Fan Jialuo answered each of their questions slowly, not displaying any boredom or confusion. He initially thought that he would have to stay in the Public Security Bureau office for a long time, playing attack and defense word games with these policemen, but unexpectedly, it only took an hour for the inquiry process to end.

"Mr. Fan, please fill in this form before you go and make sure not to leave Beijing without permission until you have been cleared of suspicion," said Zhuang Zhen as he handed over a form. He had long expected there to be no problems with Fan Jialuo's alibi on the surface. Otherwise, the man would not have directly delivered himself to the Public Security Bureau to cooperate with the investigation. No matter what the police asked, he only needed the word 'coincidence' to refute it all. In the absence of definite evidence, it was useless to detain him at the Public Security Bureau, since he would still need to be released 24 hours later.

"Alright." Fan Jialuo picked up the pen and filled in the contents.

The policewoman in charge of taking notes stretched her neck to look at the form. Her eyes widened, until they were almost bigger than round copper bells. She didn't expect that the legendarily ignorant and incompetent Fan Jialuo had the skill of moving clouds and flowing water, being able to write such good characters, which looked like flying dragons and dancing phoenixes easily, with his skill level being comparable to that of a student majoring in literature and art. Moreover, he filled the form entirely in traditional Chinese characters. Although she didn't know whether it was written correctly, it looked very good.

"Officer, is this alright?" Fan Jialuo asked as he handed over the completed form, now detailed his cell phone number and address, thereby allowing the police to contact him at any time.

Zhuang Zhen took the form filled with beautiful cursive writing with a surprised expression and nodded. "You can go."

"Can I trouble you to accompany me to the parking lot?" Fan Jialuo requested with a smile, then turned to the blushing policewoman before he asked in a very soft voice, "By the way, could you lend me an umbrella?"

Zhuang Zhen gave a light hum in affirmation, and the policewoman quickly replied, "I just happened to have bought an umbrella today. The express delivery also just arrived. It's rainproof and sunproof. Wait a minute, I'll go and get it for you."

A moment later, she returned with a beautiful umbrella in her hand. The handle of the umbrella still had some scraps of paper and fragments of plastic packaging on it. It seemed that it really was new, and that she had only just unpackaged it.

"Thank you. You've helped me a lot with this. In the future, I will buy a better one for you in return. This umbrella is very beautiful. I think your taste is very good." Fan Jialuo nodded politely, peeled away the remaining scraps of paper and plastic piece by piece with his pale white fingers, then discarded them in the trash can. Each and every move of his was filled with elegance and grace.

Facing such a man, the policewoman simply couldn't recall the various black material on him that still littered the Internet, and more so couldn't apply the word 'murderer' to him. In contrast, Zhuang Zhen remained unaffected by the other person's tranquil demeanor and graceful motions. He knocked on the door of the interrogation room and lightly urged, "Mr. Fan, I will take you out now."

"Yes, sorry for the trouble!" Fan Jialuo bowed slightly in thanks, smiling softly at the policewoman, and then slowly walked away.

The policewoman was enchanted by his charming smile. She could only stand still and watch as the two of them made their way down the stairs. Not long after they disappeared from sight, a young male police officer came out from the monitoring room next door and hit her on the shoulder. He said sourly, "Hey, come back to your senses! They've already gone!"

"What's wrong with me trying to catch a glimpse of him for a moment longer? Am I not allowed to cleanse my mind with beauty?" The policewoman rolled her eyes.

"What 'cleanse your mind'? Can't you already see it clearly? He's a standard playboy and rich kid, just like the Internet says. It's springtime and today's weather is obviously sunny. The temperature's not too high or too low, it's even very comfortable. There's no need for rain or sun protection at all, so what use does he have for an umbrella, to the extent that he needs to borrow one? Isn't it clear that he sees you're beautiful and wants to hook up with you? He played around with his words at a police station, so courageous! I'm definitely going to look deeper into his whereabouts last night and catch him when I have proof!" The male police officer spoke as if he was taking an oath.

The policewoman ignored his lengthy speech and instead walked to the window, stretched her neck to take a look below, and was then stabbed in the eyes by a torrent of bright flashes. She didn't know since when, but at some point in time, a large group of reporters and Gao Yize's fans had gathered outside the station. It was undoubtedly noisy outside but, due to sound insulation in the interrogation room, she hadn't noticed anything earlier.

"No wonder Fan Jialuo asked Leader to escort him to the parking lot." The policewoman murmured this sentence in a low voice, and before her voice fell, she saw Fan Jialuo and Zhuang Zhen appear from the front door on the first floor.

"Oh, be careful!" From her position, the policewoman had a wide and open field of view, which is how she immediately noticed several fans hiding in the greenery surrounding the gate, and saw that they were about to attack by throwing some rotten eggs. Instinctively, she called out a warning.

Zhuang Zhen was very alert and skillful. Almost instantly, upon sensing the incoming trajectory of a foreign object, his reflexive reaction was to dodge. Then, he realized that he was still standing beside Fan Jialuo, so quickly changed his actions to instead reach out to block the object. Within a split second, right at the instant Zhuang Zhen shifted his body to block, with a smooth motion, Fan Jialuo swiftly opened his umbrella and covered both himself and the tall police officer. With a few muffled noises, the rotten eggs hit the umbrella one by one and fell to the ground, having failed in achieving their intended purpose.

This entire process of deflecting the mass of rotten eggs at the right timing could be taken as a result of a seamless connection between the two sides-it was as if this was not a surprise attack, but instead a farce that had been rehearsed by both sides. Zhuang Zhen glanced at Fan Jialuo thoughtfully, especially taking note of the fact that this young man's reaction speed could even be higher than that of a specially trained soldier.

Seeing that their attack had failed, the provoked fans wanted to make trouble again, but they were quickly stopped by the other police officers. Not mentioning that Fan Jialuo was currently not a criminal, even if he was one, the police had the obligation to protect his personal safety.

Zhuang Zhen firmly protected the Fan Jialuo next to him and strode towards the parking lot with an arm around his shoulder. However, Fan Jialuo was not in a hurry. Instead, he raised his head and smiled at the policewoman standing by the window on the second floor, mouthing a silent 'thank you'.

The policewoman held her heated cheeks as she murmured, "It turns out that this was the reason he borrowed the umbrella for, ah!" But after a few seconds, she made another sound in surprise, "Ah, no! How did he know that someone would attack him with rotten eggs?"

The male police officer from the monitoring room had also observed the scene from above and upon hearing her comment, he sneered. "Isn't it a common thing in the entertainment circle, that the anti-fans will smash rotten eggs or even splash feces on the person they hate? He was just taking precautions."

The policewoman pondered on this for a moment and felt it was reasonable, so she no longer bothered with this line of questioning. But when she recalled Fan Jialuo's gentle and bright smile, she still blushed and felt her heart beat faster. People in the entertainment circle were really different from ordinary people. Their temperament and appearance value were too foul!

At the parking lot, Zhuang Zhen demonstrated that he really was able to fight-just his own person was enough to block the thousands of troops consisting of both reporters and black powder, and he only required his iron-arm grip to do so. With brisk motions, he opened the car door, stuffed the suspect in, closed the door, grasped the wrist of an anti-fan who had suddenly attacked, turned him around, restrained him on the ground using his knees to pressure the other's back, and handcuffed that person. This series of actions were like a demonstrative procedure, incredibly smooth and precise. He was strong enough to be able to cope with all sorts of unexpected situations and could deal with them even with his eyes closed.

Once in the safety of his car, Fan Jialuo stepped on the accelerator and left the Public Security Bureau quickly. As he drove away, he took a brief glance behind and couldn't help but eye the scene that had taken place with great interest. In his vision, Zhuang Zhen had already taken hold of the anti-fan who had suddenly launched an attack, and his actions seemed to have scared a lot of people away from him.

-

Back at the Bureau, Zhuang Zhen indicted the restrained anti-fan with charges of attacking a police officer, and upon hearing this, the rest of the fans stopped making a commotion. After dealing with the mess at the entrance and the inquiries of the reporters, he finally returned to the office and asked in a deep voice, "Has Fan Jialuo's alibi been checked?"

"Leader, this is the surveillance video we brought back from Patterson Club. I've checked it. Last night, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Fan Jialuo was really there, drinking." A police officer pointed to evidence displayed on the computer screen.

Zhuang Zhen nodded, not surprised by this. "Well, I'd guessed it would be like this. Continue to check his recent whereabouts, especially his bank account. Although his alibi is valid, it does not mean that he is no longer suspected. A man like him doesn't need to kill people with his own hands. In addition, send two more people to monitor him 24/7 to see if he makes contact with any suspicious people. With that sketch alone, he has become our key subject of investigation. I don't believe that there is such a strange coincidence in the world."

"Yes, Leader." The police officer nodded in agreement, and immediately began to investigate the flow of funds to and from Fan Jialuo's bank account.

At present, the evidence that the investigation team had was not much, because the top floor of the building where the incident had taken place had not been installed with monitoring equipment, and the security cameras in the elevator and stairwell showed that, on the day of the crime and even several days before that, no one had gone upstairs except for Gao Yize. In other words, no one knew what had happened to Gao Yize, and clues pointing to the identity of the murderer had not been found yet. The only thing certain was that Fan Jialuo was the biggest suspect, and likely the breakthrough point in this case.

Zhuang Zhen turned the computer screen around to check the monitoring video of the Patterson Club.

The policewoman, who had taken a written record of the interrogation, hesitantly said, "Leader, the Fan Family has frozen all of Fan Jialuo's accounts. Where could he have gotten the money to hire murderers? I think, maybe we should try thinking in another way. Let's not just look at Fan Jialuo alone. Maybe it's better to start by retracing the most recent activities of the deceased prior to his death?"

"What's frozen are only the accounts on the surface. He may have hidden accounts. But you are also right. We should start by investigating from multiple points of view, it'll be more efficient. You and Xiao Luo, go check Gao Yize's social relationships. We will hold a meeting later to sort out the case." Zhuang Zhen agreed on a plan of action with his subordinates, and then shifted his concentration back to the surveillance video.

The young man was sitting lazily at the edge of a bar table, with one hand on his forehead and the other hand swirling his glass. His expression was very relaxed. He was extremely quiet and patient. He sat for a few hours, during which he was accosted and invited to play multiple times, but he politely refused each offer. As soon as the clock struck nine, he immediately put down his glass and left-it was as if he had just spent a sum of money with no intention other than to make people feel dazed. When he came to the door, he suddenly looked up at the surveillance camera and showed a gorgeous smile.

Zhuang Zhen was stunned for a while before he pressed the pause key and stared at this smile for a long time. His intuition was very sharp, so he was almost certain that Fan Jialuo's action during that moment was not an accidental glance, but a deliberate one. He seemed to have passed through the camera, through the barrier of time and space, to look at the person who was watching the video now. In other words, he might have known that the police would come to check his alibi, so he had been prepared.

Zhuang Zhen's thick black eyebrows twitched fiercely as he re-watched Fan Jialuo's last smile repeatedly. He was now determined, especially after facing such provocation, that he would be the policeman who would find the evidence to convict him of his crime.

This was also the first time he had come across such an arrogant suspect. He calmly stood in front of the investigation whiteboard and circled Fan Jialuo's name repeatedly with a red pen. This person had been the first to know that Gao Yize would be killed, and he had already prepared an alibi-he was, without a doubt, the most suspicious person! This is definitely a □□ case!

When Fan Jialuo returned to his apartment, he first went to immerse himself in icy water again, before taking out his mobile phone and looking at the movements happening on the Internet. His expression was shallow, and never wavered. The news that he had appeared at the police station had been reported by the media. Currently, though there was no public opinion on the case, the netizens had already determined that he was the one who had murdered Gao Yize, and were clamoring for him to confess to the law. There were others who were trying to find his hiding place and preparing to lynch him.

Such hateful words and vicious curses seemed to make him into a laughingstock, which greatly amused Fan Jialuo. He laughed in a low voice, then opened his Weibo account and slowly poked out the next line with his fingertip-The second one.

...