A glance at the phone caller ID revealed that it was her best friend, Jiang Wenwen. Mu Yu quickly answered the phone and Jiang Wenwen bombarded her with questions. “Mu Yu, do you know that your Brother Yihan is getting married?”
Mu Yu had deliberately avoided thinking of this, and her heart sank at her best friend's reminder. As a lump formed in her throat, she forced a smile and replied, “I know. I received an invitation today. Well, how do you know about this?”
“I just saw him deliver an invitation to our principal. His publishing firm has business ties with our school. By the way, he gave me an invitation card and invited me to his reception too. Yu, your precious man is getting married, but the bride isn’t you. Aren’t you sad about this?”
Jiang Wenwen was a Chinese language teacher at a middle school.
“Brother Yihan is getting married. As his sister, I should be giving him my blessings. Why will I be sad?”
“Come on, you don’t have to pretend for me. I won’t tell your mother. My schedule is free this afternoon. Do you want me to take the day off and see you?”
“There’s no need. I am at work now. This is my first day and the department has assigned me a lot to do. I’m almost drowning in all this work.”
“Oh, okay then. I’ll meet you tonight.”
After hanging up, Mu Yu felt a sudden surge of sadness. She hurriedly compartmentalized her emotions as her colleagues often entered her lab. She didn’t want them to see her in that state.
Her mind drifted to the case from the morning, and she distracted herself by switching on her computer to look through the victim’s details.
The victim’s name was Shun Meilan. She was a female, forty-eight years old, and a cleaner at Qing Tian Group. The victim was last seen leaving her house after finishing her dinner at 7:30 in the evening. She was found dead this morning in the Cheng Xi woods. The cause of her death was excessive blood loss from a severe blunt force trauma on the hindbrain. Before she died, her tongue was cruelly chopped off, cut into pieces, and discarded.
As she read through the details, she scanned pictures of the victim’s oral cavity and tongue in pieces.
She looked at the bloody scenes and felt her stomach churn. Clicking the cross on the upper right corner of the screen, she exited the document file to prevent vomiting. After all, she was only a novice forensic doctor.
After a few sips of hot tea, she finally calmed down and got to work, as she began to comprehend the psychology of a murderer who would cut off a victim’s tongue and chop it to pieces.
The injury to the hindbrain was fatal. If the motive was revenge, why was the tongue chopped to pieces? Was it because of the murderer’s own trauma? Or was it a grudge against the victim?
Why only the tongue? Why not her ears, nose or any other body part?
Was there meaning behind her tongue?
The tongue had the power of life and death. Did the victim spread rumours that angered the murderer? Was that why the murderer killed her?
She shook her head at this thought.
If that were the case, the intentions behind this wrath-filled crime were too obvious. The murderer could be easily identified. By the looks of it, the murderer left the scene spotless without a trace of evidence. This proved that the murderer was a calm and careful person with solid psychological qualities. It wasn’t a random Tom, Dick, or Harry.
“Mu, aren’t you going home?”
A gentle voice interrupted Mu Yu’s thoughts. She looked up and saw that it was Nie Yunkang, another forensic doctor. She immediately stood up to greet him, “Hello Teacher Nie, how is Xue doing?”
Nie Yunkang’s wife passed away two years ago from excessive blood loss at childbirth, leaving him alone with a sick daughter.
“She gets sick easily, as usual. I take leave once every few days to care for her.” Nie Yunkang sighed. However, he quickly added with a smile, “Fortunately, you’re here now. Rubing could use some help.”
There were four senior forensic investigators in the Forensic Lab. They were Nie Yunkang, Feng Rubing, Lu Xudong, and Shan Rui. Lu Xudong had retired a month ago, Shan Rui was on maternity leave, and Nie Yunkang needed frequent leaves. Therefore, much of the Forensic Lab work fell on Feng Rubing’s shoulders.
Mu Yu was a little embarrassed. She replied, “I am still a rookie. There’s not much help I can offer Teacher Feng.”
“It’s a process. Don’t worry, just come to me if you need any help. Alright, I’m only back to grab something. I’ll make a move now. The work day is over, and you should go home too.” Nie Yunkang gave Mu Yu a wave and left in a hurry before she could say anything.
It was almost seven in the evening. Mu Yu turned off her computer and checked if all the power sockets were switched off. Then, she went home.
At home, she told her parents about her first day at work, putting up a front so they wouldn't know that something was wrong. She also volunteered to do the dishes. While she was scrubbing plates, her mother shouted, “Yu, there’s someone here for you!”
Mu Yun’s heart clenched at the sound of her mother’s shouting. She instinctively shrank into the kitchen corner and peaked outside. “Auntie, don’t you recognize me? It’s Wenwen, Jiang Wenwen.” It turned out to be Wenwen. She had forgotten their promise to meet up today. Mu Yu heaved a sigh of relief and laughed at her own overthinking. Even if the wily old fox needed her, he wouldn’t show up at her house. At most, he would make a call. After all, she was now his little pet. All he needed to do was to use his summon card. “Hey, penny for your thoughts?”Jiang Wenwen patted Mu Yu as her mother looked on with curiosity. Mu Yu gave her a rushed smile. “I was listening to the conversation between you and my mum.” Jiang Wenwen got up and grabbed Mu Yu’s arm, smiling happily. “According to auntie, I’ve become so beautiful that she couldn’t recognize me!”
Jiang Wenwen’s face paled and she hastily stood up. She smiled and explained, “Auntie, you misunderstood. We were only joking.”“Yes, yes, yes… It was only a joke.” Mu Yu laughed unnaturally. Hu Meiling eyed her closely and asked, “Was it Xiao Qi? If he kissed and touched you, he must bear the responsibility!”Mu Yu was shocked. She shook her head vigorously and denied, “No, no, mum. We were really just joking! Don’t take it seriously!”If her mother hunted down Xiao Qi to demand that he bear responsibility, her reputation would be gone. Moreover, she had every reason to believe that her mother would do exactly that, since she was eager for Mu Yu to get married as soon as possible.“Was it really just a joke?”“Yes, of course it was a joke!” Mu Yu and Jiang Wenwen replied in unison. Hu Meiling was furious. “How can you joke about something like this? You are girls! This is ridi
Mu Yu was shocked. She pulled on his arm with all her strength and asked in a panicked voice, “What-What are you trying to do?” Qin Jinhuan stopped on his heels and trapped her against a wall. With a small smile on his face, he asked, “What do you think?”His manly scent filled her nostrils. Mu Yu was so shocked she couldn’t open her eyes. She instinctively pushed on his chest as she held her breath and trembled. “Don’t you dare!”Qin Jinhuan lowered his head and approached her lips with his. Mu Yu was so frightened that she released an involuntary shout. She stuck her body close to the wall behind, wishing hard that her body would just melt into it, just so she could avoid his lips. Qin Jinhuan stopped when he was only two centimeters away from her lips. He blew cold air onto her lips and smirked, “What if I want to?”“I-I will call the police!” “You want to report me for raping you? I would really
The woman had curves in all the right places, especially some places that shook as she walked. Moreover, she wore a gown with a plunging neckline that was enough to make Mu Yu gulp, let alone men. By the looks of it, this woman was an acquaintance of the wily old fox. She wanted to loosen her grip on Qin Jinhuan’s arm, but a painful pinch stopped her. She glanced down and saw that the wily old fox had his hand over the back of her hand. He was obviously the culprit behind the pinch. She glared at him in anger, but a gentle look glazed his eyes, and she felt a stab in her heart. His gaze was too lethal. Stop looking! Stop looking! Mu Yu’s heartbeat quickened when the woman with the plunging neckline pointed at her and asked, “Who is this?” “My girlfriend.” Am I not only his date? When did I become his girlfriend? Mu Yu was very surprised. However, the woman with th
Mu Yu was scared he would make a move on her. She struggled desperately and shouted, “Hey! Let go of me! I’ll bite my tongue off and die if you don’t!”The next moment, Qin Jinhuan intended to let her go, but taunted her nevertheless. “Do you have anything else to threaten me with other than biting your tongue? Kiss me maybe?”“Bah! You’re insane! Shameless man!” Mu Yu opened the door angrily. “Are you planning to walk home?”“This is none of your business!” Mu Yu wanted to walk out of the door. However, she felt that something was wrong. She quickly turned around and walked back into the room. Qin Jinhuan was changing his clothes. He didn’t even shy away when he saw her walking back into the room. Instead, he smirked at her and said, “What is it? Miss me already?”Mu Yu didn’t dare to talk back to him. She took her bag and ran out of the hotel to her scooter. Riding as fast as she could, she managed to
Mu Yu thought she was hallucinating from the influence of alcohol. She shook her head vigorously. Then, she stared at Qin Jinhuan. “Hello, Mr. Qin.” Yin Xiaotian, who was an employee of the Qing Tian Group, hurried over to greet Qin Jinhuan. Qin Jinhuan carefully helped Mu Yu to her feet and nodded slightly at Yin Xiaotian as he explained, “Something happened at the company, that’s why I couldn’t make it in time to your wedding with Yu. My apologies.” Before Yin Xiaotian—who was in shock—could reply, he turned back to Mu Yu and scolded her softly, “You know I’ll get worried if you deliberately drank liquor as if you’re drinking water. You always do as you like.” It sounded like a scolding but underneath it was sympathy and care. The crowd turned wild again. The gaze they cast on Mu Yu had turned into envy and jealousy. “Yu? You guys…” Hu Meiling’s voice was filled with surprise.
A few days ago, Qin Jinhuan’s father, Qin Wentao, went to visit his grandfather behind Qin Jinhuan’s back. Qin Wentao took advantage of the grandfather’s delirium and forced the grandfather to change his will. When Qin Jinhuan received the news, he rushed home and saw that his poor grandfather was forced onto the table. He was so furious that he wanted to beat his inhumane father up. He would have done so if Qin Wentao hadn’t fled the scene. “Boss, the Old Master is clear-headed now. Moreover, he had brought Master Xi with him, so he wouldn’t cross the line,” Huang Bo quickly followed after Qin Jinhuan and said softly. “They have come to pay their respects to the Mistress.”Master Xi, or Qin Chengxi, was Qin Jinhuan’s half-brother. Although he was already twenty-year-old, he looked like a weak young girl of sixteen to seventeen-year-old because he was constantly falling sick from a young age. He couldn't handle external stimuli well. Everybody knew Qin Wen
Hu Meiling grabbed Mu Yu’s arm and scolded, “Stop pretending and tell me honestly. Don’t you dare tell another lie, otherwise I will immediately drown you in the toilet!” “Don’t do that. You’re scaring your daughter. Talk nicely.” Mu Ziyao ‘rescued’ his daughter from his wife’s grip. Then, he pointed at the screen of the phone and asked, “Yu, are the contents here true?”Aware that she could no longer hide, Mu Yu nodded and quickly explained, “We did stay in the hotel, but our relationship is not as complicated as what the news is suggesting. Nothing happened between us. It’s true!”“You are both single and stayed in the same room for so long. You were even drunk. When you came out of the hotel, your clothes had even been changed. Nothing happened, you said? Unless you prove to me that Young Master Qin isn’t a real man, I will never believe that nothing happened.” Hu Meiling looked at her as if she could already see through Mu Yu’s façade.