Chapter 452: You Were Inside Qianqian’s Room All Night?
Lu Qianqian was sleeping soundly while holding Lin Mu’an hand, and would become flustered if he lets go—just like a wood adrift at sea. Helpless, Lin Mu’an simply sat beside her bed and accompanied her through the night.
Then, just as he left her room the next morning, he ran into Mama Lu.
She appeared rather stunned. “You were inside Qianqian’s room all night? You two…”
“You’ve misunderstood, madam. Qianqian was crying the whole night, that’s why I accompanied her.”
Mama Lu was relieved then, because she believed Lin Mu’an. There were dark circles under the kid’s eyes, which was a clear sign that he had stayed up throughout the night, and earnestly cherished Qianqian.
“You should rest now.”
“Sure, but madam… has the time of the cremation been decided?
Mama Lu’s eyes turned red and she sobbed, “The day after tomorrow. There’s no need for pomp since he’s already gone… he won’t get to see it anyway.”
“He would watch over you from up above.”
Mama Lu forced a smile, and was about to smile when Papa Lu’s mobile phone rang. She hung up without thinking, and Lin Mu’an could not help reminding her, “Madam, there are things that an outsider like myself should not say, but now that you and Qianqian are on your own and have no one to count on, if anyone from Lu Holdings come to you with some agreement or ask for your signature, you have to be careful to not get conned.”
“It’s Qianqian’s youngest uncle. His brother had just passed away, but all he thinks about is picking an acting chairman.”
Mama Lu knew that at heart too.
“But what could I do? I can’t manage a business and Qianqian is still young, but someone would still have to carry the burden of Lu Holdings.”
“Trust me. When Qianqian comes out of her mourning, she would show a whole new side of herself.”
In fact, Mama Lu wanted to compromise in favor of security, conceding control over the company so that Qianqian would not be hurt by her uncles. If Qianqian insisted on inheriting her father’s will, the future would prove very rough, and Mama Lu did not want her daughter to shoulder such a heavy burden.
After all, what parent would not think for their child?
However, were things truly that simple? If they conceded control, they would definitely be chased out of the country.
***
Meanwhile, Mu Qiqi had received news from her professor—there had been significant developments in the latest red-dressed corpse case.
The neighbor of the victim was a prime suspect.
Her name was Cen Yun, 25, married. Her motive was because her husband disliked her being not beautiful, and often compared her to their neighbor.
Hence, the woman had long since developed an intent to kill and eventually set her mind to it. She had the idea of emulating the previous red-dress cases that occurred in the mountains after witnessing it.
The fact that she was smart was obvious from the copycat killing.
At dinner that night, the victim had been receiving waves after waves of guests. Her acquaintances would often have a meal or some beer at her home, and Cen Yun visited her to make purchases as well, lacing the victim’s drink in passing.
When she came, she told her acquaintance that she was going soon to fetch her son from school.
That was why when crossed referenced to the victim’s time of death, Cen Yun seemed to have a perfect alibi.
In fact, Cen Yun had never left. After watching the victim fall, she changed up and slipped into the victim’s shop, hiding her corpse and closing the shop while disguised as the victim, fooling everyone else that the victim had closed shop herself.
The red dress was a taboo for everyone in the town.
That was why she changed the victim’s clothes, and since it was also raining, everyone was in a hurry.
She left through the backdoor, carrying the victim’s body. Both of them were wearing large raincoats while Cen Yun herself wore a man’s boots, and people who did not know would assume that it was a man carrying his wife home.
And because it was raining and no one took notice, Cen Yun arrived alone at the mountains and dumped the corpse.
Although the concentrated sulfuric acid that dripped on the corpse appeared to come from the cavern itself, it was actually from a steel bottle embedded onto the stone walls, which was done by hanging the bottle by its bottom off the hilltop.
Since the acid would not eat through rock thanks to passivation, the acid simply flowed down over the girl’s face.
With the mouth of the cavern being all stones, there was no complete footprint found after rain washed through it.
And that level of crime was already too impressive for Cen Yun who had just a few days-worth of university education.
She was calm and composed when the police questioned her, but they questioned his son too, who quickly answered that his mother fetched him home every day.
Sure she did, but when did she actually fetch him?
The smart woman did not even leave any fingerprints.
If the police did not find out by coincidence from Cen Yun’s husband that she had worn his shoes, they would not have suspected the woman.
Even so, she did not lose her head at all that she had murdered a young lady who had a bright future ahead of her.
In fact, when she was taken in, she simply replied, “Why am I alone being arrested when there are so many people dying in town?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you arresting me?”
It was the most recent red-dressed corpse case, but that was completely unrelated to the two previous cases.
Many things crossed Mu Qiqi’s mind after she heard the whole story, and so told Sheng Xiao, “Even if I did not solve the case, I could imagine that the victim could rest easy now.”
“But when I look at it, I think that what Old Sheng does to rule the lives of others is really trivial. It’s hard to blame the professor for telling me that the living is scarier than the dead.”
At her words, Sheng Xiao pulled his little one to himself and kept her in his arms.
“It’s because I’ve gone through all that, which is why I would treasure the people around me so much more.”
“So, you still want to go there?” Sheng Xiao narrowed his eyes, looking askance at her.
Mu Qiqi shook her head, deciding that she would go nowhere else once she remembered about Lu Qianqian and Third Brother.
“I don’t have the experience yet, which is why I would focus on my studies. Moreover, I want to help Qianqian through her difficult time, and Third Brother who is imprisoned in the Sheng residence.” Mu Qiqi said, wrapping her arms around Sheng Xiao’s neck.
“The Lin family has already contacted the youngest uncle of the Lu family.”
“What does that mean?” Mu Qiqi asked, straightening.
“It means that now is the best time to pressure the Lu family, although there’s no telling the ultimate objective of that old man is to force them out, or force Lu Qianqian to cut all ties with Lin Mu’an.”