Return - A Refreshing Tea, Elegant and Fragrant

"Gao Qihui - you claim that on the night of September 25th, you arranged to meet Ye Tongsheng the next day. Can you then explain why the umbrella that was in Ye Tongsheng's hand at 9:15 PM appeared in your hand at 10:13 PM?"

The long detention had rapidly melted away the excess fat accumulated on Gao Qihui's body, transforming him from a pot-bellied, greasy middle-aged man into a medium-sized one. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes drooped as he stared intently at the printed screenshot from the surveillance video on the table before him, looking somewhat like a dejected Shar-Pei.

"How can you convict me based on a shabby umbrella?" he questioned in a hoarse voice. "I didn't kill Ye Tongsheng. He committed suicide by jumping into the river. I was at home when he died. On what grounds are you saying I killed him?"

"No one said you killed Ye Tongsheng," the lead interrogator corrected him calmly. "But you did meet Ye Tongsheng near the company's downstairs access road after 10 PM on September 25th. Are you still going to deny this?"

"The police extracted three sets of fingerprints from the umbrella in your possession. After comparison, it was confirmed that the three sets of prints belong to you, Ye Tongsheng, and the minor child who was with Ye Tongsheng on the night of September 25th, respectively. Furthermore, we found trace amounts of blood spatter on the inside of the umbrella. DNA comparison has also confirmed it to be Ye Tongsheng's blood."

"Why did you have Ye Tongsheng's umbrella, and why was his blood on it?"

The steel handcuffs made a slight sound, not from a violent struggle, but from the uncontrollable trembling of his hands.

"I really didn't kill him..."

He repeated this sentence obsessively, as if chanting a life-saving, exorcising spell, his tone a mix of despair and pleading: "I really didn't kill him... I just got emotional and gave him a push. He lost his footing and fell into the bushes..."

As soon as these words were spoken, every bone in Yuan Hang's body, who was in the monitoring room, suddenly relaxed. He almost slid off his chair from exhaustion. Dai Lin silently patted his shoulder.

The lead officer knocked on the table, interrupting his incoherent, repetitive rambling: "Start from the beginning. Explain in detail what happened that night. What did you say to Ye Tongsheng on the phone?"

Gao Qihui's face was as ashen as peeling wall paint. He said dejectedly, "Ye Tongsheng... I was the one who interviewed and hired him. You could say I was his benefactor. I always thought highly of him, and he... before this whole information leak thing was exposed... he was very respectful to me too. Later, when I found out he was secretly going to Shao Jixing and the others to dig for inside information, I gave him a hint that he couldn't make any waves on his own. If he still wanted to get by in the company, he'd better think carefully about how to handle this."

"On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he sent a WeChat message saying he had time to talk. I thought he'd figured things out, so I deliberately made things difficult for him. I said I was going on a business trip and had no time. If he sincerely wanted to talk, he should go wait for me downstairs at the company, and I'd give him 10 minutes."

"As it turned out, Ye Tongsheng was really waiting for me at the parking lot. He asked if I had hired someone to stalk and harass him. Where would I find the time for that? I asked if he was paranoid and what he planned to do." He let out a short, bitter laugh. "I haven't treated him poorly all these years, but he didn't show any sentiment for our past. He said that paper can't wrap up a fire, that the buried landmine would explode sooner or later, and that I should turn myself in before it caused serious consequences."

A person's state of mind truly changes with the circumstances. In the rustling rainy night, when Gao Qihui heard the words "turn yourself in," his heart was filled with rage at being defied. He had arrogantly thought that the worst-case scenario was just a few years in prison. But now that he was truly incarcerated, counting the days one by one, he gradually realized that it was precisely one of the few pieces of harsh but honest advice he had heard just as the sandcastle of his life was about to be washed away by the waves.

Yuan Hang's brows furrowed into a knot. He propped up his chin and listened as Gao Qihui continued: "I got emotional and laid a hand on him. I didn't hit him, just shoved him a couple of times. Who knew that road was so uneven? He lost his footing and fell... My heart skipped a beat then, but he was moving, he hadn't passed out... He was really still moving!"

"I was indeed a bit scared I'd seriously injured him, so I quickly picked up the umbrella and left. When I drove out of the underground garage and passed by that spot, I took a specific look over there, but there was no one on the ground anymore! I thought he had gotten up and left on his own, so I didn't think much of it. The next day, he didn't come to work, and I didn't dare to ask, afraid that saying anything would become evidence against me. Later, when I heard someone had jumped into the Xinliu River, I didn't even connect it. It wasn't until the news spread through the company that I found out the deceased was Ye Tongsheng."

"So the wound on the back of Ye Tongsheng's head wasn't from hitting a hard object when entering the water, but from being pushed down by Gao Qihui. The coroner's report confirmed that he did enter the water while alive and that drowning was the cause of death. This doesn't count as intentional homicide for Gao Qihui, only intentional injury," Yuan Hang muttered to Dai Lin. "This guy really was hiding something big. He looked all panicked, but he had it all figured out in his head, emphasizing every so often that he didn't kill the man, terrified we'd pin the blame on him."

Dai Lin said, "Gao Qihui has spilled everything this time. He's confirmed the intentional injury and admitted to fleeing without offering aid. There's no need for him to lie about the details of the conversation anymore—did you notice? He mentioned that sentence Ye Tongsheng said."

"Mhm," Yuan Hang rubbed the prickly stubble on his chin and murmured, "Ye Tongsheng thought someone was stalking him... Captain Dai?"

The two officers looked at each other at the same time, seeing the same horror in each other's eyes. Yuan Hang rubbed the goosebumps that had shot up from the ground on his arms and asked uncertainly, "After that fall, could Ye Tongsheng have really just gotten up and walked away like nothing happened?"

"If Ye Tongsheng's suspicion was correct..."

—On that pitch-black, rainy night, on that road without surveillance, it was indeed possible that a "third person" existed.

Underground parking garage.

Zhuang Mingqi, dressed in black with a mask, looked straight ahead. He waved towards a certain direction from afar and strode quickly, pulling a suitcase. Shen Zhengning opened the car door and, with a mischievous whim, released the black-clad assassin Dandelion, letting him pounce over and rub fur all over Zhuang Mingqi.

"Silver!"

Zhuang Mingqi caught the dashing Samoyed in one motion, rubbing him from his fleshy cheeks all the way to the tip of his tail. Man and dog, reunited after a long separation, looked like they wanted to embrace and dance a waltz on the spot. Immediately after, while still in a semi-squat, he pulled down his mask and urged the person who was sauntering over with hands in pockets, "Zhengning—"

That sound, meowed—no, called—was simply full of twists and turns. Shen Zhengning thought to himself that there really should be a law prohibiting Zhuang Mingqi from looking up at people from a low angle. It felt like this person could trick you out of your entire family fortune and you'd still help him count the money—of course, his meager fortune probably wasn't even worth Zhuang Mingqi wasting two brain cells to scheme for.

There were occasional moments when even Shen Zhengning felt that "not being able to touch" was a bit restrictive. He used his phone to gently lift Zhuang Mingqi's chin over his mask, bending down slightly to study him. "Even Silver's snout is rounder than your face. Have you been surviving on nothing but the northwest wind outside?"

Just seeing this person would calm his heart. But unlike with Silver, no matter how close Shen Zhengning got, he could only look. They couldn't even have a hug to mark their reunion.

Zhuang Mingqi felt a faint sense of unwillingness. He pinched Silver's snout as if in a fit of pique, "Of course, it's because he's never left your side..."

Shen Zhengning's lips curved into a quick smirk. He applied a little more force to lift him up. "Let's go home. Tonight, you can eat his portion of food too."

Silver: ?

Zhuang Mingqi stood up, following his lead. As the two walked towards the parking space, Shen Zhengning suddenly pivoted on his toes and walked straight with a clear target towards a car a few steps away, raising his hand to knock on the window. "Hello."

He didn't seem particularly tall next to Zhuang Mingqi, but when he stood right in front of you, his height was quite imposing. "Could I trouble you to delete the photos? Our boss isn't a celebrity, just a private citizen, and he has no plans to enter the entertainment industry in the future. How about we respect his portrait rights here and save ourselves a trip to the Public Security Bureau?"

The man in a baseball cap in the driver's seat gave an embarrassed laugh. "You must be mistaken. We weren't taking pictures of him. We're just ordinary travelers."

Shen Zhengning let out a "heh" that was a smile in name only. "I parked here half an hour ago to wait for someone. You two didn't see me, did you? Weren't you just snapping photos of a celebrity's van ten minutes ago? And now you're travelers?"

The man still wanted to argue, but Shen Zhengning flicked the car's frame lightly with a bent finger and said pleasantly, "Don't bother making up excuses to fool me. I came over because I'm certain you took photos. Don't be stubborn with me. We're all just trying to make a living. Brother, it's not worth it for us both to lose our jobs over some worthless gossip, right?"

Perhaps because his opening move was so flawlessly executed, the paparazzi spent about ten seconds weighing the pros and cons and ultimately decided it was best not to offend this person. So, under Shen Zhengning's smiling-but-deadly gaze, he deleted the photos and even deliberately showed him the screen. "Only got two shots. We weren't trying to shoot him specifically. They're deleted now. Bro, our bad."

Shen Zhengning gestured towards the other person with his chin. "What about the phone and cloud storage?"

This time, they had really run into a tough nut. One step back would lead to ten thousand steps back. The other person deleted the photos and videos from his phone until Shen Zhengning was finally satisfied. He still maintained a polite smile. "I've memorized your license plate number, gentlemen. If I see a photo from this angle online, I'll have my lawyer contact you, okay? I wish you success in your work. Goodbye."

Paparazzi: "..."

When Shen Zhengning finished negotiating, he turned around to find that although Zhuang Mingqi had vigilantly pulled his mask back on, he was still waiting for him by the car, like a small animal that couldn't find its way home without a leash. He couldn't help but click his tongue. He couldn't say it was wrong for him to wait, so he could only hurry him along in a whisper like herding a duck. "Get in the car, get in the car. Don't look back. Act cool, otherwise it'll make my acting seem unconvincing."

"What were you acting as?" Zhuang Mingqi opened the front passenger door. Silver also wiggled his butt and followed, insisting on sticking close to him. Shen Zhengning fastened his seatbelt, still in character. He glanced back, his gaze as cold as ice for a moment. "Acting as the young master's chauffeur—both of you, get in the back. You'll behave once you get fined and have points deducted."

The Maybach drove out of the underground parking garage. Zhuang Mingqi could finally take off his mask and breathe properly. "Phew, so those were paparazzi just now? At the airport, several people were pointing their phones at me, some didn't even turn off the flash, and they thought they were being discreet."

"Judging by their equipment, they were probably paparazzi. It's different from ordinary people casually snapping a picture of a handsome guy. It's better not to let them post things randomly." Shen Zhengning glanced at him with a smile. "'Bare-faced and outshining all celebrities,' you've really made a name for yourself with one battle, a sudden sensation, great designer."

After various candid photos and group pictures from the Tavernier banquet were released, the naturally gorgeous Zhuang Mingqi, whose beauty could not be concealed, immediately saw his popularity skyrocket as if his butt had been set on fire. Related hashtags once shot up to number five on the trending list (haters: He paid for it, he must have paid for it). Among them, the most classic "divine look while smiling and looking down at his phone" became widely circulated on social media due to its atmospheric vibe. Netizens issued an order, "I want all his information in three minutes," and Zhuang Mingqi's identity, past experiences, and works were immediately dug up completely. While he was still in Shanghai City, someone had already pulled several strings to ask if he wanted to sign with an agency.

The person in question inevitably saw those explicit comments like "Red beans grow in the south, this brother must be a male model," "Can't flame this one, he's a true great beauty," "Daddy, please step on me with your red-soled leather shoes," "I must date a man like this in my lifetime," and "Don't find excuses for immortality." Thinking back on it now still made his heart pound with lingering fear, and he even carefully fastened his shirt up to the very top button.

What would Shen Zhengning think if he saw these words? Would he be unhappy because he was being judged and coveted from afar by others?

Zhuang Mingqi's eyes darted around. Taking advantage of the red light, he hugged Silver and leaned closer to the front seat, presenting two watery, runny sun-like eyes. "I'm about to be flamed out of the Milky Way by celebrity fans. They're super fierce. Maybe they're crowdfunding to have me taken out right now. It's really dangerous. I must find someone for 24-hour close protection— Master Driver, I thought you performed very reliably just now. Can you come to my house to protect me?"

Shen Zhengning: "..."