Chapter 15

Yan Su turned off the faucet and opened the bathroom door, leading her out. When he turned around, he was taken aback—why was this little girl suddenly so flushed?

His expression was strange as he looked her up and down.

Zhen Ai held her neck defiantly, annoyed. "What are you staring at?"

He furrowed his brow, utterly puzzled. "Why do you look like a cooked shrimp?"

Zhen Ai: ...

Out of all the comparisons, why did he choose a shrimp?

Feeling slightly miffed, Zhen Ai turned her head away, refusing to speak.

After a moment of thought, Yan Su leaned in and asked, "Were you scared?"

Zhen Ai looked heavenward in exasperation. This guy was truly clueless when it came to social interactions and emotions!

Yan Su pondered for a second, then patted her shoulder a couple of times, trying to comfort her. "I'm not going to kill you; I have no motive for murder."

Zhen Ai: ...

Was that even comforting?

She was completely speechless and turned away. "Let's talk about the case!"

Yan Su gave her a meaningful glance, then walked over to the vanity and spoke to himself. "The murderer hates Taylor, hates that ring, so he stuffed it into the victim's mouth. He was unwilling to give up on all his efforts, so he took everything he bought for her. He couldn't take her clothes or makeup, but he could take the jewelry box."

Zhen Ai followed him to the desk, staring at the cluttered surface in surprise. "There are two boxes. He didn't know which one contained the jewelry and which one had ordinary accessories. And,"

She took a deep breath, "from this angle, he could see the note lying under the jewelry box. He might have looked at it, but whether he saw it as a death threat or drug deal, he didn't take it. Because that would become evidence that could shift the police's focus."

Everything became clear.

It wasn't just a coded message.

Thinking this way, Zhen Ai felt her heart race again, but it was different from the earlier embarrassment in his arms. This time, it was excitement and exhilaration; she realized that in this exchange, she had unknowingly entered the fast-paced yet orderly world of his mind, where everything was clear and distinct.

Zhen Ai said, "Only Zhao He remains."

"Your reaction this time is quite quick, and surprisingly correct," Yan Su smiled slightly, seeming to praise her.

Zhen Ai felt awkward. "But honestly, I didn't notice he liked Yang Zhen."

Yan Su glanced at her. "What impression do you have of Zhao He's dorm?"

Zhen Ai recalled, "It was very clean and tidy. He was good at sports and won many awards."

"How do you know that?" Yan Su smiled.

Zhen Ai was taken aback, realizing it herself. "I remember seeing the photo wall; it was all him with his awards…" As she spoke, she suddenly understood. "He was proud, not very social, with few friends. College students generally wouldn't fill a shared dorm with so many personal photos. Except, there was one."

Zhen Ai concentrated, the scene flooding back: "He was with members of the password club. He was standing next to Jiang Xin."

Yan Su's eyes sparkled with silent amusement. "Good, worthy of praise."

Zhen Ai bit her lip and smiled, feeling quite pleased. "I don't know why I remembered that."

Yan Su explained, "In a new environment, everything subtly leaves an impression on you; the key is whether you put thought into it." He paused and said, "Continue."

Zhen Ai bit her lip and thought for a moment. "He seems very frugal; his clothes are all very ordinary."

Yan Su said slowly, "You said a man who has participated in numerous sports competitions and won many prizes doesn't buy luxury items, doesn't live a nightlife, and tries to be frugal, yet he steals from others. Where does his money go?"

Zhen Ai asked, "Is that how you deduced he liked Jiang Xin?"

"He mentioned that he and Jiang Xin once argued because Jiang Xin kicked the locker room door."

"What's wrong with that?"

"A guy like Zhao He, who has a 'small achievement' in sports, would argue with a girl over something trivial?" Yan Su raised an eyebrow. "Though the reason may not be right, there's a grain of truth. Jiang Xin was indeed in the locker room; she probably did kick the door."

Zhen Ai frowned, feeling confused.

Yan Su switched tactics. "If you go back later and Owen asks why your face is so red, what will you say?"

Zhen Ai felt embarrassed and quickly said, "Yan Su took me to recreate the scene; the heating in the dorm was too high." After saying that, she froze.

"You think you can hide where you went from Owen?" Yan Su gave her a meaningful look, then continued, "Zhao He is the same; to make his lie more believable, he would blend it with the truth. He wants to conceal his feelings for Jiang Xin, so he lies here while everything else—the people and places—are true."

After he finished speaking, he smiled slightly. "Most people lie this way," he shot her a glance, "including you."

Zhen Ai's face flushed as she ignored him. When he said, "Zhao He wants to hide his feelings for Jiang Xin," how could he compare that to her and him, implying that her lie to Owen was to hide her feelings for him?

What an idiot!

They were just simulating; there were no feelings involved!

But, uh, why was her first instinct to lie?

And how did he know she would lie? This thick-headed guy, was he being deliberate or just clueless?

Zhen Ai blinked, completely bewildered.

The key point was that Yan Su still looked amused as he glanced at her, then casually returned to the topic. "Do girls just run into boys' locker rooms?"

Zhen Ai pulled her thoughts back. She didn't have a strong impression of Zhao He; she vaguely thought of him as a simple-minded guy focused on sports. How could she imagine he was so foolishly devoted to cultivating a relationship with money? And how Jiang Xin played her part was unknown.

Yan Su continued, "He took the jewelry box and left the scene. Then Taylor came back a second time, saw the aftermath, picked up the empty ring box, and ran away."

Zhen Ai's mind raced. "Then Wen Bo arrived; he took the password note and knocked the jewelry box to the ground."

Yan Su frowned slightly but didn't interrupt her for now. "Hmm, Taylor didn't come back a third time. What about his footprints?"

"They were wiped away." Zhen Ai took a deep breath. "When Taylor panicked and ran out of the dorm, Yang Zhen just happened to see him. She thought he had killed someone. She wanted to protect him and happily wiped away the footprints with a towel."

"Good analysis," Yan Su observed her quietly excited demeanor and the faint blush on her cheeks. His mind stirred slightly, but he continued, "However, there's one issue."

Zhen Ai immediately looked up at him, serious as if waiting for feedback like a student eager to correct mistakes.

Yan Su softened his tone, unexpectedly gentle. "After Taylor ran out, Yang Zhen came."

Zhen Ai blushed. "So that means Wen Bo came back to take the note after Yang Zhen left."

Seeing her flustered, Yan Su couldn't help but smile. "Then what about Wen Bo's footprints? Did he foresee a murder and come prepared with a towel to wipe them?"

Zhen Ai smiled shyly.

This time, Yan Su didn't laugh at her. "If Wen Bo took the note, he wouldn't have mentioned it at all. That day, he deliberately misled us about it being a death threat because he was worried about the password being at the scene."

Zhen Ai slapped her forehead. "Right! When you asked Yang Zhen about the note, her reaction was too quick. She knew."

"Mm, she took it as a death threat, thinking it was written by Taylor, and took it with her."

Once everything was sorted out, Zhen Ai's thoughts became clear. "I thought of a piece of evidence—a blood drop that had been flattened with strange ink on it. It could be from the baseball card. He gave the gold card to Jiang Xin, killed her, and then took it away, accidentally dropping it on the ground."

Yan Su's light brown eyes sparkled with delight. "Smart."

Zhen Ai stiffened for a moment but quickly recovered. "But I don't know how he left the dorm unnoticed."

Yan Su replied, "Wasn't Taylor often in the dorm?"

Zhen Ai suddenly realized. "He changed into Taylor's spare clothes to leave! ... So the question now is, where did he put the bloody clothes? He can't burn them, he doesn't have a car, and he can't just throw them away. Taking them back to the dorm to wash would be too risky. Then…"

Yan Su walked over to Zhen Ai's bookshelf, examining her books while muttering to himself, "What does he do every afternoon?"

"The sports team has practice," Zhen Ai had a flash of inspiration. "There are personal lockers in the gym. His first instinct would be to stash them there and deal with it later on the weekend."

"Mm, his lost-and-found form, which clearly belongs to him, claims it's his roommate's. The missing section only lists the letter K, which has nothing to do with the gold card. K is the beginning of KEY."

"He lost the key to the sports team's personal locker!"

Yan Su smiled slightly. "If the key is lost, he can easily ask the management to unlock it. There's no need for a huge fuss about lost property unless there's something he can't let anyone see."

Zhen Ai exclaimed, "Great! There won't be anyone at the school over the weekend, so no one will see his lost property notice." She then admired Yan Su again, marveling at how quickly they were closing in on the case.

"The gym has cameras, so it can capture him wearing Taylor's clothes and carrying a sports bag," Yan Su had barely finished when his phone rang; it was Jasmine.

He quickly relayed all the reasoning, analysis, and evidence locations to Jasmine, adding, "By the way, check the sports items in the display case at Wen Bo's comic shop. You might find something interesting."

Zhen Ai tilted her head, silently listening, filled with curiosity.

As they descended the stairs, Zhen Ai was still lost in thought.

Halfway down, Yan Su asked directly, "Are you wondering about Wen Bo's comic shop?"

Zhen Ai was surprised he could tell. She thought slowly: why was he always so direct? At least he could have asked what she was thinking first.

Seeing her take a long time to respond, Yan Su sneered, "Were you a snail in your past life?" He even leaned forward to look behind her, saying, "Let me see if your shell is too heavy."

Zhen Ai suddenly remembered she hadn't answered his question and hurriedly nodded.

Yan Su chuckled. "I knew it."

Zhen Ai was taken aback but quickly defended herself. "I meant I wanted to ask about the comic shop, not that my shell is too heavy."

Yan Su's smile widened silently, his eyes twinkling.

Zhen Ai felt a bit embarrassed, realizing she had fallen into his trap. She huffed, "I don't have a shell on my back!"

Yan Su slowly reined in his smile as he descended the stairs. "He can't keep drugs at home or at school. Hiding them in the display case with sports items is the best option—non-sale display."

"What if you're wrong?" Zhen Ai questioned, but before she finished, Yan Su's figure stiffened, his back straightening as he walked out.

Did she actually doubt him?

Yan Su usually didn't care about what "idiots" thought, but this time, it was clear he was a bit unhappy.

Zhen Ai sensed something was off and awkwardly followed.

Finally, he couldn't hold back and asked, "You doubt me?"

"Not really." Zhen Ai explained it was in America; if he were wrong, Wen Bo could sue him.

Hmm, it sounded like she was concerned.

Yan Su replied, "Surveys show that 76% of sports enthusiasts don't like comics, while 65% of comic lovers aren't into sports. Generally, people who visit comic shops are nerds."

Zhen Ai laughed. "So you must often visit comic shops, then!"

Yan Su looked at her sternly. "Most people who go to comic shops are nerds. This is a non-fully categorical proposition; inferring that all nerds visit comic shops commits a basic logical fallacy."

Zhen Ai gazed up at the pale blue sky, her hands behind her back as she gently shook her head. "La la la, I'm not listening."

Yan Su: …

"Ahem, besides that, I'm not a nerd."

"La la la, I still can't hear you."

Yan Su slowed his pace, watching her.

Unconsciously, she had walked ahead, her pink hands tucked behind her white coat, the red scarf standing out brilliantly against the snow. Her slender legs were clad in brown snow boots, crunching on the snow as she walked.

She looked up at the sky, seemingly in a good mood.

He also glanced up at the sky; it was late winter, very high and blue.