Chapter 14
Thanks to Mr. Zhuang's feeding, Iris gained another pound in a week, marking a new breakthrough. Although Zhuang Zhuoyuan always comforted her by saying that she would feel better to hold when she was fatter, for a girl who loves beauty, even a gain of only 0.01 pounds is an unbearable result.
That's why Iris decided to lose weight.
But everyone, including herself, overestimated her determination and perseverance in this matter. Although Zhuang Zhuoyuan had thoughtfully scheduled the exercise time for the evening when there would be no problem getting up, and although Zhuang Zhuohua was also dragged along to be her running partner, the lazy little princess stubbornly stayed in the stands as a cheerleader after three laps and refused to join the long-distance running team anymore.
“Running alone isn’t fun at all, and on top of that, I feel like the psychological burden is too heavy.” In response to Zhuang Zhuoyuan’s questioning of her physical strength to travel all over the world, Iris confidently assured that she had never missed seeing the scenery she wanted to see because of physical limitations, just like she had successfully summited Scoville.
“Then let’s try one more time,” Zhuang Zhuoyuan said, extending his hand. “One more lap and we’ll go home.”
"Then I want ice cream when I get home." Iris said, her words hesitant, clearly not very sincere. Zhuang Zhuoyuan could only sigh helplessly. He should have realized long ago that his role as supervisor wouldn't be easy: "Miss, you've vowed to lose weight, and for your own sake."
Iris's words, "Even if I get fat, you'll still love me, cherish me, and like me the most," were instantly swallowed back. Delicious food and beauty were indeed hard to have simultaneously. She glanced resentfully at Zhuang Zhuoyuan, recalling his cooking skills, and predicted that if she continued living with him, she would inevitably become a chubby housewife soon, especially after giving birth; her figure would most likely be out of shape… Iris suddenly felt that her future was full of challenges: "Ah—"
Before she could sigh, he quickly stopped her. Zhuang Zhuoyuan wasn't sure where Iris's thoughts had wandered off to, but from her expression, he sensed something was wrong. He couldn't afford to lose the wife he'd finally managed to win back: "Okay, you obediently finish running your set goal, and I'll carry you back later, OK?"
"Seriously?" Iris's eyes lit up at the mention of his name. Almost as soon as Zhuang Zhuoyuan nodded, she pounced on his back. Zhuang Zhuoyuan was glad that his core strength was well-trained; otherwise, with his girlfriend's momentum, most people wouldn't have been able to withstand it. "Baby, I said I'd carry you after we finished running. You're not thinking of having me carry you while we run, are you?"
Even if it's a spur-of-the-moment decision, Iris can plan it very well. Zhuang Zhuoyuan could easily imagine her counting on her fingers behind his back: "If I run one more lap, you carry me and run one more. We both get exercise, isn't that great?"
"Okay—" Zhuang Zhuoyuan drawled, taking two quick steps before abruptly stopping. Iris was bewildered by him, and Zhuang Sir, without any qualms, began to trick people: "I ran twice, I'll add two more laps later."
Iris naturally refused to give in, and a bargaining match ensued during the chase. Zhuang Zhuohua, who had passed by twice, watched the two childish individuals turn from exercising into playful fighting and basically gave up on the idea of going home with them. At the current rate, it would probably take even another hour for Iris to achieve her goal for the night. In a sense, having Zhuang Zhuoyuan act as a supervisor was itself a form of cheating. Who could expect a henpecked husband to actually be strict with his wife?
After running a lap and returning to the starting point, Iris snuggled up to Zhuang Zhuoyuan's back again, this time holding on tightly, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan didn't struggle. However, this tender moment didn't last long, as the phone rang at an inopportune moment. Iris looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen with displeasure, but answered it before her brain could even register the message to hang up.
As Zhuang Zhuoyuan listened to her increasingly serious tone, he turned around and saw that his girlfriend's expression was also becoming more and more serious. He gestured with his eyes to ask for her opinion, and Iris answered him directly: "BB, I'm afraid you'll have to take me to the police station."
The Major Crimes Unit B Team never expected that two prominent figures in the police force would be visiting tonight: a senior inspector from the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau and a sharpshooter from the Special Duties Unit. If the two hadn't been in civilian clothes, they would have almost certainly thought that some important joint operation was about to take place.
“Madam Zhuang, Ah Yuan.” Senior Inspector Yin Jincheng of B Team was also an old acquaintance. Zhuang Zhuoyuan greeted him with a fist bump, and seeing that the latter was looking at Iris, he took the opportunity to introduce the two: “Yin Jincheng, the team leader of B Team, is a ruthless detective. He and I are old friends. You can get information from him in the future. Iris Zhou Yishi is the author of Dead by Daylight, and most importantly, my fiancée.”
"Louis Vujicic!!!" The young woman, who had only recently joined the Major Crimes Unit, went completely berserk, looking like she was about to rush forward with a pen and paper to ask for an autograph. It was only after another senior officer coughed heavily that the young woman calmed down. Iris smiled at the young woman, then turned her gaze to Inspector Yin. She shook hands with him and asked with a certainty, "Is Tangtang Inspector Yin's?"
“Sister.” Yin Jincheng raised an eyebrow, but then, remembering the other woman inside giving a statement, he instantly understood. Only Zhuang Zhuoyuan was still completely confused: “What, do you two have some connection?”
Iris smiled at him and answered at the right moment: "Yin Sir's sister, Yin Jintang, was Elaine's junior in high school. We met at the Shen family's house before."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan deeply realized Elaine's interpersonal influence. He and Iris already knew quite a few people, and now with the addition of a socially adept young lady as an assistant, it seems that they will need at least forty or fifty tables for their future banquets.
"The equipment is all ready. Let Miss Zhou do the jigsaw puzzle first." Having already discussed the general situation during the call, Yin Jincheng was eager for more clues and didn't engage in much small talk. Iris nodded, naturally understanding how helpful her clues would be to the case. She hadn't expected that simply going to the restroom during her first visit to the TV station with Elaine would inexplicably make her a witness again.
"High nose bridge, wide nostrils, thin lips, and a tiny, faint mole above the lips... Ah, yes, that's it..." Iris recalled the woman she'd encountered arguing with in the women's restroom that day, trying to deduce the woman's identity. According to Yin Jincheng's explanation, that woman might be the suspect in Gigi's murder. Speaking of which, Gigi was Oscar's ex-girlfriend, and if she could help, she wanted to do her part to help him get justice.
What Iris didn't know was that Oscar and Gigi's relationship wasn't actually pleasant. Especially later on, they argued constantly. Even after explicitly breaking up, Gigi refused to let go and repeatedly harassed Oscar. Oscar, fed up with this, clashed with her several times in public. He was even seen slapping Gigi on the afternoon of the day she died, making him the prime suspect after her death.
Elaine wanted to roll her eyes at the thought. Oscar could have easily regained his freedom by simply clarifying the situation. But instead, he didn't care about his innocence and insisted on wasting his time in the police station. If she hadn't noticed his unusual broken promise and had someone investigate, she wouldn't have known this idiot was trapped here.
Facing the young girl who had just come of age, the police officer opposite her had a serious expression: "Ms. Hao, you said that from 5 pm to 10 pm on the 14th of this month, you were with Mr. Jiang Jiewei. May I ask where you were and what you were doing?"
"I don't need to say what a lone man and woman would do at Oscar's house, do I?" Elaine shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
Sheriff Old Chai paused for a moment, then heard her say, "If it were just ordinary drinking, singing, and watching TV, Oscar wouldn't need to hide it. He didn't want to talk about it because it concerned me. Now that I'm here and have told you, you should be able to tell whether it's true or false."
Old Chai continued, "Are you two in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship?"
Elaine shook her head: "Oscar and I are just good friends."
"Good friend?" The person opposite her asked suspiciously, clearly not believing her statement.
Elaine smiled, seemingly answering a gossip reporter's question, but her answer was more unrestricted: "We are indeed just good friends. I don't think there's any law that says good friends can't do 'that,' right? I had the idea, he had the need, and neither of us wanted to just find someone to solve it, so we chose each other, that's all."
It wasn't until they left the police station and ran into Elaine and Oscar, who had been yelled at by Elaine the whole way, that Iris realized they were involved in the whole affair. The police station entrance was clearly not a good place to talk, so after exchanging greetings, they agreed to drive away separately and continue their conversation elsewhere.
However, it still made the news the next day.
Upon seeing the blatant attack on Miss Shanfeng, Iris sensed something was wrong. A quick phone call to Elaine confirmed that she had indeed been confined to her home. While the Shen family wasn't exactly a rigid, old-fashioned family, they weren't lax in their upbringing. This incident, coupled with the numerous gossip articles detailing the two women's personal lives in the weekly magazine, made Iris realize that Elaine's "exile" by her parents was inevitable.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan didn't understand: "Wouldn't sending her abroad make it even harder to control her?"
Iris sighed softly, "Letting Elaine go abroad alone is indeed like releasing a fish into the sea, but Uncle and Aunty had already planned to find someone to take care of her. So far, Elaine is quite interested in fashion design, so they have been in contact with my aunt for a while, hoping that my aunt can take Elaine as her last apprentice."
"Aunt?" When Zhuang Zhuoyuan planned to video chat with Iris's family last time, Iris mentioned that her aunt, Gloria, was a fashion designer with a high status in the industry. If Elaine could embark on a new path in life through this opportunity, it wouldn't be a bad thing. He didn't quite understand Iris's melancholy, only assuming she was sad about parting with her friend, so he comforted her, "Once Elaine becomes Gloria's apprentice, won't your relationship with her become even closer? It's not a bad thing."
Iris couldn't bear to call Zhuang Zhuoyuan "too young and naive," after all, she had never met her aunt, so who would know about her aunt's eccentric temperament: "Yuan, your aunt is very strict about accepting apprentices. Even if Elaine is very talented in her creative work, she still needs to observe Elaine's character closely. This means that she will definitely come to Hong Kong soon, and once she arrives, she has no reason not to see us or you. This time, there will be no time or signal issues that could cause any interruption."
"So, I'm really going to meet your parents?!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan remembered Iris's previous introduction. Gloria was a very discerning person. Unlike Iris's daddy and mummy, she wasn't willing to give face to others. When she encountered someone she truly disliked, the best-case scenario was simply ignoring them. If you accidentally angered her, even if you prayed to heaven, it wouldn't protect you.
After several video calls, Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt that Iris's parents had a good impression of him, but he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy if Gloria came alone.
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