By the standards of the modern era, Qiao Guang’s crimes would have been serious. But in this day and age, where such transactions were deemed a matter of mutual consent between buyer and seller, what he had done was not considered a major offense — and certainly not the kind of matter that fell under the jurisdiction of the Military Police Bureau’s General Headquarters, which handled major and serious criminal cases.

After conducting a procedural interrogation of Qiao Guang, he was released with his travel bag and no charges filed.

Qiao Guang’s emotional ties to Luo Baomei were thin. He didn’t even stop to see her one last time before leaving. The coldness between husband and wife had reached such a degree that it left those watching with a deep sense of sorrow.

After Qiao Guang’s departure, Shi Ting had been on his way to the autopsy room when he was intercepted halfway by a flustered E’Yuan rushing toward him. “This is bad — Miss Yan has fainted.”

Shi Ting’s legs quickened the moment he heard those words, and within moments he had pushed open the door to the autopsy room.

Yan Qing had been performing autopsies without rest for days on end, working with a meticulous precision down to every pore and hair. The intense workload, combined with the fact that she had already been unwell when she started, had finally driven her body to its limits. When she fainted, her balance gave way, and she pitched headfirst from her wheelchair to the floor.

The fall was so sudden that E’Yuan didn’t dare act on his own, and could only rush out to find Shi Ting.

The moment Shi Ting entered the room, he gathered Yan Qing up from the floor and set off at a swift pace. As he passed by the others, he tossed a single word over his shoulder: “Bring the car.”

E’Yuan had never seen his director so visibly anxious. He stood there for a moment, rooted to the spot, and nearly collided with Zheng Yun who came hurrying over from behind.

Zheng Yun looked in the direction Shi Ting had gone, his expression perfectly composed, and immediately went to arrange the vehicle.

—

When Yan Qing came to again, the sky had already turned dark.

There was a tightness in her throat that made her cough involuntarily.

“Don’t move,” a familiar voice sounded near her ear. “There’s a needle in your hand.”

Something gently pressed down on her wrist, and the warmth from that contact dissolved some of the chill coursing through her veins.

Only then did Yan Qing notice the glass bottle hanging above her, its contents dripping at a steady, measured pace.

She could only remember studying a tissue sample before losing consciousness; everything after that was a blank.

“The doctor said you’ve overdone it and your cold still hasn’t healed. They want to keep you under observation for two days.” Shi Ting’s slender fingers were peeling an apple — a fresh, yellow-green one that looked crisp and sweet.

At this time of year, only Bei Di could produce fresh green apples.

“The Yan family has been informed. You can rest here in the hospital without worry.”

Whatever concerns she might have had, he seemed to have already addressed them all.

And yet, these were not what she was worried about.

“Don’t you need to return to the bureau? Has there been any progress on the women’s school case?” He should be at the Military Police Bureau right now, not here in the hospital.

“I have a theory,” Shi Ting said. “I wanted to wait until you woke up to hear your thoughts on it.” Shi Ting had beautiful eyes — narrow and elongated, the outer corners tilting slightly upward, the irises clear and bright, like the shimmering surface of a pool.

Yan Qing smiled faintly. “Is my opinion really that important?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he handed her the peeled apple. “Eat while you listen.”

He was precise in everything he did, and the apple he had peeled was no exception — not a trace of skin remained, only the crisp, sweet flesh beneath.

Yan Qing took a bite. It really was both crisp and sweet.

“We followed the connection between Leng Yu and Fan Dongping, which eventually led us to the married couple of Luo Baomei and Qiao Guang. Every lead seemed to point to Luo Baomei — and then Luo Baomei turned up dead. Qiao Guang remains the primary suspect, but he was out of the city at the time of the crime, has no motive, and wasn’t even aware that Leng Yu and Fan Dongping were dead.”

—