Chapter 334: Chapter 332: Ask Me Instead of Her

Lu Zhishen emerged from the interrogation room, still unable to persuade Tian Min to help with a composite sketch.

He returned to the office and downed a large glass of water.

The three of them watched him.

"I want to go back to Jiangcheng," Lu Zhishen said, his voice weak, as if he were completely drained of energy.

Zhuang Yanzheng hooked a chair over with his foot. "Here, have a seat."

Lu Zhishen sat down.

Zhuang Yanzheng placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered like a devil, "Don’t even think about it. You can only go back to Jinghai. That’s your only option."

Lu Zhishen swatted his hand away.

"It’s definitely tough," Chu Xingrou said. "Tian Min is very cooperative when it’s something she wants to talk about. But when it’s not, it’s incredibly hard to get a single piece of information out of her."

Su Miaoyi sighed. "Where’s Captain Duan?"

"Returning a call." After saying that, Lu Zhishen fell silent.

A moment later, Duan Wenrui returned.

"Captain Zhuang, I had my colleagues in the city check out those locations you mentioned," he said. "Two were entertainment venues, but we didn’t find anything. We questioned the owners and showed them photos of Lu Xian and Cong Yu, but they all said they’d never seen them and didn’t recognize them."

"There were also two residential addresses, both properties registered to the same person. We traced this individual to Country D, but we couldn’t get in touch with them, and we couldn’t find any information on their family either."

"What about the bar?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"Three years ago on Shanghe Street there was indeed a bar called Night Color. We asked around, and it seems it suddenly closed three years ago and never reopened." Duan Wenrui took out his phone. "The owner is named Fan Hui. Here’s his photo."

The four of them huddled together to look at the photo.

Duan Wenrui continued, "We haven’t been able to contact him either. There’s a missing person report for him on file. We contacted his wife and child. His wife said that three years ago, Fan Hui went out to work at night and never came back. When she couldn’t find or contact him, she reported it to the police, but the police couldn’t find him either."

"Based on what Cong Yu said, he probably ran for his life," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Does his wife know anything?" Su Miaoyi asked.

"She doesn’t know anything. She’s been looking for Fan Hui for these past three years."

"That makes sense," Su Miaoyi said. "If she knew something, she wouldn’t have reported it to the police."

"What about Fan Hui’s other family members?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"His parents passed away before he got married. He was an only child. He has an uncle, but they barely had any contact after his father passed away," Duan Wenrui said. "We questioned him, too. The uncle knew he was missing, but he didn’t know anything else."

"Send me the photo," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Okay." Duan Wenrui sent him the photo. "About the sketch, Tian Min is still not cooperating."

"Let’s ask again tomorrow."

Duan Wenrui nodded, then paused for a moment. "About Tian Shi and Tian Xuan... I want them to meet her before Tian Min goes to Chang City."

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him. "Captain Duan, the case is solved. We should be heading back once the rain stops. You can make the call on everything else."

"We really couldn’t have done it without you this time. Otherwise, who knows when this case would’ve been solved," Duan Wenrui said.

"You’re too kind."

After a few more words, they all returned to the adjacent rooms to rest.

The temperature dropped at night, and the rain made it damp and chilly.

Lying in bed, Su Miaoyi listened to the rain outside and fell asleep in no time.

And she slept soundly for a long time. She didn’t even hear Chu Xingrou get up when morning came.

When Chu Xingrou came to wake her for breakfast, she mumbled that she wasn’t eating and went right back to sleep.

She slept until past ten o’clock.

She was still a bit dazed when she finally sat up in bed.

It was still raining outside, making it hard to tell the time.

She looked at her phone, her eyes still glazed over. ’How did I sleep for so long?’

No one answered her.

She put on a jacket and went to wash up.

After washing up, she went over to the station.

"You’re awake?" Zhuang Yanzheng and Lu Zhishen had just come from the direction of the interrogation room.

Su Miaoyi nodded, looked at the two of them, and continued walking toward the office.

"Why don’t you ask if we succeeded with the sketch?" Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"I can tell you didn’t succeed just by looking at you." Su Miaoyi poured herself a glass of water.

Lu Zhishen handed her two small packets of crackers.

Su Miaoyi tore open a packet. "Don’t bother. You’d be better off asking me than asking her."

Zhuang Yanzheng was reaching for one of her crackers, but his hand froze when he heard her. He looked at her. "Did you remember something?"

Lu Zhishen also looked at her.

Su Miaoyi slapped his hand away and ate a cracker. "Yeah. I dreamed about her last night and remembered some things."

"What’s her name?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi shook her head. "I just called her Sister Ying, too. I can’t remember her actual name."

A look of relief washed over Lu Zhishen’s face. "Then we don’t have to try and persuade Tian Min anymore."

"Your savior has arrived," Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen got paper and a pen, moved a chair, and sat down beside her.

Su Miaoyi began to describe, and Lu Zhishen began to draw.

Zhuang Yanzheng watched them for a moment, then sat to the side without another word.

As Su Miaoyi spoke, she ate one packet of crackers and then another.

She watched as the person in her mind gradually took shape on the drawing paper.

She recalled the contents of her dream.

"What’s so great about Jinghai? The fact that they sent you to go undercover means they don’t give a damn about your life. You’re not stupid. You know the agents they sent before all lost contact. You know exactly what happened to them, yet they still had the nerve to send you. We feed you and take care of you here. Wouldn’t it be better to just settle down and live a peaceful life?"

Sister Ying’s voice was frigid, devoid of any emotion. Her face was just as blank.

She had a high brow bone, which made her look like she was scowling down at people, creating an oppressive aura.

"Just give in. Don’t be so stubborn. It’ll be more comfortable for you and save us a lot of trouble. You suffer from this torture every day, and frankly, it’s a pain for us too. Just be a good girl and cooperate. It’s just memory erasure. Once you forget, everything will be fine."

She hugged her legs and sat on the bed, looking at Sister Ying. "Sister Ying, I’m really from Dian City, not from Jinghai. I’ve never even been to Jinghai in my entire life."

Sister Ying watched her for a long moment before speaking. "So you’re going to stick to your undercover story even after being exposed?"

"I’m not," she said, her voice barely a whisper, utterly pathetic.

"Qin Leyan, we’ve laid all our cards on the table. There’s no need for this. Continuing like this won’t do anyone any good." Sister Ying finished speaking and pushed the bowl of food forward. "Eat something."

She shook her head and shrank back on the bed. "I keep feeling like I’m going to throw up. I have no appetite."

Sister Ying looked at her, then at the food, and asked in a cold tone, "Is there anything you want to eat?"

She still shook her head.

Sister Ying said, "Want some dessert? I’ll have the chef make it."

"I don’t want to eat, I want to sleep for a while." As she spoke, she started to lie down, then looked at Sister Ying again and asked fearfully, "Is he going to take me to that room again today?"

Sister Ying looked at her without speaking.

"I don’t want to go," she said in a muffled voice, her head bowed.

"No one can change what he decides," Sister Ying said. "Your only choice is to cooperate and lessen your own suffering."

She didn’t say anything. After lying down, she pulled the blanket over her head.

...

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