Lin Zehui gritted his teeth. “Don’t worry, my dear brother. Whether I’m drinking, partying, or fooling around, I won’t bring the Lin Group any bad press. In your eyes, I was struck from the family register long ago, wasn’t I?”

After Lin Zedong left, Lawyer Jin turned to Lin Zehui and offered a reminder.

“If you know Dr. Sang and still intend to pursue her, I’d advise you to keep your distance for now. With a case involved—and you tangled up in it—she won’t exactly be in the best mood.”

As for how he knew Sang Ning, or what his relationship with her was, he naturally had no intention of telling Lin Zehui.

He had dealt with Sang Ning before, and he was being paid by the Lin Group. A word of warning was as far as he would go.

Lin Zehui wanted to ask more, but even a mere lawyer dared give him attitude now.

Lawyer Jin got into another car and sped off.

For a while, Lin Zehui was left standing alone outside the police station in the freezing night wind.

Yet he felt no cold at all.

Xiao Zhang stood on the steps outside the station, glanced at the man waiting below, then looked back at Sang Ning.

“Dr. Sang, that young master is still waiting outside. You really don’t plan to see him? Maybe ask him clearly? It might actually be a misunderstanding.”

“There’s nothing for us to talk about.”

Sang Ning turned away coldly and walked to the door of another interrogation room, lifting her chin slightly.

“What about the one in here?”

Xiao Zhang looked inside and smacked his forehead.

“Look at me, forgetting the important thing. This guy confessed to everything. Says he came back to clean up the scene. He’s taking the blame for every little thing. I don’t think it’s that simple.”

He quickly gathered the statement in his hand.

“I’ll go find Captain Gu.”

Sang Ning frowned slightly as she looked at the man inside.

She’d never had much contact with Li Xiaoqiang before. It was only because of Professor Chen’s relationship with his father, Professor Li, that they’d added each other and chatted a little.

In truth, it had been an attempt to let them develop something.

Sang Ning had graduated from medical school. Li Xiaoqiang had not.

Relying on the fact that his father was a professor there, he’d assumed a back door would get him in. In the end, he’d only managed to scrape together a vocational diploma.

If not for his decent family background, no well-educated woman would ever look twice at such a thug.

But Sang Ning was different.

She had no background. No one to rely on.

Finding a man capable of protecting her was no easy thing.

To her, relying on others would never be as reliable as relying on herself.

She had working hands and feet. Her eyes could see now.

What could be more frightening than having once been blind?

“Dr. Sang? Why are you back again?”

Old Chen’s voice came from behind her.

He was nearly sixty, and seeing him at the station in the middle of the night surprised Sang Ning just as much.

“Why are you still here at this hour?”

Old Chen sighed. “Exactly. Unlike you youngsters, who were lucky enough not to run into the director. Add in the new captain, and the director was too embarrassed to put pressure on him directly—so all the pressure landed on me.

I saw the new captain come back just now too. Thought you’d all gone home. What, did you find something new?”

Sang Ning nodded and pointed to the man in the interrogation room.

“Professor Li from the medical school’s son.”

“Quite the background,” Old Chen said. “I also heard your ex-boyfriend is the young master of the Lin Group. When did that happen? How come I didn’t know?”

His expression clearly said: *If you don’t explain tonight, I’m not letting this go.*

Sang Ning rubbed her temples and was just about to speak when that scumbag’s voice rang out.

“Ningning, still not off work?”

They both turned.

Lin Zehui was standing by the entrance, waving at her.

“That one? Who’s he?” Old Chen adjusted his glasses. It was dark, and the poor lighting did his aging eyes no favors.

Sang Ning gave a cold laugh.

“My ex. As for him being some young master of the Lin Group, I don’t know when I ever got involved with the Lin family. He came in the middle of the night begging for forgiveness.

When he called me, he said he was coming to Ping’an Apartments. But something happened there, and it caused quite a stir. Plenty of people know about it. We’re all in Yancheng—there’s no way he didn’t hear even a whisper of it.”

Even if the police had locked down the information, an incident that big couldn’t stay completely quiet. Passersby could tell from the sirens that something had happened.

Someone would mention it in a group chat.

Or post it on Moments.

That kind of thing was common.

With Lin Zehui’s social circle, Sang Ning might once have believed he truly knew nothing.

But now that she knew his real identity?

If he claimed complete ignorance, she wouldn’t believe a word.

“Fair point,” Old Chen said. “But since you two know each other, would he tell you the truth? Maybe you should make contact?”

“No need. She’s already married.”

Gu Yezhou walked out just then and patted Old Chen on the shoulder.

“I left the evidence from the scene on your desk. Sorry to trouble you with the testing. But at this hour, don’t push yourself. Go home and rest. A few hours won’t make a difference.”

The information he’d found on Shi Li was unexpectedly connected to both the Lin Group and the medical school.

In other words, Shi Li’s death was very likely tied to one of the two.

And either way, commercial interests were involved.

“Married? When did she get married?” Old Chen glared at Sang Ning.

Sang Ning opened her mouth.

What was she supposed to say?

*The man she married is standing right in front of you?*

She’d originally thought about posting it on Moments because he was handsome—bringing him out would have made her look good.

Now everything was complicated.

He was the newly appointed criminal investigation captain.

What was this supposed to be?

An office romance?

“Don’t worry about that, Old Chen. Get some rest,” Gu Yezhou said, coughing lightly as he nudged him toward the office. “It’s windy out here. Go inside.”

“I’m fine. Strong as an ox.”

Old Chen patted his chest and straightened his back. Somehow, the topic drifted further and further off course until he began asking Gu Yezhou whether *he* was married and what kind of girl he liked.

Sang Ning watched their backs and laughed helplessly.

“What’s gotten into Old Chen tonight? He’s practically buzzing.”

She was about to slip away when Old Chen called out again.

“Oh, right, Xiao Sang! Your test result is ready. Come to my office and get it.”

Sang Ning answered and strode into the technical squad’s office.

Inside, it was almost completely dark. Only a desk lamp glowed in the corner.

One man stood there telling someone to go rest early.

The other sat at his desk, studying the ashtray in his hand.

Sang Ning couldn’t stand it anymore.

She walked over and flipped on the lights. The whole office brightened instantly.

“Old Chen, seriously. It’s not like you’re paying the electric bill at home. You work with evidence testing and analysis—can you please take care of your eyes?”

Perhaps it was age, but he’d become more and more frugal with electricity and water.

“Ah, it’s just me in the office,” Old Chen said. “As for the report you wanted—knowing you hate all that technical jargon, I’ll put it simply: someone stuffed a pair of stinky socks in there. The fibers should be from acrylic socks. There were plenty of clothes in the wardrobe at the scene. You should search through them tomorrow.”

Sang Ning glanced at the report and nodded.

“Got it. Thank you.”

Then she turned and shoved the report into Gu Yezhou’s hands.