Card Room (Rebirth)

It was the early hours of the morning and there were few vehicles on the road. They went all the way unimpeded. After arriving at the gate of Xiao Lou’s residence, Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and said in a low voice, “You’ve worked hard today. Go back and rest earlier. Let’s talk about things tomorrow.”

Xiao Lou responded, “You too. Go to bed early.”

He opened the door and got out of the car. Yu Hanjiang rolled down the window and said, “I will pick you up tomorrow at 7:30. It is on the way and we’ll go to work together.”

Xiao Lou smiled. “Okay, good night.”

Yu Hanjiang watched Xiao Lou leave before driving his car to the intersection in front. Then he turned and headed in another direction.

On the way? This wasn’t the case at all. The place where he lived was more than 20 kilometres away from Xiao Lou. He just wanted to send Xiao Lou home.

Due to the detour from sending Xiao Lou home, it was already one in the morning when Yu Hanjiang arrived at his place. He turned on the light and his eyes swept quickly across the room. This was a bachelor apartment with an area of around 60 square metres. There was one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom. It was enough for him to live by himself but it felt deserted. His heart was inexplicably empty.

Yu Hanjiang took off his coat and couldn’t help missing the time when he and Xiao Lou played the role of husband and wife and shared a bed in 8 of Hearts. In this secret room, they were just a police officer and forensics doctor. They were colleagues and lived in different places.

Yu Hanjiang pressed a hand to his temple, put away his confused thoughts and lay in bed to rest after taking a shower.

He was too busy today and ran to several places in a row. He questioned many people involved in the case and worked overtime until midnight to sort out the information. At this time, he was already exhausted. His body was overloaded and he fell asleep almost instantly when his head touched the pillow.

The next day, Yu Hanjiang got up on time since he had set an alarm clock. He drove to pick up Xiao Lou at 7:30 and Xiao Lou was already waiting for him at the gates of the community while carrying a plastic bag. Yu Hanjiang parked the car on the side of the road and Xiao Lou got in and handed him the bag.

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “What is this?”

He opened it and found a cup of hot soy milk, an egg and two buns.

Yu Hanjiang, “…”

Xiao Lou explained with a smile, “I guessed that you didn’t have breakfast so I bought it for you. Let’s eat first. It will only take two minutes.”

Yu Hanjiang hummed in agreement. It was a winter morning but drinking the warm milk prepared by Xiao Lou, his mind was filled with warmth. He quickly drank the milk and then started the car. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Last night, I went back and fell asleep until dawn.” Xiao Lou paused before continuing. “This morning, I found something interesting.”

“Oh?” Yu Hanjiang glanced over. “What is it?”

“I saw the agent Qi Ming hurrying away when I went downstairs.” Xiao Lou said. “There were also a dozen old ladies doing the square dance in the community. I told them that the man was my friend and asked if they knew him. An aunt told me that Qi Ming often walks his dog alone in the community at night. He looks talented but seems to be single. Everyone wanted to introduce a girlfriend to him but he smiled and said that he has a girlfriend. However, they never saw him bring a girl back.”

“Another old man told me that Doudou seemed to have died of illness a few days ago.” Xiao Lou thoughtfully stroked his chin. “Doudou is the name of the dog he raised and it suddenly died of illness. Would this have anything to do with Lin Yiyan’s death?”

The aunts in the community were keen on gossip and loved to introduce people to young men and women. Qi Ming was a well-known agent in the entertainment industry but he rarely showed up in public. It was normal for the neighbours in the community to not recognize him.

It wasn’t a coincidence that Xiao Lou was arranged to live in the same community as Qi Ming so he took advantage of the time this morning to inquire about the agent’s situation. He didn’t expect to get clues about the death of Qi Ming’s pet a few days ago.

At the intersection, Yu Hanjiang stopped the car and looked over at Xiao Lou. “Qi Ming really is unmarried. My guess is that his girlfriend is probably from the entertainment industry so it wasn’t convenient to bring her back to his residence.”

Last night, the two of them compiled all the information related to the agent, the popular star Cheng Yu and the female editor-in-chief of the magazine. This included their family background, marriage status and property status.

Qi Ming was now 38 years old and still unmarried. This made Yu Hanjiang feel suspicious.

The information that Xiao Lou obtained from the neighbours in the community caused Yu Hanjiang to frown slightly. “Qi Ming didn’t mention a single word regarding the dog’s situation in the transcript yesterday. Of course, the dog died at home so it doesn’t need to be stated in the transcript. However, what if the dog was given to him by a relevant person? Or it has a special meaning… this isn’t simple.”

Xiao Lou thought carefully. “His girlfriend is the key.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, it looks like I’m going to have to invite him over today.”

The light turned green and Yu Hanjiang no longer chatted. He accelerated and drove to the police station. At 7:50, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to their offices to work. The moment Yu Hanjiang took off his coat and put on a police uniform in the locker room, he saw Xiao Wu rushing over nervously. “Group Leader Yu, Lin Yiyan’s parents are here.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded and turned to go out.

After Lin Yiyan’s body was found yesterday, the police immediately notified her family and the two elderly people arrived by plane in the middle of the night. Yu Hanjiang greeted them and took them to the forensics centre to claim the remains.

Xiao Lou had changed into a white coat. He and Yu Hanjiang looked at each other before bringing Lin Yiyan’s parents to the morgue. In the cold morgue, a drawer was slowly opened by Xiao Lou. Seeing the pale face of the corpse lying inside, Lin Yiyan’s mother knelt to the ground and burst into tears. Her father was also wiping his tears.

Xiao Lou really couldn’t bear it when he saw the two haggard old people.

Yu Hanjiang stood by silently. After a long time, the old lady grabbed Yu Hanjiang’s hand. She was trembling all over as she cried. “Police officer, who killed my daughter? You must find the murderer! Give my daughter justice!”

Father Lin gritted his teeth. “This beast! In the end, who on earth did my daughter offend to be subjected to this?”

Yu Hanjiang told them softly, “Please rest assured that we will find Miss Lin’s killer. However, we need your assistance with the investigation.”

The two wept and closed the drawer. Then they went with Yu Hanjiang to the interrogation room to make a transcript.

Father Lin and Mother Lin spoke highly of their daughter. They said that Lin Yiyan had good grades ever since she was a child. Every time she took an exam, she was at the top of her class. She could’ve been admitted to a key university but she was very interested in acting. She took the art test and went to an acting school…

Lin Yiyan was very stubborn about this matter and her parents had to give in. Before she left, they told her, “We aren’t rich and don’t know any bosses. You are a girl and must learn to protect yourself in a complicated place like the entertainment industry.”

Lin Yiyan promised that she would be clean and love herself. She would study hard and find a way using her acting skills.

In the years since her debut, she would call her parents every time a new drama was launched. After earning money, she would buy clothes and jewellery for her parents. Most of her savings were left to her parents for safekeeping. She also bought her parents a house in a prime location in the city. She could be called very filial.

Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, “Do you know about Miss Lin’s emotional experiences?”

The two elders were surprised. Mother Lin forced back her tears and said, “My daughter has never been in love. She said she would put her career first and wait until she was 35 years old to consider love and marriage. We all know that she has been trending in recent years and didn’t dare to urge her. It is normal for female celebrities to get married late. We respected her decision.”

After listening to Mother Lin’s answer, Yu Hanjiang knew that he didn’t have to continue asking.

Lin Yiyan’s relationship history should be very confusing but she always maintained the personality of a ‘good girl’ in front of her parents. Therefore, she never talked to her parents about personal matters including her affair with the rich second generation Cheng Yu.

Yu Hanjiang changed the topic. “Does Miss Lin have the habit of keeping a diary?”

Mother Lin nodded. “Yes, she kept a diary in high school. There was just one and we brought it this time in case it could be useful…”

Yu Hanjiang told them, “Can I trouble you to temporarily hand over this diary to the police as evidence? I will return it after the case is resolved.”

Mother Lin cooperatively handed over the diary.

Yu Hanjiang inquired, “Did Lin Yiyan offend anyone during her school years?”

Father Lin replied in a deep voice, “My daughter was very popular in school. She was also the president of the student union for a year during university. She was happy every time she went home for the holidays. I’ve never heard of her offending anyone.”

Mother Lin was choked up. “My daughter has always been well behaved. Who would be so cruel as to actually kill my daughter? Officer, you must definitely find them!”

Yu Hanjiang comforted the couple while taking notes. Once he finished asking all the questions, he sent the two elders away.

Back at the office, his phone lit up. It was a WeChat message from Xiao Lou. “How was it? Did you get any clues from them?”

Yu Hanjiang replied, “There was a diary from Lin Yiyan’s high school days. In terms of interpersonal relationships, the two of them don’t know anything. Lin Yiyan was very filial to her parents financially but didn’t tell them anything about private matters.”

After all, the entertainment industry was too messy and maybe she had complicated relationships with many people. In the hearts of her parents, she had always been that excellent and well behaved daughter. It was natural that she didn’t want to tell her parents about this.

Yu Hanjiang sat at his desk and opened the diary.

Lin Yiyan’s handwriting was neat and clear. The format of the diary was also very uniform. It had X year, X month, X day, the weather, her mood and what happened… she had been used to recording her secrets this way since she was young.

Yu Hanjiang quickly looked through it and found a clue.

In her second year of high school, Lin Yiyan became obsessed with a famous actor Xie Yuan. Her diary was full of: ‘Brother is so handsome’, ‘my husband is the most handsome person in the world’, ‘I really want to go to my brother’s concert’, ‘my brother is so handsome in his new drama. I’m crying’…

For a long time, the diary was full of the name of her idol male god. It was precisely due to this that she changed her mind and went to apply for Xie Yuan’s alma mater. She became a student of the acting department of the Movie Academy.

The diary stopped abruptly on the day the art exam ended. The last page read, “Great, I was admitted to the Movie Academy. I will be able to study at the same school as my male god in the future! I must go to the places where he has been. In the future, maybe I can cooperate with the male god to act in a TV series together? For my male god!”

This was obviously an idol obsessed girl.

Yu Hanjiang, “………”

Gentle and well behaved? The style of the diary was completely incompatible with the character of Lin Yiyan in the eyes of her fans. All the actors in the entertainment industry were good at acting. In fact, it was difficult for Yu Hanjiang to judge so far. What type of person was the real Lin Yiyan?

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Proofreader: Fictional Reality