Chapter 10: The Second Boyfriend

Lin Dongxue was stunned and instinctively asked, “Then why didn’t you break up with her?”

Chen Shi interrupted her, “Ahem!” He then turned to Shen Jun, “How did you two first meet?”

“Through a mobile social game called…”

“That’s not what I meant. Did you know what each other looked like before meeting in person?”

“No, we used cartoon avatars in the game. We had the same break times and often played together. Later, she suggested we meet. The first time didn’t work out because she had an emergency. A week later, we met at a café. We hit it off and started dating.”

Chen Shi rubbed his chin. “How do you usually spend your break time?”

“My company is quite busy. I have a one-hour lunch break daily, but I don’t nap. I finish work at nine in the evening and have Wednesdays off, just like her.”

“Thanks for your cooperation.”

As they left, Lin Dongxue said, “You dug up all that personal stuff and didn’t even comfort him?”

“Comfort? We’re police officers, not therapists.”

“You’re so cold-hearted! How can he tolerate all this without breaking up?”

“Infidelity isn’t illegal in our country. People’s tolerance levels vary. Some can’t stand it once, while others can remain unaffected despite everything.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t tolerate it even once.”

Chen Shi suddenly stopped. “Wait here. I forgot to ask something.”

He quickly went back inside. While waiting downstairs, Lin Dongxue received a call from Xu Xiaodong, “Where are you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Hehe, I found something juicy. That cab driver we talked to this morning, a friend of his said he’s been driving for less than a year. He got his license a year ago.”

“What did he do before that?”

“Fifteen years ago, he was in another city’s prison. After being released, he disappeared. There were even rumors he was dead. Then he reappeared in Long’an in 2018, alone.”

“Alone? Didn’t he say he had a mother?”

“Did he? No, he has no family. He claimed his relatives are in his hometown, but we checked. There’s no record of him there. It’s like he appeared out of nowhere.”

Hearing footsteps, Lin Dongxue quickly thanked Xu Xiaodong and hung up. She looked at Chen Shi and wondered, who is this guy really?

“What’s wrong?” Chen Shi asked, noticing her expression.

“Nothing. Where to next?”

“What do you think?”

Lin Dongxue thought for a moment. “We should investigate the victim, Gu Mengxing’s, social circle and those so-called ‘hot buddies’.”

Chen Shi shook his head with a smile, “Too much to handle. Let’s go to her home and workplace directly!”

They got into the car. As Lin Dongxue watched Chen Shi’s profile, she pondered. This guy was once a notorious criminal, but in their short time together, she found him righteous and without a hint of malice.

Moreover, his skill in solving cases couldn’t be learned overnight. What happened during those unrecorded years to change him so drastically?

They arrived at Gu Mengxing’s pharmaceutical company. Her desk was untouched, with a bouquet of red roses on it. Chen Shi remarked, “Seems like she was well-liked.”

It was around five in the afternoon. Most employees had gone out for dinner, leaving the office empty.

Chen Shi sat at Gu Mengxing’s desk, rummaging through her belongings. Lin Dongxue reminded him, “Hey, fingerprints!”

“I’m wearing gloves.” He raised a hand to show the cleaning gloves he had taken from the office supplies.

He opened a drawer, finding several boxes of oral medication. “These are the same drugs I saw at Shen Jun’s place, used to treat gonorrhea.”

Chen Shi examined the desk. “The victim seemed easygoing and open to new experiences but also somewhat stubborn.”

“How can you tell?”

“An office desk is a personal space that reveals a lot about a person’s likes and personality. Look at her desk. Everything is laid out openly. The books she read are left on the desk, with a tampon wrapper used as a bookmark. This shows she’s quite carefree. Her sticky notes are written in a flamboyant script, indicating she’s passionate and energetic. But the sharp corners and endings of her handwriting suggest a bit of stubbornness.”

Lin Dongxue was amazed. Chen Shi smiled at her reaction. “I’m a cab driver. I meet a lot of people, so I’m good at reading them.”

A young man entered with a lunch box, startled to see them at Gu Mengxing’s desk. “What are you doing? Who allowed you to be here and go through her things?”

Lin Dongxue showed her badge. The young man immediately softened. “Oh, you’re the police. Are you investigating her death?”

“Just looking into her social connections.” Chen Shi noticed the young man kept glancing at the flowers. “Did you send these flowers?”

“No… they were from the whole team. Everyone was devastated by her sudden death.”

“What was your relationship with her?”

The young man stammered, “Just colleagues.”

“Really?” Chen Shi compared the handwriting on the flower note to the name on the lunch box. “The handwriting matches. These roses were from you. Do colleagues normally send roses?”

“I…”

“Come on, spill it.”

Blushing, the young man confessed, “We were dating.”

“What?!” Lin Dongxue exclaimed.

“I’ve been with her for six months. Honestly, I had a crush on her since I joined the company. She was beautiful, gentle, everyone’s goddess. I thought I had no chance. But one night, after a karaoke outing, I drunkenly confessed to her, and she accepted. I was over the moon. We started dating, but she never talked to me at work or left together. We only met on some Sundays, but I was satisfied with that… After her accident, I found out she had another boyfriend. It was a blow, but I truly loved her. The flowers are my tribute to her.”

“That’s deep,” Chen Shi said. “Let me ask a personal question. Have you been sick recently?”

“No.”

“Have you had any STDs?”

The young man was initially confused, then furious, “What the hell are you insinuating?”