Chapter Forty-Eight: Detective Fang Yujia

Xiao Fusheng nodded at Fang Yujia’s words, not doubting her. After all, Fang Yujia and Xiao Guowei had been colleagues, and it was only natural for her to feel grief over his death.

However, another thought crossed his mind. He looked at Fang Yujia, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Has that scoundrel come back recently?”

Fang Yujia was already worried that Xiao Fusheng might suspect Xiao Cheng’s involvement in the murder case. Hearing Xiao Fusheng bring up Xiao Cheng, she grew tense, not knowing how to respond.

Seeing her hesitation, Xiao Fusheng became even more convinced that Xiao Cheng must have done something disgraceful to Fang Yujia. He decided not to press further; after all, as a woman, it would be hard for her to speak of such things.

He assumed that Xiao Cheng wouldn’t come back after that incident, but he underestimated the young man’s audacity. In truth, Xiao Cheng had never really left. He’d simply hidden within the villa’s walls, and after Xiao Fusheng departed, he carried on as if nothing had happened, going out during the day to cause mischief and returning at night to enjoy his sister-in-law’s cooking.

“Yujia, don’t worry. I’ll deal with that wretch sooner or later. And…” Xiao Fusheng wanted to say that, should she find someone suitable, she could remarry, but held his tongue. To say so would be to drive Fang Yujia from the family in a roundabout way.

He knew very well that such a thing must be Xiao Cheng’s fault and had nothing to do with Fang Yujia. But now that the matter had occurred and the rumors had spread, how could he, as the elder of the family, hold his head high if Fang Yujia remained within the clan?

Fang Yujia was puzzled, unsure what Xiao Fusheng was truly referring to, but could tell it wasn’t about the murder. She finally breathed a small sigh of relief. If the old man ever found out that Xiao Cheng was the killer, who knew how he would handle it.

Though still uncertain, she feared the old man might notice something amiss.

…

Afterward, Xiao Fusheng gave Li Zirui a few instructions, then ordered Wang Qiyi to drive him away.

Seeing the old master depart, Fang Yujia let out a long sigh of relief.

She wasn’t entirely sure Xiao Cheng was responsible for all this. Finding a secluded spot, she dialed Xiao Cheng’s number, intending to ask him directly. But a familiar, automated voice replied, “Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off.”

Unable to reach him, she grew anxious. She had just heard from the investigators that the suspect had suffered a serious gunshot wound. If the killer really was Xiao Cheng, then he was in grave danger.

Fang Yujia frowned. She had no way of confirming whether Xiao Cheng was truly the killer.

“Sister Fang, Mr. Xiao’s laptop password has been cracked. Would you like to take a look?” Li Zirui approached, holding a silver laptop. Technically, he didn’t need to consult Fang Yujia for this, but since she was a member of the family, basic respect dictated he ask.

“Alright, let me have a look. You can go about your business,” Fang Yujia replied, regaining her composure as she accepted the laptop without revealing her thoughts.

Unable to confirm Xiao Cheng’s involvement, she hoped to find reliable clues in the laptop’s communications. There was another motive as well: if any evidence pointed to Xiao Cheng, she could destroy it before anyone else discovered it.

Li Zirui nodded and handed her the laptop.

Fang Yujia opened it and first checked the QQ message logs—the most commonly used communication software. Xiao Guowei had clearly been cautious, for QQ hadn’t remembered his password. But that was no obstacle for Fang Yujia, a master’s graduate in science. She found the local message file and cracked it in less than a minute.

She opened Xiao Guowei’s message history and read through it one by one, finding that most were trivial exchanges. However, a message from five days ago caught her attention.

Breezy Wind: Not buying groceries today, we have cucumbers and eggplants at home.
Straight for the Stars: Sick of cucumbers and eggplants. I bought some bean sprouts today.
Breezy Wind: Take care of C as soon as possible.
Straight for the Stars: No problem, no one will see through it.

It was a simple dialogue, with the first two lines serving as code words. With her scientific training, Fang Yujia immediately noticed the problem. The instruction “Take care of C as soon as possible,” combined with the assurance that “no one will see through it,” made it clear: Xiao Guowei was ordering someone to kill a certain person. But who was “C”?

Fang Yujia had always disliked her fourth uncle, but she never imagined he was this sort of person—actually arranging a murder.

She read on, but found no similar conversations. While this information didn’t directly clarify whether Xiao Cheng was the killer, Fang Yujia was eager to know who Xiao Guowei’s target was.

She continued searching for another half hour, but found no further clues. Frowning, she suddenly had an idea—she copied all the messages into a Word document, opened the search function, and typed the letter “C,” then hit enter.

A message containing the letter appeared:

Straight for the Stars: The C plan failed.

This abrupt message revealed little, but it was intriguing. Searching further, she found only two instances of “C” in the entire transcript. Clearly, most important information hadn’t been transmitted via QQ; what remained were fragmented snippets.

Undeterred, Fang Yujia checked the date of the message: October 20th. She searched for all messages from that day and compiled them. There was nothing useful.

She then checked the previous day and found a suspicious exchange:

Breezy Wind: Good luck tomorrow.
Panic: All depends on Uncle Xiao.

The context was unclear, but both parties obviously knew something that was left unsaid.

The nickname “Panic” looked familiar. Fang Yujia pulled out her phone, logged into QQ, and searched for “Panic.” Immediately, the account belonging to Qiao Yifeng appeared. So, Qiao Yifeng’s nickname was Panic.

Qiao Yifeng was connected to Xiao Guowei! Fang Yujia’s heart skipped a beat. What had happened on October 20th? She racked her memory and suddenly recalled: that was the day Qiao Yifeng came to her company to discuss business. What did Xiao Guowei mean by wishing him good luck?

Her eyes widened as she seized upon the truth. Qiao Yifeng’s business negotiation had been a front, orchestrated to deal with the crisis Xiao Guowei had engineered. Only now did she see that Qiao Yifeng had been colluding with Xiao Guowei all along.

To think she had once considered Qiao Yifeng an important client—when in fact, everything had been a plot masterminded by Xiao Guowei.

Fang Yujia was anything but foolish; in fact, she was exceptionally clever, with sharp logic—a trait that had helped her stand out at the prestigious and competitive Huaqing University.

On the afternoon of October 20th, she and Qiao Yifeng met at Qingfeng Club to discuss business. Later, for reasons unknown, her brother-in-law beat Qiao Yifeng. Then someone reported to Xiao Guowei that “the C plan had failed.” She didn’t know the details, but it was clearly a plan targeting her.

So she was the “C” whom Xiao Guowei wanted eliminated. Five days ago, he’d again ordered someone to deal with her.

All along, Xiao Guowei had been plotting against her, and she’d been oblivious. With these clues pieced together, the truth dawned on her.

On October 20th, Xiao Guowei and Qiao Yifeng conspired to harm her, and in the days since, Xiao Guowei sought her death. She survived both attempts, thanks to Xiao Cheng—who had thwarted Xiao Guowei’s plan. It was only because Xiao Guowei wanted her dead that Xiao Cheng killed him.

The person she’d most despised and looked down on—her brother-in-law—had been silently protecting her all along, bearing every burden alone, never uttering a word, while she had misunderstood and blamed him time and again. Realizing this, she felt a sudden sting in her nose, a rare emotion for someone so stoic.

But what exactly had Xiao Guowei planned for that night of October 20th? Fang Yujia searched her memory for every detail at Qingfeng Club. Only those two glasses of fruit wine seemed off. Had Qiao Yifeng drugged them with hallucinogens?

Yes, there must have been drugs in the drinks. Qiao Yifeng had been unusually agitated at the time.

Now she understood: Xiao Cheng had insisted on drinking both glasses of wine to protect her. But what happened after he drank them? She had no idea—she’d left the club alone, abandoning Xiao Cheng there. The thought filled her with guilt.

Now, because Xiao Guowei wanted her dead, Xiao Cheng had risked his life to kill him and had been grievously wounded.

Xiao Cheng had done so much for her—drinking drugged wine on her behalf, taking bullets for her, bearing every hardship alone—yet she’d only now learned the truth. He must have suffered terribly from the drugs, and now, with a gunshot wound, he was in even greater danger—perhaps even dying.

He’d known the wine was drugged, yet drank it all, even saying it tasted special and reaching for a second glass. He knew killing Xiao Guowei was deadly dangerous, yet he’d come and done it anyway.

In that moment, Fang Yujia suddenly felt as if she’d lost something most precious in her life. A single tear slid silently down her cheek.

She abruptly stood, striving to remain composed, and approached the lead investigator. “Will the suspect’s gunshot wound be fatal?” she asked.

The group leader was puzzled by her sudden question, but answered respectfully, “It’s very likely to be fatal. Mr. Xiao was an excellent marksman in the company, always scoring a perfect ten, and the weapon used was the most powerful Desert Eagle. But it’s hard to understand how the suspect managed to leave here alone…”

Before he could finish, Fang Yujia had already rushed from the second floor, desperate to get home and praying that Xiao Cheng would be safe.

—

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