I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 146: Chapter 144: Pulled a Few Hairs

The water in the cup spilled onto the desk.

Slowly, it spread across the surface.

But Qin Chengyuan didn’t react in the slightest. He just stared dazedly at Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi stood at just the right distance from his desk—not too far, not too close.

”Director, I’m Su Miaoyi, a consultant for the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment,” she began.

Qin Chengyuan snapped back to his senses and suddenly shot to his feet.

But once he was standing, he froze again.

Su Miaoyi looked at him, then glanced at the water on his desk. ”Um... the water.”

Qin Chengyuan’s gaze followed hers to the desk, and he quickly righted the cup.

Luckily, the water hadn’t soaked any documents.

He was usually very careful to keep his cup from tipping over and wetting any documents.

That was why he kept his documents and his water separate, far away from each other.

Su Miaoyi grabbed some tissues from a nearby table and wiped up the water. When she was done, she put the tissues back and returned to her original spot.

Qin Chengyuan glanced again at the file by his side.

It had Su Miaoyi’s ID photo on it.

He could tell the person in the photo was the woman standing before him.

But... the woman standing before him and the person in the photo were also very different.

Yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on what that difference was.

Su Miaoyi said nothing, simply standing there quietly.

Qin Chengyuan looked up at her again.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze. After a moment, she blinked. ”Director, Captain Zhuang said you wanted to see me.”

Snapping back to reality, Qin Chengyuan asked, ”Where’s Zhuang Yanzheng?”

”He’s outside,” Su Miaoyi replied.

”Tell him to come in.”

Su Miaoyi took a few steps back, turned to open the door, and called Zhuang Yanzheng inside.

Qin Chengyuan searched in his tea cabinet for a moment before pulling a cake of tea from the very back.

And so, Su Miaoyi found herself drinking the same kind of Pu’er tea that Shen Yanzhou kept at her place.

’Just as I thought. Only the tea I brew myself tastes this bad.’

The three of them then briefly discussed work matters, touching upon Su Miaoyi’s ability to see the crime process.

Qin Chengyuan asked for a more detailed explanation.

This continued until someone knocked and entered to remind Qin Chengyuan it was time for his meeting.

Only then did Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng leave the office.

Su Miaoyi remained silent from the moment they left the office until they were in the car.

On the drive back to the municipal bureau, Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her. ”You weren’t so nervous you lost your voice, were you?”

His voice pulled Su Miaoyi out of her thoughts.

She set her thoughts aside for the moment.

Then she raised her hands and made a flurry of gestures at him.

Keeping his eyes on the road, Zhuang Yanzheng watched her wild gestures out of the corner of his eye. ”Mhm, I understand. You’re saying you’re happy to help with cases from now on and don’t need to be paid. Sure, I’ll report that to my superiors.”

Su Miaoyi: ”???!!!”

He glanced at her shocked, bewildered, and furious expression, then chuckled. ”We’ll give you a ’Model Citizen’ banner every month instead.”

”You and your big mouth,” Su Miaoyi said, glaring at him. ”Just be quiet!”

”Childish,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, pulling the car over to the side of the road.

”What’s wrong?” Su Miaoyi quickly scanned their surroundings.

”It’s nothing,” Zhuang Yanzheng said as he got out. ”I’m grabbing some drinks to feed the troops back at the office.”

Su Miaoyi glanced at the nearby bubble tea shop and got out of the car as well.

While Zhuang Yanzheng waited for the drinks, Su Miaoyi watched the pedestrians pass by on the street.

”Come here,” Zhuang Yanzheng called out.

Su Miaoyi walked over to him.

”Here,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, handing her a cup first.

As Su Miaoyi took the drink, Zhuang Yanzheng unwrapped a straw and stuck it in for her. ”Go on.”

Sipping her bubble tea, Su Miaoyi went back to the curb to continue observing the pedestrians.

In fact, ever since that moment she had suddenly ”awakened” with a head full of new knowledge, after a lifetime of believing she was simply Su Miaoyi, she had grown quite fond of observing the people around her.

As she was watching, a familiar figure came into view.

And they were getting closer and closer.

Su Miaoyi looked at Cai Qinglian and Ji Sheng.

She realized they had just driven past her.

They must have seen her, because they had stopped their car and were now walking back.

Su Miaoyi wanted to walk away, but after a moment’s thought, she stood her ground.

”Miaomiao,” Cai Qinglian called out with a smile.

Ji Sheng asked, ”What are you doing here? Are you heading somewhere? We can give you a ride.”

”No, that’s alright,” Su Miaoyi said, looking at them. ”I’m just buying something here.”

”Did you move again?” Cai Qinglian asked. ”Where are you living now?”

Su Miaoyi didn’t answer, her eyes glancing at the woman’s hair.

’For a DNA test, I need hair with the follicles attached.’

With that thought, Su Miaoyi suddenly tugged Cai Qinglian toward her.

Cai Qinglian, wearing high heels, stumbled forward two steps. As she lost her balance, Su Miaoyi reached out to steady her.

In that single motion of pulling and steadying, she’d managed to grab a few strands of hair.

”Ow!” Cai Qinglian cried out, touching her hair. ”What are you doing?!”

”I just saw a bug fall from the tree,” Su Miaoyi said, gesturing with her hand. ”It was this big, black, and had antennae.”

Frightened, Cai Qinglian quickly scrambled a few steps away.

”What are you yelling for? She was doing it for your own good,” Ji Sheng said.

Cai Qinglian pouted but said nothing.

Just then, Zhuang Yanzheng walked over.

”Captain Zhuang, you’re here as well,” Ji Sheng said, quickly greeting him.

”President Ji, Mrs. Ji,” Zhuang Yanzheng greeted them before turning to Su Miaoyi. ”There are two more big bags. Go get them.”

As Su Miaoyi went to get the drinks, she slipped the strands of hair into her pocket.

Zhuang Yanzheng held the two large bags of drinks in one hand. ”President Ji, I still have matters to attend to at the station, so we’ll be leaving now.”

Su Miaoyi came over carrying the other drinks, took the car keys from Zhuang Yanzheng, and went to open the car door.

Ji Sheng walked alongside Zhuang Yanzheng, chatting with him until they reached the car.

Then he watched as Zhuang Yanzheng’s car drove away.

Cai Qinglian slowly sauntered over. ”I’ve really had enough of this life! All this groveling... when will it ever end!”

Ji Sheng said nothing.

”And did you see that damn girl’s attitude toward us? She acts like she wants to be a thousand miles away,” Cai Qinglian said.

”And whose fault is that?” Ji Sheng retorted, looking at her. ”If you had just treated her properly when we took her in, or if you had paid Cheng Yong on time, things would never have reached this point. This was all your and your brother’s idea.”

”But you agreed to it, didn’t you?” Cai Qinglian shot back. ”You could have said no. Now you’re just pushing all the blame onto me and my brother.”

Not wanting to argue with her, Ji Sheng turned and walked straight to their car.

Cai Qinglian hurried after him. ”Back when you needed connections, when you wanted to climb the ladder and needed support, your ’dear brother-in-law’ was your savior. Now that the Cais have fallen on hard times, we’ve all become the villains of the Ji Family, is that it?”

Ji Sheng still didn’t say a word.

Cai Qinglian continued, ”Both before and after you started your business, my brother put in a lot of effort, didn’t he? He helped you a great deal to get where you are today. Do you really need to turn on us so quickly?”

”Shut up.” Ji Sheng stopped in his tracks and suddenly whirled on her. ”He was helping *you*, not me. Why else do you think I married you? If it wasn’t for the sake of your brother, why would I have married you? With your intelligence, you’re useless at everything except being arrogant and bossy.”

”Just look at Ji Jiabao’s grades! She gets that entirely from you! If it weren’t for the debt I owe your brother for his past help, do you think the two of us could have made it this long?”

Cai Qinglian couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Tears instantly streamed down her face. ”What did you just say? What did you say?!”

”Don’t make a scene out here. Go home!” Ji Sheng hissed.

Feeling wronged, Cai Qinglian bit her lip. After a moment, she wiped her tears and followed him...