After the Divorce, I Went Back to My Hometown, Pregnant and Became the Sheriff - Chapter 11

“Ugh, back to picking through trash again,” He Xianxing groaned, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head. “Who actually wants to do this job?”

The moment he finished speaking, the eyes of the other two landed on him simultaneously. He Xianxing clicked his tongue. “Hey, hey, I really do have a thing about cleanliness!”

“But the Inspector was top of his tracking class every year,” Jiang Xu said with a slight smile.

He Xianxing ground his teeth. “Jiang Xu, now you decide to start flattering me!”

Shen Yucheng added pointedly, “Both Jiang Xu and I have appeared in Su Wan’s line of sight to some degree. Only Inspector He has yet to meet them. He is the most suitable candidate.”

Caught by the tail for napping in his car during work hours, He Xianxing knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on. He grumbled, “Alright, alright, I get it. I’m the expert at picking through trash!”

The three confirmed a few more details, and with lunchtime approaching, He Xianxing complained of hunger and headed downstairs first.

Once He Xianxing was gone, Jiang Xu turned to Shen Yucheng. “Regarding Zhang Yongfeng, do many people in the bureau know?”

Shen Yucheng lowered his head to organize the documents. “A thing like this is hard to hide even if one tries. Those who want to know will find out.”

“Then He Xianxing…”

Shen Yucheng stopped moving and looked up. “I thought you two were quite close.”

“We’ve just been dealing with each other more frequently lately.”

“What kind of ‘dealing’ results in such heavy pheromones?”

“You smelled wrong. I had hot cocoa.”

Shen Yucheng gave a cold huff. “Have you developed a sudden passion for sweets?”

“Shen Yucheng, since when did you become so aggressive?”

“…” Shen Yucheng lowered his eyes in displeasure. “Forget it.” In a war of words with Jiang Xu, he rarely won. “I’ll remind you of one thing: we aren’t officially divorced yet.” His tone was flat, yet it carried a trace of resentment he hadn’t noticed himself.

Unfortunately, Jiang Xu remained unmoved. “During work hours, let’s stick to official business.”

Shen Yucheng pressed his temple, a look of exhaustion crossing his face. “Apologies, I overstepped. I checked He Xianxing’s background; there are no issues.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Xu stood up and walked to the window. Since it was lunchtime, people were coming and going below the bureau, everyone in a hurry. “Do you want to know what happened five years ago?” he asked suddenly.

“If you are willing to tell me.”

“You’ll find out sooner or later anyway.” Jiang Xu’s gaze drifted toward the distance.

“Five years ago, shortly after you went abroad, Gu Caifan—the illegitimate daughter of the S-City tycoon Gu Junyan—was kidnapped. The kidnappers demanded the 16th-century masterpiece Themis in the Rain and Mist as ransom. Gu Junyan had recently purchased it at auction for eighty million. Although he notified the bureau, he didn’t trust us. To save his daughter, he took it upon himself to complete the trade with the kidnappers.

“Once the task force learned of this, we could only try to recover the painting and handle the aftermath to minimize the victim’s financial loss. We tracked the kidnappers and moved in for the arrest. During their escape, they took multiple hostages and demanded a way out in exchange for the hostages’ lives.

“The standoff lasted over twelve hours. Negotiators took turns trying to talk them down, and the kidnappers were on the verge of a mental breakdown. But Zhang Yongfeng kept pressuring me over the radio to take the shot.

“Based on experience, if the negotiations had continued just a bit longer, they would have surrendered. Moreover, Zhang Yongfeng was the head of the task force; he gave orders that only I could receive, so I stalled. I didn’t fire. Sure enough, after a while, several kidnappers dropped their weapons to surrender. But at that exact moment, someone else in the task force fired.”

Jiang Xu watched the scene below, recounting details that were never recorded in the case files.

“The bullet missed the kidnappers, and the scene descended into chaos. In the confusion, several kidnappers were shot dead on the spot. The lead man knelt on his comrade’s body, crying for mercy. He was wearing a mask, so I could only see his eyes, but I could tell he was quite young. In that moment, I felt a hesitation I shouldn’t have had. I thought they should be handed over to the law for judgment rather than being executed in the chaos.

“I only shot him in the legs, and my team quickly subdued him. There was a child among the hostages who was scared half to death. I went up to untie them and held the child. Before I could finish my words of comfort, a bullet fired from behind passed right through the child’s head.”

Jiang Xu’s voice grew more hurried. “In my arms, the child was killed instantly by a headshot.”

“Calm down,” Shen Yucheng interrupted.

“I am calm,” Jiang Xu leaned against the white wall by the window, his words sounding like gasps. “It turned out that man had another modified gun hidden on him. While my team wasn’t paying attention, he pulled it out and shot that innocent child.”

“No one knew he had a second gun.”

“Yeah…” Jiang Xu stared blankly at the empty lot below. “Later, of the thirteen kidnappers, twelve died and one escaped. The ransom painting also disappeared. I was suspended for investigation according to protocol, and Li Peiwen, who was a prosecutor in the Integrity Bureau at the time, was brought in to intervene.”

“Professor Li?” Shen Yucheng was surprised. Li Peiwen had been his mentor after he transferred to the integrity system; his opportunity to study in Germany was thanks to Li’s recommendation.

“Yes. The final conclusion was that my tactical decisions and actions were within regulations, and I was reinstated. But not long after, I resigned from the General Bureau and returned to G-City. That is the kidnapping case from five years ago, everything I know.”

“You said someone fired before you did?” Shen Yucheng walked over to Jiang Xu’s side.

“Yes.”

“So, you’ve always known there was something suspicious about that case?”

“I have.”

“If that’s the case, why have you been running for all these years? Don’t you want justice for that innocent child? You clearly—”

“I clearly what?” Jiang Xu raised his eyes.

Shen Yucheng bit his lower lip until his pale skin turned a deep red. He looked at Jiang Xu’s face in silence for a long time before muttering, “This isn’t the Jiang Xu I knew.”

“Heh, I’m not as great or selfless as you imagine.” Jiang Xu laughed mockingly at himself. Back then, it felt as though the lights of his entire life had been extinguished. He lived in darkness every day, the image of that child’s tragic death and the kidnapper’s twisted final smile constantly flashing before his eyes.

And amidst that overwhelming panic, he discovered he was two months pregnant. “I’m just a self-righteous killer.”

Shen Yucheng’s back stiffened slightly. His fingers at his sides curled and then released, but he finally stepped forward and grabbed Jiang Xu’s wrist. “I’m sorry.” The pulse beneath his palm beat steadily; that alone stirred an infinite sense of nostalgia within him. “Perhaps I never truly knew the real you,” he whispered. Jiang Xu turned to look at him, his gaze not sharp, but not warm either—the same look Shen Yucheng had seen countless times at the Police Academy.

“But regardless,” Shen Yucheng suddenly drew closer, “justice should be served. Both for five years ago and for five years from now.”

Their eyes met. Jiang Xu stared into Shen Yucheng’s blue eyes, dazed, until a sudden warmth at his waist pulled him into an embrace.

The faint scent of perfume drifted past his nose—a cold, misty fragrance that Jiang Xu had once loved dearly.

“Yucheng…” Jiang Xu hesitated and raised his hand. The meeting room was silent. His palm slowly moved toward that habitually straight back, but he stopped and pushed the man away.

“Let’s get back to Su Wan.” He looked down and straightened his wrinkled jacket, no longer meeting Shen Yucheng’s eyes. “What I’m saying is, if that kidnapping case is linked to Zhang Yongfeng’s abuse of power, then just as someone fired to silence a witness five years ago, someone will fight like a cornered beast five years later.”

“What do you want to do?”

“That depends on whether you have a hidden card.”

“I do and I don’t,” Shen Yucheng said after a brief thought. “I didn’t include this in the files, but Zhou Lexuan has a trust fund in Canada.”

“Can you trace it back to Zhang Yongfeng?”

“I have a few leads,” Shen Yucheng replied, “but because it’s international, cooperation with the trust company hasn’t been smooth. It’s hard to guarantee a timeline for evidence collection.”

The establishment of a trust fund varies in cost depending on the country and type. Regardless, it is expensive—not something a Senior Superintendent from S-City could easily afford. Even if Zhang Yongfeng could prove other sources of income, if they could prove he made consistent transfers to Zhou Lexuan’s trust, they could apply for a mandatory paternity test.

Once the father-son relationship was confirmed, they could investigate the financial interests behind Su Wan.

Perhaps they could finally put a full stop to the case from five years ago.

Jiang Xu looked thoughtful. “If you manage to get evidence before Zhou Lexuan returns, please tell me in advance.”

“I will.”

“I’m heading downstairs now.”

Without waiting for a reply, Jiang Xu hurried out of the room.

The momentary wavering just now terrified him. He knew all too well that he and Shen Yucheng lived in different worlds. He had Tongtong now; feelings were nothing but an added burden. The only thing he needed to focus on was finding the truth behind why Zhang Yongfeng had been so desperate for him to fire all those years ago.

On his way back to the office, he passed the first-floor breakroom and heard people whispering inside, followed by a few snickers. Jiang Xu didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but he caught Shen Yucheng’s name and stopped.

“…”

“His dad is the current Police Commissioner, and his grandfather used to be the head of the Integrity Bureau. There’s no way he got into the bureau through the formal bar exam.”

“True. If only my dad had some influence back in the day to pull some strings for me. I wouldn’t want to spend my whole life as a low-level officer in this middle-of-nowhere place.”

“Sigh, I’m so jealous of people born with a silver spoon…”

The two inside were about to continue, but they caught Jiang Xu walking in. They exchanged a look and left sullenly.

Jiang Xu filled a cup of coffee and stared at the steaming paper cup, remaining motionless for a long time.

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