My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

The café wasn't crowded. Soft jazz music drifted from a corner, and the coffee machine behind the bar emitted a low steaming sound, mixed with the occasional clinking of cups and saucers.

Su Xiaoyue sat in a booth by the window. The latte in front of her had gone cold, with a thin layer of milk foam floating on the surface. She hadn't drunk a drop.

She didn't go far.

After telling Jiang Yi at the intersection, "I'm going home now," she turned and walked a few dozen steps in another direction. She stopped for a while under the shade of a ginkgo tree, watching his figure disappear around the street corner.

Then she turned back and pushed open the glass door of the coffee shop across the street.

She chose a spot with a view of the noodle shop entrance, sat down, and ordered a latte.

She had only intended to wait here for a while.

She knew Jiang Yi said he was going to the lab, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't actually go today—she hadn't missed the way he dodged when he was looking at his phone in the noodle shop.

She wanted to know where he had gone.

On the phone screen, a tiny red dot was slowly moving along the street lined with ginkgo trees.

The map is very accurate, and you can clearly see the changes in his speed at each intersection—when he's fast, it looks like he's rushing, and when he's slow, it looks like he's stopped and hesitated.

She watched him linger near the internet cafe for about twenty minutes, then leave the internet cafe and turn into the hardware store on the street corner.

She lingered a while longer at the spot in front of the hardware store, as if assessing something, before moving again, this time a bit faster than before, heading towards the "Ruifeng Fitness" studio with the dark gray glass door that she had visited before.

Su Xiaoyue lightly scratched the inside of the coffee cup with her finger.

Why would he still go to that place?

Su Xiaoyue got up, stood up, and walked out of the coffee shop towards it.

……

the other side.

When Jiang Yi pushed open the dark gray glass door of the gym, the afternoon light slanted in from the west, casting long shadows of the dumbbell racks in the lobby.

The young woman at the front desk was looking down at her phone when she heard the door open. She looked up, her gaze lingered on his handsome face for a moment, and then looked away.

"Hello, I'm looking for Zhao Ran." Jiang Yi stood in front of the reception desk, his voice not loud, but it was clearly heard in the spacious lobby.

The little girl blinked, as if searching for the name in her mind, then shook her head: "Sorry, we don't have a coach named Zhao Ran here, nor do we have a member named Zhao Ran."

Jiang Yi didn't look away: "Is your manager here?"

The young woman glanced at him again, probably because his expression made her think he wasn't there to apply for a card. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the landline phone next to her, pressed two buttons, and said a few words in a low voice.

After hanging up the phone, she nodded to him: "The manager will be here soon, please wait a moment."

soon.

A middle-aged man in a dark blue polo shirt strode out from the end of the corridor, his steps carrying the crispness characteristic of someone who had been working in the fitness industry for a long time.

He saw Jiang Yi, first glancing at his face, then his gaze shifted downwards for a moment before rising again, offering a professional smile: "Hello, are you Mr. Jiang?"

Jiang Yi nodded.

The manager's smile froze for less than half a second; the change was subtle, but Jiang Yi noticed it.

He turned to the side and gestured "please" towards the corridor: "Miss Zhao is waiting for you inside. This way, please."

Jiang Yi followed him through the corridor, around two corners, past several brightly lit exercise rooms, and finally stopped in front of that familiar dark gray wooden door.

The manager knocked twice on the door, then stepped aside: "Mr. Jiang has arrived."

A lazy "Come in" came from inside the door. The manager pushed the door open for him, then took a half step back, turned around, and left.

Jiang Yi stood at the door, his gaze passing through the crack in the door and landing on the room he had been to once before.

The light was still that dim, warm tone. The dark gray curtains by the window were half drawn, and the afternoon light squeezed in from the other half, spreading a thin, long strip of golden light on the wooden floor.

Zhao Ran sat in the dark gray wheelchair in the center of the room, one leg still wrapped in snow-white gauze, resting on the support extending from the front of the wheelchair.

Today she wore a black sports vest, revealing her well-defined shoulders, neck, and forearms. Her hair was casually tied into a low ponytail, with a few stray strands sticking to her forehead.

She was looking down at her phone when she heard the door open. She looked up, her gaze falling on his face, and a slight smile curved her lips.

"Here we go again? Haven't you had enough yet?" Her tone carried that familiar, lazy, playful tone.

Jiang Yi walked in and closed the door.

The door lock made a soft click as it closed, which sounded particularly clear in the quiet room.

He didn't walk up to her, but stood by the door, his back against the light gray painted wall, his hands hanging at his sides, his gaze fixed on her face.

Zhao Ran noticed that he didn't approach, tilted his head, turned off his phone screen, and placed it on the armrest of his wheelchair: "What, so polite today? Why are you standing so far away? I'm not going to eat you."

Jiang Yi did not respond to that sentence.

He looked at her, remained silent for a couple of seconds, and then asked, "Where did you go the night before last?"

Zhao Ran's brow twitched slightly.

She leaned back in her wheelchair, her hands folded on her knees, tilting her head to look at him, her voice still carrying that nonchalant tone: "The night before last? At home. What's wrong?"

"You're not home," Jiang Yi said.

Zhao Ran's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, and the lazy, playful light in his eyes dimmed slightly.

She tried to sound calm: "How did you know I wasn't home? If I'm not home, then where should I be?"

Jiang Yi did not answer the question.

He reached behind his back, his fingertips touching the cold metallic outline in the inside pocket of the dark gray tracksuit, and then pulled it out.

The blade was wrapped in kraft paper, which was a little wrinkled but still tightly wrapped, and he did not unwrap it.

He simply held the knife wrapped in parchment in his hand, letting it hang at his side.

Zhao Ran's gaze fell on the knife and lingered for about two seconds.

Her expression didn't change much. She raised her eyes and looked at his face again: "You brought a knife to see me?"

"I saw you on the CCTV footage outside the Zhongshan branch," Jiang Yi said. "The night before last, around 8 p.m., you parked your black SUV at the entrance, went inside for about 20 minutes, and then came out and left."

Zhao Ran did not deny it.

She didn't even look away; she simply leaned back in her chair and quietly watched him.

Then Zhao Ran spoke, his voice lower than before: "You investigated me?"

"My sister is dead," Jiang Yi said. "She died in the interrogation room of the Zhongshan branch of the Public Security Bureau. She recanted her confession, saying that I ordered her to do it, and then she died."

"And the day before you recanted your confession before you died, you went to see her!"

Why are you going to see her?