When Shen Chen was called on, he scratched his head, his expression turning serious.

“The victim: Shi Li, a Yancheng native.

His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother raised him alone. After graduating from college, Shi Li lived off her for years.

Three years ago, his mother died of cancer. Shi Li inherited only a small portion of her assets.

After that, his mother’s family kicked him out. With nowhere else to go, he sold one illustration and moved into Ping’an Apartments.

Occupation: commercial illustrator. Later switched to drawing comics.

His current hit serial is *The Campus Belle’s Daily Life*. It’s hugely popular in the community, but it’s free and makes no profit.

From what I found online, Shi Li was arrogant about his work. He believed good art shouldn’t be commercialized and hated business collaborations.

Early on, he was forced by circumstances to sell one of his works. Ever since, he treated it like a stain on his life and repeatedly emphasized online that he would never license his art to any company.”

At that point, Shen Chen picked up the remote and switched the image on the projector.

It was Shi Li’s Weibo page.

The comic shown there was the same poster Sang Ning and Gu Yezhou had seen the night before.

An illustration for the Lin Group’s new product launch. The heroine was a stylized anime character. At first glance, Gu Yezhou had even said she looked like Sang Ning.

Shen Chen pointed a red laser at the heroine in the image.

“Based on my investigation, the female lead in Shi Li’s comic has a real-life model. And that model isn’t far away at all.”

He looked at Sang Ning with a smile.

In an instant, every eye in the office turned to her.

Sang Ning regretted everything.

She never should have come to the criminal investigation unit.

“In the comic, Dr. Sang’s character is the campus goddess everyone worships. Of course, our Dr. Sang is much prettier in real life.”

Shen Chen winked playfully at her.

Gu Yezhou tapped the table. “Get to the point.”

Shen Chen coughed into his fist.

“I checked Shi Li’s hard drives, computer, and backups. A large portion of the files are candid photos of Dr. Sang. Based on what I’ve found so far, Shi Li rarely went out.

Those偷拍—those candid shots—were taken by someone else. Namely, Li Xiaoqiang, who is currently in the interrogation room.

On the very day Dr. Sang moved in, Li Xiaoqiang followed her multiple times.

Also, before I came to the station this morning, I contacted the landlord of Ping’an Apartments.

According to the landlord, the entire third floor has already been rented out. The tenant is Li Xiaoqiang.”

Xiao Zhang, who had spent the whole night interrogating him, shot to his feet in outrage.

“Damn it! That little bastard! I questioned him for ages and he still hid this? I’ll go make him talk right now!”

Gu Yezhou stopped him and told him to finish hearing the full case summary first.

“Besides the candid photos of Dr. Sang, the hard drive also contained photos of clothing hanging on her balcony.”

Shen Chen glanced awkwardly at Sang Ning, asking for permission.

“Uh… those clothing photos. Can I put them up?”

Sang Ning had already died socially on the spot. Covering her face, she waved weakly.

“Go ahead. I’m fine.”

She had no face left to lose.

Those photos included her everyday clothes—and her underwear.

Fortunately, the images on display were only coats, sweaters, and other outerwear.

“Ahem. Dr. Sang’s personal garments had been collected by Shi Li. In earlier years, Shi Li often stole and hid his mother’s clothes. It’s possible that after encountering Dr. Sang, he redirected that obsession toward her.”

Shen Chen spoke rapidly, then switched the projector to a chat interface.

“This person was the one closest to Shi Li recently. Their conversations were mostly about comics. They added each other through Weibo. This person seems to have deliberately approached him for help.”

Shen Chen moved the cursor over an audio message.

A sweet, cloying voice instantly filled the room.

“Goddess: My head’s been hurting lately. I just can’t draw what I want. What should I do, gege? Can you help me?”

**Shi Li: Of course, goddess. Tell me what you’re thinking. I’ll help you work it out.**

“Goddess: I’ll send you a reference. Honestly, it’s really close to your style. Only you can help me. Sob sob.”

**Shi Li: Got it. I’ll send you a draft in a bit.**

“Goddess: Gege, you’re the best. Love you, mwah. Tomorrow I’ll wear your favorite pajamas for you.”

**Shi Li: Pervert.jpg**

The next item in the chat history was a rough comic sketch.

The moment the draft was enlarged, Sang Ning understood.

The poster they’d seen last night had indeed been drawn by Shi Li.

“I have a question,” Xiao Zhang said. “Since Shi Li posted the finished work on Weibo and repeatedly stated he wouldn’t license it commercially, doesn’t that mean the Lin Group never got his authorization and simply stole it?”

Sang Ning shook her head. “The Lin Group is a major company. They wouldn’t risk damaging their reputation over one poster illustration.”

“Exactly, exactly. Dr. Sang is right.”

Shen Chen clapped several times.

“And here it is. He gave the artwork to this ‘Goddess.’”

A complete image appeared on the screen, along with the authorization name.

But it seemed to be an online alias.

“Sensen?” Sang Ning frowned. “Who is Sensen?”

Shen Chen smiled mysteriously.

“An intern from the Lin Group’s planning department. When I looked into him last night, I found he’d already changed careers. He’s now a female livestreamer.”

Sang Ning nodded, understanding.

Female livestreaming did earn quite a bit.

“And guess what? This Sensen is male. On the day he resigned, he received five hundred thousand yuan. What does that suggest?”

Shen Chen pulled up Sensen’s bank records.

The moment Gu Yezhou saw them, he snapped, “Shen Chen!”

“Boss, don’t be mad. Sensen is a suspect too,” Shen Chen said, blinking innocently.

One look, and it was obvious Shen Chen had violated protocol again by digging into someone’s private information.

Sang Ning sighed.

Geniuses always had their quirks.

Some were arrogant. Others, like Shen Chen, specialized in prying into people’s privacy and gossip.

Back when he’d been arrested, it was entirely because he had exposed the mistresses secretly kept by several big bosses.

Later, he even posted the women’s faces online, causing public outrage.

In Shen Chen’s own words:

*If you dare be a mistress, why be afraid of a public shaming? And if you’re not going to show your face, who are you planning to seduce with it? Since you’re already doing it, at least use your brain and find more than one boss.*

As it turned out, there really had been women juggling several bosses at once.

In the end, the whole thing blew up.

Sang Ning hadn’t expected Shen Chen to have that kind of nerve at only nineteen.

“Other than the five hundred thousand yuan deposit, which the Lin Group could easily claim was employee compensation, his chat history with Shi Li doesn’t prove much. Shen Chen, isn’t your theory a little flimsy?” Gu Yezhou asked in a low voice.

Shen Chen quickly soothed him.

“Don’t rush me, Boss. I’m not finished yet.”