CM | Chapter 31

In the video, Du Tong and Wang Chong were standing in the bedroom, both of them wearing grim expressions.

Wang Chong: “Was that lawyer just now the same one who went to the detention center to see Tian Fang before?”

Du Tong: “It was him. But you don’t need to worry about him, just focus on the case. I’ll handle everything else.”

Wang Chong: “But what if he already noticed something just now?”

Du Tong: “No matter what he notices, it won’t affect you. As long as Tian Fang doesn’t agree to hire him, what can he stir up? Besides, he obtained that evidence illegally. Just remember, this time the charge is ‘criminal negligence resulting in death,’ not a not-guilty verdict. For the bigger picture, Tian Fang has to pay for the whole thing.”

Wang Chong nodded, then asked, “And Tian Fang’s younger sister…”

Du Tong: “It’s all arranged. She won’t say anything foolish. If you want her to testify in court, I’ll arrange it.”

As soon as she finished, Du Tong’s phone rang. She quickly gave Wang Chong a couple more instructions, then left the bedroom. While taking the call, she walked downstairs.

When Du Tong reached the living room, she ended the call, took a remote from the table, and pressed it a few times. Slowly, a home theater screen descended from the wall directly across from the sofa set.

Du Tong turned on the system, logged into an account, then found several videos saved in that account.

Because the aerial camera had been filming from outside the living room window, and because of the tilted angle, the video did not show the front clearly. Only from the side could one vaguely make out a man and a woman engaged in unspeakable physical activity, and very intensely at that.

Du Tong glanced once, transferred the video to another account, and deleted the record from the original account.

……

……

In order to see more clearly, Gu Yao leaned farther and farther forward, her head almost reaching the screen.

She strained to identify the man and woman in the video. The man looked a bit like Lian Qiyun, and the woman looked a bit like Tian Fang…

At that moment, the aerial video suddenly cut off.

Gu Yao froze, then immediately swiped at the screen and replayed the last segment.

For a moment, the only sound in the car was a string of disjointed noises.

Xu Luo’s eyelids lifted slightly. His tall body had already been squeezed by Gu Yao back against the car door, tilted sideways, while he still had to hold the phone up with one hand.

He wasn’t sure whether it was because the car was too cramped, the light too dim, the atmosphere too eerie, or the background sound too moany, but all at once Xu Da lawyer felt as though little claws were crawling up and burrowing into both his heart and his body, winding around a surge of heat, mixed with the faint fragrance on Gu Yao’s body and hair.

Of course, he had also gone through some inner battle. After all, the shameless lawyer was only a mask. Deep down, he was still reserved and restrained, selective and conditional about women.

However, the outcome of that battle was not encouraging. In the end, emotion still beat reason. Xu Da lawyer’s eyelids finally lowered slowly, and only then did he realize that although this person was slim, everything she should have was there.

Xu Da lawyer clenched his teeth, practically holding his breath. Then he glanced at the time on his phone, damn it, only two minutes had passed. Why did it feel like a long hour?

He held on for another half minute, and Xu Da lawyer was finally about to lose it. He exhaled a long breath, watching the breeze from his breathing stir the hair at Gu Yao’s temples.

“Didn’t expect Miss Gu to be into this kind of thing…”

That low, husky voice sounded in her ear. Gu Yao first frowned, then without changing her posture, lifted her head. Her eyes showed the irritation of being interrupted.

But the moment she looked up, she ran straight into a pair of black eyes.

Xu Luo had lowered his brows, his eyes dark and deep, his thin lips slightly pressed together, as if carrying a hint of warning.

Only then did Gu Yao realize how excessively close the two of them had become. She straightened up at once and said, “What are you doing?”

Seeing her pull away, Xu Luo let out a breath and instantly switched back to his carefree, roguish expression. “That should be my line. You’re leaning in so close and keep replaying the ‘live show.’ I was seriously afraid you might not be able to hold back and make a move on me.”

Gu Yao: “…”

If the setting had been different, Gu Yao would really have yelled at him twice, sick pervert!

It wasn’t until Xu Luo suddenly asked, “You’ve watched it so many times, got any insight?” that she calmed down her anger.

Gu Yao said, “The man in the video is Lian Qiyun, but the woman isn’t Tian Fang.”

Xu Luo froze. Instinctively, he didn’t quite believe it, so he dragged the video back and watched it again. The woman’s features were seventy or eighty percent similar to Tian Fang’s, but because the whole thing was so intense, her face had twisted a bit, making her hard to identify.

Xu Luo asked, “How do you know it’s not her?”

Gu Yao’s tone carried a trace of irony. “Men looking at women and women looking at women are coming from completely different angles and motives. I’m certain this woman is not the Tian Fang we saw at the detention center that day, but their facial structure is astonishingly similar. My guess is that she’s the younger sister of Tian Fang they mentioned just now, Du Tong and Wang Chong.”

Xu Luo fell silent. He watched the last part of the video again, motionless, his gaze fixed, his expression solemn, completely unlike his usual nitpicking manner.

Seeing that he didn’t refute her, Gu Yao found it strange and asked, “Did you think of something?”

Only then did Xu Luo lift his eyelids, smiling a little too casually. “In your psychology terms, if a man is playing a video of him doing that with another woman, and while watching it he keeps going ahh-hmm with the woman’s sister in the video, does that count as being perverse?”

Gu Yao was stunned.

Right. Just now, Du Tong had clearly pulled up the video on the living room home theater account, but whether she deleted it or moved it elsewhere was unknown.

But one thing was certain. Back then, when Lian Qiyun and Tian Fang were tangled together on the living room sofa, they most likely had also watched this video to get themselves worked up…

A wave of disgust suddenly surged up in Gu Yao’s stomach. “If this deduction is correct, then Lian Qiyun has a typical yangju syndrome.”

Xu Luo: “…”

Xu Luo was rarely this silent, his face full of a subtle, almost embarrassed expression that seemed to say he wanted to speak but had to hold back.

Gu Yao saw his look of “I’m very curious, but I absolutely must忍住 and can never ask something this embarrassing, otherwise people will think there’s something wrong with me” and actually felt a little smug. Then she smiled and said, “Generally, people with this kind of symptom either have something too large or too small in that area. Those with something too large are the show-off type. They’re used to communicating with women through something they were born with, but over time they become very hollow inside and crave emotional connection even more. Those with something too small are the inferiority type, like the male lead in some ancient novel who even found a doctor to operate on him. Of course, there are other types too, like having a shorter duration or an earlier finish, or like Lian Qiyun, because he has congenital heart disease and can’t be like a normal person. But my guess is that Lian Qiyun should be the kind of person with strong libido. Whether it’s his showy outfits, his attitude toward women, or the frequency of certain things, he must have a psychology of ‘talent unrecognized,’ thinking he’s obviously very capable, so why is he being held back by congenital heart disease? That makes him look like a weakling. Over time, this inferiority complex will warp into something twisted and pathological. Then he happened to meet Tian Fang and her younger sister at that time, developed a special fantasy, and while being with Tian Fang, played videos of him being with her younger sister to satisfy that fantasy.”

Gu Yao finished her analysis in one breath. As soon as she finished speaking, she swept Xu Luo with a very mocking look and added, “By the way, you should understand a bit of this kind of perverted psychology, right?”

The car fell silent.

More than ten seconds later, Xu Luo finally decided to defend his dignity.

“Not to be rude… where exactly are you getting your basis from? Why should I understand a bit? You said so much, and in the end you were taking a roundabout route to curse me. You think I couldn’t tell?”

Sure enough, any man who got tangled up with the issue of dignity, even if it was just a little bit of doubt, would immediately jump up.

A man can be killed, but he cannot be humiliated!

Gu Yao smiled. “Why is Lawyer Xu so agitated? Did I hit a nerve?”

“Damn it, you were the one who leaned over first, and kept replaying the little clip. I’m a normal man. Facing that kind of stimulus, how could I not have some thoughts?”

“You had thoughts, of course you did.” Gu Yao put on her ‘look-down-on-you’ glasses again, like a searchlight. “Whether it’s your eyes or your body language, they all show that you really were thinking some improper thoughts just now. With such a rich imagination, I figured you could understand Lian Qiyun’s mental world, so my deduction is perfectly reasonable.”

This was the first time Xu Luo felt like he had been counterattacked by Gu Yao.

He narrowed his eyes, and even a threatening tone came out. “Keep talking like that, and aren’t you afraid I’ll do something to you?”

But Gu Yao didn’t take it seriously at all. She smiled faintly. “If you were going to do something, you already would have last time in your lounge.”

Xu Luo: “…”

For no reason at all, a wave of irritation rose in his chest, as if he felt that missing the chance to do something to her last time had really cost him now.

Seeing his stifled expression, Gu Yao suddenly asked, “There’s actually a question I’ve been very curious about. If I accidentally trigger you, don’t take it too seriously. I’m a psychology expert, after all, and prying into people’s private thoughts is an occupational disease for me.”

Xu Luo suddenly had a bad feeling. Even if you thought about it from the roots of your thighs, you knew the next words wouldn’t be anything good.

Sure enough, Gu Yao asked, “Based on my judgment, men who outwardly act like loose, flirty jerks usually have a bit of mental cleanliness deep down. Maybe they even have a proud, abstinent little prince living inside them, with narcissism to the bone, arrogance to the core, self-admiring all day long, staring at the mirror and saying ‘I love you for ten thousand years,’ even believing that not a single woman under heaven is worthy of them. I wonder if Xu Da lawyer sees it the same way?”

Xu Luo took a deep breath, then another. He knew this woman had caught a little leverage on him and was going to stomp him to death with it. If he didn’t handle this round today and let her take the upper hand, wouldn’t he be losing ground step by step from now on, never hearing the end of it?

No way…

He had diligently been handsome for so many years. He absolutely could not capsize in a ditch.

So Xu Da lawyer hardened his heart, let his face fall, then suddenly lifted one long leg close to Gu Yao, bent it on the seat, and leaned his body toward her by force of momentum, like a mountain, abruptly pinning the overly eloquent psychologist in the front passenger seat.

Gu Yao froze, completely unprepared for this move. Instinctively, she leaned back, only to hear a slap as one of Xu Luo’s thick arms had already crossed over her and pressed against the window behind her.

He said with a sinister chill, “Do you know men can’t stand being provoked?”

Gu Yao took a breath and forced herself to stay calm. “Everything I said is the truth.”

Xu Luo was completely talking past her. “I told you, I like virtuous women. Actually… you fall into that category too.”

Gu Yao frowned. “What are you doing?”

Xu Luo gave a wicked smile and leaned his handsome face closer to Gu Yao. Their breaths mingled, and they were almost touching.

Gu Yao immediately turned her head, feeling Xu Luo’s breathing blow right against the artery in her neck, and a shiver shot through her.

Then she heard him say in a very annoying tone, “Your boyfriend has messy ties with so many women. I know you’ll feel unbalanced, but if you keep using provocation tactics on a normal man like this, you’ll very easily bite off more than you can chew. Even though I have pretty refined tastes, if Miss Gu feels empty, lonely, and cold, I don’t mind making a small sacrifice.”

Gu Yao: “…”

“Heh, if you ever think it through in the future, feel free to come find me. The door to my lounge is always open for you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Luo suddenly pulled back, and the tense atmosphere dispersed at once.

He sat back in the driver’s seat, switched to his harmless smile, and said, “Oh, today’s mission is over. You can get out of the car now.”

After only a one-second pause, Gu Yao shot him a glare and got out, opening the door.

With a bang, the car door shut.

Gu Yao returned to her own car. Just after she fastened her seatbelt, the Land Rover parked nearby roared out of the garage with its rear end swaying.

Gu Yao had only two words for it: “Idiot.”

On the other side, Xu Luo had already driven onto the main road.

A WeChat message from Xiao Chuan also came in: “Bro… that woman cursed you.”

Xu Luo said expressionlessly, “What did she call me?”

“Idiot.”

Xu Luo let out a soft laugh.

Xiao Chuan asked quietly, “What did you do to her? She looks pretty pissed.”

“Nothing. I just showed off a little again.” Xu Luo said carelessly, “Oh right, next time she comes over, remember to remove the surveillance camera.”

Xiao Chuan said, “Okay, got it.”

At that moment, a WeChat voice call invitation popped up on the phone.

Xu Luo saw who it was and laughed out loud, it was Gu Yao again.

Her emotional management was pretty fast. She had just been angry enough to slam his car door a moment ago.

As soon as the voice call connected, Gu Yao’s emotionless voice came through: “Du Tong logged into an account on the home theater in the living room. Why didn’t the police find the videos saved in it?”

Xu Luo answered lazily, “According to legal procedure, after the procuratorate files the case, they can investigate audiovisual materials. That’s a matter for technical investigation, but that account probably doesn’t have default login. Lian Qiyun may also have had the habit of deleting playback traces, so technical investigators haven’t found it yet. But just because they haven’t found it now doesn’t mean they won’t later. Du Tong moved the videos precisely to prevent trouble before it happened. With evidence this explosive, it’s better to hold it in her own hands than let technical investigators find it first, so she can use it to keep Tian Fang in check. Besides, she even came here specifically to do it, instead of using her own home or company equipment, just to prevent someone from tracing the login location remotely and dragging her into it.”

Gu Yao said, “Even if Tian Fang’s younger sister had some connection with Lian Qiyun, what does that have to do with Tian Fang’s murder case?”

Xu Luo said, “If you were Tian Fang, and your younger sister got messed with, then they even recorded a video and made you watch it together, could you not get angry? As the saying goes, anger rises from the heart and evil grows in the gallbladder. If Tian Fang killed Lian Qiyun in a panic, that’s very reasonable.”

Gu Yao said, “If Tian Fang deliberately killed Lian Qiyun out of anger, then on what basis are you helping her get a not-guilty verdict? Also, if Lian Qiyun really had congenital heart disease, then knowing he couldn’t handle stimulation, why would he still act like he wanted to die? How do you explain that kind of ‘suicide’ behavior? In fact, even if Tian Fang did nothing, Lian Qiyun would have had a heart attack that night. Tian Fang didn’t need to kill him at all.”

Xu Luo smiled. “That’s because whether it’s you and me or the criminal investigation side, we only have half of this puzzle. Only when all the pieces are found can the whole thing truly come to light.”

Gu Yao fell silent. That was indeed the case. Even though they had already come to the crime scene, there were still many doubts. Clearly, they still needed the forensic report and Tian Fang’s statement to fill in the blanks, but neither of those could be obtained legally unless Tian Fang was willing to authorize Xu Luo.

After a moment, Xu Luo said, “If you can’t figure it out, don’t force it. Tomorrow is the first trial. If you’re really curious, go sit in on it. Maybe you’ll get something out of it.”

Xu Luo cut off the voice call and stepped on the gas, heading straight for Jiangcheng First Detention Center.

Today had yielded a little unexpected gain. It could be called “catching them red-handed,” and his luck was so good he didn’t even believe it himself. Who would have thought that of all times, Du Tong and Wang Chong would run right into his line of fire?

Xu Luo was crystal clear about Du Tong’s past. Her biological father, Du Chengwei, died in an explosion, his bones burned to ashes. That had caused quite a stir back then. Xu Luo’s father, Xu Haizhen, had spent the last few months of his life investigating the matter, but the case files had mysteriously vanished from the police force.

If Liu Chun hadn’t made an early copy according to Xu Haizhen’s instructions, Xu Luo really wouldn’t have known where to dig.

He hadn’t expected that Du Tong would be involved again in Tian Fang’s case. Heh, wasn’t this hitting the bull’s-eye? He hadn’t originally planned to touch Du Tong’s line this early, but she had delivered herself to his doorstep, and she was full of holes…

While waiting in the visiting room for Tian Fang to come out, Xu Luo sat there like a big-tailed wolf, going over the whole sequence of events in his head until the door to the visiting room finally opened with a sound.

Xu Luo looked up. It was Tian Fang.

Tian Fang’s injuries had healed a little more than they had a few days ago, and her way of walking wasn’t so strange anymore. When she saw Xu Luo, she wasn’t as frightened as last time, but she still remained wary.

Xu Luo folded his arms and smiled. “Miss Tian, please sit.”

Tian Fang sat down and asked, “Lawyer Xu, why are you here again?”

Xu Luo got straight to the point. “You know why. I hope you’ll hire me as your criminal defense lawyer.”

Tian Fang pressed her lips together. Thinking of all the instructions and reassurances Wang Chong had given her earlier, she said, “I already have a defense lawyer. I can’t think of any reason to hire another one.”

Xu Luo picked up the thread. “I know. Your lawyer is Wang Chong. You used to be with her in Zhaoyang.”

Tian Fang didn’t make a sound.

So what if she did?

Xu Luo suddenly asked, “By the way, how did Wang Chong treat you before?”

Tian Fang frowned and didn’t answer.

Xu Luo smiled. “I heard she was very strict with you. She scolded you to tears more than once. But I guess after this case happened, Wang Chong’s attitude toward you must have changed by a full one-eighty. We could even say she was considerate to the point of being caring, as warm as spring.”