The August midday sun blazed mercilessly. Shen Li sat by the floor-to-ceiling window. Even with the air conditioner humming away, the room still felt the onslaught of the summer heatwave.
Sunlight poured through the glass, scattering bright patches across the floor. Everyone in the room dove into a lively discussion about how to handle the clue-gathering and evidence-search phase.
Roughly ten minutes later.
Jiang Nan rallied the group, dividing the search areas into eight zones: the cabin’s first floor, second floor, basement, vault, fish pond, strawberry garden, swimming pool, and garden.
Just as Yang Zhiqi started preparing eight slips of paper for everyone to draw from—
Li Weiwei approached Shen Li’s side with her coffee cup in hand, unobtrusively pulling up a chair and sitting down.
Shen Li glanced at her but had no intention of speaking. He simply continued to watch the deeply engrossed group in silence.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the long-haired woman take a sip of her coffee. She cleared her throat and said, “You don’t seem all that eager to join in.”
Shen Li: …
Shen Li copied her motion, taking a sip from his thermos of plain water. “Mm,” he said, offering nothing more.
Li Weiwei flicked her gaze toward the distant camera. Lowering her voice, she spoke with a touch of amusement. “If I were you—with your kind of expertise—I’d want to school them right about now.”
Shen Li: ?
Shen Li let his gaze slide toward her, fixing on her face for a moment before turning away again. He spoke softly, as if he hadn’t understood a word. “What do you mean?”
Li Weiwei held her coffee cup with her head tilted slightly. She leaned in just a fraction closer, her voice barely above a whisper. “If I hadn’t known what you used to do for a living, I never would’ve handed over my gun on the first day, Officer Shen.”
The moment the words left Li Weiwei’s mouth, Shen Li’s eyes sharpened. He lowered his gaze without much surprise, glancing down at the thermos in his hand.
It had always struck him as odd. Li Weiwei had been with Jiang Nan back then, and Jiang Nan knew about his “romantic scandal” with Qian Xingzhi—but not that he was a cop. Unless they hadn’t looked into it properly, or whoever had reported the details had gotten it all wrong.
A crisp clink sounded as he set the thermos back on the table.
Shen Li’s gaze turned razor-sharp as he looked at her. “When did you and Jiang Nan meet?”
“Fifteen, sixteen years ago, maybe. My father’s from a distant branch of the Li Family, and I was the least favored daughter,” Li Weiwei replied candidly, already guessing his next question. “That was right around the time you left the SWAT Team and started hanging around the entertainment scene with Qian Xingzhi. I was working as Jiang Nan’s secretary.”
Shen Li: …
“He’s with the Zhao Family. Back then, they wanted to link up with the Qian Family through marriage. They were planning to run some tabloid smear piece and send it straight to your precinct—to trash your reputation.”
Shen Li: .
“So you told him I was a freelancer doing modeling work?”
“Uh-huh.” Li Weiwei managed a strained smile, her eyes shadowed with weight. “A job like yours—even after quitting—news like that wouldn’t look good. And back then, nobody knew how long things would last between you two, or if the Qian Family would even acknowledge you.”
“…Thanks,” Shen Li said, narrowing his eyes. His tone was flat. “Otherwise, my background check for the criminal police exam probably would’ve tanked.”
Li Weiwei lifted her coffee cup for another sip. “Don’t mention it. It was the least I could do.”
Something about the way she said it only deepened Shen Li’s suspicions. “Then why did you marry Jiang Nan?”
Li Weiwei just didn’t seem like the type who would marry him.
“That’s a much longer story.” She shook her head with a hint of self-mockery. “Maybe someday if there’s a chance. Though you might not want to hear it.”
Shen Li met her eyes. His tone softened more than usual. “I’d like to. If you want to tell me.”
Li Weiwei let out a few laughs. She drained the last of her coffee, her red lips stained with residue. Grabbing a napkin, she dabbed at her mouth before turning her gaze to the two men at the long table in Xitulan Ya Restaurant. They were gesturing grandly, holding court. She asked Shen Li, “Don’t you think those two guys are total idiots?”
Shen Li nodded. Of course he did.
Li Weiwei pressed on. “Doesn’t that piss you off?”
“A little.” Shen Li paused. “Adjust your mindset, and it’s basically like watching clowns. Otherwise, you would’ve keeled over from rage back when you were on the job.”
Li Weiwei let out a knowing sigh. “Sometimes I just don’t get it. How do assholes like them end up loaded, connected, living the high life? Is it really just fate?”
Shen Li pondered the philosophical question for a moment before offering what he saw as the plain truth.
“No shame makes you invincible. Oh—and people like them? They actually believe in themselves.”
Li Weiwei nodded emphatically, fully on board. “Exactly. These days, I really do think ‘belief’ carries some kind of power.”
“Mm.”
“Hahaha, so if I believe that scum gets what’s coming to him, will the universe actually step in and sort them out?”
Li Weiwei stared at them from across the room. Her brows eased a touch, though her eyes grew even deeper—as if she were genuinely mulling it over.
Shen Li’s cool voice paused for a beat. Then, with striking seriousness, he replied.
“Yang Zhiqi? Maybe the universe will get him one day. But your ex-husband? No need.”
Li Weiwei blinked, still not quite following.
Shen Li rose to his feet, scooping up his thermos along the way. “Whoever ends up dealing with them will need at least two or three days. But today…”
“Hm?”
“Let’s handle it together.”
=
Netizen Discussion Zone:
[Holy crap, I can’t take this anymore, guys! My fist is itching to smash through the screen and splatter Yang Zhiqi’s brains!]
[Physically nauseous. What karma is this—watching a variety show and seeing a clone of my boss? shattered]
[Worse than upstairs. Put Yang Zhiqi and Jiang Nan together, and it’s my husband reborn smile. Listening to them now just makes me wanna die smile]
[Aaaah, can they glue the camera to Shen Li’s face? Or the girls, whatever. I really can’t deal.]
[Where’d Kitty Shen run off to the corner? Just a tiny head now! Can’t even catch his face QAQ Is he dodging the camera?]
[Little Li, got cat treats here—you want some? Come on come on! Get in front of the camera!]
[Whoa!!! He actually stood up! He’s coming over haha!]
[He’s coming eeee!]
[See? Total little kitty confirmed! Little Li is our kitty cat, set in stone hehe]
[He’s been chatting with Li Weiwei since earlier and still going? What the heck are they talking about?]
On screen, Shen Li stood at the edge of the long table, listening for a moment. The group was still bickering endlessly over who would search which spot, going nowhere fast.
Shen Li glanced at the slips Yang Zhiqi had prepared. After a brief think, he picked one up, crumpled it into a ball, and rolled it tight.
Li Weiwei straightened from her leaned-in posture. She eyed Yang Zhiqi, who was trying to assign each person a search location, and spoke up. “I say we group up instead. One person per spot—who dreamed that up? Scared the killer won’t get a chance to mess with the evidence?”
Jiang Nan’s brows furrowed. He lifted his chin a fraction. “Got a problem? Why didn’t you say so earlier? We already settled it.”
Li Weiwei let out a scoffing laugh. “Spare me. I thought you’d actually learned something, but nope—you’re the same as ever. You really think cranking out a 3/10 cop drama and some rating-less show makes you a hotshot criminologist?”
“Better than you, at least. Back when you worked under me…”
“Cut to the chase.” Li Weiwei cut him off, irritation clear. “Evidence phase? Pairs minimum. Everyone think: agree or not? Hands up if agree.”
With that, she seized control of the conversation.
Ke Jiujiu and Lin Xu—who’d spent the last stretch arguing with Jiang Nan—shot their hands up right away. Zhao Yunzhi and Kris followed suit almost instantly.
Shen Li didn’t raise his hand. He was busy preparing slips for group draws.
“See? Majority rules. You two got an issue?”
Yang Zhiqi eyed the sudden challenger, lips pressing into a line. But he recovered quick, slapping on a smile and raising his own hand.
“Fine, groups sound solid. So, exes pair with exes. Little Shen and Little K can team up too…”
“No thanks.” Shen Li shut that down.
He clenched the finished slips in his fist. “Random draw instead. Keeps everyone honest.”
Ke Jiujiu let out an excited “Whoa!” She circled around from the far end of the table, trotting over with bounce in her step. “Love it! Yun Zhi—want me to draw for you, or you doing it?”
“I’ll handle it!” Zhao Yunzhi hurried over too.
Shen Li handed the first slip to Li Weiwei. Then he quickly passed out the rest. In under two minutes, groups were set:
Shen Li and Lin Xu;
Yang Zhiqi and Li Weiwei;
Zhao Yunzhi and Ke Jiujiu;
Kris and Jiang Nan.
Next up: figuring out the area assignments.
Just like before, Yang Zhiqi opened his mouth to weigh in—only for Li Weiwei to snatch the floor. “Forget picking. We’ll draw for it. Those eight slips? Everyone grabs two?”
Shen Li gave a tiny head shake. He passed four freshly made slips to Li Weiwei and murmured, “One drawer per group. I redid the search zones.”
Under the camera’s eye, each slip listed several spots:
Vault, fish pond, strawberry garden, swimming pool.
Fish pond, garden, vault, cabin basement.
Cabin second floor, vault, strawberry garden, swimming pool.
Cabin basement, cabin second floor, garden, vault.
Four spots per group. Every location popped up multiple times—vault a whopping four, the rest twice each—and in different sequences.
“Whoa, so we’re each randomly hitting four spots?” Ke Jiujiu snatched the first draw without hesitation, her earlier jitters forgotten.
“Yes,” Shen Li explained flatly. “The evidence search at each location shouldn’t exceed thirty minutes, unless you find key evidence, in which case you can extend it by an extra ten minutes. Each pair must stay together at the same search site—one person handles the search, the other records. Your partner must always remain in your line of sight.”
