On the first day after the New Year holiday ended, Ren Yi received a phone call from Qiu Yan. There had been progress in the case, and they needed him to assist with the investigation at the sub-bureau.
Ren Yi fell silent for a moment. Instead of agreeing immediately, he suddenly asked, “You know too, don’t you?”
Qiu Yan was taken aback and said nothing.
Ren Yi continued, “You suspected my father too, didn’t you?”
Qiu Yan hesitated. “I’m sorry, Captain Ren. I was only carrying out my duties. But I knew nothing about what Yingxian did to the old captain. He was definitely in the wrong.”
“Then, after the hypnosis, was my father cleared of suspicion?”
Ren Yi had never asked Gong Yingxian this question. Even bringing it up would make his anger surge uncontrollably, and he was even less willing to hear an answer from Gong Yingxian that he didn’t want to hear. Although he had not the slightest doubt about his father, he also knew that the results of hypnosis could not be used as evidence.
“Based on the hypnosis results, the old captain displayed no unusual behavior,” Qiu Yan said earnestly. “Emotionally speaking, I don’t believe he’s a suspect either. But I’m a police officer. I have to verify every lead, and the same goes for Yingxian. He simply went about it the wrong way.”
Ren Yi’s voice turned cold. “Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?”
Qiu Yan gave a bitter laugh. “We couldn’t bring ourselves to say it. It was too hurtful. Our plan was to verify it discreetly. If the old captain was cleared of suspicion, then we could simply act as though nothing had happened.”
Ren Yi’s tone grew sharp. “You underestimated me. If you had told me from the beginning, I would have been angry, but I would have respected the evidence. I would have separated the case from the people involved, and I would have found a way to prove my father’s innocence.”
In one respect, Gong Yingxian had been right. The evidence at the scene did point toward the firefighter who had first entered the burning building. If Ren Yi had approached the matter more rationally, he might have become suspicious, too. In fact, he had already considered the possibility that the arsonist had a background in firefighting. But from beginning to end, he had never once suspected his own father.
After calming down over the past few days, he had come to understand that the most important thing now was not to blame Gong Yingxian, but to protect his father’s reputation and find the real culprit.
“I’m truly sorry,” Qiu Yan said remorsefully.
“Is it you who wants me to come to the sub-bureau, or is it him?”
“It’s the task force.”
“All right. I’ll come.”
After hanging up, Ren Yi requested leave and headed to Hongwu Sub-bureau.
Although he had prepared himself mentally, the moment he saw Gong Yingxian, the muscles in his face stiffened involuntarily.
Gong Yingxian’s eyes were dim, his expression gloomy, and he looked utterly drained. The instant he saw Ren Yi, countless complicated emotions surged through his eyes.
Qiu Yan stood to one side, looking helpless. He seemed to want to say something, but hesitated.
Ren Yi said expressionlessly, “What do you need me to help with?”
“The footprints you discovered at the scene earlier have now led us to a specific individual. We suspect this person deliberately approached you in the past,” Qiu Yan explained.
“Approached me?” Ren Yi frowned. “How did you find that out?”
Gong Yingxian placed a photograph in front of Ren Yi. “Do you recognize this person?”
Ren Yi glanced at it. The photograph showed a handsome teenage boy with a bright smile, apparently in his mid-teens.
He shook his head. “Not really. Is he the one who left the shoeprint?”
“Yes. He’s a senior at Shi Naiwei International School.”
Ren Yi looked up, his expression changing slightly. “The same school as Feilan?”
Gong Yingxian nodded. “Feilan said the boy is quite famous at their school. Apparently, he’s something like the campus heartthrob. But the two of them don’t know each other.”
“Have they ever interacted?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know he’s approached me?”
“His route home from school takes him past your fire station. He once went inside for a tour, played basketball with your firefighters, and served as a group leader during a fire safety training exercise your station conducted for his school. He’s extremely interested in firefighting and fire-related matters, and he’s shown a personal admiration for you.”
Ren Yi was stunned. “Me? He admires me? How did you find that out?”
“Most of it was discovered by Xiao Tan through his social media accounts,” Qiu Yan explained.
“There’s quite a lot of content about you on his social media.” Gong Yingxian turned his laptop toward Ren Yi with a cold expression. A video appeared on the screen, immediately catching Ren Yi’s attention.
It was footage from an interview the publicity department had conducted during a company commanders’ training session before the New Year. Ren Yi remembered that interview because he had been eating at the time and had specifically asked them not to show him looking unflattering while he ate.
With a sharp snap, Gong Yingxian pressed the play button, apparently using as much force as his finger could muster. The sound was surprisingly loud, and there was even a hint of anger in it.
On the screen, Ren Yi saw himself and Yan Jue. At first, the two men were eating. When the camera approached, Yan Jue affectionately draped an arm around Ren Yi’s shoulders and urged him to look at the camera. They joked and chatted together, appearing extremely familiar with each other.
Ever since Yan Jue had said those things to him the last time they met, the two had had no contact apart from exchanging New Year greetings on WeChat. Ren Yi had indeed been avoiding him.
Watching the footage again now, Ren Yi couldn’t tell whether it was simply his imagination, but Yan Jue’s gaze toward him back then did seem a little different.
Suddenly, a pair of large hands pressed down on either side of the laptop.
Ren Yi recognized those hands. They were fair and slender, perfect as works of art, as though they had never been sullied by the mundane world.
Ren Yi raised his head and looked at Gong Yingxian. Gong Yingxian was looking back at him, his gaze sharp and piercing.
Gong Yingxian braced both hands against the desk. His tall frame completely blocked the overhead light, casting Ren Yi into shadow. In a cold voice, he said, “Do you know that this video of you and him has a very high view count online? A lot of people say you two are very, very well suited to each other.”
“Yingxian!” Qiu Yan reprimanded him.
Ren Yi narrowed his eyes. “I’m here to assist with an investigation. Don’t bring up irrelevant matters.”
Gong Yingxian struggled to suppress his anger. Ren Yi’s coldness toward him now contrasted sharply with the friendliness he had shown Yan Jue in the video. The contrast rankled him and filled him with jealousy.
He took a deep breath and said quietly, “We suspect he has stalked you and other firefighters. He pays close attention to your emergency responses and collects news reports about you.”
“So he’s a stalker? An obsessive admirer?”
“Possibly both.”
“Have you questioned him yet?”
“Not yet. He’s a minor, so we’re proceeding cautiously.”
“What’s there to be cautious about? He’s already turned up at a crime scene.”
Qiu Yan nodded. “We contacted his guardian today. We’ll bring him to the police station later to assist with the investigation. Actually, we asked you to come today because we’re hoping you can help during the questioning. His reactions and attitude toward you could be very important to us.”
“Sure.”
Ren Yi found it difficult to connect a seemingly cheerful, sunny teenager with the X-cult organization. Besides, Shi Naiwei was an international school whose students were mostly wealthy and privileged. The boy didn’t quite fit the typical profile of someone with a pathological obsession with arson, either.
Perhaps there had been some misunderstanding.
Qiu Yan checked his watch. “He should be here soon. Captain Ren, I’ll go speak with him first. I’ll call you in when we need you.”
Ren Yi nodded.
When Qiu Yan reached the door, he stopped and turned around. He looked at Gong Yingxian, signaling with his eyes for him to come along.
But Gong Yingxian acted as though he hadn’t seen him and remained motionless.
Qiu Yan shook his head helplessly and left.
Only Gong Yingxian and Ren Yi remained in the office, surrounded by a suffocating silence.
Gong Yingxian quietly sat down beside Ren Yi. He sat stiffly upright without turning his head or saying a word, as though merely being allowed to sit next to Ren Yi was enough for him.
Ren Yi, however, felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He didn’t know whether to leave or even how to move. He could almost feel the warmth radiating from Gong Yingxian.
Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and stood up to leave.
The moment he moved, Gong Yingxian sprang to his feet as well.
“Where are you going?”
“The restroom.”
Gong Yingxian followed him without a word.
After walking a few steps, Ren Yi finally turned around, unable to contain himself any longer. “What are you doing?”
Gong Yingxian stared straight at him and asked quietly, “Are we going to keep going on like this?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Then can we make up?” Gong Yingxian gazed at Ren Yi without blinking. There was even a hint of childlike innocence in his eyes.
Ren Yi drew a sharp breath and gave him a bitter smile.
“I used to think you simply didn’t understand social niceties. Now I realize that you lack empathy. You’re too cold. You can’t understand other people’s pain, and you don’t care about the harm you cause them. You’re not genuinely remorseful about hurting my father. You apologized only to placate me.”
Gong Yingxian’s expression changed slightly. He argued, “You’re the one allowing your personal feelings to interfere with your ability to make a rational judgment. If you could step outside the framework of your family ties and examine this case carefully, you’d see for yourself how suspicious your father is.”
“Even if he is suspicious, you still have no right to subject him to deep hypnosis!” Ren Yi growled. “You know perfectly well that what you did was illegal. That’s why you tricked me into signing the liability waiver.”
Gong Yingxian lowered his eyes and murmured, “The liability waiver was Dr. Pompey’s requirement.”
“So Dr. Pompey didn’t know this was being done without the consent of his legal guardian, either, did he?”
Ren Yi grabbed Gong Yingxian by the collar.
“You took that waiver and deceived me into signing it on one side, while deceiving Dr. Pompey into carrying out an unconventional medical procedure on the other. You did all of this to achieve your own goal, and now you still have the nerve to put on an innocent face and tell me to stop being angry! Do you genuinely not understand what you’ve done, or do you simply not care?”
Gong Yingxian opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
“I’ll do everything in my power to protect my father’s reputation. So, as far as the investigation is concerned, I’ll cooperate one hundred percent. But between us…”
Ren Yi steeled himself and forced out the words, each one feeling as though it had been torn from a bleeding heart.
“There’s no need for any other contact between us anymore.”
Gong Yingxian’s face instantly turned ashen. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Impossible. I will never agree to that!”
“That’s not up to you.”
Gong Yingxian stepped forward and blocked Ren Yi’s path. A shadow fell across his face, seemingly concealing most of his emotions.
In a soft voice, he said, “Ren Yi, it took you so much effort to enter my world. You’re never getting out again.”