“That’s not necessary,” the woman spoke up at that moment. “This is my husband, Chen Mingzhi.”

Old Fan asked, “Ma’am, didn’t you just say there were no distinctive features?”

The woman, struggling to hold back her tears, said, “Even though there are no obvious features, I’ve lived with him for over twenty years. No matter what state he’s in now, I still recognize him. I didn’t say anything earlier because I didn’t want to accept this reality.”

Old Fan glanced over at Yan Qing and shrugged his shoulders.

Yan Qing said, “We still need to collect evidence.”

“Do whatever you need to do,” the woman sniffled. “You’re right. We’ve been sleeping in separate rooms for so long that I really don’t know much about him anymore. Aside from the fixed monthly living expenses and tuition he gave me and the children, I had no idea what else he was doing or how he was spending his money.”

“Ma’am, that’s not really a marriage — what’s the difference between that and just being roommates?”

“We lost any feelings for each other long ago.” The woman seemed to recall something, and her tears fell harder. “When he first came to S City, he was just a poor young man. We met in university, and I was drawn to his talent, choosing him from among the many who were pursuing me. My parents thought highly of him too. After he graduated, on my father’s recommendation, he naturally secured a position at a hospital. Over the years, his career went from strength to strength. Three years ago, Jiuhua Hospital recruited him at a high salary. He’s now risen to the position of department chief, and according to him, by year’s end he was set to compete for the position of deputy director — and it was practically a sure thing.”

The woman let out a heavy sigh. “Actually, even without you telling me, I already knew he must have someone on the outside. But I’m a proud person, and I’ve always turned a blind eye to these things, preferring to deceive myself rather than face the truth.”

“Do you know who his lover is?”

“I don’t.” The woman shook her head. “As I said, I’ve been numbing myself all along. I kept telling myself my family was harmonious and happy, but deep down I knew clearly that the surface splendor couldn’t hide how riddled with cracks it was underneath.”

“All right, then we’ll need your cooperation. We have to go to your home to collect evidence.”

The woman gave a quiet acknowledgment, her gaze gradually hardening. “I hope you catch the killer soon and bring justice to my husband.”

The evidence collection went smoothly. After a DNA comparison, the deceased was confirmed to be Dr. Chen Mingzhi from Jiuhua Hospital.

When the group arrived at Jiuhua Hospital, the hospital confirmed that Chen Mingzhi had failed to show up for work for four consecutive days.

Because Chen Mingzhi frequently went on business trips and consultations, his absence from his post hadn’t prompted anyone to specifically inquire about him.

Chen Mingzhi’s office was quickly sealed off, and Xiao Bai led a team inside to gather evidence.

Although Zhai Xiaoqiu had concealed most of her own traces, Chen Mingzhi had apparently made no deliberate effort to hide the nature of their relationship.

In the drawer of his office, Xiao Bai discovered a large number of explicit photographs of the two of them together.

“Good grief, this guy was a real pervert,” Xiao Bai said, handing the photos to a colleague for cataloguing. “On the surface he looks like a refined, respectable doctor, but behind closed doors he was taking photos like this.”

“This Chen Mingzhi — in my eyes he was never any good,” a colleague muttered with a snort.

After completing the evidence-gathering, the criminal investigation unit immediately convened an emergency meeting.

Old Fan said, “There’s no doubt that the victim is Chen Mingzhi, and his lover Zhai Xiaoqiu is the primary suspect. Zhai Xiaoqiu is currently at large, and police are still in pursuit. This woman is cunning — she knows her ID information could expose her whereabouts, so she likely boarded an intercity coach midway along the route.”

These long-distance coaches could pick up and drop off passengers at will along the route, so no ID was required.

“Chen Mingzhi’s bank cards are all missing.” Shi Ting reviewed the evidence list. “I suspect Zhai Xiaoqiu took the victim’s bank cards. Let’s contact the bank immediately — the moment she makes a withdrawal with one of those cards, we can pinpoint her location.”

“Yes, sir.”

The investigation was entering its final stages, but there was no room for anyone to let their guard down. After the meeting was dismissed, everyone dispersed to their respective posts.

What Yan Qing enjoyed most was this period of waiting for results. For a forensic examiner, there was virtually nothing left to participate in at this stage.

No overtime, no cold meals — she could enjoy a proper hot bath and lie comfortably in bed scrolling through her phone.

Yan Qing was watching a newly released film when a WeChat notification suddenly popped up: “Still awake?”

Yan Qing hadn’t expected Shi Ting to message her at this hour. Her first instinct was that there had been a development in the case — that Zhai Xiaoqiu might have been found.

“Not yet, watching a movie.”

“What movie?”

A giant question mark appeared in Yan Qing’s mind. He hadn’t mentioned the case at all, and instead was asking what movie she was watching.

After she told him the name of the film, a message came back: “I happen to have some free time — let me see if this movie that Teacher Yan recommends is any good.”

Yan Qing smiled. He had been the one to ask; when had she ever recommended anything to him?

After saying that, he sent no more messages. Yan Qing finished the film, spent some time browsing Weibo, and was just about to go to sleep when her phone buzzed again.

“Not bad!” Three short words — it took her a moment to realize he was talking about the movie.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d enjoy this kind of art-house film,” Yan Qing said. “The impression I get is that you’d be more into the cerebral kind, or action-packed ones.”

“I rarely watch movies.”

“That makes sense — you’re so busy.”

“Xiao Bai mentioned a sci-fi film coming out. Apparently it did quite well overseas.”

Yan Qing perked up immediately. “I know the one! I’m actually a fan of this whole film series.”

“Do you have time tomorrow evening? Would you want to go see it together?”

Yan Qing didn’t overthink it, and replied naturally with a single word: “Sure.”

She agreed without hesitation because she instinctively assumed it would be a group outing. Since Xiao Bai was the one who had brought it up, surely Xiao Bai and the others would be going too.

But when she arrived at the cinema as planned, she discovered things were not at all what she had imagined.

The film hadn’t started yet, and Shi Ting was sitting outside on a sofa, holding a promotional leaflet and looking it over.

He was dressed simply — a well-fitted light grey dress shirt, black trousers, white sneakers.

Just sitting there like that, simple and unassuming, he had drawn the attention of countless onlookers nearby, almost all of them young women. Some had even discreetly taken out their phones to snap photos.

Yan Qing scanned the area around him and saw no sign of Xiao Bai or the others.

As if sensing her gaze, the man who had been studying the leaflet raised his head. His deep, penetrating eyes shone like spotlights — bright and striking.

Yan Qing clearly heard a girl behind her gasp in admiration, “Wow, he’s gorgeous!”

She walked over and greeted him, “How come it’s just you? Where are Xiao Bai and the others?”

“Something came up for them at the last minute. They’re not coming,” Shi Ting said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“So it’s just the two of us?” Yan Qing blinked, feeling somewhat caught off guard.

People who went to the movies together were typically colleagues or friends, but the vast majority were couples. If it were a group outing, there would be nothing to read into it — but with just her and Shi Ting, there was an unavoidable sense of something more intimate.

“Mm. The movie’s about to start — did you want to get something? Popcorn?” Shi Ting set the promotional leaflet back on the nearby stand. “Want a bucket?”

“I’ll go get it.”

“No need — stay here and wait for me.” Shi Ting handed the two movie tickets to Yan Qing. “I’ll go.”

Yan Qing took the tickets. By the time Shi Ting had walked away, she was still standing there in a bit of a daze.

After a moment, she came back to herself and looked down at the tickets in her hand. A flush immediately crept into her cheeks.

These were tickets for a couples’ screening room.

“Something wrong?” Shi Ting’s voice suddenly came from directly above her.

Yan Qing looked up to find Shi Ting holding a bucket of popcorn and two bottles of drinks in his hands. The everyday ordinariness of it all sat in surprisingly perfect harmony with the natural elegance in his every movement.

“Looking at the tickets?” Shi Ting seemed to read her thoughts and offered an explanation unprompted. “This film is quite popular — tickets are hard to come by. The couples’ room was the only thing left.”

“It’s fine — tickets are tickets,” Yan Qing said quickly with a laugh. “Come on, it’s almost starting.”

It was Yan Qing’s first time in a couples’ screening room. She had always known they existed, but had never actually been inside one before.

As it turned out, the couples’ room had seating designed for two people to share one wide, unpartitioned seat, and the room itself was smaller, with fewer seats overall.

Their seats were towards the back, which wasn’t the ideal vantage point for watching a film — but for Yan Qing, being able to sit down and watch a movie in the middle of all the busyness was already more than enough.

“Has it ever happened to you — getting called away in the middle of a movie?” Yan Qing initiated conversation after sitting down, hoping to ease the awkwardness.

“Once, right at the most gripping part. Another time, the opening advertisements weren’t even over yet. After that I just stopped going to movies — didn’t want to keep ruining the experience,” Shi Ting said, settling into his seat and passing the popcorn to Yan Qing.

“Has Zhai Xiaoqiu been found?”

“Not yet, but there’s a lead.” Otherwise he wouldn’t have had this much free time to spend at a cinema. For someone like him, this was genuinely stealing a moment of leisure from a packed schedule.

“No case talk today,” Shi Ting said suddenly. “Let’s properly unwind.”

“Right, no case talk.” Yan Qing grinned. “I haven’t been to a cinema in months either.”

The film hadn’t begun yet, and people continued to file in steadily — arriving in pairs, clearly all couples.

Before long, the lights dimmed and the opening credits appeared on screen.

Yan Qing was a fan of this film series, and at the exciting moments she couldn’t help exchanging whispered comments with Shi Ting. What surprised her was that Shi Ting was equally familiar with the series — whatever she said, he had a response for it.

A great film, paired with a kindred spirit to share it with — even as the movie ended, Yan Qing still felt reluctant to leave.

As they walked out of the screening room, Yan Qing couldn’t contain her excitement and chattered away with Shi Ting about the plot.

Shi Ting turned to look at her. There she was, all lit up like a young girl, her eyes shining with a pure, unguarded delight — so completely different from the composed figure she cut standing beside a body, yet somehow equally captivating in its own way.

—