The dandruff in the nail beds of the deceased matched the merchant Shao Dahai who pursued her. In fact, Shao Dahai was now in the bureau for questioning.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Shi was surprised but also a little disappointed. Peng Sijue looked at his expression and said, "Did you want the case to be more challenging?"

"Haha, the faster the case is solved, the faster I can rest. I can't wait! Where is the suspect?"

"In the interrogation room."

"Let's go see the questioning together."

"I’m not going to go. I still have work to do.”

"Let's go! The greatest pleasure for police is the moment when the truth is revealed.” Chen Shi tugged Peng Sijue with him.

In the interrogation room, a middle-aged man who was balding kept trying to defend himself. "I didn't kill anyone! How could I possibly kill someone? I do so much for charities, donate to schools, and believe in Buddha. I couldn’t possibly kill anyone. Stop trying to frame me!”

Lin Qiupu took the forensic report that was just released. "The dandruff in the nails of the deceased belongs to you. How do you explain that?!"

"That..." Shao Dahai's eyes flickered nervously.

"Say it!"

Shao Dahai was so scared that he confessed, "I was looking for her that day. You guys know I have a past with her. We were together for a while. Later, my wife found out, and then… It was an ugly scene. My wife brought her brothers along and stopped us on the streets. They pulled her hair and tried to beat her. People passing by photographed and took videos of that incident. You should still be able to find it online under ‘Long’An City Beating the Affair.’ My wife knew that I gave her financial assistance, so she was really resentful. She told me to ask for the money back. I’ve gone over to ask for the money to be returned a few times. Kong Tingting and I got into a lot of arguments over this, and then we stopped contacting each other…”

"What happened after that?"

"A few days ago, she suddenly contacted me and said that she was really lonely and wanted to open a room with me. Of course, I didn't refuse her. So, that night... She and I had sex... I was wondering if she couldn’t let go of our past love. An extra-marital affair requires skill. It’s a technical activity just like raising a cat or a dog. It takes a lot of money and energy to raise her. Kong Tingting was a pretty girl who I could show around and she wasn’t too educated, so what I did was virtuous, really.[1] Furthermore, my wife just found out that she had breast cancer. I’m afraid she only has a few years left. I was thinking about reviving old feelings, and marrying Kong Tingting when my wife dies.”

"So you went to find her?"

"Yeah, I talked to her and gave her a red envelope. She didn’t seem too receptive. I wondered, ‘How can a woman be so cold? Was she just looking for excitement that night?’ So I went to see her..."

"When?"

"At noon on Christmas Eve. I was planning to ask her to go out to eat, but she told me to get lost, so I was a bit angry and argued with her for a bit. She scratched me at that time... Look here, I still have some scratch marks here!"

"You really know how to make up a good story!"

"Leader, I really didn't make it up. These are all facts. If I even said half a word of lies, may I be hit by lightning on the head five times."

"Alright, alright. Don't swear like that. Do you know why she suddenly called you to open a room?”

Shao Dahai shook his head. "Maybe she was feeling lonely?"

“Actually, she suspected that she had contracted AIDS, so she madly retaliated against the society. I guess she retaliated against you too.”

Shao Dahai was shocked. "Then is she..."

"No, we have already tested it. She wasn’t infected."

Shao Dahai’s eyes were still wide, and then he buried his face between his hands. “Fuck, I almost went to a place I couldn’t turn back from. I actually thought she liked me! In order to eat pussy, I was almost fooled out of my whole life. I almost died for some pussy this time.”

The words of Shao Dahai caused the female minute-taker to frown slightly. Lin Qiupu hit the table with a pen and said, "Just talk about the day of the incident."

"On the day of the incident... Hey, what do you mean on the day of the incident? I really didn't kill her."

"At seven o'clock that night, where were you?"

"At home. My son can testify to that."

Chen Shi, who was listening outside shook his head. "He’s not the murderer."

"The height doesn’t match either," agreed Peng Sijue.

"Let's go and take that trip we talked about."

Peng Sijue took his toolbox and returned to the crime scene with Chen Shi. They didn't go in immediately, but stood outside to observe the electric box. Peng Sijue said, "There’s no dust on the switch."

"It’s so dirty all around, except for this switch, which is really clean. Someone had to have touched it and wiped off all the dust in the process.”

"It may not have happened that night."

Peng Sijue wasn’t trying to undermine him by saying this. Only, they each held a different opinion and debated.

When he partnered with Song Lang, they often discussed cases like this fiercely. Both parties enjoyed it. Looking at Chen Shi’s concentrated face, Peng Sijue’s heart felt heavy and knotted knowing that it was the same person, but was unable to say it out loud.

He has warned himself countless times that the name "Song Lang" could never be said out loud on any occasion. The man was a fugitive who carried two murders on his hands. Even though he believed that Song Lang was innocent, as a policeman, he must not cross the line.

He had to lie to himself, thinking that the person in front of him right now was just Chen Shi, a kind citizen who was really good at solving cases.

"Why are you in a daze?" When he returned from his thoughts, Chen Shi was staring at his eyes intently.

"Thinking about some things." Peng Sijue quietly concealed.

"Open it and have a look."

The electric box didn’t require a key and could be opened directly. Chen Shi took Peng Sijue's magnifying glass and observed the box for a while, saying, "The main power switch has been touched."

"Are there fingerprints?"

"The switch-board is made of ceramic so I can’t see any."

Peng Sijue opened the box and plugged the ultraviolet light into a battery source. He shined the light over the box, before turning around and saying, “Nothing.”

"That’s even more suspicious. If the owner was the one who touched it, why would they wear gloves?"

"Let’s go into the house and see."

In order to facilitate the investigation, the key to the crime scene was kept safe by the neighborhood committee here. When they were coming up earlier, Chen Shi had already asked for the key.

He opened the door and the blood on the ground had not been cleaned up yet. The police had used rope to outline the body of the victim when she fell to the ground. The two went straight to the refrigerator and opened it. A rotten stench came out. Chen Shi fanned the smell away from him and turned around to find Peng Sijue wearing a mask all of a sudden.

"You should have given one to me!"

"I only brought one... These dishes are so rotten. In this season, even if they were to be put in room temperature, it wouldn’t have rotted this much.”

"It seems that you don't usually cook, huh? This little girl isn’t very particular about food-safety. She put raw food and cooked food together. In a sealed environment, the bacteria on the raw meat will accelerate the decay."

"But it still shouldn’t be so fast. It takes at least a week for the dishes to be in such a state.”

"These seem to be leftovers from her takeaways. I’ll have a look for it!"

Chen Shi went and rummaged through the trash can and found the receipt for the takeaways. He checked them one by one. These dishes were indeed from a week ago. After she had her meal, she chucked the leftovers into the refrigerator with everything else… This girl’s refrigerator was a glorified rubbish bin.

Chen Shi was silent. At this time, Peng Sijue found a leftover piece of pudding cake. He took it and looked at it. "This is still very fresh. It should have been bought during the last couple of days. The shelf life label on it says it is best to be eaten before the 24th of December.”

1. Supposedly, if women are uneducated, they can only listen to whatever their husbands say.