Zhou Tuoxing stood up as He Chuan Zhou approached, but she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back into his seat.
Leaning back, she seemed a bit tired, covering her eyes with her hand and massaging her temple with her thumb.
Zhou Tuoxing leaned slightly towards her, as if to offer his shoulder for her to rest on, but with people bustling around, he only managed to touch her shoulder briefly before stopping. Instead, he reported, "I’ve already taken Uncle Wang home."
He Chuan Zhou lowered her hand and asked, "How is he doing?"
"He seems okay," Zhou Tuoxing hesitated. "When he got home, he didn't show much reaction, just sat on the sofa without moving. His house is very sparse, lacking basic furniture. I went downstairs and bought him two bags of fruit. He accepted them calmly and thanked me, but he still seemed out of it."
He Chuan Zhou murmured, "Good."
Sensing her low spirits, Zhou Tuoxing cautiously asked, "Have they found Yifei yet?"
"Not yet," she replied.
Zhou Tuoxing paused, trying to comfort her, "Once the police issue an announcement clearing Wang Gaozhan, Yifei should come out of hiding."
He Chuan Zhou agreed, feeling more anger than worry at the moment. She pondered whether to vent her pent-up fear and anxiety by scolding Wang Yifei when she found him or to show some tenderness for the sake of his condition. The latter option wasn’t very convincing to her, given that Wang Yifei’s rebelliousness had far exceeded her tolerance. Still, she considered softening the punishment slightly.
Zhou Tuoxing held up his phone, trying to sound reassuring, "I have over a million saved up, enough for Yifei's treatment. If that's not enough, Xiao Chen has some money too."
Asking for money contradicted his principles. Growing up with debt collectors at his door had left him incapable of handling financial dealings smoothly. But compared to that, Wang Yifei's well-being was more important, and he didn’t want to see He Chuan Zhou worried about money.
Seeing Zhou Tuoxing’s serious expression, He Chuan Zhou couldn’t help but laugh. She said, "Leave Xiao Chen out of this."
She pressed his hand down and said, "It shouldn't cost that much. I contacted the hospital, and they said it's early-stage stomach cancer with a high cure rate. We just need to find him quickly."
Zhou Tuoxing sighed in relief, "That’s good."
He was about to say more when Xu Yu bounced around the corner. Seeing the two holding hands, her first instinct was to avoid them, but then she thought teasing them would be more her style. Without Brother Huang there to back her up, though, she held back.
Caught up in her thoughts, she circled the lobby before returning to where she started.
"What are you doing?" He Chuan Zhou called out, "Acting like a headless chicken?"
Xu Yu exaggeratedly jumped over, clapping her hands and ingratiatingly said, "Captain He, are you still on duty today?"
He Chuan Zhou noticed Zhou Tuoxing watching her and calmly said, "Speak plainly. What’s the matter?"
"Nothing much," Xu Yu had already forgotten her original task, pointing upstairs, "Oh right, Shao Zhixin’s girlfriend brought some homemade cakes. Do you want some? They're not too sweet; I think they're pretty good."
He Chuan Zhou typically wasn’t fond of sweets, but she uncharacteristically asked, "What flavors?"
"Mango and taro, they look and taste great," Xu Yu mimed the shape of a cake, "And there's a box of meat floss cakes too."
He Chuan Zhou nodded and, to Xu Yu’s astonishment, stood up, saying, "I’ll go take a look."
Xu Yu stood there dumbfounded, finally muttering, "Is this what love does? It changes your taste."
Belatedly greeting Zhou Tuoxing, she mumbled as she left.
Zhou Tuoxing waited a while, glanced at the time, and figured He Chuan Zhou wouldn’t be coming back. Without a message from her, he assumed she had forgotten he was still at the station.
Feeling a mix of frustration and disappointment, he considered calling to express his feelings but decided against it, knowing how busy the station was lately.
He headed to the parking lot, sat in his car, and started drafting a message. He opened and closed Xiao Chen’s chat several times, unsure if he should consult him. He Chuan Zhou was unlike anyone he had met in the business world, making comparisons difficult.
While hesitating, his phone buzzed with He Chuan Zhou’s name, and he instinctively answered.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?" she asked.
"In the parking lot, about to head out," Zhou Tuoxing tried to sound casual, looking at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "You go ahead and be busy."
He Chuan Zhou replied, "Busy with what? I’m on leave today."
"Ah?" was all he could manage before she hung up.
Five minutes later, He Chuan Zhou opened the car door and got in, placing a bag with a cheesecake logo on the center console, pushing it towards him. "The cakes had dried strawberries in the layers, and I remembered you don’t like them. So I bought something else nearby."
The scent from the bag filled the car, melting his composure into a warm, syrupy feeling.
"I can eat it now," he said.
"No need to force yourself if you don’t really like it," she said with a straight face, "I want you to have the best."
His expression barely changed, but he felt less sharp than usual, responding, "I thought you were only thinking about Yifei lately."
"I am thinking about him," she said sincerely, "But don’t worry, you’re more important than Yifei."
Zhou Tuoxing was taken aback, feeling both excited and ashamed at his reaction. He said, "I’m already 27."
He Chuan Zhou was always straightforward, never one to flatter.
He wanted to say he didn’t need sweet words to feel romantic or that he wasn’t bothered by small things, so she didn’t need to comfort him subtly. But his true feelings overwhelmed these rational thoughts.
He jokingly compared, "You’re better at talking than Han Songshan."
He Chuan Zhou was momentarily speechless, then retorted, "You’re better at flattering than Shao Zhixin."
Knowing it wasn’t a compliment, Zhou Tuoxing wisely dropped the argument.
He released the handbrake, touched the steering wheel, but hesitated before driving off. He blinked and looked at her.
"I’m going to drive now," he said seriously, almost as a warning, "Safety first, so I need to stay calm."
"Got it," she smiled, mimicking a zippered mouth, "I’ll cooperate fully."
He nodded, focusing on the road as he drove away.
Zheng Xianwen had meticulously tried to cover his tracks after the crime, soaking his clothes and shoes in bleach before discarding them. However, he only gave a cursory clean to the knife, placing it back on the rack. His lack of resistance and his decision to stay in City A suggested he never planned to flee.
Forensic technicians successfully retrieved Han Songshan's DNA from the knife, which became the primary evidence submitted. Coupled with Zheng Xianwen's cooperation, the case was finally wrapped up.
Meanwhile, the audio evidence against Han Songshan had been handed over to Zheng Xianwen's associates and was gradually being released over the past few days. As Han Songshan’s scandals surfaced, Guangyi's stock price oddly began to recover. Tao Siyue’s voluntary withdrawal from management and the government’s facilitation of new orders helped the company survive the turbulent period and resume regular operations.
Online, conspiracy theories flourished as netizens speculated about hidden motives behind the two cases. However, He Chuan Zhou’s primary concern was Wang Yifei, who remained missing.
Despite the police's official announcement and Zhou Tuoxing's widely promoted article, Wang Yifei’s phone stayed off, and there were no updates on his whereabouts. Wang Gaozhan restrained himself to calling just once a day for progress, leaving He Chuan Zhou struggling to provide reassurances. After a few such calls, even she found it hard to continue.
Another district’s police offered a lead, having spotted someone resembling Wang Yifei near a supermarket. However, after reviewing the relevant surveillance footage, it turned out to be a false alarm.
A colleague, looking at the surveillance footage, suggested, “Is it possible he left City A? Maybe he’s afraid of exposure and hasn’t been online, so he doesn’t know the case’s outcome.”
He Chuan Zhou shook her head solemnly.
“But he couldn’t have just vanished,” the colleague continued, clicking through the footage. “He’s alone, he needs to eat, he needs a place to stay. There must be a trail. But the local police haven’t found anyone who’s seen him since the 18th. That doesn’t make sense unless he left City A or someone’s helping him.”
He didn’t voice the worst-case scenario, trusting He Chuan Zhou to have her own conclusions.
Acknowledging his busy schedule, He Chuan Zhou lightly patted his shoulder, “Thanks for your help. I’ll keep searching. Please keep an eye out for me.”
“No problem,” he replied.
Back at her office, He Chuan Zhou found Xu Yu peeking in. Seeing her, Xu Yu waved, saying, “Captain He, someone’s here to see you.”
“Is it Zhou Tuoxing again?” He Chuan Zhou asked offhandedly.
“No, this time it’s Jiang,” Xu Yu replied.