Chapter 332 - 330: Pressure
Chapter 332: Chapter 330: Pressure
Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng went to interrogate Twenty-one, but he was still uncooperative and refused to speak.
They told him that Tian Min had already confessed, but he didn’t believe them, acting as if they were trying to trick him.
When they showed him a video clip of Tian Min’s interrogation, he finally spoke. "You must have AI-generated this."
Su Miaoyi recounted the story of how he and Tian Min had met.
After listening, Twenty-one looked at them and asked, "How do you know that?"
Su Miaoyi: "..."
’How do I know? How do I know?! I’m a psychic! I have a third eye! I traveled back in time! I ascended to godhood!’
On the surface, Su Miaoyi remained perfectly calm, but inwardly she was screaming.
He hadn’t said a word last night, and her mind had been so preoccupied with Tian Min’s case that she didn’t have the mental energy to deal with him.
Now that Tian Min’s situation was resolved, he was all she could think about. Seeing him act this way was infuriating!
"Tian Min told us, of course," Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Twenty-one just stared at them. After a long silence, he said four words: "I don’t believe you."
Zhuang Yanzheng watched him.
Su Miaoyi quietly took a deep breath. "Do you recognize this person?"
Twenty-one glanced at the torn photograph of Sister Ying but said nothing.
She looked at him, then produced a photo of Zhao Yongliang. "How about this one?"
Again, Twenty-one was silent.
"And this one?" Su Miaoyi showed him a photo of Lu Xian.
Twenty-one looked at it and still said nothing.
But Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng already had their answer.
Judging by the subtle shifts in his expression, he didn’t recognize Sister Ying, but he knew both Zhao Yongliang and Lu Xian.
Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng exchanged a look.
Zhuang Yanzheng asked, "How do you know Zhao Yongliang and Lu Xian?"
"I don’t know them," Twenty-one finally said.
"Did I ask you *if* you knew them?" Zhuang Yanzheng retorted.
Twenty-one realized what he was actually being asked. "I don’t know."
"Why did you come to Chang City four years ago? And why did you come back three years ago?" Zhuang Yanzheng pressed.
Twenty-one fell silent again.
"You’ve been arrested, Tian Min has confessed, and we know you’re behind the murders of Gao Hui, Tian Dajiang, and Tian Ming. You can’t escape this. So why are you being so uncooperative?" Su Miaoyi said. "We keep coming back here, trip after trip. What do you think this is, some kind of mental endurance training for assassins?"
"To annoy you," Twenty-one said. "I can’t kill you, so isn’t annoying you the next best thing?"
Su Miaoyi stared at him for a few seconds, then stood up and turned off the camera.
Twenty-one watched her. "What are you doing?"
"It’s time for lunch. We’re going to eat," Su Miaoyi said and headed for the door.
Zhuang Yanzheng got up as well.
Twenty-one watched them leave.
With her hand on the doorknob, Su Miaoyi turned back to face Twenty-one. "Oh, right. Before we eat, we’re going to see Tian Min. We’ll make it a habit from now on. Every time we see you, we’ll go see her right after."
Twenty-one’s eyes slowly widened. "What are you planning to do!"
Su Miaoyi just smiled, ignoring him as she opened the door and left.
"Don’t go! Don’t go! What are you planning to do!" Twenty-one yelled.
Zhuang Yanzheng shot him a look, said nothing, and followed her out.
Once they were outside.
Zhuang Yanzheng glanced around and whispered to her, "Don’t do that again. It’s against regulations."
"It should be fine, right? I didn’t say anything explicit, and the camera was off," Su Miaoyi said. "I just said we were going to see Tian Min. I never said what we’d *do* to her."
"But your expression and tone made it sound like you were going to make sure Tian Min wouldn’t see the sun rise tomorrow," Zhuang Yanzheng said.
"It’s supposed to rain heavily tomorrow. There won’t be any sun," Su Miaoyi quipped.
Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."
Su Miaoyi’s expression turned a little more serious. "Just this once, it’s fine, right?"
"This is someone else’s turf," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "What if someone reports you to the higher-ups?"
Su Miaoyi replied, "It’s fine. I’m just a consultant."
"Just be more careful when we’re in other jurisdictions," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "You have to watch out for people who might stab you in the back."
"Captain Zhuang, have you been burned by something like this before? Why are you so cautious?" Su Miaoyi asked.
Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her, then said, "It nearly forced my dad into early retirement. You’d have to call me President Zhuang then."
Su Miaoyi: "..."
Meanwhile, Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen weren’t having much luck. Tian Min was being uncooperative, so they couldn’t get a composite sketch done.
After lunch, a heavy rain began to fall outside.
They were sitting in the office. Lu Zhishen had fallen asleep in his chair, while Su Miaoyi and Chu Xingrou watched the downpour through the window, chatting in low voices.
"The sun is shining so brightly in Jinghai today," Chu Xingrou said.
"Getting homesick?" Su Miaoyi asked, leaning against her.
"My dad texted me yesterday asking if I still remembered what he looked like," Chu Xingrou said with a sigh.
Su Miaoyi laughed.
"I told him I didn’t, and that he should transfer a hundred million to my account to help me remember," Chu Xingrou said.
"Must be nice to have a family that owns a bank, asking for a hundred million right off the bat," Zhuang Yanzheng commented.
"He froze my credit cards months ago. All I have is my salary," Chu Xingrou said.
"But your dad said you have your mother’s supplementary card," Zhuang Yanzheng pointed out.
Chu Xingrou fell silent.
Su Miaoyi laughed. "So, did you remember what he looks like?"
"Nope," Chu Xingrou said. "My dad replied that his daughter never talks to him about money, and that the ’stranger’ who found her phone should return it to her as soon as possible."
"And then?"
"Then he blocked me."
Su Miaoyi found her family amusing. "Is he still against you being a cop?"
"He hasn’t been as against it since he spoke with Captain Zhuang last time," Chu Xingrou said. "But every now and then, he’ll suddenly start talking about arranging a different job for me, or suggest I study abroad, sending me information on all sorts of majors and universities. Or he’ll randomly buy me a plane ticket to some faraway place and tell me to go have fun."
"Didn’t they object when you first enrolled in the police academy?" Su Miaoyi asked.
"No. It was just when I was studying for the college entrance exams that my dad, thinking it was too stressful, wanted me to study abroad, but I refused. He didn’t interfere with my college applications after that," Chu Xingrou said with a laugh. "They just never expected I’d become a detective on the front lines. Sister Miaomiao, what about you? Did your family object?"
"I..." Su Miaoyi thought for a moment. "I guess they didn’t."
"Hmph," Zhuang Yanzheng snorted, but said nothing more.
Chu Xingrou looked at Su Miaoyi.
Su Miaoyi whispered, "Looks like they did. And it probably affected him, too."
Chu Xingrou smiled and whispered back, "Captain Zhuang holds a grudge."
"He’s so petty."
Zhuang Yanzheng listened to the two of them bad-mouthing him in whispers.
Duan Wenrui knocked on the door and came in.
The knock startled Lu Zhishen awake, and he looked toward the door.
"Captain Zhuang, Consultant Su," Duan Wenrui said. "I don’t know what’s gotten into Twenty-one, but he’s been raising a ruckus, demanding to see you both."
Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi exchanged a glance.
"Alright. We’ll be over in a minute."
...