Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 164

Chapter 164: Another Winter

Her Kill was released, and it was the winter vacation.

Qin Luo was busy with roadshows around Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. She had not been home in two months, and she had rarely replied to her messages. Shen Yiyi’s filming schedule was full. Now, besides the channel’s operations and filming, she also had many propaganda tasks, and would occasionally go to the anti-fraud live stream room to make a guest appearance. Her work was no less easy than Qin Luo’s.

Although Zhan Luo had admitted to the murder of the three victims, including Shang Yi, in court, he had always refused to admit to the other two deaths involved in the case—the deaths of his father and Yanli’s father.

The prosecution had tried to include them in the same murder series based on the physical evidence and the motive chain, but Zhan Luo had insisted in court that his father had died of natural causes and did not think that he was the perpetrator.

The first-instance court had sentenced him to death after the trial.

The screening was just before and after the release of the first-instance verdict. Shen Yiyi had heard from Piao Zheng that Zhan Luo had officially appealed through his defense lawyer, using the problem of the evidence chain in his father’s case.

The high court had made a ruling in less than two months, upholding the original verdict of the first instance.

Now, with the release of Her Kill, two years after the case had happened, the Supreme Court’s review had passed, and Zhan Luo was about to be executed.

The matter of Zhan Luo’s execution was on the trending topics again. The murder case from back then was being discussed by the media again. Qin Luo and Logos were like a twice-cooked pork, just out of the cold pot and back into the hot oil.

Not only that, but this time, a new internet celebrity forensic pathologist had been added to the main cast.

This time, the public’s focus was on the post that Zhan Luo had published in the live stream room back then, about the case behind Shen Yiyi—the murder of her mother.

After becoming an internet celebrity, Shen Yiyi did not know if she was lucky or unlucky.

The lucky part was that they had collected a lot of information and clues in these past two years.
The unlucky part was that most of the clues were irrelevant and could not be used as clues.

This feeling of repeated disappointment was not good, so Shen Yiyi had gradually lost interest in being an internet celebrity, especially since people would always discuss her life and point fingers at her relationship with Qin Luo.

“Can you not open the comment section?”
“What are these topics?”
“I won’t agree to the filming until your Director Qin comes back.”

Shen Yiyi was sitting in Liu Jia’s office, snapping at the operations. Liu Jia was leaning back in her boss’s chair, twirling a pen. There were a few more trophies on the bookshelf behind her, one of which was a public welfare award that Shen Yiyi had also contributed to.

“You can go out first.” Liu Jia waved at the employee. After the operations had left, she stood up and locked the door from the inside, and then said comfortingly,

“Qin Luo said she’ll be back tomorrow.”

Shen Yiyi was annoyed. She had not heard Qin Luo say anything about coming back. “How come I don’t know?”

Liu Jia did not want to get herself into trouble and quickly explained, “It was just decided at the meeting this morning. She’s coming back to see a client. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the chat history.”

Shen Yiyi did not want to see it. She turned to look at the wall and said with annoyance, “Did you hear my decision not to film just now? Don’t arrange any more activities for me from today on.”

Shen Yiyi was a loss-making business for Liu Jia. She only made a name for herself and had no money. Even the operating expenses were supported by other departments. Not operating would actually save resources.

But this was not something that the two of them could decide on. Whether Qin Luo was willing to listen was the first priority.

“You… you… you can rest assured.” Liu Jia started to stammer when she was nervous. “I’ll discuss it with her when she gets back. If you don’t want to film, then we won’t film today.”

“Then is she going to stay at the company when she comes back?”
“Of course she’s going home.”

Shen Yiyi looked at Liu Jia and sneered. “She’s still coming home?”

Damn it…
Shen Yiyi’s sneer was really well-deserved.

Liu Jia muttered in her heart. Qin Luo had said before that Shen Yiyi’s little temper was very sharp. Where was it cute?

But then again, Liu Jia also understood Shen Yiyi. Ever since Her Kill had been re-shot, Qin Luo had been working non-stop, and with all the big and small matters at Logos, she really couldn’t care about her partner’s emotions.

“She’s coming back.” Liu Jia tried to smooth things over for Qin Luo. “She said a few days ago that she missed you very much and asked me how you were doing with the filming at the company.”

“Oh.”

Shen Yiyi did not believe Liu Jia’s story at all.

At that time, she was afraid that she would not have time to be in a relationship with Qin Luo because of her mother’s case. It was really her who had overthought it. She now regretted agreeing to live with Qin Luo so quickly. Now that she had gotten on a pirate ship, she was guarding the large apartment alone, driving back and forth every day to clean the house, and as soon as she opened her eyes, it was a life of work.

Liu Jia smiled awkwardly and looked down to send a message to Qin Luo:

[Did you forget to reply to her again?]
[Is the roadshow ending today?]
[If you can make it back tonight, then hurry back.]
[I feel that Shen Yiyi is about to explode.]

It was 12:30 when Qin Luo got home.

Her last screening was in the evening. As soon as the event was over, she had rushed to the high-speed rail station and had urged the driver to speed all the way to get back at this time.

When she opened the door, she saw Shen Yiyi sitting cross-legged, her arms crossed, and staring at the TV.

“You’re still not asleep?”

Without Qin Luo, this Ah bei bei, Shen Yiyi’s sleep quality had been very average during this period of time, and she had dark circles under her eyes every day. But she did not turn her head when she heard Qin Luo speak and was still staring at the TV, as if she were planning to give her the cold shoulder to the end. (Ah bei bei is a comfort object – security blanket)

“Do you want some small wontons?”

Qin Luo was holding the takeout in her hand and walked to her girlfriend with small steps, gently shaking the bag. “The one in Nanjing that you said was very delicious. I specially packed it. How about I go and heat it up for you?”

Shen Yiyi still ignored her and treated her as if she were air.

Qin Luo placed the wontons on the island counter, quickly washed her hands, and walked to the sofa to sit next to her.

“Are you angry?”
“It’s not that I didn’t reply to your message. I was just about to reply when I was interrupted by something.”
“It won’t happen next time.”

Shen Yiyi sneered. “Who do you think I am? Do you think I’ll get angry because you don’t reply to my messages?”

“It’s not that I forgot to tell you I was coming back. I… I just wanted to give you a surprise!” Qin Luo reached out and put her arm around the little cat’s shoulder, wanting to squeeze her into her arms, but she was pushed away by the other.

“Thanks. It’s not a surprise at all.” Shen Yiyi said coldly, “I just feel that I’ve been ignored.”

Qin Luo seemed to enjoy Shen Yiyi’s emotional bullying, especially in these past two years. Shen Yiyi had indeed begun to learn to throw a little tantrum at her, just like the kind of uninhibited frankness she would only have with Shen Qinwen.

Qin Luo put her hands together, held them to her chest, and lowered her head to admit her mistake. “Baby, I’m really, really, really sorry. I’ll let you know as soon as I get home next time. For the sake of a first offense, please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf.”

Although her attitude was sincere, Shen Yiyi was still not appeased.

She turned around, held up two fingers, and counted her grievances during this period of time. “You’ve been like you’ve disappeared for two weeks. You’d reply to my message from the night before at noon, and my message from the morning in the afternoon. I’ve seen many of the roadshow lists, and your name is not on them. What have you been busy with?”

Qin Luo’s eyes flickered. Her clasped hands did not separate. She did not explain the roadshow list and just kept apologizing. “I’m sorry. I’ve been really too busy recently.”

Seeing Qin Luo’s evasive words, Shen Yiyi immediately became serious.

“Qin Luo, you have to know… I can check your ID card.”

…

Checkmate on the spot.

Qin Luo looked up, blinked her eyes honestly, and said in a panic, “Huh?! Can you forensic pathologists also abuse your power?”

Abuse of power…

Shen Yiyi was stunned at first, as if she were amused by her expression and her answer. She let out a short, cold laugh, and then stood up and walked toward the bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

Qin Luo also stood up and, in two steps, grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Let me explain to you.”

Shen Yiyi shook off her hand stiffly and said with a blank expression, “Don’t touch me.”

Qin Luo bent over slightly and looked into Shen Yiyi’s eyes. Only then did she find that there was a hint of disgust in her girlfriend’s expression. She was very familiar with this expression. It was the expression that Shen Yiyi would have when she saw something dirty and her mysophobia would act up.

Damn it.
A huge misunderstanding.

Qin Luo subconsciously held up two fingers, as if she were swearing to the light. “I didn’t do anything to let you down.”

Shen Yiyi was too lazy to listen and turned her head in frustration to continue toward the bedroom.

“I went back to Fengjiang to…” Qin Luo’s mind was searching for a reliable excuse. She really couldn’t make one up, so in her urgency, she had to talk nonsense. “I invested in a coffee shop for my mom.”

“Heh.”

Shen Yiyi couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This kind of excuse, even Lin Puping wouldn’t believe it. It would only make her trust collapse again. Besides, she had just said that she could check her ID card, and she had managed to trick Qin Luo’s lie out of her. It was really too disappointing.

“Alright, I just went back to see my dad.” Qin Luo had to bring out Shen’s father. “He said that his lower back has been bothering him recently, so I went back to find a doctor for him. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d be worried. But we’ve already been to the hospital, and the doctor said that the injury will be fine after he rests.”

Shen Yiyi felt that Qin Luo was playing with her patience. A fire was rising behind her ears. “Shut up.”

…
Shut up.

This was the second time she had heard her speak to her in this tone, after “Qin Luo, you’re really a xxxx.”

Qin Luo was really flustered. “Let me explain.”

“Shut up.”
“I’ll really explain to you.”

Shen Yiyi walked into the bedroom and warned before she closed the door, “I just hope you really shut up.”

It wasn’t that Shen Yiyi was worried. It was just that Qin Luo had been working outside for half a year, and she was always surrounded by all kinds of actors, internet celebrities, and hosts. This was not self-deprecation, but love would always be disturbed by the secular world. Who could guarantee that a heart would never waver? Qin Luo was an observer, and her emotions were sensitive. It was not impossible that she would empathize with some young and outstanding person.

She did not want to suspect Qin Luo, and she had never checked the other’s phone or ID card. But just now, she had just said that she could check her ID card, and Qin Luo had used so many excuses to be perfunctory with her, and had even used Qin Qinwen as a shield.

Shen Yiyi knew that she had to use solid evidence to speculate. She sat on the sofa and took out her phone.

“What’s wrong?”

Shen’s father was sleeping. He was woken up by the phone in a daze. When he saw that it was his daughter calling in the middle of the night, he immediately woke up. “What happened? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?”

“Is your lower back hurting recently?”
“Huh?” Shen’s father could hear that his daughter’s tone was very bad, and he didn’t know why she was asking such a strange question. “What lower back pain?”

“Did Qin Luo say she accompanied you for a minimally invasive surgery on your lower back?”
Huh?

But hearing his daughter’s gritted teeth, Shen’s father had a bad feeling. He realized that the two might have had a fight and slapped his forehead repeatedly. “Ah… right, right! My lower back hurts!”

As he spoke, he even hissed twice. “Ouch… yes, it hurts so much.”

Shen Yiyi felt that she had been betrayed by both her father and her girlfriend. She scolded in a fit of anger,

“Dad! Are you colluding with her to lie to me?!”