Ping An woke up from his sleep as if he had narrowly escaped death.
In the dark room, only the floor lamp in the corner cast a faint glow. A cool breeze blew through the gap in the window, brushing past Ping An's sweat-soaked temples. This chilling sensation slowly calmed him down.
"Phew!"
Ping An suddenly sat up in bed and let out a long sigh.
From the moment he woke up startled to the moment he calmly sat up, in what seemed like less than a minute, it was a difficult period for him. To be precise, he found that he was unable to control his body during that short time. Even more terrifying was that during this period, he felt as if someone was constantly spying on his every move. This unknown sense of being watched filled him with unprecedented fear.
"Could I have a heart condition?" Ping An, having regained his senses and bodily functions, sat cross-legged on the bed, greedily smoking and recalling the pain he had just experienced.
How was he startled awake?
Oh, in his dream, he was stripped naked, tied to a chair, and then a group of naked people wearing motorcycle helmets brandished long yellow lights, slowly rubbing them against him.
"Why have I been having these kinds of dreams lately?" The cigarette was finished, but Ping An still had no intention of sleeping. In fact, waking up in the middle of the night like today had been happening for many days. At first, he thought it was due to his indulgence and excessive fatigue, so he had repeatedly rejected Qiao Yiyan's temptations in recent days. But after returning to his familiar home, he encountered the same situation.
Human energy is limited. If one doesn't sleep well for a long time, it will inevitably affect the normal functioning of the brain. Ping An desperately wanted to have a good night's sleep, but he dreamed almost every night. Not only was he startled awake, but sometimes he didn't even know if he was dreaming or awake.
He turned on the bedside lamp and glanced at his phone, realizing it was already four in the morning. It seemed unlikely he would get any more sleep.
He got up, put on a loose robe, and walked out of the bedroom, planning to get some fresh air on the rooftop.
As he passed Su Tang's room, he peeked through the slightly ajar door and saw that the growing child was in a deep, quality sleep. He then closed the door with a sense of relief.
On the rooftop, Ping An leaned against the railing, watching the elderly people in the community square begin their morning tai chi. He suddenly thought with a touch of annoyance, "Am I getting old too?"
Unable to sleep and feeling restless, Ping An lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and casually flicked the ashes into a tin can tied to the railing. This tin can was specially tied by Lin Dang when she was here, for his convenience. But in just a few months, things had changed. Seeing the object, Ping An couldn't help but miss her and wonder how she was doing.
Ping An still had feelings for Lin Dang. Although love was worthless in the face of reality, he had let go in the end. It was also because Lin Dang was still young and had room for regret, and he couldn't ask her to dedicate her life to him just because of her fleeting affection.
Thinking of Lin Dang, Ping An then thought of Qiao Yiyan.
Perhaps she was the person he needed in his real life: mature, independent, and practical. She didn't need excessive romance and wasn't hung up on petty calculations. In other words, they were both adults and knew what they needed and didn't need.
However, this woman was more cunning than he had imagined. Ping An thought he could see through her at a glance, but after spending time with her, he realized he was wrong. They had been intimate more than once, but he felt there was an invisible wall preventing them from truly connecting.
"Love shouldn't be like this! Why does it feel more like a one-night stand with Yiyan?" He threw away the cigarette, his thoughts becoming increasingly muddled and confused.
One minute before the alarm rang, Su Tang woke up precisely. She stared blankly for half a minute before stretching vigorously and turning off the alarm.
There were still a few days left before the end of summer vacation, and her summer homework was as neat as if it had just been bought. Su Tang knew that from today onwards, she had to rush to catch up on her homework.
After a simple wash, Su Tang went downstairs in good spirits to prepare breakfast, only to find that her master had already prepared everything.
"Master, did you do something bad again?" Su Tang asked suspiciously, eyeing the soup dumplings and fragrant beef and pepper soup on the table.
"Are you eating or not?" Ping An asked without looking up, his head bowed as he chopped pickles.
"Yes! Yes!" Su Tang obediently sat at the dining table, carefully picked up a soup dumpling, tore a small opening with her mouth, and gently sucked in the broth. Once her mouth was filled with the essence of the meat soup, she took a hearty bite. A happy day began like this.
Not sleeping all night didn't mean he could skip work. Although investigating cases was important, Fei Keqing, who was about to get married, had recently developed cold feet. Ping An wasn't afraid of her, but he didn't want to provoke her, so he dutifully went to work.
"Stay home and do your homework obediently! I probably won't be back for lunch. Hei Dou will bring you food." Ping An looked at Su Tang, who was eating dumplings with no intention of listening, and felt his words were in vain.
"Master, I want to see Jiaozi this afternoon. She seems to be in a good mood lately. I'll go keep her company, oh no, do homework together!" After filling her stomach, Su Tang began to butter up her master.
"No, you're not allowed to see her recently!" Ping An's mind involuntarily flashed to Jiaozi's increasingly mature face, and he quickly issued a strict command.
"Why?" Su Tang was unhappy.
"She's not safe!" Ping An replied perfunctorily.
"How can her home not be safe?" Su Tang muttered. "Besides, her parents are at home. Oh, right, she and her parents have reconciled..."
"Hmm?" Hearing Su Tang say this, Ping An was surprised but quickly regained his displeased expression.
"Still no. Everyone has their own lives. Focus on your homework. You still haven't done your summer homework, and you haven't been to any tutoring classes. Your aunt will be back soon, and believe me, she'll find a hundred ways to teach you to do the splits in one day, and make sure it's straight and perfect!" Ping An threatened.
Forced to stay home to do homework by Ping An, Su Tang stomped up to the second floor with a resentful voice. Ping An tidied himself up and prepared to go to work.
Outside the community gate, Hei Dou was waiting for Ping An, chewing on a shredded radish pancake. He saw Ping An from afar and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Boss, I can't believe Zhan Dou and the others actually brought Liao Yuanchao in. My girlfriend told me last night that Yang Jie rewarded each of them with fifty thousand yuan!" Hei Dou was in a good mood.
"Oh!" But Ping An was not in a good mood.
"Boss, is there something fishy going on behind this?" Hei Dou put away his cheerful mood and put on a serious face. "My girlfriend heard that Zhan Dou's company is about to disband, but the original team will immediately join the wind power company."
"Oh?" Ping An's eyelids twitched upon hearing this news.
"Also, my girlfriend heard that Ms. Peng You declined the invitations from Yang Jie and Zhan Dou and is preparing to return to Japan from Hechuan," Hei Dou continued. "I heard they had a big argument in the office, and Ms. Peng You slammed the door and left."
"Oh!" Ping An still had no reaction, but his eyelids were clearly twitching more violently.
"And one more piece of news, Zhan Dou's company had a dinner party last night, and Liao Yuan actually brought Jiaozi. Their family of three looked very harmonious—Boss, is there something fishy going on behind this?" Hei Dou said.
"Just drive properly. What's all the fuss about? It's great that they're a happy family," Ping An replied perfunctorily.
In the newspaper building, Fei Keqing arranged a bunch of tasks for Ping An and then quietly left. In fact, ever since Ping An "married into" the fashion department, Fei Keqing had greatly delegated power to him, and Ping An had become the de facto second-in-command in the department.
"Brother Ping An, this is a proof of this week's magazine. Take a look." In the office, Ping An was reviewing the newspaper proofs for the absent Fei Keqing.
"Make the headline font one size larger, enlarge the picture, and process it as a pull quote!"
"These three short features, remove the introductory quotes and add an editor's note, and process them together!"
"For this news, add the subtitle above the main title, and make the main title bolder..."
As an experienced professional, Ping An had never fallen behind in his work. A page of seemingly insignificant news, under his planning, not only looked better but also became more concise in content. The responsible editor revised it, and looking at it again, the layout had become much richer and more engaging than before.
"When the position is right, the layout looks good. With the wordy introductions removed, the content becomes concise, and readers will immediately understand what's going on," Ping An lectured for a rare moment. Seeing the young reporter excitedly go to finalize the layout, he lowered his head to get back to work. But at that moment, he suddenly thought of something.
"Ah Guang! Come here! Bring me that page of news!" Ping An suddenly called out, causing the reporter who had just left to almost run into the wall.
He brought the page of news again, and Ping An's eyes widened as he stared at a small "tofu block" in the bottom right corner of the newspaper.
"Person Wanted—Huang Juan, female, 28 years old, nurse at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shanhe University Medical College..." Ping An read the "tofu block" three times, muttering, "Shanhe University Medical College's Second Affiliated Hospital? Isn't that the hospital where 'Mummy', oh no, Fang Xin, worked?"
"Ah Guang, why hasn't the photo for this missing person notice been put on the page yet?" Ping An suddenly asked.
"The photo is with the layout artist. It's usually added last!" Ah Guang replied.
"Get it for me, I want to see it." Ping An suddenly became serious, which made Ah Guang a little uneasy.
A moment later, Ah Guang specially copied Huang Juan's photo from the layout artist.
Ping An examined the photo carefully and vaguely found a resemblance to someone. To be precise, their figures were similar.
"Xiao Fei, you'd better come to my unit quickly. I've made an important discovery and need your help." After much thought, Ping An called Gao Xiaofei.
Upon hearing Ping An's summons, Gao Xiaofei quickly arrived at the Hechuan Daily.
"I've found out that Huang Juan disappeared after June 28th. Her family reported her missing long ago, but the police couldn't find her. She's neither seen nor heard of. Because Huang Juan isn't from Hechuan City, although she worked in Hechuan City, her household registration is in Gao County, which is under Hechuan City's jurisdiction, and her home address is also there. Her family reported her missing in Gao County, so our city bureau, including Director Qiao, knows nothing about it." Gao Xiaofei said, "According to your theory, the date of Huang Juan's disappearance overlaps with the time of Wang Huan'an and Fang Xin's deaths. So you suspect that the person who was killed first in Wang Huan'an's case might have been this Huang Juan? That's too far-fetched! Just because she used to be Fang Xin's colleague?"
"After Fang Xin was murdered, I've been thinking that a doctor would never be able to perform a surgery on their own. Therefore, other medical personnel must have been on standby. I wanted to ask Liao Yuan for clarification, but for the sake of the bigger picture, I haven't alerted them." Ping An said, "But now, this Huang Juan, tsk tsk, don't you think it's too coincidental? I suggest we re-examine Fang Xin's residence and Wang Huan'an's residence."
"Isn't that too sudden? Maybe we should wait until there's more evidence..." Gao Xiaofei was about to persuade Ping An. Recently, the case had made some breakthroughs, and the workload had increased continuously. He was already a bit overwhelmed these days and didn't want to make a big fuss over Ping An's guess!
"Let me show you this, Huang Juan's Weibo from June 28th!" Ping An handed his phone to Gao Xiaofei and said indignantly, tapping the table. "If it were Cheng Jian, I wouldn't say anything, but how can even you be unreliable now? In Wang Huan'an's case, unless ghosts were involved, even a fool would know that two people were killed one after another!"
Gao Xiaofei remained silent, carefully looking at the content of the Weibo. In fact, Huang Juan's Weibo on June 27th only had one picture and one sentence. The picture showed a scene of a bus entering the station on bus route 409 in the city. The sentence read, "I hope everything goes smoothly!"
"You live in Fengdian Community now. You must know that bus route 409 is the only bus that goes to Fengdian Community, right?" Ping An had already packed his luggage and looked at the blushing Gao Xiaofei sideways.
On the way to Fengdian Community, Gao Xiaofei, uncharacteristically, did not drive. Ping An was sitting in the driver's seat.
"Confirmed. A few years ago, Fang Xin, because he didn't become dean, secretly took on plastic surgery jobs. To be precise, he did any job, even illegal organ harvesting. After being reported, he retired." Gao Xiaofei said after making a call midway. "This Huang Juan also secretly worked with Fang Xin a few times. After it was discovered, she was almost fired from the hospital. So it seems they definitely knew each other, and it's highly likely that Fang Xin hired Huang Juan to assist with Liao Yuan's sex reassignment surgery."
"Yes, in that case, Fang Xin's lead is straightened out!" Ping An said seriously while driving.
"But why didn't the branch bureau attach importance to such important information? Didn't Cheng Jian, who was responsible for investigating Fang Xin, find out about this Huang Juan? I had to get information from the county bureau." Gao Xiaofei said angrily, "Cheng Jian is an old detective, his investigative skills shouldn't be so weak!"
"It was strange that Fang Xin died in Fengdian Community. If Liao Yuanchao hadn't personally confessed, we wouldn't have known his usefulness!" Ping An was quite philosophical. "Once Fang Xin's purpose is known, Cheng Jian and the others can avoid many detours. By digging deeper into the private surgeries, they would eventually find Huang Juan."
"Speaking of which, you have good luck too. Huang Juan's family put up a missing person notice right in front of you. Even heaven is helping us!" Regardless, the case had new developments, and Gao Xiaofei was quite happy.
"Any news from the technical department?" Ping An suddenly asked.
"We just sent Huang Juan's photo to them for matching with the person in the peeping video. It will take time," Gao Xiaofei replied.
At Wang Huan'an's home in Fengdian Community.
Cheng Jian, who had rushed over, lowered his head in shame, not daring to look at Gao Xiaofei and Ping An. He had taken the lead in the investigation of Fang Xin and had been investigating for a long time. Apart from the clues he had voluntarily obtained from Liao Yuanchao the day before, the rest was not as significant as a missing person notice in the "Hechuan Daily." To be honest, before Cheng Jian came here, Director Qiao Yidan had already reprimanded him with words like "pig's head" and "waste of food." Therefore, he had decided not to say a word today and just watch how these two "great gods" would find clues about Huang Juan.
"According to the latest preliminary investigation, based on the video at the community entrance, the last time Huang Juan came to Fengdian Community was at 14:24 on June 27th. According to the community property management, the surveillance system at the entrance of the community had not been perfected before that, so it is impossible to know which building or unit Huang Juan entered. In the subsequent surveillance, we did not find any video of Huang Juan leaving the community, but it is not ruled out that she left by car through the parking lot channel," Cheng Jian remained silent, and a young man reported the work.
Ever since the incident, Wang Huan'an's room had been kept as it was. Ping An, with his hands in his pockets, walked around from the living room to the bedroom, and from the bedroom to the kitchen, room by room. To avoid disturbing his crime-solving thoughts, the responding police officers quietly stood outside, while Gao Xiaofei sat nonchalantly on the sofa in the living room playing games.
"Shouldn't you be doing something? You're a doctor, after all!" Ping An said indignantly, seeing Gao Xiaofei playing games on the sofa after searching fruitlessly.
"I didn't agree with your theory from the beginning, and even now, we can't be sure if Huang Juan is in trouble, but you believe Huang Juan was the 'substitute' who was strangled that night!" Gao Xiaofei said, "Have you considered that, with your chain of evidence, I can completely deduce that Huang Juan was not only not a victim, but also the perpetrator that night!"
"Oh? I'm eager to hear!" Ping An suddenly stopped and stared at a peony painting in the living room, his back to Gao Xiaofei.
"Based on the existing clues, I deduce that Wang Huan'an invited Huang Juan to his home, and then the two of them staged a scene of strangulation. Finally, Wang Huan'an paid Huang Juan a large sum of money and told her not to appear for a while." Gao Xiaofei put away his phone, rubbed his eyes, and said, "Huang Juan received a large sum of money, and most likely went on a spree elsewhere. Not long after, she found out from the news that Wang Huan'an had really died, and in the same way as the performance she had cooperated with..."
"So, she hid?" Ping An asked perfunctorily, still staring at the painting.
"What do you think?" Gao Xiaofei noticed that Ping An was staring intently at the painting, stood up, and walked over.
This was a "Peony Wealth Painting," painted by a famous local artist who was no longer alive. It was evident that Wang Huan'an was also someone who appreciated refined tastes during his lifetime.
"Is there something wrong with this painting?" Gao Xiaofei asked, pulling Ping An's sleeve as he didn't get a response.
"I know the old man who painted this picture. I interviewed him many years ago. I remember that in his peony paintings, there were never butterflies! The reason was something like, peonies were the national flower in his heart, and butterflies playing with them would be inappropriate! Therefore, he never painted butterflies in his peony paintings!" Ping An smacked his lips and said, "You'd better call the teachers in the art department of Shanhe Normal University and ask them if what I said is true, because I don't know if this old painter changed his style later on."
"Are you sure?" Gao Xiaofei said, a little exasperated.
"This is an opportunity for you to catch up with your old flame, Ah Hua!" Ping An turned around and said to Gao Xiaofei with a fawning expression, "Don't ask me how I know. I can only say that Fei Keqing told me. You're not being honest, you didn't confess your past romantic history."
"Nonsense! Ah Hua was a portrait artist hired by the bureau. I was in charge of technology back then, and I interacted with her all the time, but nothing like romance ever happened!" Gao Xiaofei retorted defiantly, then realized that Ping An didn't care. He turned around and cursed as he left.
Everything in the room was reasonable, so reasonable it was almost unbelievable. Only this painting, only this painting, hung here inappropriately, and the butterflies in the painting were inappropriate. Gao Xiaofei went to make a phone call, and Ping An continued to frown at the painting, his mind's "engine" running at full speed.
If no breakthrough could be made with the two deceased victims, Wang Huan'an and Fang Xin, then finding Liao Yuan now or controlling Chang Suo would not yield good results and would instead allow them to mend their fences. Regardless of their plans, they were undeniably involved in the murder case. Stocks, wealth, and love were all secondary; human life was the most important. But then again, Gao Xiaofei's deduction seemed more in line with criminal investigation practices and easier to convince others. However, why was he so determined to conclude that Huang Juan was a victim? Just based on a small missing person notice?
The more he thought about it, the more Ping An felt that his conclusion about Huang Juan seemed too righteous, as if someone had secretly told him. But who had told him? Where had they told him? Why didn't he have any memory of it? Or was it his own investigation? That's right, the case had been going on for so long, he wouldn't have let the clue of Huang Juan slip by. But why had he let it slip? Had he secretly investigated Huang Juan behind his own back?
"Could I have a split personality?" Ping An said in surprise, recalling the "nightmare" from that morning.