107 – Wedding

Fatty Fang looked down nervously, waiting for his bride to be. Bufu stood beside him as the best man, with Li Yun and two of his cousins. On the other side was Xuxu as the maid of honor and three other of Mu Lian's friends.

Mu Lian walked down the aisle, a simple band of white lace lain over freshly cut grass, to the sound of 'Canon' on the piano. Everyone stood and watched with bated breath.

The bride looked stunning in her white dress, with the train overflowing on the laced aisle. Although she knew people who thought Fatty Fang wasn't suited for her, she followed her own heart, to be with the person she loved the most.

As she reached his side, he smiled and placed her hand into the hollow of his elbow. They looked like beauty and the beast with the way he towered over her.

With their vows, rings, and kisses exchanged, they were officially husband and wife.

Everyone cheered.

The reception took place nearby manor, with everyone slowly moving into a large dining hall, stopping occasionally to speak with friends they hadn't seen in a while.

Inside the banquet room, there were tables set up with the dance area in the front. Fatty Fang and Mu Lian had a lot of relatives, so there were a lot of tables set up. The other half of the tables were the people from the apartment and college friends.

Rouxi sat with Li Ching, Zhang Mi, Ju De, Zhu Ah Nin, Ersan, Jing Bei, and Wu Ling.

"This is basically the detective club table!" Li Ching was happy to be invited given that she didn't know Fatty Fang and Mu Lian too well.

"We are considered the junior table," Wu Ling said, she was the one that helped sort the table setting for the people in her age group.

The only unfamiliar face was Jing Bei, Ersan's girlfriend, who was really glad to meet Rouxi and Wu Ling, it was like meeting a celebrity. They took a lot of pictures together as they waited for the reception to start. As a general rule, receptions were never on time.

"Meilin is Brother Yun's girlfriend?" Jing Bei had heard it from Ersan, so she was naturally curious.

"Yes, sister Beibei moving to Magic City with Ersan?" Rouxi replied.

"Ersan's new firm also has an interior design department, so we'll work together."

Beibei had a tacit understanding that it would be rude to talk about Wen Naxi.

"Oh hey, how's your cousin doing?" Ersan asked.

Beibei glared at Ersan, was he dumb?

Beibei explained that her cousin had recently passed her probation period, and was starting to pursue associate status at the university. Wen Naxi's parents were constantly complaining about her being too liberal and focused on her career.

"Wen Nali? Isn't that cousin's ex?" Wu Ling asked.

Beibei looked to Rouxi, who was a bit amused.

"Don't worry, some of these people don't know the word tact," Rouxi reassured Beibei that she didn't mind talking about his exes, she was rather curious.

As they continued chatting, more guests were coming in after taking pictures with Fatty Fang and Mu Lian, who had changed into a red qipao. People took their seats and noticed a crowd around a particular table.

There were people who recognized Rouxi and came over to their table to request a picture.

"Oh wow, I didn't know you were that famous," said Li Ching.

"Well, there's a reason why my fanclub posted a "do not disturb Ms. Song Meilin and Wu Ling" message and pinned it in the university forum," Rouxi said.

An hour after the scheduled reception time, it officially began.

The MC, standing near the front stage, introduced the relatives first, and then the parents, signaling that the main characters were about to enter. The music changed, and the MC loudly declared the arrival of each pair of bridesmaids and groomsmen. The couples danced their way out to the stage, making complete fools of themselves with meme dances. Finally, it was the newly wedded couple's turn.

As the laughter settled, everyone had their chance to make their speeches and thanked the attendees. Eventually, the formality was completed, and everyone sat down, chattering with distant friends and waiting for their food.

It wasn't odd that the guests were talking about Bufu and Xuxu since it was rare to see them together.

Bufu and Xuxu were amicable for the most part being the best man and maid of honor. Anyone who didn't know them thought they were a couple.

As for their friends, they all knew that it was impossible for them to be together. Whatever sparks people thought they saw between them was really just the two of them really disliking each other.

Bufu had once thought of Xuxu as his idol, but she cracked his image of what a perfect woman should be. He had developed a bit of distrust for women. It didn't help that as he grew more handsome and wealthier, he also developed a bit of an ego. Handsome and wealthy men often felt empowered and had the tendency to look down on others. Luckily, he had friends who kept him in check. Frenemy was a better term between them

Rouxi saw Wu Ling playing with her dinner plate. It was really easy to read the girl.

A lot of girls were in the Fuzhang Fanclub, including Li Ching and An Zhang Mi, so it wasn't strange for women to have a crush on him. But Wu Ling didn't idolize him and often disparaged him almost on the same level as Xuxu. There wasn't a familiar annoyance she had for her brother and cousin, but more of a warning tone like she's trying to convince herself that it was a bad idea to like him.

"You have been awfully moody lately," Rouxi commented.

"Huh?' Wu Ling wondered why everyone was looking at her. "It's because of that case."

"What case?" An Zhang Mi asked.

"Ms. Gui and her son Bobo," Wu Ling replied, suddenly thinking about the two people.

Everyone also looked a bit sad. Bufu and Li Yun walked by their table and wondered why they looked like they were attending a funeral.

"Oh, we didn't tell them about the case yet," Rouxi quickly remembered.

"You guys still work on cases in the summer?" Bufu only helped them whenever they needed information from the web, otherwise, he was in the dark about most of the cases.

Zhang Mi sent everyone an updated detective board they recently finished.

It was a detective board regarding different missing children over the past twenty years.

A year ago, the Tuan Yuan system was put into place to alert the public of missing children. The number of incidents had decreased. However, cases before were often cold. There were also cases when the adult male realized that his parents had actually adopted them through illegal means.

Before the system was set in place, around 70k went missing every year, but the majority were kids who ran away from home. A very small percentage involved kidnapping, murder, and human trafficking.

The list, which the detective club compiled, consisted of children that they suspected were kidnapped. There was no reason to believe that they suffered any form of abuse or had an inkling of rebelliousness.

There were six cases from 1996 to 2016, ranging from 10 years old to 14 years of age. Human traffickers preferred younger boys because they wouldn't be able to remember, so they had partially ruled it out.

Since the incident happened in different parts of town and a few years apart, it was difficult to connect the perpetrator.

"All of the missing cases involve boys with some sort of mental disability," Ju De explained. "One victim managed to escape, but he was incapable of describing the event. All he could remember was that the man had a large mole on his left cheek."

Whenever Wu Ling and her friends investigate a case, they avoid direct contact with the victims and family. The reason was simple, the police had already investigated it, and they didn't want to open old wounds for the family and victims.

However, this was a case where the victim's mother Ms. Gui and Bobo sought them out. The reason being, Bobo had been unable to sleep in the past two years because of the event.

The girls really felt uncomfortable that Bobo described what the man did to him. Bobo was just a naïve 14-years old boy who had the mentality of someone 5-years old. He wasn't fully aware of the abuse he had suffered, but it was enough to give him nightmares.

"I already told them to set up an appointment to see Yun," Rouxi stated. "But I think we really need to solve this case first before the boy can sleep peacefully."

This was one of the many cold cases they had put a board together. Although they weren't able to solve cases immediately, it would give them enough background information to spot any potential suspects.