Stalling

"Um~~"

Gu Sheng forced a smile and pleaded with Le Erya, "Yaya, you really are amazing! You even saw through that."

Le Erya pressed her advantage. "Come clean. What exactly is the relationship between you two? And who exactly is your girlfriend?"

"Um~~"

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Sheng stammered, "I really wasn’t lying. Anqi is Xin’er’s classmate, and we really did arrange to meet outside the school today. It’s just that we arrived too early, and Xin’er hadn’t come yet, so we decided on the spur of the moment to come see a movie.

"I was lying earlier! Mainly because, Yaya, I’m scared of you. Whenever I see you, I just want to run away. Isn’t that understandable?"

"Pfft~~"

Gu Sheng’s last sentence made Lin Qinghe and the other stunning beauty cover their mouths and giggle. His reaction seemed perfectly normal to them instead. They knew all too well how difficult Le Erya was to deal with once she became interested in something.

One was a doctoral student, and the other was a dedicated Criminal Inspector. Yet both of them had been worn down until they had no choice but to skip work and come watch a movie. For two highly self-disciplined people, it still felt like a dream.

"Oh, you little brat!"

Le Erya was furious. She chased after Gu Sheng, intending to beat him up, but of course Gu Sheng wasn’t about to let her have her way. He dodged aside and avoided her.

"All right, stop fooling around!"

Lin Qinghe grabbed Le Erya, who was about to continue chasing him, then looked at Gu Sheng. "The school you mentioned—is it Third High School?"

"That’s right! Anqi and Xin’er are both students in Class 1, Grade 12, at Third High School."

Gu Sheng nodded with complete frankness, then cautiously asked, "He-jie, the murder case you came here to investigate—could it be related to the school?"

Huang Anqi, standing behind Gu Sheng, trembled. She felt Gu Sheng pinch her right hand. That was probably a warning to her: Could these people in front of them be Criminal Inspectors?

"What did you say~"

As soon as Lin Qinghe heard Gu Sheng’s words, his sharp gaze immediately locked onto Le Erya.

"What an unfaithful little bastard. You call me ‘sis’ so sweetly, then sell me out in the blink of an eye…"

Le Erya stuck out her tongue and lowered her head, muttering and cursing Gu Sheng for being disloyal.

"We came here to investigate the murder of Zheng Shaotian’s family. Zheng Shaotian is a student in Class 7, Grade 12, at Third High School."

As Lin Qinghe spoke, he watched Gu Sheng and Huang Anqi. "A vicious murder occurred outside Hangcheng last night.

"The news has been sealed for now. I hope you won’t spread it. By the way, do you know Zheng Shaotian?"

"He-jie, you’re joking. I’m not a middle school student. How could I possibly know Zheng Shaotian?"

Gu Sheng looked completely natural. He pulled Huang Anqi forward from behind him. "I heard Xin’er say that Anqi is the school belle and goddess at school, so she knows quite a lot of people. She might know something."

As he spoke, Gu Sheng tightened his grip on Huang Anqi’s hand and sent her a stream of True Essence, helping her gather her courage.

Last night’s case had already alarmed the heads of the Criminal Inspectors and the Patrol Security Bureau. Zheng Shaotian’s relationships would certainly be investigated down to the smallest detail.

Word about Chu Xin would probably come out as well. Since they couldn’t hide it, they might as well take the initiative, dispel suspicion, and completely separate themselves from the matter.

"Anqi, you know Zheng Shaotian, right? Wasn’t his reputation very bad? Just tell the truth."

Gu Sheng spoke to Huang Anqi, putting emphasis on the last sentence. Then he turned to Lin Qinghe and the others with a smile. "Anqi may have been shocked by the news. After all, the person who died was probably a classmate she knew. Don’t take it personally, He-jie."

"It’s fine."

Lin Qinghe shook his head. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with Huang Anqi’s reaction. After all, she was just a young girl. It was perfectly normal to react that way after hearing that a classmate had been murdered.

"Um, I do know Zheng Shaotian."

As Huang Anqi spoke, she glanced at Gu Sheng. After seeing the encouragement in his eyes, her speech became smoother. "He was an athlete from Class 7. I heard his family had a lot of influence, but his reputation was terrible.

"I heard he dated several girls. He would trick them into sleeping with him, then break up with them. There was even a rumor that one girl had an abortion because of him and was hospitalized, but he never once went to see her.

"Also, last year, he pursued Xin’er for several months. He never managed to win her over, and apparently felt humiliated.

"Later, he announced that anyone who dared pursue Xin’er would be opposing him. Last month, I don’t know who told him about Xin’er dating Gu Sheng. After finding out, he told people he was going to teach him a lesson!"

At the end, Huang Anqi pointed at Gu Sheng. Gu Sheng went along with it and put on a bewildered expression. He pointed at himself and opened his mouth. "Me? Are you sure it was me?

"This Zheng Shaotian sure was gutsy. If he really dared come after me, I’d make him regret it. How dare he covet my Xin’er? He must have a death wish."

"Pfft!"

Le Erya laughed and walked over to pat Gu Sheng on the shoulder. "Little Gu, waiting until you knew the other person had kicked the bucket before boasting—you really are something!"

Gu Sheng looked unconvinced. "Yaya, are you looking down on me? Even if that Zheng Shaotian jumped out of a coffin right in front of me, I’d still say the same thing."

His performance instead dispelled some of Lin Qinghe’s suspicions.

"Don’t make wild boasts. You never know!"

Le Erya hooked an arm around Gu Sheng’s shoulder and tried to scare him. "Yesterday, Zheng Shaotian’s older brother Zheng Shaohua was a corpse who had already been dead through and through.

"Yet he stood up again and ran several kilometers. Isn’t that creepy? Maybe Zheng Shaotian could come back to life too. If he comes looking for you then~~"

"You can’t scare anyone with ghost stories in broad daylight. Yaya, your level has really dropped!"

Gu Sheng replied indifferently. His attitude made Le Erya seethe with anger.

But before she could say anything else, Lin Qinghe pulled her back. The girl was far too loose-lipped, blurting out everything. If she kept that up, what was the point of sealing the news?

"He-jie, do you have any other questions? The movie’s about to start. We’re going to see it now!"

Gu Sheng waved the movie tickets he had taken from Huang Anqi, while his right hand remained clasped around her little hand.

"No more questions. You two can go."

Lin Qinghe said this firmly, then pulled back the "clawing and snarling" Le Erya and gestured for Gu Sheng and Huang Anqi to leave.

"Let’s go!"

Gu Sheng tightened his grip on Huang Anqi’s right hand and led her toward the cinema.

"He-jie, why did you stop me? I want to teach that little bastard a proper lesson. How dare he make me out to be like that?"

Le Erya broke free of Lin Qinghe’s hold and pointed angrily at Gu Sheng’s retreating back.

"If you want revenge, there is a way."

Wu Mengchen, who had been watching with her arms folded and a faint smile throughout, suddenly spoke. She also raised the movie tickets in her hand.

For some reason, it was such a coincidence that the time and showing on their tickets were the same as Gu Sheng and Huang Anqi’s. Wu Mengchen smiled and said, "Xiao Ya, don’t forget—you have abilities now!"