Thinking that it was just a secretary delivering the documents, Yin Anran didn’t even raise her head to look. “Just leave it there.” She sounded rather lethargic.

“Miss Yin.”

Hearing Bian Zijun’s voice, Yin Anran straightened up and immediately turned her gaze toward the door. She was instantly disappointed to see Bian Zijun alone, but she still carried anticipation in her voice as she asked, “Were you looking for me?”

Bian Zijun nodded and took a seat in front of her.

*

Meanwhile, Liu Xiaofan and company rushed to Qing Tian Group in a panic and knocked on the door leading to Yin Anran’s office.

“Greetings, Miss Yin. Pardon the intrusion.” Liu Xiaofan entered the office with Fan Lifeng and Yan Zihao behind.

“Greetings, Officer Liu.” Yin Anran was surprised as she stood up in welcome. “Were you looking for me?”

“Yes,” Liu Xiaofan answered as he walked over. “I want to confirm something with you.”

“Confirm something with me?” Yin Anran was dubious. “What is it?”

“About this…” Liu Xiaofan presented the photo of the ring to her. “Please take a look at this photo. Have you seen this before?”

Yin Anran took the photo and looked at it.

“Look closer.”

Yin Anran glanced at it, then asked in confusion, “Isn’t this Wanqing’s ring you showed me last time?”

Liu Xiaofan hastily explained, “It is that very ring. I’m asking if you’ve seen this ring before that.”

Yin Anran’s hand trembled and lost its grip, causing the printed paper to flutter away from her grasp. At the same time, she exclaimed, “Are you suspecting me as the culprit behind the accident?! I’m innocent! I really didn’t—”

“No, no, you misunderstand, Miss Yin. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just asking if you’ve seen this ring before this,” Liu Xiaofan explained while picking up the paper.

“I swear I’ve never seen this ring before! I have nothing to do with this incident! It really wasn’t me!”

“I know, I know. I—”

Fan Lifeng couldn’t stand it anymore. He interrupted Liu Xiaofan and explained straight out, “Miss Yin, have you seen Dong Wanqing wearing this ring before?”

“Dong Wanqing wearing this ring? What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about what we mean by that. You can just tell us if you’ve seen her wear it.”

Fearing that the two might have intimidated Yin Anran, Yan Zihao strode in front of Fan Lifeng and blocked him out of her sight. He then attempted to calm Yin Anran down, saying, “Miss Yin, you don’t have to be so nervous, and you don’t need to overthink this. We have no other business with you; we just want to know if you’ve seen Dong Wanqing wear this ring before.”

“I…”

“You don’t have to rush to answer; just have a seat first and take all the time you need to study this photo of the ring.” Yan Zihao took the photo from Liu Xiaofan’s hand and passed it to Yin Anran.

Still unsettled, Yin Anran received the photo and briskly walked to her seat. She took a few sips of hot tea before she started to stare at the photo.

Liu Xiaofan and company each found a spot to sit in, after which they held their breaths as they turned their intent gazes on her.

After a long while…

Yin Anran let out a yelp and looked at them with terror.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you remember something?”

“Have you seen her wearing it?”

Instantly, Liu Xiaofan and his colleagues got on their feet as they queried simultaneously. Yin Anran did not answer at once, and there was visible hesitation in her eyes.

After waiting for a few seconds in vain, Liu Xiaofan got impatient and prodded, “What exactly do you remember? Just tell us! Your statement is especially important to us!”

Yin Anran’s voice was soft. “I don’t dare to say anything without evidence because this is not a trivial matter; it’s a matter of life and death.”

Yan Zihao knew that she recalled something, so he smiled in comfort. “It’s not that serious; just relax and tell us.”

Yin Anran hesitated for a long while before saying nervously, “Actually, I’ve seen this ring a long time ago.”

“When?!”

Liu Xiaofan’s sudden loud voice shocked Yin Anran. Seeing her panic, Yan Zihao feared that she wouldn’t dare to speak, so he sat Liu Xiaofan down and motioned for him to calm down. Then, he turned toward Yin Anran and smiled as he gave her a gesture to continue.

“About four months ago, I think…”

“How about after that? Have you seen it afterward?”

“Please, let me finish.” Yin Anran looked sternly at Liu Xiaofan, who had interrupted her. “Her aunt had gifted her this ring, and it was said to cost about two to three hundred thousand; Wanqing showed it off in front of me many times. After that, I heard that she had lost the ring at West Bay, and I did feel sorry for her. After that, there was once where I saw her wearing a similar ring, and I was curious about it, so I asked her if she got her ring back. She said that it wasn’t the ring from before; it was newly bought. I thought she had it custom made in the same style and had joked that she was a person of nostalgia. Her expression at that time was quite unnatural, but she didn’t deny my assumption that she got herself a ring of the same style. I didn’t think much of it at that time, but now that you asked, I feel like she was wearing the exact same ring she said she had lost, and it was probably found after she got the compensation from West Bay. She might think it’s too awkward if she told the truth, since she had caused quite the ruckus in West Bay and falsely received compensation.”

Liu Xiaofan was suspicious of the statement. “Then why did you tell us you’ve never seen this ring before?”

Yin Anran was a little timid when she answered, “I was already nervous at that time, and I thought for sure that you intended to ask if the ring belonged to me. It really wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t too interested in jewelry in the first place, so I didn’t think much before claiming that I’ve never seen it before.”

Liu Xiaofan was still persistent in his questioning. “Are you sure that you’ve seen her wearing this ring after she lost it?”

His solemn tone caused her to feel uneasy, so her reply was also carefully spoken. “I can only confirm that I’ve seen her wear the same type of ring after she lost it, but I’m not sure if it was the original one, for she never denied that it wasn’t the same type, nor say that it was the original ring.”

With that, her tone turned apologetic. “I’m sorry, Officer Liu. This is all I know. I hope it helps.”

“You’ve been a great help.” Liu Xiaofan pressed his palms together as a gesture of thanks, then turned to leave with Fan Lifeng and Yan Zihao.

“Wait, Officer Liu!” Yin Anran followed them out and asked nervously, “If Wanqing’s ring really isn’t lost, does it mean that she’s the culprit?”

Fan Lifeng immediately answered, “Most probably, I think.”

She looked as if she didn’t believe his words, so she looked at Liu Xiaofan with a serious expression. After getting a nod from him, she didn’t say anything more; she simply stood stiffly on the spot.

Liu Xiaofan waved at her, then entered the lift with his colleagues.

After seeing them off, the terror in Yin Anran’s eyes swiftly disappeared, and coldness took its place. Her thoughts went back to her conversation with Bian Zijun half an hour earlier.

“Dong Yueyun claimed that Dong Wanqing’s ring wasn’t lost, and it was found afterward, but due to her worrying that people would see her as an uncultured person, she didn’t tell the truth. She also said that you should’ve seen Dong Wanqing wearing the ring before, so do you have any recollection of it?” Bian Zijun didn’t waste time beating around the bush.

“Oh?” She wore a puzzled expression, but she didn’t ask for details; she simply looked at him, deep in thought.

He gave her a piece of paper. “Miss Yin, this is what the ring looks like, so look at it closely. Officer Liu and his colleagues will be here soon to ask for confirmation from you.”

“Wait!” She immediately halted him. “You mean that Dong Yueyun told the police that Dong Wanqing didn’t lose her ring?”

“Yes.”

“Then did Dong Wanqing admit that the ring wasn’t lost?”

“If she did, the police wouldn’t come to you for confirmation. I still have business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now. Just look at the photo in the meantime, and remember to put it away afterward.”

With that, Bian Zijun hurriedly left her office. Liu Xiaofan and company arrived a few minutes after that.

Her expression was stone cold as she turned to walk back to her office.

Wanqing, don’t blame it on me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for showing off how much your aunt loves and spoils you. The truth is clear for all to see, that even with an aunt, you may not live a happy life compared to me, who is all alone. At the very least, I will never have to experience the pain of having someone I trust the most stab me in the back.

As Yin Anran lamented in her office, Liu Xiaofan and company were on their way back to the Bureau.

“Things are going surprisingly well!” In the car, Fan Lifeng was so excited that he could dance. “It was the right choice to listen to Bian Zijun’s suggestion; it really works to leave Chief Rong in the dark and use some trickery to investigate! Wow, now I can see that Chief Rong’s way of interrogating suspects is way too outdated.”

“It’s pretty weird, though.” Yan Zihao was elated as well, but then he expressed confusion. “When we were at the Qin manor talking about Dong Wanqing with Dong Yueyun, she appeared to be loving and caring about her niece, but why would she appear indifferent when Dong Wanqing gave her the call before that?”

Fan Lifeng thought about it before presenting his hypothesis. “Maybe she assumed that Dong Wanqing was alone during the phone call, so she was straightforward about it. But when we went to see her, she wanted to prove that she really loved her niece, so maybe she changed her behavior because of that? After all, everyone in An City who knew them would know that she treats Dong Wanqing very well, and she’s an expert at pretending.”

Yan Zihao shook his head, still not convinced. “Your theory might be a little forced there. All in all, I still feel that something isn’t quite right.”

“Let’s not think too much and get some food.” Liu Xiaofan also couldn’t hide his excitement, but since he was so hungry, he decided to grab something to eat first, so he pulled up in front of a small restaurant. “It’s already late afternoon; I’m starving.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. I thought your stomachs were made of metal or something. I’ll go order first.” Fan Lifeng hastily went out of the car and rushed into the restaurant.

After getting out of the car, Liu Xiaofan looked at Yan Zihao, who was waiting for him, and said, “You go in first. I’ll give Chief Rong a call and see if he’s awake.”

Yan Zihao nodded and went into the restaurant.

No one answered the two calls Liu Xiaofan made, so he started to panic, worrying if something had happened. He was all ready to head for Chief Rong’s house, but as soon as his hand touched the car door, he retracted it. This was because he remembered that he had put Rong Jian’s phone on silent that morning before leaving in case incoming calls disturbed his rest.

He was already feeling uneasy about the incident, so now he was also worried about Rong Jian as well. He decided that after eating their fill, he would get Fan Lifeng and Yan Zihao back to the Bureau before going to Rong Jian’s house to check in on him.

As he was making up his mind, he entered the restaurant.

Meanwhile, in Qin Jinhuan’s office in Qing Tian Building, Bian Zijun was reporting to Qin Jinhuan.

“Boss, things are going smoothly; everything is in your control.”

“Good.” Qin Jinhuan nodded in satisfaction.

Bian Zijun smiled as he praised, “Boss, Miss Yin was really smart. I only needed to give her a simple reminder, and she already knew what she had to do.”

At this, Qin Jinhuan gave a faint smile. “Isn’t Dong Yueyun the smartest of them all?”

“Yes, she is indeed.” Bian Zijun immediately corrected himself with a smile. “She is very skilled in making the first move to ensure her own safety. No ordinary person would think of doing that.”

Qin Jinhuan sneered. “Greedy women like her wouldn’t spare any methods for their own benefit. Right, have you sent that person away?”

“You mean the performer who excels in mimicking a person’s way of speaking?” Receiving a nod in response, Bian Zijun also nodded. “We have sent him away in secret and paid him to keep his mouth shut. There won’t be any problem.”

“Keep following up on this matter and report to me if anything happens.” Saying this, Qin Jinhuan stood up. “Get Huang Bo to take me to the hospital.”

Bian Zijun quickly reminded him, “Boss, Huang Bo had already left for Africa.”

Qin Jinhuan was stunned for a moment, but he didn’t say anything as he opened the door to the office and walked out, only to bump into someone.