Chapter 29 Serial Murder Case

"Here, on behalf of the company employees and all the beneficiary residents of Wing Lok Street, please allow me to express my sincere gratitude to Ms. Qin Shuzhen! She is also welcome to continue to learn from her mistakes. Oh no, she is welcome to contribute her strength again to the happy life of all the residents of Wing Lok Street!"

In the innermost part of a coffee shop in Central, a woman with exquisite makeup was holding a newspaper, reading and giggling: "This woman is really too mean! I can't imagine how angry Qin Shuzhen will be after reading this interview!"

The woman sitting opposite her heard the words, picked up the coffee and took a sip and said: "Wen Yue's mouth is really powerful." After that, she looked puzzled, "You don't dislike her now?"

Yes, the two people who met in the coffee shop were Feng Wenfang.

Outsiders think that two women who cheated on each other should be incompatible, even if they had worked together before and should have gone their separate ways quickly after getting the money and divorced.

But that's not the case.

When the scandal first came out, the two really hated each other, and even now, they still look down on certain flaws in each other's character.

But as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They both hate the Zheng family, and in their previous cooperation, they found that the other party was not without merit. After the scandal came out, the two were both expelled from the socialite circle, and now no one wants to play with them. With

all these reasons added up, they had to stick together for warmth, or rather, put aside their prejudices and become friends.

Now the relationship between the two can't be said to be very close, but they can always go out for coffee once every ten days or half a month, talk about the current situation, talk about future plans, and scold the Zheng family and see their family's jokes

. Qin Shuzhen splashed paint at Wenyue Company and was cheated of money, which was fine, but her apology was known to everyone, which was embarrassing. Such an important thing happened, of course they had to meet and laugh at the Zheng family.

In response to Chen Jiajun's question, Feng Wenfang thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, I hated Wen Yue when the incident first broke out. If it weren't for the fact that there were so many things going on at the time, I would have wanted to throw paint at her company."

Feng Wenfang put down the newspaper, supported her chin with one hand, held the spoon with the other hand, and stirred the coffee and said, "But later I felt that everything has a cause and an effect. I did something wrong, and one day I will have to bear the corresponding responsibility. The fact that the newspaper under Wen Yue's name broke the news just made this day come a little earlier, and it caught me off guard. . But it was also this suddenness that allowed me to quickly see the true colors of the two Zheng brothers..."

At this point, Feng Wenfang's face darkened, and she took a sip of coffee and smiled bitterly, "At the same time, I also saw clearly the relatives and friends who I thought were very reliable."

Feng Wenfang had heard from the second wife since she was a child that the three of them in the second room were one, sharing honor and disgrace, so after graduating from college, she began to go on blind dates. What she considered was never whether she liked the other person, but whether the other person's family background was good enough and whether they could help her brother.

So she gave up Zheng Yanhai and chose Zheng Yanze.

Although it seems now that the two brothers are equally irresponsible and neither of them can be relied on, during this time she occasionally wondered, if she had married Zheng Yanhai, would everything be different?

But is it true?

Thinking that Zheng Yanhai not only had an affair with her after marriage, but also often had affairs outside, Feng Wenfang couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Of course, none of that mattered. What mattered was that before she got into trouble, every time she went back to her parents' home, both her mother and her brother and sister-in-law were very affectionate to her. But when she got into trouble, her brother and sister-in-law changed their faces in an instant, and her mother often complained that she was confused.

Even after Zheng Yanze also broke out in the scandal, they were not angry for her, but also wanted her to take this opportunity to return to the Zheng family and live the rest of her life in humiliation.

This is the case with relatives, not to mention friends.

Although Feng Wenfang had some ideas of clinging to Wen Jiaqi in the early days of her acquaintance, she later gave her heart and regarded the other party as her best friend.

If it weren't for this, Feng Wenfang wouldn't have hated Wen Yue so much and clashed with her at the Lin family banquet when she learned from Wen Jiaqi that Wen Yue revealed Lin Yongkang's life experience in order to avenge her.

If they hadn't clashed, perhaps the subsequent events would not have happened, and she would still be the eldest lady of the Wen family.

After the incident, Feng Wenfang once called Wen Jiaqi, wanting her to help find Wen Rongsheng to see if she could deal with Wen Yue and solve her problems.

In fact, when making that call, Feng Wenfang was prepared for failure. If Wen Yue was so easy to deal with, Lin Yongkang's life experience would not be exposed.

What she actually hoped was that Wen Jiaqi, as a friend, could comfort her a few words, or scold Wen Yue a few words like she scolded Wen Yue after Lin Yongkang's life experience was exposed before.

But what she didn't expect was that there was nothing.

Wen Jiaqi said a few perfunctory words to her and then said that she was very busy at the moment and asked her to call less in the future. She felt very unwilling to hear that and said that it was because of her that she offended Wen Yue and ended up like this.

Who knew that Wen Jiaqi would say directly after hearing this: "First, I never asked you to vent my anger on Wen Yue for me; second, isn't it because you couldn't control yourself and cheated on someone else that you ended up like this? Wenfang, I'm different from you. Although I'm divorced, everyone knows that I was cheated, so I still have to get married in the future. Your reputation is like this now. If people know that I still have contact with you... We have been friends for so many years, please forgive me once more, okay?"

In short, after experiencing the double betrayal of family and friendship, Feng Wenfang has let go of many things, and the last bit of resentment towards Wen Yue in her heart has also dissipated.

Even the relatives and friends for whom she has been so sincere and sincere are like this, why should she expect Wen Yue, who she has offended so badly, to cover up her scandal for her after knowing it.

"It's good that you can look at it more positively." Chen Jiajun put down the cup, was silent for a moment, and said, "I have applied to a foreign school. If all goes well, I may study abroad."

"You want to go abroad?"

"Yeah," Chen Jiajun said with a wry smile, "After such a scandal, people will look at me more wherever I go, and I will always be disliked at home. I don't want to live this kind of life anymore. Besides, I majored in art in college. I didn't think it was a big deal to have the support of the Zheng family before. Now I'm divorced and my parents' family is unreliable. If I don't learn more now, I'm afraid that I will have a miserable old age after squandering the property I get."

Feng Wenfang thoughtfully: "It's good that you have ideas."

Chen Jiajun nodded, and after thinking about it, she couldn't help but persuade him, "You too, think more about the future."

"I'll think about it carefully."

...

Wen Yue has been a little busy these days.

Although the paint-throwing incident was successfully resolved and she secured compensation for herself and her neighbors, she was not confident that the newspaper employees could continue to work at No. 9 Wing Lee Street.

After all, as long as she continued to expose gossip, she would continue to offend people. This time, it was Qin Shuzhen who asked someone to throw paint, and no one knew whether the offended person would do something more extreme next time.

Compared with those high-end office buildings in Sheung Wan and Central, the security of No. 9 Wing Lee Street is too poor.

Or there is no security at all. The houses there are all private residences, with few storefronts, and basically all ordinary residents. The company is Dongjiang Newspaper.

Dongjiang Newspaper used to be a small company on the verge of bankruptcy. It couldn't even dig up the news, let alone offend people. There was no chance at all, so Dongjiang Newspaper could stay there safely for a few years.

But after Wen Yue came here, all the news was big news, and the protagonists were all rich people. Rich people will definitely find someone to take action when they are angry. Those people can't find Wen Yue, so they have to go to Dongjiang Newspaper.

For the safety of the company's employees, Wen Yue felt that they could no longer let them continue to work on Wing Lee Street.

So after receiving the compensation, Wen Yue contacted Zhuang Hui and asked him to find a commercial building with better security, and preferably a bigger office. The current one is too small. It looked okay before, but she felt it was cramped every time she went there when more people came.

In fact, even if there was no paint incident, she did not plan to let the company employees work on Wing Lee Street for long. Now she just moved up the moving time.

However, it was not Zhuang Hui but Yi Huai who helped Wen Yue find a suitable office location in the end.

The new office is not somewhere else, but downstairs of Yi Huai's company headquarters in Central.

Yi Huai has invested in many industries, but the largest scale is real estate and electrical appliances.

Although because he made his fortune relatively late, the Hong Kong market had been almost divided up by wealthy families at that time, but he still fought his way out.

Moreover, because he came to Hong Kong with his family after he could remember, he had deep feelings for the mainland. As soon as he had some savings, he started to invest in the mainland. Therefore, after the mainland economy developed, his wealth also increased several times.

However, Yi Huai knew very well that he could get so many preferential treatments in the mainland, largely because of his identity as a Hong Kong businessman. Therefore, no matter how well the mainland developed, he did not give up his base camp and had no idea of ​​moving the headquarters to the mainland.

Even four years ago, he spent a huge amount of money to buy a commercial building in Central.

That commercial building was built in the early 1980s and is 36 stories high. There are not many people in Yisheng’s headquarters, occupying the middle four floors, and the upper and lower floors are rented out.

It happened that a company downstairs went bankrupt and gave up the lease. After learning that Wen Yue wanted to buy a new office for the newspaper company, he proposed to rent the downstairs to her.

Wen Yue was a little moved after hearing this.

Although she had never been to the Yisheng headquarters, as a neighbor for such a long time, she had a certain understanding of Yi Huai, who was a person who paid great attention to safety. The commercial building was his own property, so the security must be good.

Moreover, he was the male protagonist, and the environment of the commercial building that he chose to buy as the headquarters must be good.

The only problem might be the rent. Although the sales volume of "Dongjiang Entertainment News" showed a steady upward trend, the company's staff has been increasing, and the corresponding expenses are also increasing. The current income and expenditure can only be said to be slightly surplus.

However, the rent of a 300-square-meter office in Central is not cheap. With this expenditure, the financial pressure on the newspaper company will be a bit great.

But Wen Yue thought again, there is motivation only when there is pressure!

Anyway, she has money. Even if she can't balance her income and expenditure in the short term, the extra rent will not drag her into bankruptcy. The most important thing is safety.

However, when she asked Yi Huai, she was surprised by the low rent. She couldn't help asking, "Are you renting it out at a loss for my sake?"

Yi Huai has not been so busy recently. He goes home much earlier in the evening and occasionally goes home for lunch. The two have more opportunities to meet, and naturally have more conversations. Their relationship is much more harmonious than more than a month ago.

Look, Yi Huai even joked. He said, "If I give you a favor, I can rent it out for free."

"Then why is the rent so cheap?" Wen Yue asked puzzledly.

Yi Huai explained, "Hong Kong people are superstitious. I plan to rent this office to your company. The previous owner gave up the lease because of bankruptcy, so many people think it's a bad omen and are unwilling to rent it. Even if they are willing to rent it, they will take the opportunity to bargain. Instead of renting it to a stranger at a low price, I think it's better to rent the office to your company at a low price. Maybe your company will grow in size, and the rent of my entire building will increase in the future."

This reason... is reasonable.

Wen Yue thought and said, "Then let's sign a six-month contract first?" According to the current situation, the newspaper company's profits should be much higher in six months, and it should be able to afford the high rent of the Central commercial building.

"Okay."

Wen Yue went to Yisheng to see the vacant office in person. After that, she and Yi Huai signed the contract smoothly. She also contacted Huang Zhihao to arrange the relocation.

Because the company owed two months' rent when it moved out, the boss was unable to pay, so he had to give the office desks, chairs and cabinets to Yisheng. Wen Yue thought the furniture was quite new after seeing it, so she accepted it at a relatively low price.

Without having to customize the furniture, the moving work was naturally carried out very quickly. On Friday morning, the new issue of the newspaper was just released, and Dongjiang Newspapers moved collectively in the afternoon.

After moving to the new office, the company's employees were very excited.

Especially those who were recruited by Huang Zhihao later. They used to work for large companies, and their offices were either in commercial buildings or in a single building, unlike Dongjiang Newspapers, which was located in a residential area.

Although they had made preparations before leaving, and were very happy after joining Dongjiang Newspaper, they still couldn't help feeling a sense of gap from the commercial building to the residential building.

Now that the company has moved to Yisheng Building in Central, these people don't even feel this gap. They chatted and laughed during the move, and didn't feel tired after running back and forth several times.

Because the new office is quite large and the company doesn't have so many employees, Wen Yue also got herself an office so that she could come and sit every now and then.

The day after the move, Wen Yue didn't go to the editor-in-chief's office when she came to the company again, but called Huang Zhihao over.

Huang Zhihao was called over mainly for two reasons. First, she planned to publish a daily newspaper on the existing basis as a supplement to the "Dongjiang Entertainment News".

Of course, the supplement is just Wen Yue's personal opinion. Theoretically, the two magazines are independent, but in Wen Yue's consideration, the daily newspaper is indeed published as a supplement to the weekly newspaper.

Based on previous experience, Wen Yue found that every time a new melon was exposed, the melon owner and related personnel would more or less take action, such as Wen Jiaqi's interview in the real and fake young master melon, and the couple's breakup in the transfer couple melon.

Although their troubles may not be as big as the melon just exposed, their actions can indeed bring huge traffic to the newspaper.

So every time Wen Yue exposed the melon, Hong Kong newspapers would usher in a small peak in sales.

At this time, the limitations of the weekly newspaper were very large, because the issuance cycle was long, and every time the new issue of "Dongjiang Entertainment News" was released, the discussion craze had long passed.

If Wen Yue didn't have the melon in her hand, Dongjiang Newspapers would not be able to catch up with the hot melon.

Before, Wen Yue only regarded Dongjiang Newspapers as a platform to break the melon and earn the melon value, so she naturally didn't care about this. But as the company grew larger and larger and the number of employees increased, Wen Yue felt that she should consider the future development of the company more.

Then she thought, since other media in Hong Kong can follow her to drink soup, why should she add a daily newspaper and participate in it to drink soup?

So, there was the conversation between Wen Yue and Huang Zhihao today.

As the actual manager of the company, Huang Zhihao is of course happy to add a newspaper, which is also proof that the company is getting better and better. He just feels that the positioning of the two newspapers overlaps too much, and the advantage of the daily newspaper is obviously greater than that of the weekly newspaper. He is not sure what Wen Yue's positioning of the two newspapers is.

In other words, he wanted to know which newspaper would give priority to publishing big news like the real or fake young master.

Wen Yue thought that gossip of this level as the true and false young master is not available every day, and the weekly newspaper already has a stable readership, so she said: "The big news I get here will be published in the weekly newspaper first, and the daily newspaper will be distributed as a supplementary newspaper. For example, the news about the Zheng brothers' fight and divorce can be published in the daily newspaper, so that traffic can be harvested from both ends."

"I understand." Huang Zhihao nodded and asked, "Then what is the name of the daily newspaper?"

Wen Yue thought for a while and said, "Dongjiang Entertainment Daily."

"Okay, I will make preparations for the distribution of the new newspaper as soon as possible."

After discussing this matter, Wen Yue asked Huang Zhihao to list the reporters in the company who are good at writing. If they are willing, she will divide the news writing work among several people later.

Huang Zhihao became nervous when he heard it: "Ms. Wen, is there anything wrong with the article I wrote before?"

"The article you wrote is very good, but you also saw that the news I received can easily offend people. Qin Shuzhen is a coward, and her revenge is just to have people come to her house and throw paint, but I don’t know who will be offended by the news in the future, and I don’t know how the offended people will retaliate. I have bodyguards around me and I am not afraid of ordinary means, but you are different. If your identity is exposed, you may become the first person to be retaliated."

Finding more people to write articles is equivalent to finding more people to share the risk. At the same time, it is also to tell those people that it is useless to target ordinary employees in the newspaper industry. The source of news is in her hands. As long as she is there, she can find the writers and expose their scandals.

If it were before, Wen Yue might not have dared to take all the risks on herself, but now she has bodyguards by her side and a plug-in system in her hand, so she doesn't have to worry about being shot, so she can naturally make bolder choices.

This is also the main reason why she acted so strongly and high-profile in the paint incident. If she wants to attract all the firepower, she has to stand at the highest point.

Wen Yue explained, "That's why I asked you to write anonymously when the article you wrote was published."

After understanding what Wen Yue meant, Huang Zhihao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "There are indeed a few people in the newspaper industry who write well, but I'm not sure whether they are willing to write anonymous articles, so I have to ask first."

"Okay, just give me the list after I ask."

As the company expanded, there were many more writers. Among the first few people Huang Zhihao recruited, there were two with good writing skills. Later, there were also a few good people recruited, and the new employee Xu Kaiwen.

Well, after attending the brief press conference on the day when Dongjiang Newspaper was splashed with paint, Xu Kaiwen applied for resignation from Entertainment Daily. He was not favored by the leaders in the company, and his resignation was approved very quickly. He started working here before Dongjiang Newspaper moved.

After hearing this, these people did not hesitate and agreed directly.

Huang Zhihao was not surprised by this. After all, it is really easy to offend people in the journalist industry. People who are timid and fearful have basically no chance to succeed in this industry. The fact that

these people were poached by him shows that they are not mediocre people. They have more or less published hot news and offended rich people and celebrities. They

don’t have to go out in the wind and sun, and they can get bonuses for helping to write articles. Of course, they are happy in their hearts.

Moreover, based on previous experience, what Wen Yue brought out were not small news. As a media person, who doesn't want to have the opportunity to participate in the disclosure of major news? Even if the finished manuscript can only be signed anonymously.

Anonymity itself is a kind of protection for their personal safety, and they understand it.

After settling the company's affairs, Wen Yue prepared to move on to the next step, and hang out in places where rich young masters and daughters gather more often to see if she can meet the melon owner.

But before Wen Yue could act, she received news that these young masters and daughters didn't get together very often.

The reason is certainly not that these people suddenly changed their temperament, but that Hong Kong has been uneasy recently. Someone found a female corpse in Wan Chai Park.

And this female corpse is not the first death found recently.

Wen Yue did not go out that day. She sat in the living room downstairs and watched TV. After switching channels for only two times, she saw a channel reporting the latest events: "It is reported that this is the third murder case discovered in the past month, and the victims of these three murders are all women... But there is no more evidence to show that there is any connection between the three murders..."

Although Wen Yue attaches great importance to her own safety and never goes out alone after having a bodyguard, she still feels worried when she sees this kind of news. She can't help asking the system: [System, can you find out who the murderer is?]

The system replied: [Dear, I can only see the past and future of the other party when I see him in person, so unless the murderer himself is standing in front of you, I don’t know who the murderer is. 】

This is something Wen Yue has known for a long time, and she was not surprised to learn the result. But she couldn't help but think, she couldn't take the initiative to meet the murderer, so what about meeting the deceased? Could she get any clues from it?

The reason why Wen Yue was thinking about this was not because she was greedy for the popularity brought by the four murders in succession, and wanted to gain the melon value of exposing the murderer, but simply because she couldn't bear it.

Among the three deceased people who have appeared so far, there are elderly people with children and grandchildren, and middle-aged women with harmonious families... The latest deceased was 32 years old this year, a white-collar worker in a company. She has a kind personality and never

makes enemies with others. Although the photos released by the media are blurred, it can be seen that she is a sunny and cheerful girl. As a flesh-and-blood person, it is really difficult for Wen Yue to remain indifferent when seeing the photos of the victims released by the media.

But the system's answer was disappointing: "Unless the host can see the living dead."

Wen Yue: "..." This was as good as saying nothing.

Let's not talk about whether these cases were committed by the same person, and whether the murderer would continue to commit crimes. Let's just say that there are six million people in Hong Kong. How can she accurately see the next dead person?

It's impossible!

But Wen Yue didn't expect that some things are really so coincidental. She saw the next "dead person" a few days later.

...

The story of Wen Yue meeting the next "dead person" started with a birthday banquet invitation.

The host of the birthday banquet was Zhou Shirong, the owner of a chain of restaurants in Hong Kong. However, his restaurant was not large, and according to the current class division in Hong Kong, he and Yi Huai were not from the same class at all.

Therefore, according to common sense, even if they knew each other, Zhou Shirong was going to celebrate his 60th birthday, and Yi Huai's current status did not require him to attend in person. He could just ask someone to send a gift.

But Zhou Shirong's identity was very special, and he was grateful to Yi Huai for his help.

Speaking of this origin, we have to mention the life experience of the Yi Huai brothers.

In the original novel, Yi Huai's ancestral home is Ningcheng, Zhejiang Province, which corresponds to Ningbo, Zhejiang in reality. During the Republic of China, the family moved to Shanghai, which is Shanghai in reality.

The Yi family was originally a wealthy family in Ningcheng. The great-grandfather Yi Huai

, who was the head of the family at that time, had a talent for business. After the family moved to Shanghai, the wealth of the Yi family increased several times in his hands. Yi Huai's great-grandfather was a patriotic hero. At that time, he was engaged in business while supporting the underground party, and occasionally helped to pass on intelligence to cover up his whereabouts. However, although he was careful, his identity was still known. On the eve of his arrest, he received news and sent several children away from Shanghai at night.

Yi Huai's grandfather was sent back to Zhejiang Province, but because he was afraid of exposing his identity, he did not return to Ningcheng, but went to the countryside around Hangzhou to live an anonymous life.

Although he was a refugee, Yi Huai's grandfather did not have a hard life at all. He was allocated a lot of money, which was enough to ensure a stable life for several generations as long as he did not spend it recklessly.

But Yi Huai's grandfather was useless and liked to gamble, so he lost all his family property in a few years. But this was not a bad thing. If the family had not been ruined, the Yi family would not have been classified as poor farmers after liberation.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country promoted the work of eliminating illiteracy, and primary schools began to be built in various places. Therefore, Yi's father, who had attended a Western-style school for several years, had the opportunity to go to school again.

He was a man with a talent for studying and he was very hardworking. He was in the fourth grade when he first entered school, but he skipped a grade after half a year. He finished junior high school in one year, which was even more exaggerated. He finished junior high school in three years, and high school in two years. Then he was successfully admitted to university.

After graduating from university, Yi's father was assigned to work in a pharmaceutical factory in Shanghai, where he met Yi Huai's mother.

After the Great Movement began, many highly educated people were labeled, but Yi's father had a good background and did technical work, so he was not affected in the early stage and his life was relatively stable.

But such a stable life did not last long. In the early 1970s, Yi's father was reported by a friend, saying that he had relatives overseas.

In that era, having overseas connections was very serious, so not long after, Yi's father was classified and demoted. Yi Huai's mother was unwilling to divorce, so she took her brothers and followed her husband to Guangdong Province.

Although the Yi family fell into poverty early, Yi's father had never suffered any hardship in his life, so he couldn't stand it soon after being sent down.

It happened that the place where he was sent down was across the sea from Hong Kong. There was a myth that Hong Kong was full of gold, and there were endless cases of escaping to Hong Kong.

Yi's father heard a lot and became interested. He knew that an aunt had gone to Hong Kong with her husband's family a long time ago.

At that time, there were three routes for Guangdong Province to sneak into Hong Kong. The western route was the closest, with only a few kilometers of water, and you could swim across, but there were also the most patrolling militia here, and it was easy to be caught.

The central route was a land route, and you didn't need to be able to swim, but you had to climb over the barbed wire, and there were many sentry posts and police dogs on this route, so it was also easy to be discovered.

The defense on the eastern front was relatively loose, but it was not easy to get to the Xiangjiang River from this route. The nearest seashore was more than ten kilometers away from the Xiangjiang River, and one had to take a boat, so people usually went there in homemade rubber boats. However, even with a rubber boat, it was not easy to get to the Xiangjiang River safely, because the road was very windy and rough, and if things went wrong, the boat might capsize and people might die.

The Yi family couple had children with them, so they naturally couldn't swim, and the land was not easy to walk on, so they chose to take a boat. Because they were worried about encountering strong winds and waves or patrol militia on the road, they prepared for a long time. They started planning at the beginning of 1974, but did not officially take action until the end of the year.

They were lucky. They didn't encounter patrol militia that day, and the wind and waves were calm in the first half of the night, but their good luck didn't last until the Xiangjiang River. At dawn, the waves came.

After the big wave, Yi Huai's mother was swept away by the waves and disappeared without a trace, while his brothers were dragged ashore by their father.

Because of the resistance policy, they successfully obtained their ID cards after arriving in Hong Kong.

Originally, Yi's father planned to go directly to his aunt whom he had not seen for many years after settling down in Hong Kong, but after asking around for a long time, he learned that their family had already moved to the United States.

Yi's father had no choice but to take Yi Huai and his brothers to live in a shanty town with cheap rent.

When he first settled down in Hong Kong, Yi's father thought that with his college degree, he would definitely be able to make a name for himself even without the help of relatives. But the reality was very bleak. At that time, Hong Kong did not have a high recognition of mainland academic qualifications, and his Cantonese was not very good, so he encountered obstacles in finding a job. All he could find was either a waiter or a delivery man.

This made Yi's father feel very frustrated.

Fortunately, he had good learning ability, and after six months of hard work, he finally had a turning point.

At that time, Yi Huai and his brother thought that life would get better, but they didn't expect that in less than half a year, Yi's father met a new girlfriend. Because the other party had a wealthy family background, was young and unmarried, and was unwilling to raise other people's children, he left home without hesitation.

In the first year, Yi's father would go back to see them from time to time. In the second year, he began to only pay money but not show up. In the third year, he had no money and his new wife was pregnant, and he was preparing to immigrate abroad.

Yi Huai was only fourteen years old at the time. Although he was not short, no formal store would hire him. The informal stores that wanted him would lower his salary very low, which was not enough for him and his brother to live.

With nowhere else to go, he walked into an ice cream parlor and asked if they were hiring.

The ice cream parlor was well-staffed and not short of people, but the boss decided to hire him after learning about his situation. Not only did he pay the normal salary, but he was also willing to set aside a small room in the warehouse for him and his brother to live in.

Later, he learned that he had good grades when he was studying, and the ice cream parlor owner even sorted out his son's old textbooks for him so that he could continue studying after work.

At the age of sixteen, Yi Huai self-taught high school courses, and while switching to sales, he also managed to get an auditing certificate for Hong Kong University and began to go in and out of the university campus to audit courses that he was interested in. At the age of

twenty, Yi Huai saved a sum of money to enter the stock market, and happened to encounter a stock market boom, earning his first pot of gold.

Although Yi Huai's success today is not entirely due to the help of the ice house owner, the help he gave at that time did change Yi Huai's fate to a great extent.

The owner of that ice house was Zhou Shirong.

Yi Huai looked cold, but he was actually very kind. After he became rich, he did not forget to help the Zhou family. He invested money to help Zhou Shirong expand the ice house into a restaurant. The company's employee dinners and customer meetings were basically held in Zhou Ji Restaurant.

Zhou Shirong is a real businessman, and with his relationship with Yi Huai, his business has been going smoothly in the past few years. He now has five restaurants of similar size under his name, forming a chain.

Every year when Zhou Shirong celebrates his birthday, whether it is a big party or a family dinner, Yi Huai will attend. This time it is his 60th birthday, so he will naturally not be absent.

Not only that, he also specially called Yi Dong, who was managing a company in the mainland, back in advance.

Yi Dong and Yi Huai look very similar and are about the same height. If it weren't for the fact that they are a few years apart, people who meet them for the first time might think they are twins.

But the two have completely different personalities. Yi Huai may be more stable and serious because he is the eldest brother and has to support his family at the age of a teenager.

Although Yi Dong had experienced a lot, he was always protected by someone, and his personality seemed much more cheerful. When he saw Wen Yue at home, he took the initiative to greet her, shook hands with her warmly, and said with a smile: "I have heard of you for a long time! Hello, sister-in-law!"

These two short sentences composed of four characters sound fine when taken out separately, but they sound strange when combined together.

Combined with the fact that the original body and Yi Huai had been separated after marriage, the number of times she had seen her husband in three years could be counted on two hands, not to mention Yi Dong, the brother-in-law who was a layer away from her.

Wen Yue suspected that the smiling person in front of her was mocking her.

Obviously, she was not the only one who felt this way. After hearing this, Yi Huai glanced at his brother sternly and said, "Talk nicely."

"Aren't I just talking nicely?" Yi Dong asked back, and explained to Wen Yue with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you don't know that although I am not in Hong Kong, I have always been paying attention to what is happening in this land. I have heard a lot about you sacrificing your relatives for the sake of justice. Alas, it's a pity that my brother is so cruel. Not only did he pat his butt and go back to Hong Kong, he also asked me to stay in the mainland and not be able to observe these things up close."

He glanced at Yi Huai as he spoke, but the latter ignored him at all. He said "Let's eat" and walked past him to the restaurant.

Yi Dong couldn't help but sigh, and said to Wen Yue pitifully, "Look, sister-in-law, my life is so miserable."

But Wen Yue showed no sympathy for him at all. She even covered her eyes and said, "Don't make such an expression with a face that looks so much like your elder brother. It's creepy."

After that, she ignored Yi Dong who was stunned, and hurried to the restaurant.

After a long while, Yi Dong closed his mouth, tilted his head slightly, and said in a faint voice: "It seems that during this period, the eldest brother and the eldest sister-in-law have been getting along well." The

housekeeper Liu standing next to him understood and said: "Indeed, they are."

"Oh? So they live together?"

Housekeeper Liu hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "Not yet."

"Tsk."

...

The dining table of the Yi family is a long table. In a family with a large population, such as the Wen family, the male owner Wen Rongsheng always sits at the top, and then the concubine and children sit on both sides of him.

But before, the Yi family only had Wen Yue and Yi Huai for dinner, and the latter was not such a formal person, so the two always sat opposite each other at the long table.

Although Yi Dong was there today, the housekeeper still followed their previous habit when arranging people to set the tableware, but there were two sets of tableware on one side and only one set on the other side.

Yi Huai naturally sat on the side with two sets of tableware, while Wen Yue sat opposite out of habit.

Generally speaking, Yi Dong should sit next to Yi Huai after entering the restaurant, but he never follows the beaten path. He sat down below Wen Yue without hesitation, then stretched out his hand to pull the empty set of tableware in front of him, and asked with a smile: "Sister-in-law, you don't mind if I sit next to you?"

After he asked this, what else could Wen Yue say: "Whatever."

"I knew that sister-in-law is a straightforward person." Yi Dong said with a smile, stretched out his hand to pick up a sweet and sour pork ribs, took a bite and said, "Well, it's still delicious with the familiar taste." He also asked Wen Yue if she had any unusual eating habits after moving in.

Wen Yue replied, "Very good."

"That's good, big brother is good at business, but in terms of interpersonal relationships, um," Yi Dong shook his head in disdain, "especially getting along with women, oh, he has never been with women. Once when they went out for dinner, a girl at the next table asked for his home phone number. Sister-in-law, do you know what he told her?"

Wen Yue glanced at Yi Huai who was eating with frowns on his face, and thought of the classic plot in the romance novels she had read in her previous life, and guessed, "He told people that he didn't have a phone number?"

"Sister-in-law, you are amazing!" Yi Dong said in amazement, "You can even guess this, it seems that you know big brother very well!"

Wen Yue: "...That's not the case."

"Sister-in-law, you don't have to be humble. I understand everything." Yi Dong said with a smile, "In short, my brother has spent all his energy on work in the first half of his life. He is not good at other aspects because he lacks experience. He also has a stern face all day long. He looks scary, but he is actually very gentle. There is a saying that goes

, "cold on the outside and warm on the inside?" Wen Yue asked,

"Yes, that's the saying. My brother is that kind of person. So, if you feel uncomfortable at home, don't be embarrassed. Just tell him directly and he will definitely solve it for you. Don't be afraid when you see him with a stern face. He is a tiger outside, but a paper tiger at home..."

Yi Huai couldn't listen any more, put down his chopsticks and asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

The person who just said that his brother was a paper tiger suddenly became honest and said with a dry smile, "I just came back and chatted with my sister-in-law to get closer."

"It seems that you are not hungry." Yi Huai has his own way of understanding, and said, "Go to the study and wait for me." Yi Dong

: "Brother..."

"One, two..."

Before Yi Huai shouted "three", Yi Dong sighed and said to Wen Yue: "Sister-in-law, let's talk next time!" After that, he got up and left the restaurant.

After Yi Dong left, Yi Huai hesitated for a moment and said, "A Dong is not a good person. Don't listen to his nonsense."

"Did he say that? I think he is right," Wen Yue looked directly into Yi Huai's eyes and said, "I also think you are cold on the outside but warm on the inside."

Yi Huai was stunned: "Really?"

"Of course," Wen Yue gave an example, "I exposed the secrets of those wealthy families. My dad always told me to be careful not to offend people, but you have always supported me and are not afraid that I will offend people and affect you. I think you are much better than my dad."

Yi Huai: "..." Although it is compared with her dad, it is at least a compliment?

...

After dinner, Yi Huai went to the study.

Yi Dong waited in there for a long time because he felt bored. When Yi Huai walked in, he was sitting cross-legged in front of the vase and plucking the leaves of one of the flowers.

Yi Huai couldn't help but frown when he saw this, and walked over to ask, "Are you urinating?"

"I'm bored." Yi Dong said, and quickly stood up and walked to Yi Huai, and asked with a smile, "How was your chat with the eldest sister-in-law?"

"No chat."

"No chat? Impossible!" Yi Dong looked unconvinced, "I have paved so much for you and made room for you, and you haven't said a word to your wife for such a long time?"

Hearing the word "wife", Yi Huai glanced at Yi Dong, sat down at the desk and said, "He said I'm better than her dad."

"This..." Although it is a compliment, isn't it inappropriate to compare your husband with your father?

Yi Dong was thinking about it, and heard Yi Huai say, "Uncle Zhou is having his birthday tomorrow, you and I will go together."

"I know." Yi Dong replied, thinking, didn't he come back just for this matter?

Yi Huai continued, "After the birthday banquet, I will mention the matter between you and Xiaobing to Uncle Zhou."

Yi Dong's face changed, but he did not speak in a hurry. Instead, he slowly leaned back in his chair and asked with a cynical smile, "Brother, what are you talking about? What can happen between Xiaobing and me?"

"I plan to let you and Xiaobing get engaged first,

and then you will get married when she graduates from college." "Although Xiaobing and I know each other, I have always regarded her as a sister and have no other feelings for her," Yi Dong said with a smile, "It's not appropriate to put us together, right?"

Yi Huai said, "Relationships can be cultivated slowly."

"But as far as I know, brother, you and sister-in-law haven't slept together yet?"

Yi Huai frowned, "I'm talking about you and Xiaobing, what does this have to do with it?"

"Words are not enough. Big brother, if you say that feelings can be cultivated, you should at least provide actual examples. Big brother, you and big sister-in-law had no emotional foundation before marriage, which happens to be a living example. So I thought there is no need to look for other people. It's up to you to decide whether arranged marriage is good or not."

Yi Dong shook his head and sighed, "The result makes me, as a younger brother, very disappointed!"

Yi Huai: "..."

Seeing Yi Huai was choked, Yi Dong continued: "So I decided to follow your example. When you live with big sister-in-law, I will agree to cultivate feelings with Xiaobing."

Yi Dong had planned it out. If his brother was stimulated by his words and planned to catch up, he would definitely be busy after success. He had to balance work and life. In the short term, he probably would not have the time or the energy to worry about his major life events.

Failure is even easier. He can just say "You can't develop feelings with your sister-in-law, how can you be sure that Xiaobing and I can develop feelings", and block the person back. From then on, he can play around in the world and let him do whatever he wants.

...

The next day, Wen Yue also went to the birthday banquet.

In the past three years, the original body had not been to birthday banquets with Yi Huai. Not only birthday banquets, but also other occasions, the two had never attended together. Even Wen Rongsheng's birthday celebration was attended separately.

At that time, the discord between the two was known to everyone in Hong Kong.

So after the news of Wen Yue living in the Yi family spread, the paparazzi squatting outside never stopped, and the two would be photographed every time they went out. As long as she didn't reveal the gossip before and after that day, her going out with Yi Huai would easily become the front-page headlines of other newspapers.

Every time she saw the relevant news, Wen Yue was always unhappy.

It's not that she's unhappy about being photographed, but she feels pained, because these are all traffic that can be converted into melon-eating value!

For this reason, she also considered whether she should ask the system for a photo of her and Yi Huai before each trip, and then arrange for reporters from her own newspaper to interview them, tell everyone what they are going to do, and try to hold both the melon-eating value and the traffic in her hands.

But the system said that the host cannot bring others to eat his own melons, and emphasized that this is an iron rule and it cannot be changed. Wen Yue had no choice but to give up the crooked way with pain.

Alas.

Wen Yue was sighing in her heart, and she heard the bodyguard sitting in the front row remind her: "Boss, someone is taking pictures, it should be a reporter."

"Don't worry about it."

Well, because they have been photographed so many times, both the bodyguard and Yi Huai are already familiar with the process. They completed the relevant communication in two sentences, and the car moved forward normally.

The Peak not only has luxury houses, but also offers sightseeing. Today is Sunday, and there are many people going up and down the mountain, so the cars are not driving very fast.

Needless to say, Hong Kong is famous for its traffic jams, especially in Hong Kong Island where there are many rich people. Even in the 1990s, there is still a lot of traffic on the road during peak hours.

They set out at 4:30, and it was almost 6 o'clock when they arrived at Zhou Ji Restaurant. All the guests had already arrived.

However, Zhou Shirong, who came out to greet them personally, did not look unhappy at all. When he saw Yi Huai, he gave him a hug, and patted Yi Dong on the shoulder, saying that he looked stronger than he was six months ago.

Finally, he set his gaze on Wen Yue and asked hesitantly, "Is this Miss Wen?"

Wen Yue stepped forward and shook hands with Zhou Shirong, and said with a smile, "Uncle Rong, you can just call me A Yue."

"Hey!" Zhou Shirong responded with his mouth, but his eyes looked at Yi Huai. Seeing him nod gently, he said excitedly, "Okay, okay, you two be well, and I will be completely relieved in the future."

As they were talking, the middle-aged man standing next to Zhou Shirong said, "The banquet is about to start, why don't we go in and talk?"

"Okay, let's go in and talk." Zhou Shirong came to his senses and hurriedly invited Yi Huai and others in.

The restaurant where the birthday banquet was held was the first restaurant opened by Zhou Shirong after the expansion. Compared with the restaurants opened later, this one was not large in scale, but because it was located in the prosperous Causeway Bay, Zhou Shirong always valued the performance of this restaurant and set up the headquarters here.

In order to hold the birthday banquet, the restaurant was not open to welcome guests tonight. The people sitting in the lobby were all Zhou's relatives and friends, as well as the restaurant's partners and old employees.

Everyone was chatting at first, but as Zhou Shirong led Yi Huai and others in, everyone's eyes were focused on the door. Among the guests sitting at the tables near the door, the smart ones stood up directly, and did not approach to offend others, but just greeted warmly: "Yi Sheng, you are here!"

With this person's example, others followed suit, so people greeted them all the way to the main table.

Yi Huai and his three friends were distinguished guests, so they naturally sat at the main table. Zhou Shirong and his wife and his two sons and daughters-in-law also sat at the main table. In the end, there was still one seat left.

Zhou Shirong's wife saw them and asked: "Where did Xiaobing go?"

"She went to the bathroom and should be back soon." Zhou Shirong's eldest daughter-in-law said, and then specifically asked Yi Dong, "Adong, you and Xiaobing haven't seen each other for a long time, right?"

"Two years." Yi Dong said.

"That's really a long time ago. I still remember when we opened the ice cream parlor, you and Ah Huai lived behind it. At night, he worked outside and you helped Xiao Bing with her homework in the kitchen," Zhou Shirong's eldest daughter-in-law said with emotion. "In the blink of an eye, you brothers have become big bosses, and Xiao Bing has grown up."

Recalling the past, Yi Dong couldn't help but sigh, "Time really flies."

"But friendship is forever. We will always remember the help you brothers have given to our family. Xiaobing also always remembers you as her big brother," said Zhou Shirong's eldest daughter-in-law. "Knowing that you were coming today, Xiaobing changed several sets of clothes at home before leaving."

Wen Yue did not pay special attention to the conversation between Yi Huai and his brothers, nor did she recognize all the people in the Zhou family, so the information she received was incomplete. However, she was smart, and when she heard this, she suddenly asked in her mind: [Is this Xiaobing the daughter of Zhou's eldest son? Are they trying to match her up with Yi Dong? ]

[No, Zhou Xiaobing is Zhou Shirong's youngest daughter,] the system replied, [The Zhou family does want to match her up with Yi Dong, and Yi Huai also has this idea. If only the Zhou

family had this idea, the possibility of success would be low, but Yi Huai also had it... Wen Yue felt that this was almost certain, so she asked the system in her mind.

The system replied: [No, Yi Dong and Zhou Xiaobing did not get married in the original novel.]

[Not married? Why?]

[Not sure, it is not written in the original novel, and the reason is not on Yi Dong, so you have to meet the person to know. 】

As the system voice fell, the Zhou family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also finished their matchmaking words. Seeing that Yi Dong did not respond, she was secretly anxious in her heart. Mrs. Zhou had to change the subject and asked: "Why hasn't Xiaobing come back yet?"

"I'll go to the bathroom to see." The eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhou family hurriedly got up and was about to go to the bathroom. Suddenly, a person appeared in her sight. Her eyes lit up and turned around and smiled, "Xiaobing is back!"

Wen Yue heard the words and looked in the direction she pointed. She saw a slender young girl in a light-colored dress walking through the crowd towards the main table.

The moment she saw the person, Wen Yue suddenly understood why the Zhou family, who were ordinary in appearance, would have the idea of ​​matching her with Yi Dong.

This girl is really good at growing up!

Her facial features can be said to be a combination of the strengths of her parents. Her eyebrows are like distant mountains, her eyes are like autumn water, and her nose and lips are not special features, but just right.

Such a look would definitely be considered outstanding even in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, which is full of beauties.

Unfortunately, Wen Yue hadn't admired the beauty for long when she heard the system prompt sound in her mind: [Ding - there is a melon! ]

Wen Yue didn't connect the melon owner with Zhou Xiaobing, and her first reaction when she heard the prompt was: [Melon? Who has the melon? ]

The system received the melon owner's message the moment the prompt sounded, and quickly replied: [Zhou Xiaobing, female, 21 years old, born in 1973, died in 1994... Cause of death, dagger stabbed directly into the heart, killed in one blow. In addition, the deceased was tortured before her death, and there were traces of binding on her hands and feet...]

Finally, the system concluded: [Host, she is the sixth victim in the recent serial murder case in Hong Kong, and the time of death is 12 o'clock tomorrow night. 】