Chapter 244: Traces to Follow

Qi Fei looked at that black-and-white photo silently for a long time.

The three handwritten characters "Xi Zi Yun" on the side seemed to burn his eyes like magic.

In this black-and-white photo, the girl had braided pigtails, a young face, and large, dark, bright eyes staring outside the screen, as if she would come to life at any moment.

That girl who didn't exist on Guqiao Street was found among the students in Yu Hongxia's class.

This girl's name was "Xi Zi Yun."

Returning to the Baishui Residential District, the elderly people's identification of the photo confirmed everything; the little girl in this photo was the person who played with young Feng Yongshou back then.

Everything had traces to follow, but they didn't know how they were intertwined.

"We found a retired teacher who taught at the same time as Yu Hongxia. They said there was indeed a female student named Xi Zi Yun in the class, and they all knew about Yu Hongxia being beaten back then. The old neighbors of Baishui Residential District had good intuition; this man was Xi Zi Yun's father, which is..." Wu Shanqiu said, casting a hesitant look at Qi Fei, "This person, Brother Fei, is your grandfather."

Qi Fei irritably ran his hand through his short hair: "In my life, my grandparents have always been a blank. Before I went to school, I didn't even know there was such a kinship as grandparents. It wasn't until my classmates started talking about their grandparents that I realized there was a relationship corresponding to my paternal grandparents—they were my mother's parents, called maternal grandparents. I asked my mother many times where my maternal grandparents were, but every time, my mother avoided the topic. Until she passed away, I didn't know who they were."

"Hmm, our investigation only answered half of your questions, Brother Fei. We flipped through all the files Xi Zi Yun left in primary school, and they only had information about her father, Xi Zhangjiang; there was never any information about her mother," Wu Shanqiu continued, comparing the information. "Oh, right, Team Leader Liu sent a message saying he wants us to go back this afternoon. He wants to know the latest progress of the case."

Qi Fei furrowed his brows upon hearing this, but didn't say anything more.

In the conference room, Qi Fei reported the progress of the case to date.

Liu Tong put down the pen in his hand: "Qi Fei, who do you think is suitable to continue investigating this case?"

"Me," Qi Fei answered without hesitation.

"You know, according to the regulations, you have to recuse yourself from the investigation of this case."

"Team Leader Liu, the situation is special this time. Xi He hasn't left us much time. If we change people halfway, what if we can't find them before the deadline Xi He gave..."

Liu Tong had always been calm and composed. Although he was still smiling while speaking this time, his eyes were rarely serious: "You know this is like a moth flying into a flame, right?"

The meaning of his words was very clear: Xi He's intention in doing this was nothing more than to make Qi Fei deeply trapped in it.

"Team Leader Liu, I understand. Qi Dongjun is not only my father but also a citizen," Qi Fei said sternly.

"The principle of recusal naturally has its reasons. I will have Jiang Tianyi join your team," Liu Tong said out of the blue.

"Doctor Jiang?" Qi Fei was slightly surprised.

"He is your psychologist; this should be no problem, right?" Liu Tong said.

"No, no problem," Qi Fei responded, stuttering, not knowing why, but feeling strange in his heart.

What he didn't know was that even stranger things were to follow.

The rhythm of Liu Tong, this slow-moving leader, was always unpredictable.

When he came out of Liu Tong's office, Jiang Tianyi was already waiting for him in the main office—it seemed that Liu Tong had no intention of discussing letting Jiang Tianyi participate in this matter with Qi Fei; he had already notified the person in advance.

Zhong Kui and Jiang Tianyi stood two meters apart, as if they were like poles of a magnet repelling each other; there was an invisible magnetic field that made it impossible for the two to get any closer.

Liu Tong followed Qi Fei out.

As soon as Zhong Kui saw him, she walked up in two or three steps and asked indignantly: "Liu Tong, what do you mean? Qi Fei is mine, why did you bring him here?"

Liu Tong was not in a hurry; he just leaned into Zhong Kui's ear and whispered a few words.

As Zhong Kui listened, the expression on her face actually turned from cloudy to sunny.

Qi Fei was puzzled; he had always seen Zhong Kui handle others, but Liu Tong could actually handle Zhong Kui in two or three sentences.

Although Zhong Kui no longer argued with Liu Tong, she still put on airs as if she were sulking and shouted at Jiang Tianyi: "Whatever Liu Tong told you to do, just do it honestly. Remember, I am not Zhong Xiaoyu; don't try to mess around just because you are an old acquaintance."

Jiang Tianyi remained as elegant as ever, pushed his gold-rimmed glasses with his finger, and smiled: "I know you are not Zhong Xiaoyu; she wouldn't be as arrogant and domineering as you."

"Arrogant and domineering?!" Hearing these four words, Zhong Kui couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, obviously very dissatisfied with this evaluation.

Jiang Tianyi continued: "It's not strange. The substitute personality is the 'custodian' and 'reactor' of trauma; behind extreme anger and abnormal boldness is profound sadness and overprotection."

This sounded like an objective analysis at first, but upon further thought, it was clearly a counterattack to Zhong Kui's warning.

Zhong Kui certainly heard the subtlety, but she didn't continue to argue, just sneered: "As expected of Zhong Xiaoyu's senior brother, birds of a feather really do flock together."

Jiang Tianyi was not angry either; he seemed happy to see Zhong Kui angry, and this look even carried a hint of doting.

The atmosphere in the office became subtle. Qi Fei noticed the difference in Jiang Tianyi compared to the past. This difference was caused by Zhong Kui. He didn't know what he was minding, but he suddenly held Zhong Kui's hand and pulled her downstairs: "There are only seven days left. We must hurry and find out what happened between Yu Hongxia and Xi Zhangjiang." As he said this, he shouted loudly to Wu Shanqiu, who was still in the office and hadn't reacted: "You said Yu Hongxia's colleague is still alive, hurry and contact them, we'll go and ask!"

A five-seater car suddenly looked full.

Jiang Tianyi and Wu Shanqiu sat in the back row and chatted warmly.

"I have never seen you in the consultation room?"

"Hehe, maybe I'm lucky; I've never encountered anything that would leave me with psychological trauma."

"Hmm, that shows you have good psychological quality, born to be a criminal police officer."

"Really? I always feel my brain doesn't turn fast enough, and I have to work very hard to keep up with the rhythm of Brother Fei and the others!"

And Qi Fei held it in for a long while before he couldn't help but ask Zhong Kui, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "What did Team Leader Liu say to you just now?"

"If it were something I could tell you, Liu Tong wouldn't have whispered to me." Zhong Kui's words sounded offensive but were impossible to refute.

Qi Fei gave a bitter smile: "Our team for investigating the case is getting bigger and bigger."

As he spoke, the entrance of an old residential district appeared in his line of sight... ===== CHAPTER 245 =====