Chapter 18
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The name Shen Yulan once again echoed deliberately in his mind.
Just as he traced the trajectory of Shen Yi’s life before her death, following every clue to the place where she had died.
He had checked Shen Yi’s school in F City and found her death records at the Oasis Police Station. He obtained her death certificate but could not find her body.
The police said she had burned to death in a fire at the Oasis Casino. Apparently, she had just been released from prison and went gambling again, only to be caught in the casino fire. Her remains had been reduced to a pile of charred bones. Since she had no relatives or friends, her ashes were cremated and buried together with a mass of unclaimed remains, without a proper grave.
Once again, the trail for Shen Yi ran cold.
Zhang Dian had never faced such a perplexing “case” before. He even felt trapped, helpless to do anything but wait for the extortionist known as Ms. Goat to contact him again, hoping for new leads.
It was at this moment that Qin Rong called him and said, “Professor Zhang, do you know the agent Shen Yulan, who’s been called your substitute? She’s remarkable—she just took over the kidnapping case and already discovered something on me...”
Shen Yulan, Shen Yi.
Two strangers whose lives bore no intersection or connection kept appearing repeatedly in his life. There had to be some motive behind this.
What motive? Could Shen Yulan actually be the “deceased” Shen Yi?
Zhang Dian settled into the sofa as Qin Rong spoke about the Special Crimes Unit and Shen Yulan.
She said she had received a call from her assistant Wang Ke just after midnight. Wang Ke reported that around four in the morning, the Special Crimes Unit had inquired about whether the thousand black lilies Wang Ke delivered to Weng Xue were a personal gift or sent on Qin Rong’s behalf.
The call had come from Bai Shizhou, but through the bouquet of black lilies, it was the new agent Shen Yulan who had traced the matter back to Qin Rong.
“No wonder they compare her to Professor Zhang,” Qin Rong laughed. “She’s not only intelligent and perceptive but also very brave. She said she wanted to meet me, flew back overnight, and should have arrived by now.”
Just then, the call she had received was from Bai Shizhou himself, who was already waiting outside with his new agent.
“Professor Zhang, would you like to meet them?” Qin Rong wasn’t sure if Zhang Dian was interested in this case since he initially refused it but changed his mind earlier that morning.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Dian agreed without hesitation.
※※
Entering the traditional Chinese courtyard house, Shen Chuyi squinted against the sunlight. She followed Bai Shizhou, while Qin Rong’s assistant Wang Ke led the way through a long garden corridor, arriving at the living room doorway.
“Please come in, both of you,” Wang Ke politely stopped at the entrance.
Shen Chuyi instinctively gripped the bracelet on her wrist; her left eyelid twitched incessantly.
She wasn’t sure if this gamble was the right one. Maybe she shouldn’t have come to see Qin Rong. As an impostor, she ought to keep a low profile. Yet, it seemed as if fate had dealt her a chip, and she couldn’t bear not to play her hand.
“Don’t be nervous,” Bai Shizhou, a step ahead, whispered to her, “Minister Qin is not as difficult as I am.”
Really?
Shen Chuyi glanced up at Bai Shizhou’s cold face and couldn’t help but smile. Indeed, who looked less approachable than Bai Shizhou himself?
But her smile lasted less than three seconds. Stepping into the living room, her face and scalp felt as if doused with icy water—frozen stiff.
In the vast living room, two people sat on the sofa, one on each side, their eyes fixed on her like predators locking onto their prey.
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One pair of eyes gradually relaxed after locking onto her, coiling around her steps like a serpent, waiting for her to come closer and closer.
Zhang Dian.
Why was Zhang Dian here? Was it a coincidence?
How could it be such a coincidence? Had he guessed something? Suspected something?
“Director Bai,” Qin Rong smiled, standing to shake Bai Shizhou’s hand, then turned to Shen Chuyi with an outstretched hand.
“Agent Shen Yulan, you look younger than in the news, like a university student.”
Shen Chuyi took her hand, forcing herself to ignore Zhang Dian, smiling as she said, “Minister Qin is also kinder than on the news, seems much easier to talk to than our director.”
Qin Rong laughed at the young woman’s words. “You’re more witty than Director Bai.” Then she introduced Zhang Dian to Shen: “This is your predecessor, Professor Zhang Dian. I needn’t say more, right?”
Zhang Dian’s gaze never wavered from her, scanning from her feet to her hands, then her eyes.
He met her gaze, stood up from the sofa, dressed in black suit and black shirt, his eyes seemingly hiding a smile: “Hello, Zhang Dian.”
Shen Chuyi saw him remove his soft black leather gloves and extend his hand toward her.
It was a very pale hand, slender and thin, with tiny bluish veins visible beneath the skin, as if a gentle squeeze could cause it pain.
No matter. She now wore Shen Yulan’s appearance, inhabited Shen Yulan’s body, and even this hand belonged to Shen Yulan.
“Hello,” Shen Chuyi said, shaking his hand and smiling. “Shen Yulan.”
His palm was cold and smooth, without calluses, feeling as if entwined by a snake.
She clearly felt his fingers tighten, gripping her hand firmly in his palm—one second, two seconds... the grip only grew stronger.
Though it was just a handshake, she felt suffocated—his fingers, his gaze, tightly enveloping her...
She saw Zhang Dian’s Adam’s apple move. The next moment, he released her hand and softly said in a hoarse voice, “I have a friend named Shen.”
Was he testing her?
But why test her like this? Did he know that the woman extorting him, Ms. Goat, also had the surname Shen?
How did he know so quickly? What else had he uncovered?
Shen Chuyi’s heart raced wildly, yet her face remained smiling as if by instinct she said, “Is that so? What a coincidence. Do you know your friend’s full name? Maybe we’re related.”
This was the most useful skill she had learned at the casino—to bluff wildly, no matter how weak the hand.
Zhang Dian smiled at her. “Perhaps.”
Too interesting.
Her voice was different from Ms. Goat’s, the scent different, the texture different, even the calluses on her fingertips were different—they seemed like two different people.
Yet his supernatural sense had reacted the moment they shook hands. He had to use some mental strength to suppress it, but it kept whispering—
“I smell the little goat’s scent!”
“It’s the little goat! The little goat’s scent!”
“Is it her? Is it her? Is it her? Is it her?”
“But they feel different.”
“Scare her! Scare her so her supernatural sense shows—I’ll know right away if she’s the little goat from the bathtub!”
“Scare her, scare her, scare her, scare her...”
“Let me touch her again, let me touch her again...”
Zhang Dian sat back down on the sofa, capturing the scent on her in the air—the fragrance of shower gel mixed with red ginseng, masking her true scent.
She spoke so calmly to Qin Rong, her tone serious, nothing like Ms. Goat.
“Tell me,” Qin Rong invited her and Bai Shizhou to sit, smiling as she asked, “Agent Shen, did you come to interrogate me about the flowers I sent?”
Shen Chuyi openly admitted, “Yes, I instructed Assistant Wang to order the flowers sent to the yacht. Weng Xue and I have been good friends for years. The flowers were to celebrate her successful start of filming.”
“Over the years, all the black lilies Weng Xue received were from you, right?” Shen Chuyi asked. “You are the mysterious friend of Weng Xue.”
A powerful backing, indeed a backing inconvenient to reveal.
“Only I know she likes black lilies,” Qin Rong did not deny it, nodding. “Agent Shen, do you suspect I kidnapped Weng Xue?”
“You have no reason to kidnap her,” Shen Chuyi shook her head but noticed Zhang Dian’s amused smile fixed on her.
Damn it, he had been watching her, scrutinizing her, his gaze glued to her.
The feeling irritated her, so she looked at Zhang Dian and asked, “Professor Zhang, does your smile mean you think I’m wrong?”
Her question surprised both Bai Shizhou and Qin Rong; it was direct and rather blunt.
Zhang Dian did not take offense but apologized, “Sorry, my smile had no other intention. I think your analysis is correct, but I noticed your eyes often glance at me—you are paying attention to me.”
For a moment, a chill ran through Shen Chuyi’s body, as if no matter how carefully she disguised herself, that damned genius Zhang Dian saw right through her at a glance.
Still, she smiled and said, “I am indeed watching you, Professor Zhang, because I consider you my opponent.”
She used some truth to cover her lies: “People always compare me to you, thinking I could be the second you, but I believe I am a bit better than you.”
She heard Qin Rong’s laughter—not mocking, because Qin Rong told Zhang Dian, “See? The new agent isn’t just smart but also very courageous.”
She saw Zhang Dian look at her; the smile in his eyes spread sincerely. He said, “It is an honor to be your opponent.”
“Young talent is admirable. I hope I haven’t misjudged you,” Qin Rong praised Shen Chuyi, as if testing her. “Agent Shen, since you’re so smart and have easily ruled out my involvement in Weng Xue’s kidnapping, why do you still insist on suspecting me?”
She wanted to tell Bai Shizhou: See, this is the demeanor of those in power. Those at the top are rarely provoked or offended. Even if Qin Rong’s closest people might also be kidnapped with Weng Xue, she would still smile and sit there testing the new agent.
Because they held too many chips; losing a little didn’t matter. But poor Shen Chuyi held only a small hidden card, and she feared losing.
Yet she so desperately wanted to win, to take a gamble.
Shen Chuyi looked at Qin Rong, no longer beating around the bush: “You have a son who hasn’t been publicly disclosed, right?”
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