I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 273: Chapter 271: Have You Been Deceived?

Su Miaoyi wasn’t quite sure how Shen Jun had handled the Ji Family.

In any case, all the messy rumors about her and Shen Yanzhou were gone.

They had vanished completely.

And that evening, Su Miaoyi received a call from Zhuang Yanzheng, who was clearly enjoying the show.

So the next day, Su Miaoyi ”accidentally” sprinkled salt into his cup.

Zhuang Yanzheng took a sip, giving his mouth a nice ”disinfection.”

So after lunch, he snatched Su Miaoyi’s snacks.

When it was time to get off work, Su Miaoyi stayed at the studio and bad-mouthed him with Lu Zhishen for an hour before finally going home.

As Zhuang Yanzheng was leaving work, he passed by the studio and happened to hear the two of them talking about him.

He muttered ”Childish” from outside the door and went home.

The next day, Zhuang Yanzheng came down with a cold and started sneezing, insisting it was because the two of them had been bad-mouthing him.

The investigation into Lu Xian’s case was still ongoing, but there hadn’t been any progress.

And Su Miaoyi hadn’t seen anything else.

「On the weekend」, Shen Shilan accompanied Su Miaoyi to the hospital to get her stitches removed.

When the gauze was lifted and Shen Shilan saw the stitched wound, her face went pale.

A wound that long, stretching from her wrist to her elbow...

She was so heartbroken she was speechless.

When Su Miaoyi wasn’t looking, she quickly turned her head to wipe away a tear.

The doctor said the healing was coming along nicely, and the other wounds on her body were also recovering well.

He prescribed some scar-reducing medication.

After picking up the prescription, they started to leave. They had just stepped out of the hospital and hadn’t walked more than a few steps when Su Miaoyi heard a familiar voice.

”See? I was just getting some stitches out. It’s no big deal. You didn’t have to come all this way. You could have slept in; it’s the weekend.”

It was Zhuang Yanzheng’s voice. Su Miaoyi tilted her head and looked over.

”I’m just being considerate of a single guy’s feelings. Otherwise, you’d be here all by your pitiful lonesome while everyone else has company.”

It was Ms. Yan.

Su Miaoyi watched, her head still tilted.

Zhuang Yanzheng laughed. ”Mom, actually, I’m pretty pitiful going to and from work by myself every day, too. If you could just chauffeur me around...”

As he spoke, he must have felt her gaze, because he suddenly turned his head.

”In your dreams,” Yan Zhiqing said.

Su Miaoyi’s and Zhuang Yanzheng’s gazes met. His sharp look startled her.

”What is it?” Shen Shilan sensed her sharp intake of breath and followed her gaze, spotting Zhuang Yanzheng as well.

Su Miaoyi instinctively glared back.

Seeing Shen Shilan, Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Zhiqing walked over.

”Aunt Shen.”

”Auntie,” Su Miaoyi greeted Yan Zhiqing.

But Yan Zhiqing stared at Su Miaoyi, then at Shen Shilan, speechless for a long moment.

”Zhiqing, you’re here with Yan Zheng to get his stitches out, too?” Shen Shilan spoke first.

Yan Zhiqing was staring at Su Miaoyi and didn’t seem to hear her.

Both Su Miaoyi and Shen Shilan looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng placed a hand on Yan Zhiqing’s shoulder and easily spun her around.

Even with her back to them, Yan Zhiqing was still craning her neck to look at Su Miaoyi.

Zhuang Yanzheng physically blocked her line of sight with his hand.

Yan Zhiqing slapped his hand away and pulled him aside.

”Shilan, are you here for...”

”Her arm was injured, too. She’s getting her stitches out today,” Shen Shilan said.

”How’s the recovery going? What did the doctor say?” Yan Zhiqing asked.

”Very well. He prescribed some medication for the scars.”

”That’s good, that’s good.” Yan Zhiqing looked at Su Miaoyi. ”We’ve met before, remember?”

”I remember. Hello, Auntie,” Su Miaoyi said.

Yan Zhiqing smiled, but her gaze toward Shen Shilan held a look that seemed to say, ’My heart aches for you, I understand.’

Zhuang Yanzheng stood to the side, watching Ms. Yan, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

The four of them chatted for a little while before parting ways.

On the way back, Yan Zhiqing was silent in the car.

Zhuang Yanzheng tried to make small talk several times, but Yan Zhiqing didn’t respond.

It wasn’t until they got home and stepped into the living room that Yan Zhiqing let out a sigh.

Zhuang Yanzheng stood by the door, not moving.

Yan Zhiqing said, ”Shilan must miss Le Yan so terribly. That’s why she’s being so good to someone who looks so much like her.”

Zhuang Yanzheng froze for a moment.

’No wonder she didn’t have a bigger reaction,’ he thought. ’So this is what she thinks.’

”I used to think that seeing someone who looked so similar would only make the pain worse...” Yan Zhiqing sighed again. ”But I’ve never experienced the pain Shilan has. I can’t truly empathize. That’s just what I thought, not necessarily how Shilan feels. Besides, the resemblance is just too strong. She looks exactly like Le Yan.”

Zhuang Yanzheng walked over to her, took her arm, and glanced around. Seeing that the housekeeper wasn’t in the living room, he whispered, ”Mom, that *is* Le Yan. It’s not someone else.”

”Huh?” Yan Zhiqing was completely bewildered.

”With the way Aunt Shen’s family does things, would they really treat a stranger as if she were Le Yan?” Zhuang Yanzheng whispered.

”Zhuang Yanzheng, did they jostle your brain when they took your stitches out at the hospital? What nonsense are you spouting?” Yan Zhiqing said. ”I... Le Yan... I...”

She thought of Qin Leyan’s body all those years ago, but couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

”Mom, it’s not something I can explain in just a sentence or two. It’s just... some supernatural phenomenon occurred, and she came back,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”It’s... she’s in Su Miaoyi’s body now, but she is Le Yan.”

Yan Zhiqing blinked. And blinked again.

At that moment, she felt that either there was something wrong with her ears, or something was wrong with Zhuang Yanzheng’s brain.

Although when she first saw Su Miaoyi, she thought the resemblance was so uncanny she’d almost mistaken her for...

But... the dead can’t be brought back to life...

No matter how much they looked alike, it was impossible.

”Mom,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, trying to get her attention.

”Have you all been tricked?” Yan Zhiqing looked at him, worried. ”Is someone trying to plant a spy in your midst?”

’Like mother, like son.’

He had thought the same thing when he first met Su Miaoyi.

”I need to see her. I don’t feel right about this,” Yan Zhiqing said. ”It’s too dangerous.”

”Mom, you know what your son does for a living. How could I be fooled?” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”It’s different. You’re too close to the situation, and emotions can cloud one’s judgment. Your feelings for her run too deep; it’s affecting your perception. An enemy would use exactly that to get to you,” Yan Zhiqing said. ”I have to go see her myself.”

”Mom...”

”Don’t say another word.” Yan Zhiqing held up a hand. ”Bringing up supernatural phenomena... what is all this nonsense?”

”Mom, if it were fake, why would I ever say something like ’supernatural phenomenon’? I’m only telling you because I saw it with my own eyes and experienced it myself. Besides, who would use such a method to deceive someone? It’s too crude.”

”Exactly. You just said it yourself: who would use this kind of method? The enemy would also think no one would believe it, so they do the exact opposite of what’s expected, and you all fall for it,” Yan Zhiqing said. ”That Lu Xian... you trusted him completely, too. And what happened?”

Zhuang Yanzheng’s eyes flickered. Sensing her anxiety, he gently tightened his grip on her arm. ”Fine. Go see her first. After you’ve met her, we can talk again.”

Yan Zhiqing grabbed his arm in return and looked at him. After a moment, she said, ”Yan Zheng, your mother really can’t bear to go through something like waiting outside the emergency room for you ever again.”

Zhuang Yanzheng rarely saw the ever-strong Ms. Yan like this. The last time was when he had been shot by Lu Xian. After lying unconscious for days, he had woken up to see her sobbing, and she herself had been hospitalized shortly after.

”Don’t worry. Nothing like that will ever happen again.”

Yan Zhiqing looked at his cheeky grin and smacked the arm he had just gotten the stitches out of.

...