I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 130 contains contradictions in a strict sense.
What does it mean to silently protect?

Sincerely care about the other person, do not force them to accept, and know how to respect and maintain distance.

The motivation for giving is to care, not to take, and even if there is no response, there will be no resentment.

What is a simp?

Their efforts are driven by a strong sense of purpose, hoping to gain emotional responses and further intimacy through flattery. They lack a sense of boundaries and feel resentful when rejected.

In Han Ling's view, the two are essentially the same; silently protecting someone is the ultimate, sublime form of being a "simp."

If Lü Zhanpeng's feelings for Ren Yi were simply selfless and unrequited, then he probably wouldn't harbor much resentment towards Du Juncai.

Do you really not expect anything in return?
Han Ling didn't believe that such a pure and devoted man existed in reality. A normal person would definitely want their rival to die immediately.

"Why...why do you care about my feelings?" Ren Yi finally asked.

My boyfriend, Du Juncai, is dead. Why do the police need to know about my love life?
Han Ling explained, "You are Du Juncai's girlfriend. According to the investigation process, we need to understand the situation more thoroughly."

Ren Yi was very clever and understood after a little thought. She exclaimed in surprise, "Could the person who killed Du Juncai be someone who was pursuing me?"

Han Ling changed the subject: "Tell us about Du Juncai. Has he been acting strangely lately? Has he had any conflicts with others? Don't leave anything out that is related to Du Juncai."

The conversation lasted for more than an hour, but the results were not significant; it only provided a better understanding of Du Juncai's personality and preferences.

During his undergraduate years, Du Juncai was not a shut-in who often stayed in his dormitory playing games. He was very active, serving as a class leader and the vice president of the student union. His communication and management skills were significantly stronger than those of his peers.

My academic performance was poor; I failed some courses.

The students have a clear personality; every university has students like this. They know what they want to pursue in university, prioritizing social interaction over academics.

You may have excellent grades in college but no one knows about it. However, if you hold a high position in the student union, you will definitely be considered a prominent figure in the school.

That's university life. Unless you're exceptionally outstanding academically, students tend to admire people like Du Juncai.

Having just entered the microcosm of university life, most students have a sense of admiration for those in positions of authority.

The student council is the highest-ranking authority that ordinary students can come into contact with.

Even the student union's life department and dormitory management department can boss students around, let alone the higher-level president and vice president, who are completely high and mighty.

Du Juncai can be described as a prominent figure.

Unfortunately, after leaving campus, one still has to face the realities of society. Whether it's useful or not is a matter of opinion.

To be fair, the student union of Qingchang University is quite prestigious.

If it's Tsinghua or Peking University in the capital, the student union membership is highly prestigious.

The ability to enhance skills and expand personal networks offer advantages in both further education and employment, especially the preferential allocation of positions for selected graduates, which is the most attractive aspect.

Ren Yi left.

Han Ling and Tong Feng summarized the results of their visit: ordinary college students may not have many conflicts with others on campus, but the president of the student union has much more complicated interpersonal relationships.

Where there is competition, there will inevitably be conflict.

The investigation has become more difficult.

Tong Feng said, "That small door in the northwest corner is really troublesome. It's safe to say that anyone can bypass the main gate's surveillance and sneak into Ping An Garden to commit a crime."

Han Ling nodded: "Yes, but Pan Xia is clearly suspicious. If she's not the murderer, what role does she play in this case?"

Tong Feng couldn't answer that question. For now, he could only proceed step by step and investigate slowly, clarifying all the things that needed to be investigated. Then, the task force would hold another meeting to discuss and find directions from the findings.

"Let's first confirm Ren Yi's alibi. We'll go find Ren Yi's classmates before noon," Han Ling said.

Tong Feng: "Okay."

At 10:40 a.m., with the help of school staff, the two met a girl at a nearby restaurant.

The restaurant is practically empty at this time, offering good privacy.

The girl's identity fits the criteria for the interview. She was both Ren Yi's classmate in graduate school and in undergraduate school. Both of them applied to the same university for graduate studies, which is relatively easy.

It has been confirmed that Ren Yi was indeed in the lab yesterday afternoon, and her alibi is very strong.

"Don't tell Ren Yi about our conversation today," Han Ling reminded her.

The police can only warn, but cannot stop it. It doesn't matter if they say it or not; it's best not to say it at all.

The girl nodded gently: "Okay... okay, I won't tell."

She was a little nervous when she saw the police.

Han Ling smiled and said, "Relax, we're just here to get some information from you. We'll leave after we're done asking and it won't affect your life in any way. Just tell the truth and answer whatever they ask."

If it involves privacy, or if you don't want to answer, please let us know. We understand.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, perhaps influenced by Han Ling's affability, or... by his good looks, because she had been secretly watching Han Ling the whole time.

Han Ling was already good-looking, and his identity as a criminal police officer made him quite attractive to female college students, who had a bit of a hero-worshiping mentality towards him.

In the eyes of students, influenced by TV dramas, the word "hero" is one of the labels associated with criminal police officers.

"You know Du Juncai and Lü Zhanpeng, right?" Han Ling asked.

The girl nodded: "We all know each other. Du Jun is Ren Yi's boyfriend. They got together in the second semester of their junior year. Lü Zhanpeng also likes Ren Yi, but it seems he has never pursued her. We all know that Lü Zhanpeng likes Ren Yi."

Since Du Juncai and Ren Yi got together, I've often deliberately observed Lü Zhanpeng's reactions. I haven't sensed that Lü Zhanpeng was angry, and his friendship with Du Juncai hasn't been affected either.

She answered in great detail, telling the whole story in one go. The police like to interview people like her; it's easy and saves them time.

Han Ling smiled: "Anything else? Is there anything else you want to say about these three people? Just say whatever comes to mind, we have plenty of time."

The girl looked at Han Ling, her face slightly flushed. She realized that there was a big difference between TV dramas and reality, and that criminal police officers were not scary at all.

Not only are they not scary, they are actually quite cute and endearing.

“In the first semester of her junior year, Ren Yi’s mother passed away. She was sad for a long time. At that time, I felt that Du Juncai took advantage of her vulnerability and seized the most vulnerable period of Ren Yi’s life.”

Han Ling knew about this; it was in the information. He asked, "Does Ren Yi dislike Du Juncai?"

The girl thought for a moment and replied, "I think he should like him. Du Juncai is indeed very outstanding. He has a good relationship with the counselor, a good relationship with the leaders of the college, and he even got to know the school leaders through the student union. Everyone thinks he is very capable."

But I don't like it. I feel like he's a bit pretentious, always acting all high and mighty.

Han Ling: "Continue."

At this moment, the girl suddenly changed her mind: "No, no, Ren Yi should hate Du Juncai... but she's with Du Juncai again. Sigh, I don't understand."

I also asked Ren Yi, and Ren Yi said that Du Juncai has a very good personality, better than Lü Zhanpeng and the others.

"Dislike?" Han Ling seized on the key word. "Why do you dislike it? Can you be more specific?"

Girl: "Because of scholarships, Ren Yi's academic performance was very good. She had a great chance to receive scholarships every semester and every year, but most of them were taken by Du Juncai, which forced Ren Yi to work part-time to make ends meet."

I get angry just thinking about it. Du Juncai is not short of money, and his grades are not good either, yet he still managed to get a scholarship!
It's so dark, so incredibly dark! I thought university would be like high school, but it turns out the word "unfair" is written everywhere.

Upon hearing this, Han Ling and Tong Feng exchanged glances.

Lu Zhanpeng's notes mention that Du Juncai had some money.

Ren Yi also mentioned that Du Juncai had failed a course, which dragged down his academic performance.

However, I still received a scholarship.

This is likely directly related to Du Juncai's status as a class leader and a member of the school's student union.

"It's not the national scholarship, is it?" Han Ling asked.

The National Scholarship requires students to be in the top 10% of their class academically, which is difficult to compensate for through external connections; otherwise, the level of corruption would be too high.

The girl shook her head: "It's not a national scholarship, it's a school scholarship."

Han Ling: "For example, those who get high scores in comprehensive evaluations? Those who get high scores as class officers or in the student council? For example, those who receive special scholarships?"

The girl thought for a moment and said, "It's about the same, but... if Du Juncai had given in and hadn't gone all out for it, the scholarship would definitely have gone to Ren Yi."

Han Ling understood.

Du Jun was qualified to compete for certain types of scholarships. Through his status as a class officer, the president of the student union, and his relationships with his advisor, college leaders, and university leaders, he easily obtained scholarships.

Ren Yi was clearly in greater need, yet no mercy was shown.

It depends on each person's personality and choices, whether they have compassion, and whether they are willing to give way to classmates who need it more.

Giving up a scholarship is a favor, not giving it up is one's right. Since Du Juncai is capable of obtaining the scholarship instead of resorting to despicable means to blatantly steal it, others have no right to comment.

"Officer, do you think he's crazy? He's pursuing Ren Yi and even stealing his scholarship money," the girl complained.

Han Ling laughed and said, "I'm not that old yet, don't call me uncle."

He had only graduated a year ago, so they could be considered the same age.

The girl realized her slip of the tongue, blushed, and quickly lowered her head.

Han Ling: "After Du Juncai received the scholarship, did he give any to Ren Yi?"

Girl: "They... seem to have talked about this issue, but Ren Yi didn't want to say more after she came back."

Han Ling speculated that Du Juncai had an immature and unhealthy emotional defense mechanism, and that he attracted Ren Yi's attention by provoking and suppressing her courtship.

Perhaps, they want to gain a sense of control.

I can give you a scholarship if I want to, and you can't get it if I don't want to, thus gaining psychological satisfaction.

Perhaps there are also flawed childhood experiences, such as family members and peers having similar communication styles.

In short, this method of pursuing girls is unhealthy and is very likely to backfire.

However, since Ren Yi chose to be with Du Juncai, the judgment has little impact, or rather, Ren Yi is easily swayed by this.

"How is your relationship after you two got together?" Han Ling continued to ask.

The girl said, "They seem ordinary, not that close. Ren Yi focuses more on her studies. At most, she has dinner with Du Juncai and occasionally goes for a walk in the evening."

During this visit, Han Ling and Tong Feng obtained more information.

Strictly speaking, Ren Yi and Du Juncai had a conflict. Du Juncai bullied not only Lü Zhanpeng, but also Ren Yi.

The girl's answer only scratched the surface, carrying a subjective and personal bias. She said whatever she saw, but what she saw was not necessarily the truth.

Only Lü Zhanpeng, Du Juncai, and Ren Yi themselves probably know the true nature of their relationship.

Once all the call records are retrieved, we might be able to gain further insight.

Today, Han Ling and Tong Fengfeng stayed at Qingchang University to conduct a comprehensive visit, including but not limited to undergraduate counselors and graduate supervisors, to gather information.

(End of this chapter)