I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 147: Chapter 145: The Real Su Miaoyi

It was a little after eight in the evening.

Qin Chengyuan returned home.

His home was a three-bedroom apartment.

He didn’t see Shen Shilan in the living room. Walking further inside, he noticed the door to Qin Leyan’s room was open, and he could hear sounds coming from within.

Shen Shilan was tidying up the room.

Ever since Qin Leyan had left for her mission... this room had been cleaned daily, but nothing inside had ever been moved.

Especially since they had lost contact with Qin Leyan right after she left.

At the time, they had assumed she had failed her mission and was gone.

That was why they hadn’t dared to touch anything in her room.

Now, Shen Shilan was adding a few new things and had even changed the sheets and duvet cover to a new set.

Shen Shilan was organizing the books on a shelf when she turned and saw Qin Chengyuan standing at the door. She jumped. ”You didn’t make a sound! You scared me.”

Qin Chengyuan smiled and walked into the bedroom. He flipped through one of the books on the shelf. ”See? She was always a troublemaker, even as a kid. Yan Zhou’s textbooks were always neat and tidy, but hers were a riot of color.”

”Yan Zhou has been a neat freak since he was little. He’s gotten a bit better as he’s grown up,” Shen Shilan said with a laugh. ”Oh... I still remember when her teacher called us to the school for a talk because her textbook was covered in drawings like this. We weren’t as busy back then as we are now.”

Qin Chengyuan chuckled. ”The teacher said she didn’t pay attention in class. She’d just look around and draw all of her classmates in her textbook.”

Shen Shilan laughed out loud at the memory. ”And then after we left the school, we worried the whole way home. In all our years, we’ve met a lot of people, but we’d never seen anyone who was so terrible at drawing.”

”You can’t even call these portraits of her classmates.” Shen Shilan looked at the textbook. ”I almost thought she was studying oracle bone script.”

Qin Chengyuan laughed. ”And then you were so worried you signed her up for an art class. A month later, the teacher insisted on refunding your money.”

Shen Shilan smiled, wiping away a tear. ”So many years have passed in a flash.”

Qin Chengyuan helped her wipe her tears. ”Did you go see her today?”

”I went to find Yan Zhou and ran into her.” Shen Shilan paused, then looked up at him. ”You went to see her too?”

Qin Chengyuan nodded. ”I had some free time this afternoon, so I had Yan Zheng bring her to the department.”

Shen Shilan’s eyes welled with tears as she looked at him.

Qin Chengyuan looked back at her. After a few seconds, he nodded.

Shen Shilan burst into tears, grabbing his arm. ”I told you I wasn’t mistaken! It’s Lele, it’s Lele! I’m her mother. I’m her mother! How could I not recognize my own child?”

Qin Chengyuan pulled her into his arms, patting her back.

This afternoon, after Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi left, he had been in a daze for a long time.

For the first time in many years, he had zoned out during a meeting.

He had thought it was impossible.

But the moment he met Su Miaoyi, especially after speaking with her, he was truly certain.

Even though she didn’t seem to remember, she was still the same as before.

Part of him was overjoyed and thrilled, while another part found it all unbelievable.

But then again, her ability to see visions of the crime scene... wasn’t that also something magical?

Besides... his superiors had approved the application surprisingly quickly. They didn’t seem shocked at all. Instead, they just instructed him to maintain secrecy.

Didn’t that mean... that some things exist, but must be kept confidential?

Shen Shilan pulled away from his embrace and wiped her tears. ”Even the tea she brews tastes just like it did back then.”

Qin Chengyuan smiled and wiped his own eyes. ”A pity I didn’t get to drink it today. I was the one who made the tea.”

”There’ll be chances in the future. Plenty of chances,” Shen Shilan said, patting his arm.

Qin Chengyuan nodded, composing himself. ”Shilan, we must keep this matter an absolute secret from everyone.”

”I know.”

”Also, she doesn’t recognize us,” Qin Chengyuan said. ”We don’t know the specifics of what happened, and what’s more...”

Qin Chengyuan told her about Su Miaoyi’s ability to see visions of the crime scenes.

Shen Shilan’s eyes widened in astonishment, and she was speechless for a long moment.

”My superiors instructed me that it must be kept secret,” Qin Chengyuan said.

Shen Shilan nodded blankly.

”Most importantly, her current identity is entirely Su Miaoyi’s, and she has ties to the Ji Family. Then there are the Ji Family’s relatives...” Qin Chengyuan analyzed.

Shen Shilan looked at him.

Qin Chengyuan continued, ”My point is, what we know is limited. We’re sure it’s Lele, but everything else... this could run much deeper than we realize. From what we understand of the world, this is an impossible situation.”

Faced with something beyond his understanding, he could only speculate and act as cautiously as possible.

After all, while they were sure, Su Miaoyi didn’t seem to remember them at all.

”But it has happened, so we need to stay calm. We should see what Le Yan does and not interfere too much.” Qin Chengyuan stroked her arm. ”Let’s not rush to reveal the truth, in case it has some unforeseen negative consequences.”

Shen Shilan understood what he was saying. She had been so overjoyed that she hadn’t thought about many of these things.

She nodded quickly. ”I understand, I understand.”

It’s best not to speak too much of things that defy common sense, lest it invite disaster.

Shen Shilan nodded again.

”We should also avoid discussing it, even between ourselves,” Qin Chengyuan said. ”It’s enough that we both know.”

”Okay. I know,” Shen Shilan said.

”And don’t be anxious.” Qin Chengyuan hugged her again. ”This is all just speculation for now. We’ll follow Lele’s lead.”

Shen Shilan leaned against him. ”Okay.”

...

Su Miaoyi took a few strands of Cai Qinglian’s hair to the hospital, along with a few strands of her own.

She had a DNA test done.

The results naturally showed that the two of them were not biologically related.

What Su Miaoyi wanted were the detailed values of Cai Qinglian’s DNA profile.

Once she had the values, she went to the municipal bureau to look up the DNA values of the skeleton unearthed from beneath the Shen family’s Xinyuan Square.

She had learned how to perform the comparison.

She compared the base pairs of the two DNA samples.

The final result was that the two were biologically related.

Therefore, the skeleton belonged to Su Miaoyi.

The real Su Miaoyi.

...

Yan Cheng had been very busy lately.

He had lectures at the university and students’ theses to grade.

Su Miaoyi chose a time when he was at his busiest to ask him to open the anatomy lab.

She said she wanted to take another look at the skeleton.

Once the lab was open, Su Miaoyi told him to go back to his work.

”Will you be okay here by yourself?” Yan Cheng asked.

”I’ll be fine,” Su Miaoyi said with certainty.

”Are you sure?” Yan Cheng double-checked. ”I can have Xiao Gao come over.”

Xiao Gao was his assistant.

”No need. I don’t know him well,” Su Miaoyi said. ”He might get in my way.”

”Alright then,” Yan Cheng said. ”Call me if you need anything.”

”Mm.”

After he left, Su Miaoyi uncovered the skeleton and looked at the bones before her.

”I don’t know if you can still hear me now. I can’t remember a lot of things; my head is filled with your memories. I don’t know why I was able to come back, but I do remember you asked me to take care of your parents and your little brother.”

”I will. You can rest assured.”

Su Miaoyi’s gaze turned cold and resolute. ”I will also find whoever hurt you. I will avenge you, and I will never let them go.”

After speaking, she paused for a moment, and the look in her eyes softened. ”Cheng Jue’s art school entrance exam scores are excellent. He ranked third at the Film Academy and second at the Drama College. I don’t think he’ll have any problem with the academic portion, either. He’ll definitely get in.”

”You don’t need to worry about his future; I’ll pave the way for him. Your parents are doing well, too. The old city district is scheduled for demolition, and I’ll make sure to pick out a good new home for them. I’ve been calculating your finances lately. The royalty payments have still been coming in. I spent some of it, but I’ve already paid it all back.”

”I’ll use some of your money, save up a little more of my own, and buy an apartment for them or for Cheng Jue.”

”Also... I still have to live on as you, so I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here for a while. Once the time is up and you remain unclaimed, I’ll find a way to take you away from here.”

”To a beautiful place you’d like, with mountains and rivers.”

”I’ll visit you often. I’ll bring you your favorite flowers and your favorite foods.”

...