Qi Huan sat next to Xu Xiaolin, her eyes still red and swollen, her face almost lifeless. Heavy dark circles under her eyes gave her a sickly appearance. The four sat facing each other, unsure how to begin a conversation. Xu Xiaolin glanced at Wang Shen, then at Qi Huan, before finally picking up her coffee cup and taking a sip.
Wang Shen pursed his lips, took out his phone from his pocket, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, and then placed the phone in the middle of the table. He opened the recording and turned the volume down so that the four of them could hear it. The voices of A-Cheng and Han Lin came through the recording.
When Qi Huan heard the recording, her hand holding the coffee cup suddenly trembled, and she almost spilled the coffee. A few minutes later, the recording stopped, but Wang Shen did not retrieve his phone.
"Mr. Qi, have you heard this recording before?" Wang Shen asked, looking at Qi Huan.
Qi Huan glanced at Wang Shen, then shook her head with a dim look in her eyes.
"Mr. Qi, can you tell who these two men are in this recording?" Wang Shen continued to ask.
Qi Huan didn't look up at Wang Shen this time. Instead, she stared at the coffee cup in her hand in silence for a while, then nodded. "It should be Acheng and Han Lin's voices."
Qi Huan was smart; she knew that lying about not recognizing Acheng and Han Lin's voices would be too convincing. Wang Shen nodded and continued to press, "You were mentioned in that recording. The conflict between Acheng and Han Lin seems to mainly involve you. Could you tell us what exactly Han Lin's so-called leverage is?"
President Qi hadn't expected Wang Shen to ask so directly. She glanced at Wang Shen blankly, then fell silent.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu Xiaolin winked at Wang Shen, signaling him to shut up.
But Wang Shen ignored Xu Xiaolin's reminder. He persisted, saying, "President Qi, you should be able to guess that Acheng's accident this time is mostly because of something you have on him. I can see that you love Acheng very much. So please tell me the truth. I promise I will keep your secret."
After listening to Wang Shen's words, Qi Huan slammed her coffee cup down on the table. "Officer Wang, I don't know what they're talking about. I don't have any leverage over Han Lin." Qi Huan was clearly angry, and even her tone became somewhat aggressive.
“But we checked the email address. The recipient of this email is you.” Wang Shen’s gaze remained unwavering as he stared directly at Qi Huan.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Wang Shen's words, Qi Huan picked up her bag and got up to leave.
"President Qi, don't you want to seek justice for Acheng? Acheng is still lying in a hospital bed, his life hanging in the balance. If Acheng really did this because of you, don't you feel any remorse?" Wang Shen also stood up from his chair and looked at Qi Huan without any restraint.
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, Qi Huan paused for a moment. However, Qi Huan didn't say anything more and walked straight towards the door.
"When did you become so direct?" Xu Xiaolin stood up from her seat, grabbed her bag, and glared at Wang Shen with a hint of anger.
Watching Qi Huan and Xu Xiaolin leave the coffee shop, Wang Shen slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples repeatedly.
"Captain Wang, have you been working too hard lately?" Liang Zichen hadn't said a word the entire time. Seeing Wang Shen's expression, Liang Zichen asked softly.
Wang Shen gently shook his head.
"Captain Wang, wasn't your question a bit too direct? I felt it was a little aggressive." Liang Zichen saw Wang Shen shake his head and then asked another question tentatively.
“At least, through this conversation, we know that Qi Huan will never confess anything to us.” Wang Shen opened his eyes and sighed.
"Could the reason be as we suspected, that she has something she can't say about? Is it her family or something else?" Liang Zichen didn't finish his question before falling silent.
"Alright, let's not think about it today. We won't find any results anyway. By the way, I've been busy all day and haven't eaten anything. Come on, let me treat you to dinner." Wang Shen patted Liang Zichen on the shoulder and stood up from his seat.
Wang Shen watched the car turn left and right through the city streets and alleys, finally stopping at the entrance of a night market. Wang Shen got out of the car and walked into the night market.
"Captain Wang, I really didn't expect you to come here for dinner?" Liang Zichen glanced at the night market in front of him, noisy and chaotic. In short, it was the kind of place that couldn't be called a pleasant environment.
"What? You still dislike this place?" Wang Shen smiled and glanced at Liang Zichen.
"No, no." Liang Zichen immediately waved his hand. "It's just that I feel someone like you wouldn't come to a place like this."
"Someone like me? What kind of person do you think I am?" Wang Shen kept walking forward, chatting with Liang Zichen as he went.
“Of course, she’s someone many people envy,” Liang Zichen replied after a moment’s thought.
“It’s not work time now, so there’s no superior-subordinate relationship between us. Besides, I’m not much older than you. You don’t need to flatter me anymore.” Wang Shen smiled and then shook his head.
"Captain Wang, no, then I'll just call you Brother Wang when I get off work. Brother Wang, I'm not just flattering you. Everyone in the team says so. You have no idea how envious everyone is of you." Liang Zichen kept shaking his head, explaining his reasons.
"How could I not know?" Wang Shen shrugged, indicating he knew nothing.
"To be honest, if I hadn't been working with you on this case these past two days, I would have been genuinely afraid of you." Liang Zichen smiled and spoke his mind directly. "Your work style is completely different from how you are now. When you're working..." Liang Zichen trailed off, unsure what to say next.
"It's okay, just say what you want to say. I already said it's after get off work hours, so don't worry about me making things difficult for you. I also want to know what you all think of me." Wang Shen patted Liang Zichen on the shoulder, encouraging him to speak freely.
“You’re so serious and meticulous when you’re working. And you seem to have very high expectations for your subordinates. You always have a smile on your face, but there are quite a few rumors about your ruthless methods.” Liang Zichen said while observing Wang Shen’s expression, afraid of saying something wrong and displeasing him.
"Rumors of an iron-fisted approach?" Wang Shen repeated after hearing this, then smiled. "Do you think that's how I am in those rumors?" Wang Shen continued to ask.
"It doesn't seem like it. Anyway, you give people the impression of being aloof and distant. Actually, I envy you. You have no idea how many girls in our team like you." Liang Zichen sighed.
"Oh," Wang Shen replied casually. "You haven't gotten to the point yet. You said you envy me, but what do you envy about me?" Wang Shen changed the subject again.
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