Chapter 5: They Are All Liars

Old Chen suspected a love triangle between Li Banfeng, He Jiaqing, and Lu Xiaolan.

Li Banfeng was slightly angry.

It wasn’t just slightly—he was very angry.

But he held it in.

Not only did he suppress his anger, Li Banfeng’s lips curled upward, revealing a faint smile.

Old Chen was deliberately provoking him to extract the information he wanted.

He might even push me into having a breakdown right here, then arrest me as a suspect with a mental disorder.

Li Banfeng spoke calmly, word by word: “I’m not even friends with Lu Xiaolan, and there’s no other relationship between us. You can ask my college roommates or other classmates to confirm this.”

Old Chen asked again: “Really no other relationship?”

Li Banfeng replied calmly: “If it exists, it exists; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Don’t believe me? Go check. It’s that simple—no need to complicate things.”

The truth really was that simple.

Old Chen nodded: “I believe you.”

Li Banfeng continued: “Yes, I did take He Jiaqing to the hospital, but you can’t treat me as the murderer because of that, can you?”

“He Jiaqing’s third uncle is right there in the hospital. Why not call him over? Let’s clear this up together.”

“No one’s treating you as the murderer—if they were, I’d have taken you to the police station already,” Old Chen fumbled for his cigarette pack, suppressing the urge to pull one out. “As for He Jiaqing’s third uncle, you mean He Haisheng? He was the one who called the police, he brought me to the hospital, and he’s the one who told me to find you.”

Li Banfeng fell silent.

This third uncle was cunning.

Old Chen tucked the cigarette pack back into his coat: “Before He Jiaqing collapsed, you had dinner with him and drank alcohol. After that one drinking session, he passed out.

You said you took him to the train station—we’ll check the surveillance there. I believe you’re telling the truth, and I hope this has nothing to do with you.

But I must warn you: the situation is very unfavorable for you right now. In the coming days, you must fully cooperate with our investigation and Jinliang avoid leaving Yuezhou.”

Click-click-click~

Li Banfeng’s phone rang.

Li Banfeng’s eyelid twitched—this might be a message from He Jiaqing.

Should he tell the policeman in front of him? Li Banfeng was deeply conflicted.

“Someone’s calling you?” Old Chen smiled faintly, as if sensing Li Banfeng’s inner struggle. “Some things you might not want to tell me—that’s fine. When you’re ready, come find me.”

Old Chen led Li Banfeng out of the ward. At the hospital entrance, they went their separate ways.

Old Chen got into a black sedan. In the backseat sat a woman in her early twenties.

She wore a professional suit, brushed back her bobbed hair, adjusted her rimless glasses, crossed her legs, and turned slightly toward Old Chen—her rounded hips touching only one-third of the seat.

Her name was You Xuehan, codename Tangyuan, the team’s secretary.

You Xuehan held a sleek notebook and asked respectfully: “Captain Chen, how did it go?”

Old Chen lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and his crow’s feet and nasolabial folds relaxed—he looked noticeably more energized.

“This kid has great psychological resilience—he can control his emotions. But I don’t think he’s an Annengzhe ; he’s probably a white lamb.

Still, he definitely knows something about He Jiaqing. Did anyone call him in the past few days?”

You Xuehan opened Li Banfeng’s file: “We just checked his call logs. Since He Jiaqing’s incident, he made one emergency call,

and the school called him twice. Other than that, no other calls or messages at all.”

“I don’t think there are none—just that we can’t find them,” Old Chen exhaled a plume of smoke. “When he heard the message alert, he tensed up. Someone’s contacting him, but he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

The man in the front passenger seat turned around and offered advice: “Since this guy’s suspicious, why not just arrest him?”

The man was around thirty, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, sharp cheekbones and jawline—handsome enough, though his hair was thin, meticulously slicked back and gleaming.

“Arrest him?” Old Chen frowned, glancing at the front passenger. “On what grounds?”

The man didn’t seem to realize his idea was flawed: “If he has motive, keeping him under control is the safest option.”

“What motive does he have?” Old Chen’s tone grew heavier.

The man remained indifferent: “If He Jiaqing’s incident has nothing to do with him, why did he take him to the hospital?”

Old Chen snapped: “What the hell kind of nonsense is that!”

The man said nothing, turning his gaze out the window.

His name was Xiao Zhenggong; people here called him Deputy Xiao.

He kept staring out the window, his disdain conveying a clear message.

He wasn’t afraid of Old Chen, nor did he think he’d done anything wrong—he simply didn’t want to waste words on this old man.

Though his back was turned to Old Chen, the rearview mirror let Old Chen clearly see his face.

Old Chen sighed: “Since the day you joined the bureau, I’ve told you: do your job, follow the rules, and never forget your conscience. Yet even today, you still don’t get it!”

You Xuehan pressed her lips together—the tense atmosphere made her uncomfortable. She quickly changed the subject: “Li Banfeng’s background is mostly clear. He’s an orphan raised in Fuli Academy, with no criminal record, but he’s been investigated for several instances of justifiable self-defense.”

“Justifiable self-defense?” Old Chen was intrigued, taking Li Banfeng’s file to examine it. “One-on-three, two seriously injured, one lightly injured; one-on-five, one seriously injured, four lightly injured…

He’s this good? Doesn’t look like it—his build is pretty average!”

Old Chen carefully flipped through Li Banfeng’s dossier. Halfway through, he couldn’t help laughing: “This kid’s truly insane.”

You Xuehan asked: “Captain Chen, should we keep an eye on Li Banfeng?”

Old Chen thought for a moment: “Have Dengpao watch him.”

You Xuehan warned: “Dengpao just joined a month ago. Better send Datou.”

Old Chen took another deep drag: “A white lamb doesn’t need Datou. Let Dengpao get some practice.

Have Datou watch He Haisheng—he’s no easy target.”

…

On the subway, Li Banfeng pulled out his phone.

There really was a message—but it wasn’t from He Jiaqing.

“Hello, I’m Old Chen.”

Old Chen?

He sent this?

That old bastard—he was deliberately bluffing me just now?

What’s the point of this message?

Just to trick me?

Not entirely—it also left his phone number.

He genuinely wants me to contact him.

Li Banfeng had no intention of contacting Old Chen, but one thing puzzled him.

During their conversation, Li Banfeng never saw Old Chen take out his phone—how did he send this message?

Was someone secretly helping him? Or does Old Chen have some special ability?

He Jiaqing is now sleeping in the hospital—could he also send me messages?

This world seems different from what I thought.

So what? It’s none of my business.

He Jiaqing’s third uncle showed up too. I don’t need to get involved anymore. I’ll just go back to my bricklaying and live quietly. None of this has anything to do with me.

Li Banfeng wanted to forget it all quickly. He opened his phone and scrolled aimlessly through Zimeiti news.

First headline:

8.83 seconds—sprinting star Qiao Yuesheng breaks the 100m world record again. After the race, he said this!

What did he say?

Li Banfeng tapped the article.

“At the recently concluded Diamond League, sprinting star Qiao Yuesheng broke his own world record with a time of 8.83 seconds. Who could have imagined that this legendary sprinter nearly gave up his dream due to financial hardship? Qiao Yuesheng was born into an ordinary farming family…”

The article was long, tracing Qiao Yuesheng’s life from birth to his Diamond League victory. Li Banfeng scrolled to the end and finally saw the quote:

“Dreams have nothing to do with skin color.”

An inspiring quote.

But Li Banfeng remembered saying this exact line last year.

It was precisely from last year that he, as a yellow-skinned athlete, conquered the 100m track and shattered the nine-second barrier.

Next headline:

Famous entertainer Chu Zikai Jiekaile the entertainment industry’s dirty secret with one statement.

“Ten years ago, Chu Zikai shocked the Chinese music scene with his song ‘I’m Your Guokui.’

His clear, sincere voice moved countless fans. Yet this musical prodigy made an unexpected public statement that revealed the entertainment industry’s hidden truths to many.

At thirty-one, Chu Zikai was born into an ordinary worker’s family and loved music since childhood…”

Again, starting from birth.

Li Banfeng Landezaikan and skipped to the next headline.

Shocking: The Sun is not alone—astronomers discover it may have a sibling.

“Recently, astronomers made a shocking discovery: our Sun may not be alone—it may have an unknown companion star.

As the master of the solar system and the star humanity depends on, our Sun was born 4.6 billion years ago…”

Even the Sun must start from its birth year.

All these Zimeiti must have been taught by the same damn teacher!

Click-click-click!

In his frustration, Li Banfeng received another message, this one from He Jiaqing.

“Brother, don’t trust them—they’re frauds.”

Li Banfeng replied: “Who exactly are you referring to as ‘them’?”

“Your uncle, the police, and even the He Jiaqing you saw—they’re all frauds.”

Li Banfeng put away his phone and suddenly felt the subway car was colder than usual.

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(End of chapter)