Chapter 306 Perfect Crime?

Mu Yu was startled by Qin Chengxi’s demeanor, and her heart clenched instantly. “What’s the matter?”

“Look! Take a look at this!” Qin Chengxi showed Mu Yu her cell phone with an anxious expression. “Someone is talking nonsense on the Internet!”

Mu Yu fixed her eyes on the phone’s screen and saw a big headline displayed on it. The headline read, ‘Another New Victim in Serial Homicides—Who Has Qing Tian Group Offended?’ She hurriedly grabbed the phone and read along the lines.

The lengthy post was loaded with many contents, including the four murder cases’ victims, the murderer, the current status of Qing Tian Group’s development, and the group’s competitor. Finally, it focused on speculations about similar cases that might happen next.

As Mu Yu read the post, she couldn’t help but gasp. In particular, she was shocked and enraged by the last sentence which wrote, ‘Now that four vicious murders have happened in a row, which of Qing Tian Group’s employees will be the next victim?’ She indignantly scolded the writer of this post, who was eager to see the world in chaos.

When she saw that Mu Yu had finished reading the post, Qin Chengxi asked apprehensively, “Yu, will the company’s employees not be coming to work tomorrow?” If that happened, the company would be paralyzed, and the loss would be incalculable.

“That will never happen!” Mu Yu sounded very positive, and she guessed that Qin Jinhuan had probably come up with countermeasures long ago. Still, she lacked confidence deep down inside.

Naturally, her words didn’t dispel Qin Chengxi’s worries at all. Qin Chengxi grabbed her arm and said anxiously, “Yu, this post was uploaded just moments ago so Huan probably isn’t aware of it yet. Hurry up and inform him about this—tell him to find a way to have this post deleted!”

“It’s already too late to delete it right now.”

Upon hearing Mu Yu’s reply, Qin Chengxi immediately lowered her head. When she saw how many times this post had been viewed and forwarded, she was greatly discouraged. She clenched her cell phone angrily, seeming as though she was clenching the arm of the person who wrote the post. “In that case, what should we do now? Are we going to resign ourselves to this?”

“I’ll call Huan,” Mu Yu replied as she took out her cell phone and called Qin Jinhuan. When she heard silence on the other end of the line, she tactfully asked if he was with Wen Zeyu. Upon learning that he was now on the way home, she immediately told him about the post.

“I know that already.” Qin Jinhuan sounded very calm.

“Well, what should we do now?”

Qin Jinhuan was silent for a few seconds before he answered, “What’s destined to come will come. If we can’t escape from it, then we’ll just have to face it.”

Upon hearing that, Mu Yu silently hung up the phone without saying anything else.

Meanwhile, Qin Chengxi’s eyes flickered; she had listened to their conversation with her ear pressed against Mu Yu’s cell phone. “The fact that Huan said so proves that he has come up with a countermeasure in mind, right?”

“Probably.”

“That’s great. In that case, I won’t have to be so worried,” Qin Chengxi replied while putting her palms together in prayer. Then, she looked at the ceiling and prayed, “I wish that no one will be misled by those who are up to no good and that Qing Tian Group will be fine. That way, Grandpa won’t be worried.”

“Don’t mention this in front of Grandpa,” Mu Yu reminded Qin Chengxi in a whisper as she sent the latter out. After that, she turned around and lay back down in bed. As she stared blankly at the ceiling, she silently prayed that Qing Tian Group’s employees would face these murder cases with equanimity.

All of a sudden, she felt there was a problem with her previous train of thought. According to what she had originally assumed, the victims became connected to the murderer at a certain time and place because of an incident during their lifetime. The murderer harbored deep grudges against them because of that, so he didn’t hesitate to end their lives with such cruel methods.

For now, four murders had happened, with all four victims being Qing Tian Group’s employees. Besides, no other connections had been found so far between the four victims other than that they were all working for the same company.

If there was a connection between the four victims, why weren’t the police able to find anything even after such a long investigation? Even if there was a problem with the way they investigated the cases, it was impossible to be unable to locate a single clue, right?

Moreover, if there was a connection between the four of them, how could Qian Dacheng not react at all when three people had died before him? If he and the three others had done something devious against their conscience, he should have been horrified when he saw that the three others had been killed. He would’ve found a way to hide instead of appearing swaggeringly in public like this.

Perhaps there was no connection between these victims as Rong Jian and the others had thought, and the killings were simply the murderer’s way of retaliating against Qing Tian Group. Could the murderer have chosen his victims based on their moral character while committing murders? If that was the case, the next victim—if any—would be another employee who was bad in certain regards, right? Why would the murderer choose to disrupt the order within Qing Tian Group and cause chaos to the company by murdering people? Did he do so merely to take revenge on Qing Tian Group or to benefit from the chaotic situation by fishing in troubled waters?

If the murderer simply wanted to take revenge on Qing Tian Group, then the person who created the disturbances was probably an individual. Perhaps Qing Tian Group had damaged his interests while doing something, causing him to harbor a deep resentment that drove him to make such a crazy move. On the other hand, if the murderer wanted to fish in troubled waters, the serial murders were probably the result of a conglomerate’s behind-the-scenes manipulation. This conglomerate was probably Qing Tian Group’s formidable rival or hidden adversary in the business world, and the murderer behind the serial murder cases was probably an assassin they hired.

Mu Yu put her notebook on her face and sighed. She had turned these speculations over in her mind for a long time, but she still ended up with nothing, right?

Just as she was letting her mind wander, she heard the sound of the door being opened. She quickly kept her notebook away and suddenly sat up before staring at the door.

Qin Jinhuan, who thought she was already asleep, was startled to see her like this. He hung his overcoat on the clothes tree while asking softly, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“What’s wrong?” Qin Jinhuan quickly walked over to her.

Mu Yu didn’t answer his question directly, though. “How did your conversation with Zeyu go?”

“He’ll go back to work at Hui Ming Group tomorrow.”

Mu Yu was surprised. “Why would he go back so soon?! Did something happen to Hui Ming Group?”

“Yao Chenhua suddenly collapsed at the company this afternoon and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. His life is already out of danger for now, but he is in very bad shape and can no longer manage the company. Yao Zewei, his nephew, wanted to take advantage of the confusion to seize power. If Zeyu still doesn’t go back to Hui Ming Group, the company, which is the fruit of Yao Chenhua and Wen Zeyu’s mother’s painstaking work, might fall into the hands of Yao Zewei and his family.”

Only then did Mu Yu understand why Qin Jinhuan was so supportive of Wen Zeyu’s decision to return to Hui Ming Group. She then expressed her concern by asking, “Now that Zeyu is leaving Qing Tian Group so suddenly, what about the work in his hands? Can you find the right person to take over his job so quickly?” As a matter of fact, Wen Zeyu was the person Qin Jinhuan trusted the most, and all work-related affairs he was in charge of at the company were very important. Therefore, he couldn’t be replaced by any random person.

Qin Jinhuan closed his eyes slightly and massaged his temples while shaking his head. “Chenyu will take over Zeyu’s work for the time being.” Chao Chenyu was also Qing Tian Group’s vice president, and his position in Qing Tian Group was second only to Wen Zeyu.

“Can President Chao handle the workload?”

“He has to handle the workload even if he can’t.” There was a hint of irritation in Qin Jinhuan’s words. When he suddenly realized this, he immediately softened his voice and said, “Zeyu had already called Chenyu and a few higher-ups of the company over when I went to meet him. We made a simple exchange plan for the company’s personnel arrangements, and a high-level meeting will be called tomorrow morning to simultaneously execute the plan and release the news of vacancies. Zeyu will find time to hand over his work as soon as possible, so the company’s operation will be restored to its previous order very soon. You don’t have to be worried.”

“I see.” Only then did Mu Yu feel relieved. Then, she changed the subject and asked, “Do you know that Grandpa’s blood pressure increased today?”

“I know that. Lei Zhi told me about it.”

“I have a feeling that Grandpa’s condition has been getting worse after the New Year. He can’t take any bad news right now.”

“I know that, and I’ll take note of it.” Qin Jinhuan’s eyes were slightly cold. He knew how tactful Mu Yu’s words were, for Qin Xiaozhi’s condition had actually been worsening since Qin Wentao and Dong Yueyun left An City. In the end, Qin Xiaozhi kept thinking about that disappointing son of his. After all, Qin Wentao was his only son. Even though he regretted the fact that Qin Wentao didn’t live up to his expectations, such regrets were ultimately overcome by his worry for his own flesh and blood. Even so, Qin Jinhuan had never thought of loosening up and letting the two of them come back, for he wanted to protect Qing Tian Group and everyone he wanted to keep safe.

“Hey! By the way,” Mu Yu shouted to Qin Jinhuan as he was about to go to the bathroom. She continued, “Have you read all the online news reports and the viral post about Qian Dacheng’s case today?”

“What viral post?”

When she realized that Qin Jinhuan had no idea about it, Mu Yu immediately took out her cell phone and opened her browser. “Hey, why can’t I find that viral post on my cell phone? Wait a minute. I’ll get Xi’s cell phone.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Qin Jinhuan stopped her. “I had it deleted already.”

“You saw it?”

“Yeah.”

Mu Yu was still worried when she recalled how many views and clicks the post had gotten. “I’m afraid that it’s useless even if the post is deleted. So many people have seen it.”

“It’s fine as long as Grandpa never sees it.”

Only then did Mu Yu understand the main reason why Qin Jinhuan had the post deleted. Her heart melted for a moment, for he cared about his grandfather a lot deeper than she had imagined.

“You’ve been working hard all day. It’s late, so get some rest,” Qin Jinhuan urged. After finishing his sentence, he entered the bathroom and switched on the lights.

Mu Yu lay on her side in bed while watching Qin Jinhuan’s every move in the bathroom through the glass wall. She noticed that he didn’t take a towel with him. He turned on the washbasin faucet, cupped water in his hands, and splashed it on his face. Then, he wiped the water off his face heavily using his hand; only after that did he turn on the showerhead and shower with his back to the glass wall.

Upon noticing how frustrated Qin Jinhuan was deep down inside, Mu Yu felt sorry and worried for him. Not only that, she was restless. It’d be great if we could just solve these four cases sooner! I have taken part in the investigation of these four cases from start to finish, so why can’t I find the breakthrough? she thought to herself. She had seen many examples of perfect crimes committed by someone with a high IQ, but she never believed in perfect crimes. She used to think that the police couldn’t solve cases because their investigation wasn’t meticulous enough or because they weren’t sensitive enough to the clues left behind by the criminals. Right now, she thought she had been so simple-minded in the past. No way! As a front-line police officer, I have 10,000 reasons to believe that justice has a long arm! We must’ve missed some clues!

She was about to reach for the notebook beside her pillow, but when she heard the bathroom door being opened, she immediately retracted her hand, quickly closed her eyes, and pretended to be sleeping. Qin Jinhuan already had enough problems weighing on his mind, so she didn’t want to add to his psychological burden. She hoped that he could have a good night’s sleep and prepare for the next day with great vigor.

Thinking that Mu Yu was really asleep, Qin Jinhuan immediately got into bed lightly and slowly lay down next to her. Then, he switched off the lights and stared at the ceiling in the dark for a long time.

Since she knew that Qin Jinhuan wasn’t asleep, Mu Yu couldn’t sleep as well, but she didn’t make a sound. Instead, she silently kept him company in the dark until she could no longer stay awake, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Hours later, Mu Yu was awakened by hurried knocks on the door. She sat up with a start, only to hear Bian Zijun shouting anxiously outside the door, “Bad news, Boss! Something serious happened!”