Chapter 17: Mysterious Painting

                                

At the beginning of November, the temperature dropped steadily day by day.

Yucheng was located in Jiangnan, where winters were humid and cold. When people walked outside, the damp air seemed to drill straight into their bones.

Before getting out of the car, Zhen Nuan looked at the gray sky outside the window and the trees trembling in the wind, steeling herself for another moment of psychological preparation.

Shen Yi leaned over to adjust the scarf around her neck and helped her put on her gloves. Seeing the gauze on her fingers, his eyes inevitably darkened, and his warm palm covered them, rubbing back and forth gently.

When she saw this, she smiled softly. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt at all. It's already better."

She was about to get out of the car when, loading her phone, she remembered something and asked him, "I just received a text message from a colleague. I heard that Dong Sisi was kidnapped. Do you know anything about it?"

Shen Yi's eyes were clear as he shook his head. "I don't know."

Zhen Nuan scratched her head. "I hope I'm not going to be targeted by Jiang Xiao's family."

He didn't care about current affairs. "Call me as soon as you get off work."

"Got it." She smiled sweetly, pushed open the car door, and waved at him with her chubby gloves before running off like a hare the moment she stepped out of the car.

He waited for her to disappear from sight before starting the car. His phone rang. He glanced at it and pressed the hands-free button. Shen Zetian's voice was calm and measured. "Shen Yi, if you continue like this, we can't get along peacefully."

"Yes." Shen Yi hung up the phone.

Driving to the intersection, the phone rang again. This time it was Ji Chen. "When will you arrive?"

Shen Yi glanced at his watch. "Thirteen minutes."

"Dai Qing said Shen Zetian's people almost trapped Zhen Nuan?"

"Far from it."

"Shen Yi, wait a little longer. Don't touch them yet."

"Speak frankly."

"Is Dong Sisi in your hands?"

"Not here."

Ji Chen was silent for a while. "Shen Yi, don't..."

"I would have let her go."

"Then why is she missing..."

"I don't know." He glanced at the traffic light that turned green. "Driving, hang up."

Zhen Nuan ran into the yard like a wisp of smoke.

In front of the office building, Yan Yan stood alone by the flower bed with one hand in his pocket, wearing a long black trench coat with a faint reddish tint. The white shirt inside was meticulously buttoned.

He lowered his eyes, thinking about something, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers while unconsciously playing with a matchbox in his palm.

"Good morning, Captain." She was full of rare energy.

Hearing her loud greeting, Yan Yan raised his head, slightly uncomfortable. She smiled like a sunflower and waved at him, her warm gloves—the kind that didn't distinguish individual fingers—looking chubby and endearing.

He looked her up and down and asked lightly, "In such good spirits?"

"It's all the Captain's teachings."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

Zhen Nuan pursed her lips, a little embarrassed, then plucked up her courage and said gratefully and sincerely, "What you said to Jiang Xiao's brother at the gate that day—I found it very inspirational." Now, she felt proud and fulfilled in her work.

"What did I say?" He was slightly confused, then gradually came back to his senses. "Oh, those words!"

"Mm." She nodded heavily, and after a few seconds, she blushed in embarrassment and added, "I admired it."

Yan Yan looked at her for a few seconds, then gradually showed an expression of amusement. "You're still too naive."

"Huh?"

"To be a superior, you must adopt an official tone and speak some lofty truths." He smiled broadly. "Official rhetoric, understand?"

Zhen Nuan was dumbfounded and blurted out in a daze, "Weren't those your heartfelt words?"

His smile remained, but his eyes inadvertently deepened by a degree. "After doing this job for so long, what heartfelt words remain?"

She pondered the meaning of his statement, wondering if he was habitually joking again. Inexplicably, she felt like he'd teased her once more. She stood there speechless for a long moment, gradually losing her ease and returning to the reserved state she adopted when facing her superior.

He lowered his eyes to look at her chubby gloves and asked, "How's your injury?"

"Nothing serious." As she spoke, she quickly waved her hands to demonstrate.

"Captain, last time you said that Jiang Xiao neither committed suicide nor was murdered. I haven't figured it out."

"Jiang Xiao's brother said she was very certain she could win back Shen Zetian on the wedding day. Why was she so confident?"

Zhen Nuan rolled her eyes thoughtfully. "Staging a suicide attempt to rekindle Shen Zetian's feelings?"

The answer was a shake of his head. "She'd used that tactic before. This was her last chance."

"Ah, I forgot." She gasped lightly. "She wanted to frame Dong Sisi, making people think Dong Sisi was trying to kill her. That's why she called for help and shouted for rescue."

"Jiang Xiao had prepared two plans: First, provoke Dong Sisi into fighting with her, then call for help to create the false impression that Dong Sisi was trying to kill her. Attempted murder—Dong Sisi would face criminal punishment. The Shen family couldn't tolerate that. In the worst case, she could also demand hush money for a private settlement.

Second, building on the first plan, she would act in self-defense and push Dong Sisi off the building. This second point is speculative guesswork without evidence. Moreover, Jiang Xiao should have quickly realized after arriving at the scene that Dong Sisi wouldn't give her the opportunity to claim self-defense."

Zhen Nuan nodded. "Whether it was the first or second plan, Jiang Xiao needed to entangle with Dong Sisi and create a conflict."

"The groomsmen's statements said that Jiang Xiao requested to speak with Dong Sisi alone. At that time, she must have still harbored illusions, believing Shen Zetian still loved her. Shen Zetian is very skilled at dealing with women. Jiang Xiao had been with him for five years and believed his love for her was genuine—that he was only forced to marry Dong Sisi due to their mismatched social status. The Jiang family still believes to this day that everything is Dong Sisi's fault, not Shen Zetian's. This shows how well Shen Zetian concealed himself in front of Jiang Xiao."

Zhen Nuan asked softly, "He's been maneuvering between two women, creating an 'innocent' image for himself?"

"No." Yan Yan smiled strangely. "Dong Sisi is very clever. Men can't maneuver in front of clever women."

She frowned as she listened, waiting for him to continue.

"Precisely because Dong Sisi is clever, she pulled Shen Zetian into the private room within a minute of entering and quickly left with him."

Zhen Nuan gradually understood. "Jiang Xiao initially planned to frame Dong Sisi in the private room, letting the groomsmen in the lounge hear the commotion inside so they could serve as witnesses. But Dong Sisi saw through her intentions and promptly opened the door to have everyone witness for her instead. Jiang Xiao deliberately provoked Dong Sisi to fight with her, but Dong Sisi remained calm and instead used her own identity and status to humiliate Jiang Xiao."

Yan Yan smiled, clearly thinking along the same lines. "Jiang Xiao didn't want to give up, so she went to the rooftop, staged a fake scene, and called Dong Sisi up."

"And then?"

"Remember Dong Sisi's statement?"

Zhen Nuan recalled, "She said Jiang Xiao called her and threatened to jump off the building if she didn't come up to meet her."

"Do you think Dong Sisi would care about her safety?" Yan Yan asked quietly.

Hearing his tone, Zhen Nuan couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart. "Dong Sisi went upstairs not because she was afraid Jiang Xiao would jump, but to give her a chance to perform."

He said slowly, "The physical evidence on the roof is complete, but no one witnessed anything. Dong Sisi knew very well that Jiang Xiao would definitely call for help to attract people downstairs to look up. Jiang Xiao needed people to see her struggling on the edge of the railing, to see how dangerously her body hung over it."

Zhen Nuan wondered, "But Jiang Xiao should have had some caution during her performance. How could she hit the railing so hard?"

"Dong Sisi said the first time she went upstairs was to get some air because she was in a bad mood. Based on my shallow understanding of her, she's not an emotional person."

Zhen Nuan suddenly felt a chill down her spine, as if flooded by cold wind, her teeth trembling slightly. "Dong Sisi... she went upstairs and loosened the screws on the railing?"

Yan Yan was silent for a few seconds, thought about it, then suddenly smiled. "How would I know? I didn't see it."

"Then why did you just tell me all this..."

"The case is closed. Just guessing." His tone was casual.

Zhen Nuan glanced at him. "No."

"What?"

"Captain, I remember that at the time of the incident, you were searching nearby for a long time. You..." She suddenly admired his experience and vision greatly, but felt faintly puzzled. "You were looking for screws nearby."

The wind lifted his trench coat collar, making his cheeks appear as white as paper.

His eyes were sharp, as if thinking about something, but after a second, he suddenly teased, "At that time... you had the presence of mind to pay attention to me."

She blushed, not knowing why he suddenly became improper.

She was stunned for a while, then asked stubbornly, "Captain, there would be scratches on the screws."

"No." He spoke briefly and withdrew his smile.

She still wanted to ask, but Yan Yan's phone rang. He tossed the unsmoked cigarette in his hand into the trash can. "Let's go."

Only then did Zhen Nuan realize—she'd been standing here, and he'd refrained from smoking out of consideration for secondhand smoke, but he'd gained nothing from it.

Looking at his back as he walked away continuing his phone call, she wondered if there was another case.

But it seemed that Jiang Xiao and Dong Sisi's matter wasn't over yet...

She frowned and thought for a while. No wonder Yan Yan said he was just guessing.

Dong Sisi was so cautious that she would definitely think to wrap the screws with soft material when loosening them, and her wedding gloves would also serve as excellent fingerprint isolation. Not to mention that no evidence could be found—even if it were found, Dong Sisi would at most be guilty of damaging public property. Jiang Xiao had done everything herself; how could she end up with such a result?

Or perhaps the newly renovated screws weren't installed securely, and Dong Sisi never intervened.

Only Dong Sisi knew the truth.

The wind blew, and Zhen Nuan shivered from the cold, realizing she'd been standing in the wind for a long time without noticing. She rubbed her cold face and rushed toward the C-Lab building.

At noon, the C-Lab team went to the art museum on the next street to see an exhibition.

In fact, it was an exhibition of Qin Shu's paintings and sculptures from over the years.

After Zhen Nuan arrived, she discovered that professionals really were different.

Some people couldn't come up with ideas even if they learned to draw. Some wanted to express themselves but couldn't turn their visions into beautiful and shocking paintings.

And Qin Shu had no such problems at all.

Her art blended her profession and experience into postmodernist paintings and sculptures with unique visual concepts, strongly impactful colors, and either twisted, struggling or straightforward lines—each piece exquisitely crafted.

Zhen Nuan strolled through the quiet, occasionally whispering art museum, lingering among the works.

Walking through several corridors, she inadvertently looked back and saw a landscape painting hanging on the wall at the end. A fresh breeze seemed to blow from it, incompatible with the surrounding atmosphere.

How strange.

She walked through the corridor toward the painting—it was a watercolor.

The painting depicted a small courtyard in full bloom, with cobblestone paving under the white wooden garden gate, and fallen flowers in colorful array.

The courtyard wall of bluestone was low, only half a person's height. Small white and pink flowers climbed all over the wall. Pale green trees crowded together, their branches extending outward.

A small blue building stood in the yard, with blue wooden doors and blue wooden windows, as beautiful as something from a fairy tale. Particularly striking was the room on the second-floor terrace, quietly nestled in the shade of a large tree, with a flower swing hanging from its branches.

Green leaves were decorated with tiny white flowers, like a natural hanging curtain.

The terrace room had a blue door. White gauze curtains flew gently, and a row of wind chimes in different colors under the eaves jingled in the wind.

One could almost hear the crisp bells of summer.

Was there truly such a beautiful place in the world? It made people want to live there at first sight.

For some reason, looking at this scenery she'd never seen before, a trace of inexplicable sadness appeared in her heart.

Strange—it was obviously beautiful and peaceful scenery. Why did it evoke such a sad feeling?

Her eyes fell to the painting's title: "Summer time, summertime."

Was this the meaning of a person's name, or a summer season?

Taking a few steps closer, she saw Yan Yan. He was looking at the painting, lost in thought.

That was Xia Shi's home.

Next