Lin Zhiyuan and Xie Qingyan exchanged a glance.
"What do you mean?" Lin Zhiyuan asked.
Su Xiaoqing cried for a long while before gradually calming down. Her right hand still unconsciously rubbed that ring, the motion gentle and sorrowful.
"Yunxiang and I..." she said, her voice hoarse. "Our relationship... had problems for a long time."
"What problems?"
"We hadn't really talked in so long. I work the late-night shift; he does self-media. Our schedules are completely opposite. When I come home, he's still asleep. When I wake up, he's already out meeting clients." She raised her head, eyes red-rimmed. "We live in the same house, but we're like two strangers. On the rare occasions we cross paths, we don't even know what to say."
She took a deep breath, as if gathering all her courage into her lungs.
"That night, I was in a terrible mood. Something went wrong at work; my boss yelled at me. When I got home, Yunxiang wasn't there again. I sat alone in the living room and felt... felt like the whole world had abandoned me."
Her voice grew smaller and smaller.
"I went to the bar. Drank a lot. And then..." She closed her eyes; tears slid from the corners. "Then Chen Wan and I..."
She didn't finish, but everyone understood.
"It was only that one time." Su Xiaoqing opened her eyes, filled with regret. "When I woke up, I was terrified. I gave Chen Wan a sum of money, asking him... asking him not to tell anyone."
"Hush money?" Lin Zhiyuan frowned. "How much?"
"Two thousand dollars." Su Xiaoqing said. "He took it and said he wouldn't tell a soul."
Xie Qingyan listened quietly, his mind racing. Two thousand dollars in hush money. Chen Wan had accepted it. What did that mean? It meant Chen Wan needed money. Badly.
He recalled yesterday at the bar, when employees had mentioned Chen Wan "never let anyone visit his home" and "dressed well but never talked about money." At the time, he had found it strange. Now it seemed Chen Wan's apparent wealth was likely a facade.
A person who needed money would keep a secret for two thousand dollars. But what if someone offered a higher price? Or—what if someone found another way to expose that secret?
"After that incident, did you still go to the bar?" Xie Qingyan asked.
"Yes." Su Xiaoqing nodded. "But I never again... I just sat in a corner drinking. Chen Wan was tactful too; when he saw me, he acted like we didn't know each other."
"How did your husband find out?"
Su Xiaoqing shook her head, her expression blank: "I don't know... I hid it so well. He couldn't possibly have known..."
"But he did know," Xie Qingyan said.
"One day he suddenly came home and asked if I was seeing another man." Su Xiaoqing's voice trembled. "I said no, but he didn't believe me. We had a huge fight, and then he left. The next day, I got a call from the police..."
She began crying again.
"I don't know why he did it... He's usually so timid, he won't even kill a cockroach. How could he possibly kill someone... Someone must have told him... Someone must have..."
Xie Qingyan and Yin Wuwang exchanged a glance.
Someone told him.
This statement corroborated Zhang Yunxiang's confession.
[Cloud City · Police Station Corridor]
The interrogation was over.
Lin Zhiyuan had someone take Su Xiaoqing away to rest, then turned to Xie Qingyan and Yin Wuwang.
He frowned. "So she really did have a relationship with Chen Wan. That establishes Zhang Yunxiang's motive for murder."
"But the details still aren't clear." Xie Qingyan shook his head. "How did Zhang Yunxiang find out?"
Yin Wuwang continued: "Su Xiaoqing says she hid it well. Chen Wan took the hush money and wouldn't have volunteered the information. So where did Zhang Yunxiang learn about his wife and Chen Wan?"
Lin Zhiyuan nodded. "Zhang Yunxiang's statement does mention a woman told him. Pleasant voice, but he can't remember what she looked like."
"A woman?" Xie Qingyan tapped the table thoughtfully. "A bar patron? Or an employee?"
Silence fell among the three. After a moment, Xie Qingyan asked: "Captain Lin, can I get a list of the bar's regulars?"
"Regular customers?" Lin Zhiyuan didn't quite understand. "What are you looking for?"
"That woman with the pleasant voice." Xie Qingyan said. "She knew about Su Xiaoqing and Chen Wan. She knew Zhang Yunxiang was Su Xiaoqing's husband. She even knew exactly what to say to enrage him."
Lin Zhiyuan's eyes widened in realization. "You mean—"
"This isn't something a random stranger could do." Xie Qingyan said. "She must have spent a long time at the bar, observing everyone's secrets. She knows who's involved with whom, where everyone's weaknesses lie."
Lin Zhiyuan nodded. "I'll have someone pull the records."
He turned and left, footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Only Xie Qingyan and Yin Wuwang remained in the hallway. Sunlight from outside streamed through the glass, casting strips of light and shadow on the floor.
Yin Wuwang looked at Xie Qingyan. "What are you thinking?"
Xie Qingyan didn't answer immediately. He walked to the window and gazed at the sky outside—a pure blue without a single cloud.
"The hush money," he said slowly. "Su Xiaoqing gave Chen Wan two thousand dollars. Chen Wan accepted it."
Yin Wuwang raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"Chen Wan needed money." Xie Qingyan turned around, his gaze deep. "Why would a bar manager need money badly enough to accept hush money?"
Yin Wuwang recalled the photo he had seen at the bar yesterday—Chen Wan smiling warmly, but with hollow eyes.
"He was hiding something," Yin Wuwang said.
"Yes." Xie Qingyan nodded. "Chen Wan, Su Xiaoqing, Zhang Yunxiang, and that 'woman with the pleasant voice.' There must be some connection between these four that we don't know yet."
Yin Wuwang curved his lips. "Looks like this case is far more interesting than it appears."
Xie Qingyan didn't respond. But in his eyes, there was a glint that Yin Wuwang recognized—the gleam of a hunter who had spotted prey.
Fuguang is getting serious.
Yin Wuwang leaned against the wall, watching the sunlight fall on Xie Qingyan's profile, gilding those cold features with a warm golden edge. Perhaps because of their first meeting, he particularly loved seeing light play across Xie Qingyan's face.
"Fuguang," he couldn't help saying. "Do you really enjoy this feeling of solving puzzles?"
Xie Qingyan turned his head and glanced at him.
"It's alright," he said.
Just two words. But Yin Wuwang could see it—that slightly upturned corner of his mouth hiding a hint of a smile.
He suddenly wanted to know: if one day Fuguang smiled at him, what would it look like?
Not this faint, barely-there smile.
But a real smile, from the heart.
It would be beautiful.
Yin Wuwang looked away, tucking this thought deep inside.
Someday, I'll see it.
[End of V2_Chapter 15]
Next: Time to find the mysterious woman—the one who knows everyone's secrets.