Episode 92

While the party that the Gao family had thrown for Ling Qianqian continued inside the house, Gan Zhixuan was questioning his mother, Fourth Missy Gan, about his biological father in a secluded, quiet corner outside.

Gan Zhixuan seemed to be very agitated. His expression, gaze and body were all very tense. He didn’t have any energy to think about where he was or whether it was appropriate to argue with his mother about this. He just wanted an answer.

He was very insistent, focused and did not give Fourth Missy Gan any room to dodge his question.

At first, his mother tried to explain things, but later on, she just kept crying.

Her tears were usually very effective on men, regardless of age, and even on her own son.

But this time, Gan Zhixuan did not back down.

He clenched his fists tightly and pursed his lips tightly too. It was clear that he felt bad for making her cry, but he was more concerned about getting the answer to his question.

The mother and son remained like this for a while. Qi Yan clicked his tongue and leaned over to whisper to Song Caitang, “This boy is really something, he…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a large hand suddenly appeared in between them and pulled him aside.

Qi Yan was very angry and hissed softly, “Which bloody ass…”

But he immediately stopped himself when he saw who the hand belonged to, “Oh, it’s Brother Zhi! Why didn’t you say something when you came?” He laughed awkwardly, and one could imagine his ingratiating expression even though it was dark.

Zhao Zhi grinned back to reveal his pearly whites, “You’re blocking me.”

Qi Yan looked around. This place wasn’t very small and at least three or four people could stand here comfortably. There was more than enough space for Zhao Zhi to stand and watch what was going on…

Zhao Zhi used his chin to point to his legs, “Your legs are short, so you won’t be seen even if you stand further to the side.”

Qi Yan’s eyes widened immediately.

He was of average height! It was very rare to see someone as tall and muscular as Zhao Zhi among men, so he was the one with extra long legs! His own legs were just fine!

But even as he grumbled inwardly, he did notice that the other areas were not great for tall people to stand in. If Zhao Zhi stood to the side, he might not be discovered, but he might also be discovered… if the two they were watching suddenly decided to look in this direction for some reason and Zhao Zhi didn’t duck in time, then their game was up!

Qi Yan reluctantly moved two steps to the side so that Zhao Zhi could stand in between him and Song Caitang.

Zhao Zhi calmly greeted Song Caitang, “Miss Song.”

Song Caitang didn’t know martial arts, so her hearing wasn’t as sharp as theirs. This conversation was important and she needed complete silence from them. She put one finger against her lips and shushed them without even turning to look. She was clearly telling them to be quiet.

Zhao Zhi… was just trying to be polite.

“Are you keeping it from me because you’re afraid that I’ll leave with him and abandon you? Mother, I will not do that! You’ve brought me up all these years, so how could I do such a thing?” Gan Zhixuan tried his best to persuade his mother, “I just want to know the truth. I don’t want to be called a bastard with no father anymore, that’s all. Won’t you tell me? Please?”

Fourth Missy Gan shook her head and couldn’t stop crying, but she refused to say anything.

“I promise, I only want to know the truth. I won’t look for him and I won’t tell anybody. Will that do?”

But she continued to just cry and not say anything.

He tried several more times, but her attitude remained the same. She wasn’t going to budge.

Finally, he lost patience and narrowed his eyes as he said, “You’re not the only one who knows who my father is, right?”

Her crying seemed to have gotten a little softer.

“You’re not from Luanze, so you used to live elsewhere before moving here. You won’t tell me, but I’m sure the people who used to know you would know who my father is.”

Her crying stopped as she looked up at him with a start.

“It’s fine if you don’t tell me. I’ll just slowly ask around and keep moving until someone can tell me who he is.”

She gripped his sleeve, “No! You can’t do that!”

“Why!” A fury burned in Gan Zhixuan’s eyes, “Ever since I was a child, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do that, I had to be careful with who I mixed with, I had to watch out when I left the house – am I a rat that you have to hide from the world? I’m a man, Mother! I can’t just stay in the house all day like you! I have to go out and interact with others! Do you know what I’ve been through all these years?!”

Fourth Missy Gan stared at him as tears rolled down her pretty face, “I… really didn’t want this to happen… I really didn’t…”

Gan Zhixuan pulled his sleeve out from her hands, “This time, I don’t care what you’re afraid of, what you’re wary of or whether you’re trying to protect something. I don’t care. I’ve already made up my mind, so you’d better think about it.”

As he turned to walk away, he said in a low voice, “I know how much you have done for me and I’m very grateful. You will always be my most precious mother, and this will never change. But I must find out who my father is.”

After he left, Fourth Missy Gan remained where she was with a wooden look on her face. It took a while for her to snap out of her daze. She covered her mouth with a sad look on her face, trembled a little, then left with heavy footsteps.

Song Caitang and the two men had watched the whole thing.

“Gan Zhixuan’s words… seem to be implying something.” Song Caitang thought about whether his lineage could have anything to do with Lu Guangzong’s case and asked the other two at the same time, “What do you guys think?”

Zhao Zhi said, “Fourth Missy Gan was already pregnant by the time she arrived in Luanze. The people connected to this case are either too young, or they’re locals, so the chances that they are Gan Zhixuan’s father are not high. Lu Guangzong’s past and his experiences are all well recorded, so it’s a bit impossible for him to have had a son in secret. Gan Zhixuan’s biological son might not have anything to do with the case.”

Song Caitang nodded.

He glanced at her, then his gaze darkened as he said softly, “But keeping it a secret might have.”

She nodded in agreement, “The timing is a little suspect.”

They shared the same frequency and knew what each other was talking about, but Qi Yan was still clueless.

He stared blankly at Song Caitang, then at Zhao Zhi. He was on the brink of despair.

As far as he knew himself, he was really good at gathering information, seeing what others didn’t, hearing what others hadn’t, taking others’ things without them knowing and adapting various martial arts to his advantage. But when it came to finding direction among hundreds of seemingly unrelated pieces of information and cracking a case… he really had no talent for that.

Being interested, learning about it and working hard at it was not going to help.

He just didn’t have the gift for it.

Song Caitang took pity on him and gave a hint, “What do the two of them look like to you?”

He shook his head with a confused look on his face. He couldn’t understand what she was asking.

She decided to be more direct, “Focus on Fourth Missy Gan. What was she doing?”

That part wasn’t so hard. “She’s got a secret to hide!”

This was a secret she was hiding very carefully, so neither her son nor anybody else could find out about it!

Song Caitang’s voice relaxed, “If you have to keep a secret so carefully that you can’t even tell the closest person to you, it means that this is a very dangerous secret. If you tell just anybody about it…”

“You’d be in trouble!” Qi Yan suddenly rubbed his palms and stared brightly at Song Caitang. “Your life might even be in danger!”

Zhao Zhi took half a step forward and glanced at Qi Yan, “And what if someone found out that you knew about this secret?”

Qi Yan didn’t take note of the way Zhao Zhi was standing and didn’t really notice that Zhao Zhi was blocking him from standing too close to Song Caitang. His brain was working too hard.

If someone found out…

Others wouldn’t protect Gan Zhixuan like his mother. If necessary, they would make use of this knowledge… and if anything happened, this mother and son would be the ones in trouble!

Qi Yan unfolded his fan with great flourish, “I got it! The killer is Fourth Missy Gan!”

This was the motive!

Someone found out about the secret and threatened Fourth Missy Gan about it, so she decided to silence that person!

He stood proudly before Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang with a smirk on his face, hoping that the two of them would applaud him. But when there was no reaction, he looked up and saw that they were both staring at him with uh, disappointment? Disbelief?

Song Caitang slowly closed her eyes and sighed.

Zhao Zhi snorted, “Your head is full of so much trivia and other useless things. Can’t you make space for something useful for once? You’ve already accused three people of murder – Pang Qian, Niu Baoshan, and now, Fourth Missy Gan. Are you going to keep naming the rest of the connected persons, then when the truth comes out, you’d say ‘Told you so!’?”

Qi Yan shrank back. His gaze lost focus and he looked up as he whistled quietly.

“Cracking a case requires evidence. Any guesses don’t count as long as you can’t back it up,” Song Caitang was gentler with him, “Knowing she has a secret isn’t enough to crack the case, or at least…”

She glanced downward, “We need to know what this secret is and who’s involved before we can understand what else is going on behind the scenes.”

“Ohh!” Qi Yan brightened up and used his fan frame to hit his palm, “Leave that to me!”

Song Caitang’s interest was piqued, “You have a way to make Fourth Missy Gan talk?” After all, Fourth Missy Gan’s precious son had failed to get it out of her even after cornering her like that.

“She seems very frail, but she knows exactly what she wants,” said Qi Yan as an idea began forming in his mind. His eyes curved as he smiled, like a wily little fox.

“This woman is not like most women, but who am I? I’m someone who’s good at making trouble! Fourth Missy Gan is tough to handle because she knows what she wants, she can tolerate a lot and she’s very resilient, but she’s not really thaaaat strong. She’s too used to using her beauty to her advantage, so she’s always been able to get men to help her out. Being too dependent on doing that is a problem in itself. If problems keep cropping up and she has no men to save her, she might buckle under the pressure in no time…”

“Leave it to me! Just wait for my good news!”

He patted his chest to guarantee results and couldn’t wait to show off his capabilities. As he turned to leave, he winked at Song Caitang, “Miss Song, wait for my victorious return!”

But he didn’t get to see her face, because Zhao Zhi had casually shifted his weight and blocked her with his body.

Qi Yan didn’t think too much about Zhao Zhi’s actions, because he had to focus on brewing trouble! He was so excited, he didn’t wait for a response and ran in the same direction that Fourth Missy Gan had left.

Zhao Zhi waited until he was out of sight before turning around.

He was met with Song Caitang’s amused gaze.

Zhao Zhi said honestly, “He doesn’t suit you.”

These words came from nowhere and Song Caitang was a little confused, “He doesn’t suit me?”

Zhao Zhi had a rather stern look on his face, “He hails from a good, prominent family but he’s like a child. He loves to have fun, create trouble and doesn’t care about family, so he won’t make a caring husband.”

Song Caitang realized that Zhao Zhi was overthinking it.

She wanted to say that it was fun to laugh at Qi Yan and she wasn’t interested in him, but marriage was a very private matter and it didn’t seem appropriate to talk about it like this. She was just friends with Zhao Zhi and he often kept his distance, so it probably wasn’t a good idea to talk about this.

So, she tried to crack a joke, “Well, Surveillance Commissioner Zhao is a mature and reliable man, so I’m sure good things are coming your way soon.”

Zhao Zhi frowned.

“Miss Ling is very cute,” Song Caitang noticed how his lips were pursed, as though he was very unhappy, and quickly changed course, “but she seems a little too young. But you’re very charming and I’m sure many women are charmed, so you can take your pick when you want to settle down. That’s wonderful, isn’t it?”

As she spoke, she nodded confidently with a sincere look in her eyes, as though she was giving him her sincerest, heartfelt blessings.

But he pursed his lips even more tightly, “I will not get married!”

She was a little taken aback. It was fine if he didn’t want to. Did he have to get angry?

It was so hard to talk to him sometimes.

After he said those words, he marched off. She looked at his back view and felt a little awkward following behind him, and figured that she didn’t have to either. So, she turned and walked down a different passageway.

She hadn’t walked far when she heard a whooshing sound and a black figure appeared in front of her. Zhao Zhi was in her way.

His expression was foul, “You can even get lost while walking behind someone? Really now?”

She chuckled.

She wasn’t lost. She had purposely chosen to walk in a different direction. But saying that might make him more upset, so she just smiled and didn’t say anything.

He started walking again, but this time, he walked more slowly. He seemed to be squeezing his voice out from between his teeth, “Are you able to follow me properly at this pace? Song Caitang?”

She calmly straightened some wrinkles in her skirt and smiled, “Yep.”