Early the next morning, Chen Shi arrived at the city bureau. He started by examining the body before calling the entire task force to the conference room.

Chen Shi sat on the table that was usually used by Lin Qiupu. He held an autopsy report in his hand and said loudly, “Does everyone understand the case? There are two tasks ahead of us. We need to check the interpersonal relationships of the victim and find out when they last saw the victim, as well as their alibis at the time of the incident. We need to get all the surveillance footage around the victim’s house, company, and the surroundings of where his body was abandoned. I’ve established a WeChat group, number xxx. When you find any clues, report directly to that group. When you’ve finished your assigned task, you can go and do something else. I’m not asking you to be on call for 24 hours a day… Okay, adjourned!”

Everyone looked at each other. The project meeting was too succinct. Chen Shi left straight away and called Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong. “Let's go visit Old Man Lu.”

Lin Dongxue smiled bitterly. “As the leader of this task force, don't you have to specifically assign who does what?”

“They are all experienced police officers. Let them investigate however they want!” Chen Shi reasoned.

On the car, Lin Dongxue found that Tao Yueyue had tagged along. She changed into a brand-new Lolita outfit and held a book in her hand. Lin Dongxue greeted her and whispered to Chen Shi, “You intend to bring a child to investigate the case?”

“Does it affect anything? Didn’t you guys say that you will give me complete authority and freedom?” Chen Shi smiled.

“You are so… Haii, whatever. I won’t say anything.”

“I don't have time to accompany Tao Yueyue much normally. Since she’s on winter vacation, I took her out to play. It’s not every day that you get to visit a wealthy person’s mansion.”

“Don’t be too overconfident. If you fail to solve the case within the time limit this time, we’ll see what face you bring to see my brother.”

Chen Shi made a gesture of assurance. “You can rest assured if I’m handling the case!”

People say that a rich man’s house is not bought to live in, but for investment purposes. This was the case with Lu Qixing, who had fifteen luxury homes around the world. However, he mostly lived in a hotel. Of course, it was a hotel owned by him.

This five-star hotel was located in the most prosperous area of Long'an City. The price of each room was 1.5 times that of an ordinary hotel. However, because Lu Qixing lived there, there were always people who were willing to come here to experience the atmosphere of the rich. There was a saying that the mountain don’t have to be very high as long as a dragon is present[1].

Some people speculated that Lu Qixing suffered from serious psychological problems after losing his beloved son five years ago. He never stayed in the same room for over two nights. No one could confirm whether this was true though.

The four of them arrived at the hotel. Led by a hotel employee, they took a private elevator up to the top floor which took them to a luxurious presidential suite. There was already a guest present. A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses with neatly combed hair was there.

The young man immediately revealed a confused look while rushing over. Chen Shi informed, “We are the police.”

“Oh, hello!” The young man shook their hands. “I’m a friend of Zhendong’s. I heard that something happened to him and came over to express my condolences… The old man is inside. Did you guys come to see him?”

“Your surname?”

“My name Jia. Jia Xunyun.”

“My surname is Ch-”

The sound of “Chen” hadn’t come out yet when Lin Dongxue coughed beside him. Chen Shi immediately rephrased, “My surname is Song.”

“Officer Song!” Jia Xingyun smiled, but his eyes were fixated on Lin Dongxue.

“Have the police come in for questioning yet?” Chen Shi asked.

“No.”

“Then I’ll ask you some questions.”

“Okay, go ahead!” Jia Xingyun's unrelenting gaze was still on Lin Dongxue.

“Look at me!” Chen Shi pointed to himself.

“You’re not as good looking as this lady… Just kidding! Go on.” Jia Xingyun smiled.

“What is your relationship with Lu Zhendong?”

“Friends. We were especially good friends... I know that there are many people around him who can claim to be his 'good friend', but if we were to rank my relationship with him, I might be his number one friend. We’ve known each other for many years and talk about absolutely everything. It’s like we’re brothers.”

“Then you must know who he has bad blood with, right?”

“I know some stuff.” Jia Xingyun provided several names, and Chen Shi recorded them down one by one.

Then Chen Shi continued questioning, “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Noon on February the 2nd.”

Based on the time of death, Lu Zhendong may have been killed that day. Chen Shi raised interest and asked, “When did you meet? What did you do together?”

“At noon, we ate together. It was at the Victory Restaurant not far from here.”

“What did you two talk about?”

“Personal privacy. It’s not convenient to disclose it.”

“Thank you for your cooperation... Xiaodong, you should go check out the Victory Restaurant.”

Xu Xiaodong agreed before leaving. Jia Xingyun turned towards Lin Dongxue and asked, “How should I address you?”

“My surname is Lin.”

“Lin as in the Lin from Lin Daiyu[2]?” Jia Xingyun smiled. “Does Officer Lin have a boyfriend?”

Chen Shi coughed. “Don't hinder us from handling the case, okay?”

Jia Xingyun responded with a smile. “Do you want to exchange contact details? That should be alright, right Officer Lin?”

Lin Dongxue was struggling to find an excuse to reject him when Tao Yueyue suddenly grabbed her hand and said, “Sister Lin, I want to go to the bathroom.”

Lin Dongxue showed an expression of salvation and replied, “I’ll take you.”

Jia Xingyun came to an obstacle but was not annoyed. He still had a smile on his face. He said to Chen Shi, “I hope you can help Zhendong rest in peace soon.”

“As you’ve blessed[3]!”

Jia Xingyun sat back on the sofa and continued to play with an antique. The room was very big. Chen Shi went to see Li Qixing himself by walking into a bedroom. He was wearing genuine silk pajamas with his hair in a mess. He stood in front of the window watching as the traffic below passed. He looked very depressed.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Lu Qixing suddenly sighed. “I can’t believe that suddenly I don’t have anyone to send me off at this age. It’s truly miserable!”

Chen Shi said, “Old Man Lu, I am not here to comfort you. I just want to solve the case as soon as possible. I hope that you will tell me everything you know.”

Lu Qixing turned around. “Song Lang, you’re a cold-blooded guy.”

“For me, efficiency comes first.”

“Oh, you’re truly the genuine one! There’s no way you’re a fake!” Lu Qixing excitedly pointed to Chen Shi. “You are truly Song Lang! Five years ago, you also said this to me. You’re the only police officer in this world who won’t give me, Lu Qixing, face!”

“Let’s talk about the case.”

“Let's eat while talking.” Lu Qixing picked up the phone at the bedside table and simply said a few words. He asked Chen Shi to take a seat.

Chen Shi stood still and asked, “What is your father-son relationship like?”

“To be honest, it's not very good. When they were children, Zhendong and Zhenjie’s mother passed quite early, and as I was busy with my company’s affairs, I could only use material items to make up for their lack of father’s love. Zhendong spent a lot of money and acquainted himself with a bunch of bad apples. He even had countless scandals with little internet stars and has been divorced four times! However, in comparison to Zhenjie, he was a very honest child. My second son, Zhenjie was just too ridiculous. The stuff he did can’t be considered human. Five years ago, I cut him off financially in anger. He concocted the kidnapping farce and even offered his own life in the end. It can only be karma...” Lu Qixing sighed, “After that incident, I pinned all my hopes on Zhendong, hoping that he would become my successor. Maybe I hoped too much, but our father-son relationship hasn’t been very good.”

“Who does he usually surround himself with?”

Lu Qixing had already prepared for this. He took out a small book, put on reading glasses and read out a few names ranked by who he found most suspicious. The first person he named was Sun Shenyou. “You can tell he isn’t a good guy just from his name.” This person was Lu Zhendong's secretary and life assistant[4].

1. There will be a spiritual and heavenly feeling if dragons are present, rather than a mountain that’s high. High mountains can be thought to be the equivalent of why Pyramids exist – closer to heaven.

2. Main character Dream of the Red Chambers. See previous notes for the summary of the full story and or you should be able to Google the name.

3. An expression that essentially means that he hopes that it’ll be as the other party has said.

4. Kind of like a nanny/maid.