The Prosecutor Is Accustomed To Waiting For A Rabbit To Hit A Stump - Chapter 25

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Chapter 25

After the rich second generation finished, it was the Surveillance Manager’s turn, which was Gu Ye.

Gu Ye sat in the wheelchair, still looking like a boss, her hands naturally resting on both sides of the chair. Her posture was relaxed, and her opening set the atmosphere to the max.

“I’m not a good person, but I should know the most. At 8:56 AM, on the still-operating surveillance, the Beautiful Receptionist arrived at the law firm, and then the Female Lawyer came in and chatted with the receptionist for a while. At 9:00 AM, on the still-operating surveillance, Intern Xu arrived and chatted with the Beautiful Receptionist for a while. At that time, Intern Xu’s expression was quite fierce.”

“Why did Attorney Zhang come looking for you?” The rich second generation immediately interjected, staring intently at Gu Ye.

“We discussed some private matters,” Gu Ye said unhurriedly. “It’s irrelevant to the case, but related to my special preferences.”

“Ugh!” Yan Han touched her arm. “Thank goodness you’re cross-casting, otherwise that would be really perverted and disgusting.”

Gu Ye chuckled and continued, “At 2:00 PM in the afternoon, the repair personnel came to work, and I helped them locate a nail gun. At 3:35 PM, I saw the Beautiful Receptionist talking to Boss Ma in his office, but because of the soundproofing, I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It should be the workplace sexual harassment issue Boss Ma just mentioned.”

Yan Han nodded. “Yes, Attorney Zhang was always harassing me, which troubled me greatly. But I’m alone and rely on this job, so I could only endure it silently.”

The rich second generation was filled with righteous indignation. “This deceased is a total jerk.”

Gu Ye continued, “At 6:00 PM, after seeing the repair personnel off, I attended to some private matters unrelated to the case but related to my special preferences. During this time, I heard a very faint noise, but I couldn’t leave my spot, so I ignored it. It wasn’t until 7:15 PM that I ran into the Beautiful Receptionist, who was about to enter the ladies’ room. She looked nervous, and then came Boss Ma’s scream. The Beautiful Receptionist and I rushed over. However…”

“However what?” Lin Fan immediately played her part as a foil.

Gu Ye met her gaze, her eyes smiling, like a lake sparkling under the early spring sun every ripple was beautiful, making Lin Fan pause.

It turns out that when the ‘high mountain flower’ smiles, it’s like winter glaciers melting, with warm currents leaping over river pebbles.

She’s even more beautiful, Lin Fan unconsciously pursed her lips.

Gu Ye was completely focused on setting the trap and didn’t notice the little rabbit’s small gesture. “The Beautiful Receptionist was very strange at the time. She was distracted and walked slowly. I pushed my wheelchair and still reached the crime scene before her.”

“Oh~” The rich second generation stroked his chin. “Then she must have been anxious when we were eating, the Female Lawyer just mentioned that point too.”

“Let’s wait for the evidence search. I trust evidence more. Alright, next person.” Gu Ye slightly raised her chin towards Xu Sheng.

Intern Xu, played by Xu Sheng, was the last. He smoothed his temples and lowered his voice. “As you can see, I am a handsome guy. Heaven seems to favor me, granting me both the campus heartthrob and the top student halo since childhood.”

“Pffft.” Xu Sheng’s opening line made Yan Han laugh.

Xu Sheng looked at her, giving a bright, clear smile. “I easily got into a famous university to study law, successfully passed the judicial exam, and entered an industry-famous law firm for an internship. And my mentor is the renowned Attorney Zhang. I arrived at 9 AM. At 10:30 AM, I delivered documents to Attorney Zhang. Boss Ma opened the door to leave, and I heard Boss Ma say impolitely to Attorney Zhang: ‘I have your secret, and if you leave, I’ll expose you!’ Attorney Zhang was also furious; the two of them were arguing.”

“Oh~” Yan Han responded meaningfully.

“The reason I stayed at the law firm during lunch was that Attorney Zhang assigned me a huge amount of tasks. After assigning them, he didn’t return to his office but walked toward the monitoring room, so I continued to work overtime at my desk. After an afternoon of work, at 6:15 PM, I got off work and went shopping.”

“So, no one can prove you went shopping,” Lin Fan casually threw another bucket of suspicion.

Gu Ye said, “Let’s search for evidence first. Everyone must be hiding some small secrets.”

The first round of evidence search began.

“I want to search the Beautiful Receptionist,” the rich second generation, always focused on pursuing the girl, requested first.

He originally thought there might be a story between the boss and the receptionist, but not only was there no story, but the core theme turned out to be workplace sexual harassment.

The clues he received were: 1. A courier slip signed by the Beautiful Receptionist, the sender being “Little Fruit Seller of Knives”; 2. A message from the Beautiful Receptionist to Attorney Chen: “The thing has arrived”; 3. A sticky note with $text{XX}$ Coffee and the words “Waiting for you tonight”; 4. Attorney Zhang’s and Attorney Ma’s medical examination reports, received and signed by the Beautiful Receptionist, which indicated that both of them had heart conditions.

He chose to make all the evidence public. “The only thing to note in this clue is the ‘Little Fruit Seller of Knives.’ Mei Mei, did you buy a fruit knife or fruits?”

Yan Han gave a fake smile. “I bought a fruit knife to cut fruit.”

The rich second generation nodded, not pressing the issue.

Yan Han was faster, searching Intern Xu, and discreetly passed one clue—1. Computer browsing history of online knife purchases—to Xu Sheng when no one was watching.

The two exchanged a secretive, restrained glance.

Then Yan Han revealed the other clue. “To ensure client privacy, every office in the law firm is installed with highly effective soundproofing equipment.”

Lin Fan subtly defended Gu Ye. “That clue isn’t very useful; the Surveillance Manager already mentioned it. Look at my clue. I searched the body and made everything public: 1. Ligature marks on the neck; 2. Coffee stains on the body; 3. Residue of two drug components detected in the mouth.”

Lin Fan analyzed with extreme seriousness, acting convincingly to mislead. “Based on these clues, there are at least two possible causes of death: being strangled or being poisoned. But since the two drugs aren’t specified, we can only roughly judge that the ligature marks were the lethal cause.”

In her heart, Lin Fan knew that the Surveillance Manager, who was mobility-impaired, would absolutely not use strangulation. Recalling the unanswered call to Intern Xu mentioned in her script, and the Beautiful Receptionist’s anxious look afterward, she roughly guessed that the ligature marks were Intern Xu’s doing.

The unknown factor was what subsequent clues would reveal and whether there was any critical evidence directly pointing to the Surveillance Manager.

In any case, Lin Fan increasingly felt that Intern Xu was a perfect scapegoat.

“My clue is a courier slip in the Female Lawyer’s office trash can, signed by the Beautiful Receptionist, with the sender being ‘Punishing Scumbags is Everyone’s Responsibility.'” Gu Ye said, looking at Lin Fan.

The rich friend smiled. “Punishing Scumbags is Everyone’s Responsibility. What did you buy?”

Lin Fan, unsure, just smiled. “Guess.”

“No, you can’t play like that. You still have to answer,” the rich friend, observing the newbie Lin Fan, advised.

Lin Fan lowered her head and replayed her story in her mind. Actually, both drugs in the coffee cup were administered by her: one was Drug H (causes loss of sexual function after three doses), and the other was Sedative X (specific function unknown, tested to take effect on mammals in fifteen to twenty minutes, causing unconsciousness for three to four hours).

She added the sedative to facilitate the Surveillance Manager’s murder. As for why she added two drugs, it was to facilitate her own acquittal. She could admit to the $text{Drug H}$ to clear herself of the suspicion of administering $text{Sedative X}$, which would sever her connection to the first step of the crime.

Having figured this out, she admitted openly, “I put a drug in the coffee, the ‘Punishing Scumbags’ drug. This drug is not lethal, which is why I suspected the ligature marks caused the death. I don’t know what the other drug in the coffee is, and I have nothing else to disclose.”

“Got it,” the rich friend pondered. Gu Ye, however, quietly tugged at Lin Fan’s jacket corner again under the table.

Here she goes again. Lin Fan’s ears immediately flushed.

But to her disappointment, Gu Ye only placed a clue related to Lin Fan on her lap.

She then publicly revealed the other clue related to Lin Fan. “The Female Lawyer’s other clue: a read law book with a folded corner on the chapter about Talion’s Law (an eye for an eye).”

The hidden clue passed to her was a photo in the Female Lawyer’s wallet, showing her and a girl smiling brightly and happily. The two shared a slight resemblance in their features.

That was her sister, whom Attorney Zhang’s corruption killed.

This clue, combined with the Talion’s Law clue, essentially established the Female Lawyer’s motive for murder.

Subsequently, clues were revealed one by one.

Surveillance Manager’s Clues: 1. Eavesdropping device; 2. The Surveillance Manager’s Weibo following list includes the Female Lawyer, but the Female Lawyer does not follow him back.

Boss Ma’s Clues: 1. An email from Attorney Zhang, stating that he would be leaving the law firm soon; 2. The lawyer’s income ledger, with nearly two-thirds of the firm’s revenue coming from Attorney Zhang.

Attorney Zhang’s Office Clues: 1. A pool of coffee stains near the desk; 2. Coffee stains near the office door; 3. Residue of two drug components in the coffee.

Gossip: The Beautiful Receptionist clearly looks like a $text{bitch}$. A few days ago, I saw her flirting with Attorney Zhang, and now I see her flirting with Intern Xu. She needs to look at herself and see if she’s even worthy.

Among the currently public clues, most are inconsequential. Gu Ye’s script didn’t explain the relationship between Intern Xu and the Beautiful Receptionist, but she roughly guessed that they were a couple, and Intern Xu strangled the victim to protect the Beautiful Receptionist.

There are only five people present. It’s known that she and the “little rabbit” are on one side, and Intern Xu and the Beautiful Receptionist are on the other. The last person is key to failure or victory.

After designating the scapegoat, the “Murderer” Gu Ye leisurely shifted her gaze to the person with the highest status at the moment—Boss Ma, played by the rich second generation.

Convince him, and they win.

Before the second round of evidence search, Gu Ye began preparing her deceptive plan.

“Does anyone need a summary?” She asked with a light smile, her gaze steady and looking very competent.

The rich second generation, flipping through the evidence, heard her and replied, “You’re the prosecutor; you go ahead.”

“It’s my duty,” Gu Ye raised an eyebrow, the upward curve of her eyes radiating the charm of a mature woman. Lin Fan, sitting nearby, quietly blushed. Since meeting Gu Ye, she had wanted to be like her, but her round face made it hard to associate with cold beauty and strong presence.

At this moment, she watched Gu Ye’s performance with wide eyes full of admiration, making her look even cuter.

“Let’s start by looking at the motive. Currently, only two people’s motives have surfaced. The most obvious is Boss Ma. He threatened the deceased and Intern Xu witnessed it. There’s an irreconcilable financial conflict between him and the deceased…”

Before Gu Ye finished, the rich friend jumped up, eager to explain.

The first step to winning trust is to suppress before elevating.

Gu Ye threw him a reassuring look. “That’s his motive currently, but his opportunity for the crime is indeed limited. He ate dinner with the Beautiful Receptionist and the Female Lawyer, and the only time they had for the crime was the time spent going to the restroom. Unless relevant evidence appears later, I think the three of you can be tentatively ruled out, because strangulation takes time, and there’s no time-delay device at the scene. The time of death should be between when the deceased drank the coffee and 7:15 PM.”

“Exactly! You think just like me!” The rich friend applauded enthusiastically.

“The Beautiful Receptionist’s motive is workplace sexual assault, but the reason to rule her out is the same as Boss Ma’s. Therefore, as of now, the motives of the remaining three people are unclear. If we speculate further, I think we should expand on the workplace sexual harassment theme. One piece of gossip suggests the Beautiful Receptionist had ambiguous relationships with both Attorney Zhang and Intern Xu, so there might be a crime of passion. Also, the Female Lawyer saved the Beautiful Receptionist before, and their communication is secretive, including myself. Existing evidence points only to some small secrets of mine, but I don’t have the urgency to murder now. This should be provable in the second round of evidence search.”

“So who do you suspect?” Lin Fan diligently supported Gu Ye.

Gu Ye turned and gave her a slight smile, as warm as a spring breeze. It was as if she were a person who could switch between the winter wind and the spring breeze at will. “We still need to look at the second round of evidence search.”

“Then let’s go, second round of evidence search.”

The most important clue in the second round of evidence was the autopsy report.

1. Forensic identification: Ligature marks on the deceased’s neck. Two nails found in approximately the same location on both sides of the lungs.

2. Forensic autopsy report: The deceased died of respiratory functional impairment, but it cannot be determined whether the fatal injury came from the ligature marks on the neck or the nails in the lungs.

3. Scene investigation report: Attorney Zhang’s office was the primary scene of death.

Lin Fan, upon seeing the nails in the same position on both sides of the lungs, immediately knew this was Gu Ye’s method of killing. Only someone with medical knowledge could be so familiar with the human body to accurately pierce the lungs.

But the forensic doctor couldn’t determine the cause of death. How could Gu Ye determine it? Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but tug at the corner of the ‘high mountain flower’s’ jacket under the table.

She was hesitant, afraid of receiving cold words from the beautiful woman again, but perhaps the courage gained from the previous two times she was tugged made her subconsciously grab the jacket corner.

After tugging, she realized what she had done and quickly retracted her hand.

But Gu Ye had already turned to look at her, her eyes holding a gentle expectation. Her exceedingly beautiful eyes and expression formed a painting that was captivating and mesmerizing.

She seemed to understand Lin Fan’s confusion, simply looking at her steadily, with an expression that was firm and trustworthy.

“So, two people acted? One strangled and one nailed?” Yan Han stated logically. To protect her lover, Intern Xu, she could only drag Gu Ye into the water. “Then, according to the Surveillance Manager’s statement, the three of us didn’t have the time to commit the crime, so it must be you, Surveillance Manager.”

“It’s not me, don’t rush. Let’s first determine the time of death.”

In Gu Ye’s script, she was sure she acted after Intern Xu. So, what she needed to do now was push the time of death forward as much as possible.

“This should be the key evidence—Shattered Watch: The watch face faintly displays some numbers: $text{x}8$, $text{x}0$, $text{xx}$.”

“Yes, this should be the key evidence for determining the time of death. This watch is a heart monitor I gave the deceased. Because both of our heart conditions were not good on the medical check-up, I specifically bought it for him.”

The rich friend was so excited he nearly jumped up. He flipped through his script and found the watch’s function description. “This watch monitors and records every fifteen minutes. It’s black technology. It accurately records your health status. If the heart stops beating, the watch automatically stops recording and displays the last two recorded readings on the face.”

“Then the last two records should be $18:text{x}0$ and $18:text{xx}$,” Gu Ye said, her mind spinning quickly. Her time of murder was set, written in her script as 6:30 PM.

The script stated: You entered Attorney Zhang’s office and saw him slumped in his office chair. Based on your past emergency medical experience, you immediately saw that Attorney Zhang was not dead but merely unconscious, with ligature marks on his neck.

You originally planned to shoot a nail into his brainstem but suddenly thought of framing the person who acted before you. You changed your mind and shot the nails into Attorney Zhang’s lungs.

You were once a skilled doctor, and you confirmed that the two nails you shot in would cause bilateral pneumothorax due to a ruptured lung, leading to respiratory functional impairment. This reaction shares similar physical signs with asphyxiation.

After shooting the nails, you quickly left the scene as agreed with the Female Lawyer and returned to the restroom to continue installing the peeping device.

Earlier in the timeline, the time Attorney Zhang drank the coffee was confirmed to be 6:05 PM. According to the plan with the Female Lawyer, the coffee must have contained a sedative.

Perhaps Intern Xu acted when the sedative was taking effect, and the victim fell unconscious. Intern Xu then thought he had killed the person, so his time of action should be within the time the sedative took effect.

Only the “little rabbit” knew the sedative’s onset time. Gu Ye couldn’t help but glance at Lin Fan. The little rabbit looked innocent and was still flipping through the clues currently available in the second round.

What an innocent little sweetheart. Unable to get the sedative’s onset time, Gu Ye could only guess, and then she made a definitive statement. “I suggest that the three $text{x}$ are non-displayable numbers other than 8 and 0, because 8 and 0 can be displayed, but $text{x}$ cannot.”

Gu Ye started fabricating, desperately trying to eliminate “0” from the suspect group.

The previous analysis made the rich friend instinctively lean toward her logic. Lin Fan, the “little white rabbit,” earnestly agreed. “That makes sense. If it were 8 and 0, it would be displayed, so it wouldn’t be $text{x}$. Based on this theory, 1 cannot be displayed. Since we derived 18 from 8, the time blocks would be $18:10-18:25$, $18:20-18:35$, $18:30-18:45$, and $18:40-18:55$.”

Among the times Lin Fan proposed, Gu Ye needed to concoct a story to place the time at the first interval, as the later intervals were detrimental to her.

But Lin Fan immediately added, “I feel like it must be one of the intervals: $18:10-18:25$ or $18:40-18:55$.”

“Why?” Yan Han looked confused. Since they started analyzing the numbers, she had trouble keeping up. It was $text{x}8$; how did they confirm $text{x}$ was 1?

“Because only these two intervals have three non-displaying digits. The ones in the middle have four non-displaying digits: ‘1, 2, 3, 5’ and ‘1, 3, 4, 5.’ Statistically, I think the fewer the numbers, the more likely the non-displaying digits are similar, and I think we need to combine this with this clue.”

News Report on Objects Falling from Height Hitting a Pedestrian: According to the injured person’s memory, they left home at 7:00 PM that evening and went for a walk as usual. Suddenly, a watch fell from above and hit their head, causing them to collapse to the ground. Later, reporters learned that this was not an ordinary watch but a heart monitor. Witnesses reported the time it fell was between 7:00 PM and 7:20 PM.

Please do not litter randomly. Let’s start with ourselves to resist objects falling from heights!

“This clue states that this critical evidence was thrown down after 7:00 PM,” Lin Fan lowered her voice, staring at her sister. “I personally suspect you did it, because only the Beautiful Receptionist knew the deceased had a heart condition and would know this was not an ordinary watch. And when you and the Surveillance Manager went to meet Boss Ma, the Surveillance Manager’s wheelchair moved faster than you. This time point is also exactly between 7:00 PM and 7:20 PM.”

The rich friend’s gaze turned to Yan Han. Yan Han, who was protecting her lover Intern Xu by destroying the key evidence, pretended to be relaxed. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t have time to kill. I was eating dinner with all of you.”

“But you were panicked, and the time Intern Xu’s phone couldn’t be reached was also around 6:10 PM – 6:25 PM. It’s reasonable to suspect he was committing the murder at that time.”

Lin Fan pressed on, like the little white rabbit finally shedding its docile skin, revealing two big front teeth, chomping on the carrot.

“The Surveillance Manager also didn’t have an alibi at that time. Moreover, the evidence also mentions the nail gun was the repairman’s nail gun, and only the Surveillance Manager knew this gun existed,” Xu Sheng, unable to bear watching Yan Han being pressed, directly pointed out the core focus of the whole script.

But Gu Ye remained unhurried. “I’ve said it before, I had no urgent need to kill. The deceased only asked me to install a peeping device in the ladies’ room. Besides…” Gu Ye patted her wheelchair. “I cannot move the body.”

Everyone looked at the wheelchair. Xu Sheng’s eyes flickered, feeling a bit panicked. In fact, he couldn’t even be sure he was the killer until now.

But this tall young man worked at the police station and was used to handling emergencies; his mouth was faster than his mind. “The clue says you were wearing a white coat in front of the ambulance. You used to be a doctor! And since you have limited mobility, the nail gun suits you better.”

Lin Fan’s heart felt as if it was being grasped by an invisible hand. The random guesses of this police officer actually hit the key points!

Unlike Lin Fan, the killer Gu Ye could even nod in agreement. “Yes, that makes sense too, but it’s too weak to support a strong conclusion.”

“Why?”

“If you argue that way, the Female Lawyer is also a possibility. She handles medical lawsuits. And the evidence of the missing nail gun doesn’t just point to me; it also points to you, because you were the only one at the law firm during lunch. Furthermore…” Gu Ye’s gaze seemed to sweep casually, but it often paused on the rich friend, as if specifically brainwashing him.

“I mentioned the nail gun was missing during the initial timeline-setting. If I were the killer, I could have completely hidden that fact. Most importantly, I had no murder motive, but Intern Xu does. The theme of this script is workplace sexual harassment. From that perspective, Intern Xu’s murder motive is more urgent because the note the deceased left for the Beautiful Receptionist was about tonight.”

The last point regarding the note made the rich friend’s eyes light up. He nodded vigorously. “That’s right!”

Victory was already shifting towards Gu Ye and Lin Fan.

The game lasted more than two hours. When they walked out, it was past 9 PM, just as nightlife was starting, especially on this beautiful Friday, with the three-day Qingming holiday starting tomorrow.

Xu Sheng and the rich friend, having just learned the truth, gnashed their teeth, thumping their chests in frustration at Gu Ye.

“So, you are the murderer!”

Gu Ye was still sitting in the wheelchair, moving it forward playfully, looking particularly childlike and arrogant. “Of course, scapegoat.”

“Then how did you move the body?!”

“Because of me!” Lin Fan smiled radiantly, raising her hand convincingly, like a favorite student in class.

Yan Han, unwilling to roll her eyes at her sister, rolled them at the rich friend instead. “Are you stupid?”

The rich friend looked wronged, not daring to complain any further, like a timid bride.

After leaving, he immediately revived and suggested, “Everyone must be hungry, right? Let’s grab some late-night snacks!”

Yan Han knew her sister was self-controlled and practiced a healthy lifestyle, never eating late at night, so she raised her hand to refuse. “No thanks, it’s getting late. We’re going home.” She hadn’t managed to set up her sister with anyone, and they even lost the game. Depressing…

Lin Fan, however, tilted her head slightly, moving away from Yan Han’s obstruction. Her gaze naturally fell on Gu Ye, who was standing with Xu Sheng. Seeing the ‘high mountain flower’ nod, she immediately hugged Yan Han’s arm. “I’m a bit hungry too, Sis. You love late-night snacks the most. What’s wrong? Why are you acting so strangely?”

Yan Han could feel those two symbols taking shape on her beautiful forehead. What the hell! I’m acting strangely! You’re the one acting strangely! Lin Da Fan! You are not okay!

A flurry of thoughts passed through her mind. Yan Han glanced at the clearly abnormal Lin Fan, bit her lip, and sensed something was wrong!

Could my silly Fan Fan be having a romantic awakening?! Is she interested in this useless rich second generation? Or that wooden Officer Xu?!

Yan Han, a veteran in the dating scene, stared at Lin Fan like a cobra on the way to the barbecue place, but failed to notice any significant difference in Lin Fan’s behavior towards the two men.

But still, something isn’t right!

No! Neither of these two is suitable.

Holding this belief, when they sat down at the restaurant, with Gu Ye and Xu Sheng sitting in a row, Yan Han quickly claimed the seat opposite Xu Sheng. She also waved at the “useless rich friend,” pointing to the seat between her and Xu Sheng. “You sit here!”

The rich friend happily trotted over.

Lin Fan, who was a step behind, was left with the seat opposite Gu Ye.

Oh, dear!

Lin Fan felt like her body might instantly seize up. The sense of camaraderie forged during the game vanished.

And the cunning, charming Gu Ye from the game had now reverted to her icy demeanor, which immediately reminded Lin Fan of the previous times she was coldly rejected.

She sat down with almost identical movements of her arms and legs.

Sitting face-to-face, a glance could easily turn into a mutual stare.

Especially since Gu Ye knew she had previously misunderstood Lin Fan, she now propped her chin in her hand, intently watching the “little white rabbit.”

Why is this ‘high mountain flower’ staring at me!!!

The little white rabbit’s fur felt like it was being cooked.

Lin Fan’s large eyes moved. She forcibly averted her gaze, watching her sister order food.

Out of the corner of her eye, she was hyper-aware of Gu Ye, seeing her lower her head and chuckle softly.

When she looked down like that, her nose looked particularly sharp, her jawline distinct, and her prominent brow bone naturally cast a shadow over her slightly upturned eye corners.

Lin Fan swallowed. My high school literature teacher was right! Some people are just naturally alluring in every expression!

In her panic, she poured herself cold water and gulped a few mouthfuls.

The food hadn’t arrived yet. The rich friend habitually tried to liven up the atmosphere. “You really are a first-time player, aren’t you? That was amazing!” He said this to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan held her water glass, nodding obediently.

The rich friend sighed deeply, then suddenly felt Gu Ye’s unmistakable gaze. “Prosecutor Gu, you really should be a good person!”

“I am always a good person,” Gu Ye praised herself without reservation, her tone relaxed and slightly playful.

Lin Fan’s courage grew a little. “Gu Ye, we’ve met before. Do you remember me?”

The little rabbit’s eyes were moist, with a bit of a sheen, like high-quality gemstones. Gu Ye had misunderstood her before, and hearing her say this, her heart instantly softened, like a smooth pebble in a spring pool, all sharp edges gone, leaving only tenderness.

Gu Ye nodded, smiling, her voice involuntarily softening. “Of course. You introduced yourself to me. You are Lin Fan, the bailiff from the Anding District Court. I wasn’t polite enough to introduce myself, so how about we start over?”

Lin Fan excitedly pursed her lips and quickly extended her hand. “Hello, I’m Lin Fan. Lin for double wood, Fan for smooth sailing.”

The little white rabbit’s extended hand was as fair and tender as her face. She didn’t look like an enforcement officer but rather a pampered young lady.

Her personality was truly kind. Her smile showed no sign of resentment from Gu Ye’s previous rudeness, as if this truly was their first meeting.

So good, and so sweet.

This version of Lin Fan made the usually composed Gu Ye feel nervous. She suddenly stood up, extending her hand formally and sincerely, grasping the fair, soft little hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Gu Ye.”

Gu Ye held her hand gently but noticed that the little rabbit’s hand wasn’t as tender as it looked. The close contact revealed the rough texture of calluses from weightlifting and training.

“Wow, you’re making it so serious! I need to introduce myself too, hahaha!” The rich friend was even more enthusiastic.

Yan Han’s mouth twitched. “That’s not necessary. You introduce yourself, $text{A-sir}$.”

Xu Sheng, who was happily watching the drama unfold, turned his attention when Yan Han called his name.

Yan Han was truly beautiful, a completely different kind of beauty from Gu Ye.

Gu Ye was too cold and distant, beautiful but thorny, while Yan Han’s seductive beauty was the kind that men generally found incredibly attractive.

Xu Sheng was mesmerized by her smile, frozen for a moment. Like an idiot, he suddenly “boinged” up, almost hitting the chair behind him, which Gu Ye quickly steadied.

“My name is Xu Sheng. I work in Public Security, but I’m just a small police officer at the local station.”

His clumsiness amused Yan Han perfectly. The young lady slightly opened her red lips, smiling without speaking.

After the late-night snack, Lin Fan returned home. It was drizzling outside the window.

She sprawled on her bed, tossing and turning like a rolling giant panda.

The reason was simple: just before they parted, Gu Ye had added her on WeChat.

Lin Fan was usually a sharp and quick-witted girl, but hearing Gu Ye say, “Lin Fan, add me on WeChat,” with a slightly forceful tone at the beginning, and then a lowered voice at the end, “Is that okay?” sounded like a proud cat lowering its head.

Deadly!

In such a deadly situation, her answer was naturally: Of course! Absolutely!

She respectfully held up her phone. Here! You scan!

Having added Gu Ye on WeChat, Lin Fan now lay in bed, carefully tapping on Gu Ye’s profile picture.

She chanted internally: Fast, accurate, and decisive! Don’t accidentally tap “Poke”!

Fortunately, she successfully opened Gu Ye’s Moments.

Gu Ye’s profile picture was a painting: a dark silhouette facing the sea, giving it a profound, artistic feel.

Her Moments were clean. Besides some public account posts on legal topics, it was mostly promotional content from their Procuratorate.

In the six months’ visible content, the only post related to herself was a picture of a sunset taken from the office building, captioned: “The world knows the beautiful as beautiful, hence the ugly; it knows the good as good, hence the non-good.”

Lin Fan read the sentence from beginning to end, and then again, scratched her face, and instinctively Googled it.

“Why is it Tao Te Ching again? I have too much fate with this book lately,” Lin Fan muttered.

She earnestly read the analysis.

The meaning of the sentence is that when we define good, we also define evil; the opposite of good is evil.

“The world knows the beautiful as beautiful, hence the ugly; it knows the good as good, hence the non-good.” Lin Fan couldn’t help but recite the sentence, as if chewing on some special significance.

Yan Han, worried that her sister might be interested in the “useless rich friend” or the “blockhead,” painstakingly carried warm milk upstairs. As she pushed the door open, she heard Lin Fan’s recitation.

“Wow, are you starting to read books recently? You’re so cultured now!”

Lin Fan immediately retorted, “I graduated from a legitimate full-time undergraduate program, alright! Sis, how old am I! I don’t want to drink milk anymore!”

Yan Han brought the warmed milk to Lin Fan’s mouth. “The milk I ordered is very expensive, and it tastes very pure. Have some, otherwise… I’ll pour it away!”

“No! Don’t waste food.” Lin Fan, who was taught to cherish food since childhood, was hit by Yan Han’s little trick and took the glass of milk.

“Drink more milk; it’s good for your health and makes your skin whiter. Do you know how much effort your sister puts into your snow-white skin! I don’t even take this much care of myself! Sigh…”

At this point, Yan Han sighed, feeling the calluses left by Lin Fan’s weightlifting and training on her palm. My sister is dedicated to protecting the country, and these calluses are only a small part of the sweat she puts in. “Are you using the hand cream I gave you?”

Lin Fan didn’t care. “It’s useless. It’s just psychological comfort.”

“You’re acting normal now, at least,” Yan Han muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing! Does it taste good?”

“It’s okay. It seems a bit richer. Want a sip?”

“I prepared one for myself. By the way, what do you think of Xu Sheng?” Yan Han began to subtly probe.

“Nah, he’s a police officer, not one of those young guys in your entertainment circle.”

“What is that supposed to mean!” Yan Han pouted. She came to probe Lin Fan’s intentions but was immediately provoked. “What? Is a great beauty like me not good enough for a small police officer?!”

“That’s not what I meant. I just think you two are not in the same circle. He looks reliable, and you…” Lin Fan looked left and right, patting her cousin’s hair, inheriting some of Chen Qian’s sharp tongue. “You look flighty.”

Yan Han nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. “What do you mean, flighty! You have no idea how grounded your sister is! Just you watch! I actually think this Intern Xu is quite good!”

“Hey! You’re too deep in your role!” Lin Fan called out.

But Yan Han had already lifted her head like a proud peacock, and was looking to…