Page 49

"Captain Pei, is what he said true?" Song Ranran, who had slipped into the conference room at some point, looked speechlessly at Zhou Yang's indignant expression, stepped forward, and asked quietly:

"...To a certain extent, yes."

Feeling Xun Yin's gaze from beside him, Pei Qingyu paused involuntarily, then hesitated before continuing, "But to put it nicely, he's a good judge of people. To put it less nicely, he holds grudges."

Understanding dawned on Song Ranran. "So the reason he's remembered Captain Pei all these years is entirely because he holds-"

Before she could finish, she received a knuckle rap on the forehead. Song Ranran stepped back, clutching her forehead in confusion. Xun Yin glanced at her, then turned back. "Shut up and listen."

"I was going to say a grudge!" Song Ranran protested quietly, but the two men in front of her had already leaned close together, completely ignoring her. She could only return to her seat indignantly.

When he heard their exchange, Pei Qingyu had already leaned toward Xun Yin's ear and said with a smile, "All right, isn't a mad dog just keen-nosed? That's why it bites whoever it catches. What's there to be angry about?"

"I remembered you the first time too, Captain," Xun Yin countered quietly.

Pei Qingyu froze. "The first time... you mean the selection at the police university? Back then, I thought..."

"No." Xun Yin lowered his eyes, his expression indifferent. He shook his head but said nothing more.

Pei Qingyu couldn't help wondering whether something had gone wrong with his memory. Last time, it had been a video of him reciting the Criminal Law; this time, it was their first meeting. He remembered none of these moments in Xun Yin's memories. Pei Qingyu opened his mouth to ask something, only for Zhou Yang to loudly interrupt him.

"Hey, can you two listen to me?"

Zhou Yang turned his head in displeasure. Ignoring Lele's desperate grip on his sleeve behind him, he stiffened his neck and said, "I came here to cooperate with the investigation. The least you could do is listen properly to my information..."

"Go on," Xun Yin interrupted coldly.

Zhou Yang involuntarily shrank back again, then turned to look at Zhuo Wumian's photo once more and said with difficulty, "The person in this photo gives me a feeling very similar to someone I've met. But like I said, I don't judge people by their looks. The person I know had a very distinctive air about him, part of which was similar to his."

"Who is he?"

"I don't know him. I just happened to see him coming out of the office once when I went to see my godfather. I remembered him after that one encounter." Zhou Yang shook his head, then suddenly turned toward Pei Qingyu in the corner of the conference room. "But Captain Pei knows him."

Pei Qingyu raised his eyes and glanced at Zhou Yang without speaking, though his face seemed a little pale.

An eerie silence fell over the conference room. Zhou Yang stared at Pei Qingyu for a long moment before realization suddenly struck. "So... this person is connected to my godfather's death? Then what are you still sitting here for? Hurry up and arrest him!"

"Crazy as he is, he does catch on pretty quickly," Song Ranran muttered as she watched Zhou Yang, only to receive another warning glance from Xun Yin in front of her. Song Ranran protested, "Brother Xun, I wasn't praising him! I was just making a snarky comment!"

"Answer me!" Zhou Yang abruptly stood up, shook off Lele's hand as he desperately tried to hold him back, and strode up to Pei Qingyu. "As the victim's family, I have the right to know all of this. If you won't tell me..."

"He is indeed the prime suspect." Still seated, Pei Qingyu held back Xun Yin, who was about to rise. He looked up calmly. "Now I've told you. What are you going to do?"

Zhou Yang choked, but before he could speak, Pei Qingyu quickly continued, "Stand here hurling abuse?"

"No..."

"Or use what little money you have left to find him and take revenge?" Pei Qingyu's voice grew cold. "The former is incompetence. The latter is a crime. If you don't want to waste your time here, shut up, sit back down, and tell us everything we need to know."

"You-" Zhou Yang's face alternated between livid and pale. Before he could speak, Lele, who had been standing behind him and tugging at him to come back, suddenly said, "Captain Pei, I think I know the person Yangyang is talking about."

Everyone in the conference room turned their eyes to Lele. He shrank back, seemingly unused to suddenly becoming the focus of everyone's attention. Taking out his phone, he searched through it in a fluster before holding out a photo to Pei Qingyu.

"Captain Pei, the person you know... is it him?"

Pei Qingyu took the phone and glanced at it, seeming to relax slightly. "Sorry, no," he said quietly. "It looks like Zhou Yang remembered wrong."

"Impossible!" Zhou Yang leaned over for a look too, then suddenly said in confusion, "Wait, that's not right. He didn't feel like this the last time I saw him..."

"What's his name?" Ignoring the bewildered Zhou Yang, Pei Qingyu turned to Lele.

"Zhu Qi."

Pei Qingyu nodded and called out, "Ranran!"

"Yes, I'll look into it right away." Song Ranran understood. She had long since regretted coming over to sit beside Xun Yin and listen in because she had nothing better to do. Now she quickly got up, grabbed her laptop, and scurried off.

Pei Qingyu turned his head aside and coughed softly, then handed Lele's phone back with a smile. "All right, that's all for today's questioning. I'll let you know if there are any developments in the case."

Lele hurriedly took the phone back just as a WeChat message popped up. In his fluster, he tried to close it, only to tap straight into it instead. An invitation appeared on the screen.

Zhou Yang frowned at Lele's phone, then turned back to stare at Pei Qingyu with an unreadable look. Pei Qingyu ignored him, simply taking Xun Yin with him as he rose and headed out. The instant his hand reached the door, he heard Zhou Yang shout behind him, just as expected, "Hey, do you want to go to that banquet?"

Pei Qingyu turned back to see Zhou Yang, his face flushed and his neck stiff, pointing at Lele's phone. "I know Zhu Qi will be there too. You... if you want to go, I can get you an invitation."

Pei Qingyu hadn't expected Zhou Yang to stop him to ask this. He turned back, somewhat amused. "I can go if I want to?"

Zhou Yang nodded, then said impatiently, "Yes, but only you."