"Fine, I'll explain to my Chief Editor about this tomorrow. Hopefully, she'll be appeased."

Bai Muchuan chuckled softly, "Don't forget to remind her that this must be kept a secret!"

"Okay, definitely."

Fang Yuanyuan's eyes lit up after hearing what Bai Muchuan said.

It had to be something secret—only then they would be able to get the Chief Editor's understanding.

If the Chief Editor still refused to believe this, she could always let her have a talk with Detective Bai.

Fang Yuanyuan was happy with herself by thinking this way. When she turned to look at Xiang Wan, her facial expression was much better.

Nevertheless, she still spoke in a somewhat sulky manner.

"Although you can't publish your chapters at the moment, you should continue to write. Otherwise, if this issue gets prolonged, you might not be able to get the feeling of writing back. And when you are allowed to publish your story again, I doubt you're able to write anything…"

Xiang Wan understood what Fang Yuanyuan was trying to say.

But continuing her story—would everything be fine by then?

"Hm, I got it."

…

"The Palace" was now brightly lit and bustling with activity. They could already feel the lively atmosphere from afar.

That day was their reopening. To thank customers for their support, "The Palace" offered discounts for all customers who patronized them. It was the first time they had done such a campaign.

Yes, ever since "The Palace" started operating in Jin City, this was the first time they offered discounts.

Bai Muchuan knew very well they came up with this marketing gimmick due to the murder case.

For the sake of attracting customers back, his cousin, Bai Munian, had to resort to this…

"Bro, you're definitely a businessman!" Bai Muchuan met his cousin at the ninth floor of "The Palace" and immediately teased him. "For the sake of money, you've broken the rule of never offering discounts!"

Bai Munian had specially flew to Jin City to host the reopening ceremony.

Although Bai Muchuan had sort of mocked at him, he only raised an eyebrow and laughed it off.

"Rules are meant to be broken."

As he said that, his gaze slowly shifted to Xiang Wan.

He looked at her for just a second before smiling at Bai Muchuan meaningfully.

"Aren't you the same?"

That gaze of his was very meaningful. That sentence was hard to understand as well.

Xiang Wan felt that both of them were speaking in riddles. Nonetheless, Bai Muchuan only smiled at his cousin and did not continue the topic. It was not convenient for her to ask about it.

"I've arranged everything for you. Just go in and enjoy!"

The boss of "The Palace" personally attended to this group of customers. Moreover, as this was the ninth floor, their treatment was certainly top-notch.

Especially as this was their day of reopening, it seemed that the place was more luxurious than the last time.

The group of them marveled at Bai Munian's wealth.

Bai Muchuan did not stand on ceremony with Bai Munian. After getting his team of detectives to sit down, he started to "chase" his cousin away.

"Bro, go get busy. We don't need you to stay with us here. It's not good for you to get involved in the world of us youngsters."

Bai Munian: "…"

"Fine!" He got up from his seat and said casually, "Since you've said that, then I should do away with the discount tonight. You youngsters are not short of money anyway!"

"No problem!" Bai Muchuan did not mind at all. "It's going to show up on your bill anyway. Whether you want to give discount or not, it's totally up to you!"

Bai Munian: "… You rascal."

The two of them joked around while the others sat quietly without a word.

Well, in fact, it was indeed not suitable for Bai Munian to be there with them.

When he was around, the group of them did not dare to really enjoy themselves.

Bai Munian laughed and politely asked everyone to enjoy themselves before he left.

"Your cousin is impressive, Captain Bai!"

"As impressive as me?"

"… Erm, you're more impressive."

Without him around, the group relaxed and started to joke casually.

Originally, Bai Muchuan had told the team to thoroughly enjoy themselves. However, Huang He's incident had left too big of an impact on them. Even though they had knocked off from work and it was a private gathering, everyone was still wary and only ordered two bottles of red wine. After that, they did not want to drink anymore…

Nevertheless, the traditional Chinese always liked to talk business over dinner.

After drinking some wine, Tang Yuanchu raised up an old issue. "Brother Huang, did you receive a notice when you'll be coming back to work?"

The atmosphere was suddenly stagnant and everyone was silent.

"The Municipal Bureau had initially treated your case as suspension for investigation," Tang Yuanchu looked at everyone and continued, "the incident was long over and cleared up. You're not being fired or something, why aren't you allowed to come back?"

Huang He laughed it off, "Actually being a security officer is kinda nice as well. Not much stress."

"Bullsh*t!" Tang Yuanchu stared at him. "Don't tell me this! Did you forget that when I came to work on the first day, what did you tell me? We've made a pact to work in this job till retirement!"

It was nice being young.

Impulsive, vigorous, and saying what they wanted to say.

Huang He pondered a little as he looked at him—he was a little taken aback as well.

"The organization will know what to do. Let us not worry about this!"

Hmph! Tang Yuanchu did not seem convinced and turned to Bai Muchuan.

"Captain Bai, do you think this is fair? This case has nothing to do with Brother Huang at all, yet he was being made to shoulder the blame and couldn't clear his name forever? There's more, the mass brawling incident at Grand Orchid Pavilion, the media wanted to do a report on his heroic deed, but he rejected them! It was such a good opportunity for him to come back to the team for having done something good to the society…

He chattered on and on, saying a lot of things in one go.

His indignance gained the empathy from the rest of them. Under his lead, the detectives also felt unfair for Huang He.

"Everyone, don't listen to him," Huang He laughed but did not explain why he refused to do the interview, "Tang Yuanchu is a hot-headed youth. How long has my incident been over? It's only less than two months, right? If I were to go back now, and some drama-loving reporter were to publish such news, isn't this creating trouble for the whole team?"

After all, the offense "drinking when carrying out duty" was cast in stone.

Even though Huang He did not cause Sun Shangli's death, just that alone was considered a breach of their discipline.

Seriously, what he said made sense; if this were to blow up, it would get ugly.

"Keeping a low profile is always good." Bai Muchuan took over the conversation and gave Tang Yuanchu some reassurance. "This is going to take some time. Once the matter has blown over, he'll be back."

As time goes by, the matter would be forgotten by others.

Who else would remember there was once a detective named Huang He then?

Everyone kept quiet.

Huang He took a breath, looked toward everyone and raised his glass.

"Come! Don't mention these unhappy matters. Let this comrade give a toast to everyone. I'll drink up, you guys can choose not to drink."

He lifted his neck and drank up all the wine in his glass. He laughed as though they were not talking about him earlier at all…

However, Fang Yuanyuan, who sat beside him, felt her heart slightly aching as she looked at his expression.

"Drink lesser."

"It's alright!" Huang He laughed. "I know how much to drink, don't worry."

Both of them were a loving couple. Their act of looking at each other alone could make those bachelors look on in envy.

Everyone started to tease them and asked when they could attend their wedding dinner.

Huang He dealt with them by saying it would be soon, while Fang Yuanyuan smiled a little bitterly…

Amongst all these people, only Xiang Wan could understand what she was feeling inside.

To date, her relationship with Huang He had not passed the stage of meeting both of their parents…

Their youngest aunt seemed to have given up on trying to "deal with" Xiang Wan and finally turned her attention to Fang Yuanyuan.

From what she heard from her mom, youngest aunt wanted to fix Yuanyuan up with a financial genius who was 10 years older than her. Youngest aunt was very satisfied with all other aspects of that older man. Maybe precisely because of the age gap, youngest aunt had been hesitating but had raised up the issue to her elder sisters about it. However, she had not brought it up officially with Fang Yuanyuan.

Well, in their youngest aunt's eyes, Huang He was totally out of picture.

If Fang Yuanyuan wanted to be together with Huang He, the amount of stress would be tremendous.

"Why is everyone so refined today? Eat, brothers! Don't need to save money for Captain Bai—"

In the team, Tang Yuanchu was the most active person. Under his prompting, the group of them quickly recovered from the exhaustion and hardship they faced in life. They became the ordinary people who eat, drink, and chat merrily with each other…

The waiters and waitresses on the ninth floor served a lot of dishes.

There were quite a lot of unfinished dishes that were removed from the table and everyone was lamenting that it was quite a waste.

Xiang Wan also felt distressed as she looked at the unfinished dishes that were taken away from the table.

Even if one had money, one shouldn't waste food. Everyone was as though tasted a little of the dish and it got taken away due to the amount of new dishes coming up. Weren't this considered a waste?

"They won't go to waste. We can tell them to pack the unfinished food for takeaway!" Bai Muchuan said softly as though he seemed to know what she was thinking. "I'll also take away a bottle of wine."

"…"

He still wants to drink?!

And, he said "we can tell them to pack the unfinished food"—somehow, she felt he's up to something?

She lowered her head and sent him a message: "What are you trying to do?"

"We'll eat supper in your place!" Bai Muchuan replied indifferently, "We can also give the food to Cheng Zheng."

"…"

Cheng Zheng did not join them for the dinner celebration.

When Tang Yuanchu asked him, he rejected flatly saying that he don't drink.

He was always like that in the team so everyone did not mind it at all. But now that Bai Muchuan wanted to bring him those unfinished food… Just what is he up to? Xiang Wan thought.

"Teacher Xiang, this soup is very nice. Drink more of it, otherwise, it's going to get removed from the table soon."

Bai Muchuan scooped a bowl of soup for her. That sly look on his face made Xiang Wan feel that he was really up to no good.

"Why did I have a feeling that you're up to something?" She asked softly.

Bai Muchuan smiled as he continued eating without giving her a reply.

…

The dinner was a reward to the team.

After being busy for the past few days, it was nice to get a break and nobody talked about the case on hand.

When the dinner was about to end, Bai Muchuan thought he should give the team a heads-up.

"Everyone, do rest well tonight. The upcoming week is going to be tedious."

"…"

"We have to crack the case within a week! The Municipal Bureau is very firm about this!"

Hence, the good mood was instantly gone with the wind.

Everyone was happy about the meal but left with a heavy heart.

Bai Muchuan really asked for the unfinished food to be packed away and kept in the car. They sent Tang Yuanchu home first, followed by Huang He and Fang Yuanyuan, who wanted to go for a movie date. Lastly, he drove Xiang Wan back happily.

Hmm, this guy seems excited today. This is not normal, Xiang Wan thought.

She peered at him from time to time and felt strange at his behavior.

But no matter how she asked, he refused to say anything.

It was until they arrived at the lift lobby of her home that she saw all those stuff placed along the corridor that it dawned on her what was happening.

Gosh! This guy—

Unknowingly, he had called the moving company and moved his stuff over.

What was more, before they came back, the movers had already moved all his boxes up. As there was nobody at home, not sure how Bai Muchuan did it, the workers actually knocked on Cheng Zheng's door and asked him to help sign for them.

When they arrived, Cheng Zheng was helping him dealing with the items.

Faced with all these, Xiang Wan could guess Cheng Zheng must be… really frustrated?

No wonder Bai Muchuan suddenly wanted to bring those unfinished food back for him.

"Captain Cheng, you've worked hard!" Bai Muchuan walked past the small pieces of luggage on the ground. "Look at you, we asked you to go drinking but you had to go home and help me receive my things. It's hard on you."

He was really cunning!

The atmosphere was stagnant. Even Xiang Wan could feel Cheng Zheng must be cursing and swearing inside…

On the other hand, Cheng Zheng still looked emotionless as though he was not angry at all. He only gave Bai Muchuan a glance.

"It's not tough."

Bai Muchuan smiled.

At this time, Cheng Zheng said, "I can't open the door there, so I got them to move to my place instead."

Bai Muchuan's smile was immediately gone. He squinted his eyes and said nothing.

"Captain Bai," Cheng Zheng looked over slowly, "it's not convenient for you to live together with two girls. I have empty rooms in my house too. Why don't you move in with me instead. I won't charge you rent."

"… Hah!" Bai Muchuan laughed, "Move in with you?"

"Move in with me."

"Hur! Hurhur!"

Bai Muchuan pressed on his temples and looked at his belongings.

"Why should I agree?"

"You can choose not to agree," said Cheng Zheng, "but I don't agree to you renting my house. I'm the landlord. Why don't you move your things back?"

"Fine!" Bai Muchuan smiled radiantly, "Wanwan, let's move out!"

Tch! Evil will never triumph.

The atmosphere was getting nervous!

Frankly, Xiang Wan felt like leaving the scene.

But if she leave at this moment, would Bai Muchuan bash her?

"Umm, Captain Cheng…" No matter how tough, Xiang Wan had to support Bai Muchuan. "If it's not convenient, we'll find another place to stay."

The word "we" itself was worth a thousand words.

Bai Muchuan's lazy gaze arrived at Cheng Zheng.

For a good while, nobody spoke a word.

Finally, Cheng Zheng turned away slowly. "Fine then! You can stay and the rent will be doubled!"

Bai Muchuan laughed; he did not mind at all. "Here," he lifted the food he was holding, "have you eaten? I've packed some food for you…"

"Not eating!"

Thump! The door shut.

In less than three seconds, the door suddenly opened again.

"At this instant, immediately, now! Take your things away!" He looked at Bai Muchuan from the door.