Wiping her tears away, Hao Jie’s mother began to say, "It's all that man's fault. In order to get my father's help, he pursued me endlessly with false sincerity and kicked away his first love. After our marriage, he was extremely indifferent to me and messing around outside constantly. The reason I was admitted to the psychiatric hospital was all because of him. If he didn’t treat me like that, why would I have gone crazy…”

"I don't want to listen to this." Lin Qiupu interrupted coldly.

"After Hao Jie was born, I finally had a little motivation to live..."

"I don't want to listen to that either!"

Hao Jie's mother had no desire to resist at this moment. Instead, she smiled and asked, "What do you want to hear?"

"The process of the murder!"

"The murder... Yes... the process of the murder. Last November, that shameless mistress texted the man saying that she had a child for him and wanted to bring the child to see him..."

Lin Qiupu knocked on the table. "Hao Jie’s father didn't know anything about the illegitimate child. Even now, he doesn’t know about it. You installed surveillance software on his mobile phone and then used his phone to sound the other woman out."

"You really did a thorough investigation. Yes, that's right! I didn't monitor him for anything else. It was just to get evidence for the divorce. After seeing that text message, I was so mad that I went crazy. I went to find the man to reason with him, but he was drunk that day. That’s why I used his phone to see what she would say... This shameless mistress actually wanted to bring the illegitimate child to see him. I told her an address. It was my home address.”

"You may not know, but at that time, Hao Jie's father had already found out that he had cancer. It was misdiagnosed as benign. He was messing around every day so his body was damaged early. He would have died in front of me sooner or later. I wouldn’t allow another illegitimate child to appear, sharing his inheritance. I also wouldn’t allow another child in the world to call him dad! Since my days had been like this, I didn’t want him to be blessed either!"

Hao Jie's mother showed a fierce expression before smiling.

"I needed to kill her! I have long wanted to kill this shameless little three. Now, I finally had the chance. I thought of many plans and finally thought of this trick that would cause them to die by accident. The police couldn’t do anything to me! So I set up the scene and waited for them to come. They finally came. I said, ‘I'm sorry, Hao Zhiqiang[1] isn’t at home. You can sit for a while!’ Then, I poured drinks for them. After they finished drinking, the two of them fell asleep. I switched the electric mainboard off, turned on the gas, and closed the windows and doors before leaving…”

"I came back at 8:00 to turn off the gas and open the windows. Haha, the cheap woman and bastard died completely! When the gas was gone, I called my brother and asked him to help me handle the two bodies. When my brother found out about it, he called me stupid. The motivation for this kind of thing is so clear that the police would definitely suspect me! At that time, I was afraid... Fortunately, my brother had an idea and came over the next day to help me abandon the corpse on the mountain. At the time, I suddenly thought, ‘Why not take advantage of this and let Hao Jie live with me?’”

"I told my brother my idea. He thought it was ridiculous, but he has always listened to me since he was child, so he still agreed in the end... We started to prepare after that. In December, the kidnapping case officially started. To be honest, when I heard Hao Jie crying over the phone, I was still very heartbroken. Hao Jie didn’t know everything was fake at the time. I even had a hallucination at the time. This kidnapping wasn’t real, was it? I wanted to call my brother several times but held back.”

"I struggled to endure it. I only went to find my brother after the kidnapping case had finished. He told me that Hao Jie was with him now without any problems. When I saw Hao Jie, I thought it was all worth it. Nothing in the world could separate us! The man thought that Hao Jie had really disappeared and his condition became more serious. He couldn’t even stand up due to his illness. Haha, this was retribution! Then, I secretly transferred Hao Jie to a fully closed boarding school and let him use the name of that bastard. Although I was reluctant to admit it, he and that bastard were half-brothers and looked a bit similar.

"Hao Jie asked me why he needed to go to this school and why he couldn’t go home. I lied to him saying that his dad was being targeted by bad guys and that he needed to hide outside for a while. I felt sad when I told him that, but Hao Jie has always been obedient and sensible ever since he was young, so he did as I said. The plan went smoothly and there was even an unexpected surprise. The man's cancer worsened. Since he thought Hao Jie was dead, his condition only worsened. When he died, I’d be able to obtain the inheritance. This is what I deserve. He couldn’t have what he has today without the help of my dad. I wanted to live with Hao Jie somewhere else and live together forever when I got the inheritance money. Together… Forever!"

Hao Jie’s mother had tears of hope in her eyes before suddenly snapping back to reality. Realizing that she was sitting in a cold interrogation room and facing two expressionless interrogators, she buried her face and burst into tears again.

Lin Qiupu didn't want to say anything else. He thought to just let prison reform her. Then, he stood up and said, "Take her away!"

Walking outside, the police cheered. Chen Shi said, "I fulfilled my promise and the case was resolved within a day."

Lin Qiupu gave him a light punch. "Let's go. I’ll treat you to supper."

Chen Shi looked at his watch. "No, I still have a place to go to."

Lin Dongxue asked Chen Shi along the way whether something was a good idea. Chen Shi answered, "It’s good news after all."

"But it's also bad news. He didn't know that the people who died were his first love and the illegitimate child whom he had never met."

"He has the right to know the truth."

"But he’s so ill that he might not be able to stand the blow?"

Chen Shi was silent. Lin Dongxue suggested, "Perhaps we should just tell him that Hao Jie is still alive. We’ll leave everything else until the trial begins. Maybe he won’t even be able to make it till then."

"Okay!" Chen Shi smiled, "A kind lie."

In the hospital, when he learned that Hao Jie was still alive, Hao Jie's father sat up quickly and the heart rhythm on the next instrument next to him continued to rise. He grabbed Chen Shi's hand and asked, "You’re not lying to me, right? You’re really not lying to me, right?"

"This is a picture taken today." Chen Shi showed him his cell phone.

Hao Jie's father burst into tears. "Great! Thank you! Thank you to all the officers!"

Lin Dongxue also smiled with relief.

"But why was his mother arrested? And you asked me what happened to Guo Bilian. She wouldn’t have... She wouldn’t have killed Guo Bilian, right?"

"With regards to this, we can’t..."

"I have the right to know the truth. Please."

"Well, you're right. She killed Guo Bilian. Her body has been found."

Hao Jie's father grabbed at his blanket and cried for a while, smacking his leg with a lot of force. "I killed her. I killed her... Officers, don't listen to that woman’s nonsense. I have only ever had an affair once in my life. It was with Bilian."

"That's not important anymore. Have a good rest. After the operation, we will bring Hao Jie to see you." Chen Shi patted his hand.

"Where is she now?"

"In the morgue."

"No, I mean Hao Jie’s mother."

"A detention cell."

"Please take Hao Jie to see her. No matter what, she’s his mother. It’s too cruel to him. The mother has become a murderer and the father is dying. I don't know how he will live in the future.”

After a moment of silence, Chen Shi said, "Okay, I promise you."

1. Editor Conspiracing’s note: The author wrote “Hao Jie’s father” instead of “Hao Zhiqiang, but I feel like it's weird to bring up Hao Jie's name when they don't even know who that is.