Chapter 23
When she was in high school, sometimes Li Qingyao saw Luo Huaizheng and Xiang Siling talking, she would not be jealous, she really didn't care. Because there are so many people who like Luo Huaizheng, she can't handle it, because no one can beat her anyway.
Later, Luo Huaizheng got into trouble. From childhood to adulthood, Li Qingyao had never hated anyone. But when she saw Xiang Siling coming to school again unharmed, she clearly felt an emotion called hatred. The emotion was so sharp, painful and dark. Maybe that was the beginning of her character transformation.
Last week, when Li Qingyao saw the two of them talking together at a class reunion, she felt angry and thought it was a joke. Her heart was cold and brutal.
She had thought that seeing the two of them paired up in such a dramatic way at the murder scene today would make her mood explode again, but strangely, at the moment she was relatively calm, and her calmness revealed a ruthless and heartless attitude of watching a fire from the other side of the river.
Or maybe it’s because there is still Chen Pu.
Normally in situations like this, when the female victim's family needs to be comforted, Chen Pu usually lets her do it, and he stays by their side with his arms folded, only occasionally lending a few words. But today, he did something out of character. As soon as he came down the stairs, he walked in front of her, almost blocking her with his tall body. Whenever she looked up, the first thing she saw was his broad shoulders, his ears, and the short black hair above his ears.
He also took over the work of her subordinate, explaining the situation to the two family members one sentence after another, without turning back to communicate with her or requiring her to speak. Li Qingyao listened to his deep voice and his heart gradually became calmer.
She remembered the question he asked her at the beginning of yesterday:
[Will your past relationship affect your investigative attitude and judgment towards related cases? 】
She answered him at the time: [No one and nothing can affect my determination. 】
Li Qingyao felt that his heart suddenly became extremely clear and calm. Just like the wisps of water vapor that originally covered the moon were blown away by the wind in an instant. She put aside her personal emotions and began to observe the three people in front of her with the eyes of a criminal police officer while Chen Pu was speaking.
Xiang Siling had probably just rushed in from the workplace. She was wearing a beige branded suit inlaid with pearls. She had tears in her eyes and was crying softly, looking very affectionate.
Li Meiling beside her had a much stronger emotional reaction. She held her face with her hands and cried loudly, calling out "Husband, husband, what will I do without you in the future?" She was very sad and had to rely on Xiang Siling's support to stand steadily. The mother and daughter are both as delicate and graceful as willows in the wind, with charming looks.
Li Qingyao's gaze fell on the third person.
Compared with them, Luo Huaizheng seemed inappropriately quiet. He neither cried nor said a word, but just stood with one hand in his pocket. If you met him on the street, you would probably think he was a business elite with extraordinary temperament. He always kept a distance of more than one meter from the mother and daughter, with his eyes lowered. But when Li Qingyao looked at him, his eyelashes, which had been extremely thick since his youth, trembled slightly, and he slowly raised his eyes and met hers.
Li Qingyao's gaze was cold, but something was gently surging in his eyes.
Li Qingyao calmly looked away.
She thought, maybe he also came from the workplace. When did he become friends with Xiang Siling? And why would he accompany her to such an important occasion? Is he interested in Luo Hongmin's death?
Li Qingyao stopped thinking and let out a breath slowly. In the end, Luo Huaizheng's look still made him feel depressed.
At this time, Li Meiling and her daughter proposed to go and see the body, but were rejected by Chen Pu. First, we need to protect the scene, and second, the current condition of the body is something that ordinary people may not be able to accept, let alone their closest relatives.
Chen Pu asked the mother and daughter to go back to the team with him because he needed to find out the situation from them. The mother and daughter agreed with tears in their eyes. At this time, Chen Pu looked at Luo Huaizheng. Xiang Siling saw it and choked up and said, "Officer Chen, he is just a friend of mine. He came with me. It has nothing to do with him. Let him go first."
Luo Huaizheng also looked at Chen Pu, but his eyes passed over the tall and handsome policeman in front of him and fell on the slender and graceful figure.
That day in the restaurant, I saw Chen Pu bringing Li Qingyao over. Although Ma Junhong concluded that the two were not in that kind of relationship, Luo Huaizheng had a strange intuition that it was not that simple.
Although the two of them did not have any intimate words or actions, Li Qingyao was very relaxed in front of Chen Pu, and every bone and every cell of his body was lazy.
Even though it had been seven years, Luo Huaizheng could still feel it.
Because once upon a time, she was only like this in front of him.
She is just that kind of person. In fact, it is difficult for her to get close to others, but once she gets close to others, she will "claim the other person as her own" and pull you in with an aura called "Li Qingyao". The aura was loose and casual, yet omnipresent. And you will be attracted uncontrollably and just want to get closer and closer.
Luo Huaizheng calmed down, not wanting to look at anything more, and lowered his eyes and asked, "Officer, can I go now?"
Chen Pu looked at the handsome, tall, but slightly embarrassed man in front of him, and then thought of the girl who remained silent behind him. He felt like he was watching a sad TV series. Even if the male protagonist of the TV series has been in jail and feels broken, he can still stand out in the crowd just by standing there. The heroine is the person whom Chen Pu wants to protect wholeheartedly for fear of being hurt. And he is probably just an insignificant passerby and background board. At most, he is male No. 7 who has nothing to do with the main storyline.
A sour emotion, like a young sprout quickly breaking through the soil, grew from the bottom of Chen Pu's heart. It climbed up silently, gently entangling his heart, his liver, his spleen, lungs and kidneys. Then it continued to grow upwards, lightly and cunningly, giggling secretly, and burrowed into his chest and turned into a cloud of mist, sticky, invisible and intangible.
Chen Pu also calmed down and said seriously: "Mr. Luo, please come back with us and assist in the investigation."
As their eyes stared, Luo Huaizheng immediately understood the unspoken words in Chen Pu's eyes - he was the murderer who killed Xiang's father, and he had a sensitive relationship with Li Meiling and her daughter. He was not an unrelated person and must cooperate with the investigation.
It turns out that this policeman has a grasp of the situation and is very smart.
Luo Huaizheng smiled faintly, with a hint of self-mockery in his smile. He lowered his head and said, "Yes, officer."
Li Qingyao watched the whole process. She agreed with Chen Pu's approach and believed that all three people should be taken back to the bureau for questioning. But when Luo Huaizheng lowered his head and asked Chen Pu honestly, "Officer, can I leave now?" and Chen Pu answered honestly, she still felt a surge of sadness in her heart. She didn't want to think about whether Luo Huaizheng had been facing the police officers with a face that didn't belong to him all these years. And now, she has become a police officer.
——
The on-site investigation was over and everyone took the police car back to the station. Just as Chen Pu walked to the front of the car, Li Qingyao came over.
He looked at her with an inquiring gaze, but could not see any emotion on her face. Now Chen Pu didn't know whether to be happy or sad, because he couldn't figure out whether Li Qingyao was really no longer affected by his ex-lover, or had he become numb to the pain of extremes?
Li Qingyao said in a businesslike manner: "Captain, I need to ask you something."
Upon hearing this, Chen Pu leaned his back against the car door, put one hand on it, lowered his head and used his other hand to wipe off the mud on his fingertips, and said, "Officer Li, please speak boldly."
Li Qingyao smiled, but that smile was not as charming as before. It was indifferent and showed a kind of indifference. She asked, "Luo Huaizheng and Xiang Siling, one is my ex-boyfriend and the other is my high school classmate. Do I need to recuse myself from this case?"
"We have discussed this issue. We have been in a relationship for seven years. Besides, you were still young at that time, so you don't need to avoid it. But if you want to avoid it, I respect your opinion."
“I don’t want to shy away from it.”
"Then go forward boldly."
"I see. Thank you."
Chen Pu turned around and opened the main car door, then glanced at the empty passenger seat. While he was considering his words, Li Qingyao had already turned and left.
Chen Pu: “…”
He thought about it and decided not to call her.
The vine that grew big in sour water had already grown in his chest. At this moment, the slender branch at the top was swaying gently, emitting an invisible sour smell. A thought popped up in her mind: maybe she needs to be alone now. How dare male No. 7 approach him to cause trouble?
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