Roses in Flames

Xiao Lin pursed his thin lips, his voice low and calm, revealing no emotional fluctuations. "Routine investigation. There are some details in your uncle's car accident case from two years ago that need to be re-verified."

Ji Chen paused for a moment, then frowned. "Wasn't the car accident case closed? The murderer was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. He couldn't think straight and wanted to take revenge on society, and my uncle just happened to become that innocent victim. I heard that the murderer's condition worsened in prison, and he passed away a few months later."

Xiao Lin: "Reviewing old cases is a routine procedure."

Ji Chen nodded. "What questions do you have, officer?"

Xiao Lin flipped through the file in his hand. "When your uncle was renting the villa, did he get close to anyone?"

"No, my uncle is introverted and prefers to be alone."

After asking Ji Chen some questions, Xiao Lin escorted him out of the police station.

It's unclear who leaked Ji Chen's whereabouts, but a group of fans suddenly appeared outside the police station.

"Brother! We love you."

"Ahhh! Oppa!"

"My little one, Mommy loves you. You need to rest well. See you at the concert."

Not only do they have female fans, but they also have mother fans.

Ji Chen smiled and waved to the fans, telling them to go home and rest early.

Not long after Ji Chen left, the official website of the Criminal Investigation Division was flooded with posts from Ji Chen's fans.

—Why were you summoning our brother to the police station? He's been working non-stop lately, and his eyes are red from exhaustion. As public officials, don't you have any empathy?

—What is it that can't be said on the phone? Why do you have to make him come all the way here? Do you think our brother is easy to bully?

—They're just looking for trouble, a bunch of freeloaders.

"Holy crap! Ji Chen's fans are crazy!" Cheng Lei exclaimed in disbelief as he watched the official website being flooded with comments.

Xiao Lin's facial features were tense. "Lei Zi, turn off the comments. Don't bother with them."

Xiao Lin instructed the technicians to retrieve the surveillance footage from the guest room.

He watched the replay once.

When Ji Chen mentioned his fans, the gratitude in his eyes was like a thin layer of ice, fleeting, but Xiao Lin still caught it.

The body embedded in the wall, Ji Dawei who was in a car accident, the person who hit him was a cancer patient taking revenge on society, and he eventually died in prison.

It's too much of a coincidence.

Unfortunately, there is no way to verify anything.

"Lei Zi, compile a file on Ji Chen and give it to me."

……

Ye Yuntang worked overtime all night.

Xiao Lin brought over breakfast. "Has the autopsy report come out yet?"

Ye Yuntang nodded. "After the autopsy, I found that the deceased's stomach contents were almost zero and his intestines were empty. Combined with the bone density test results, the deceased should have been in a state of long-term hunger and severe malnutrition before his death."

After saying that, she handed Xiao Lin a pathology report: "The deceased's lower body soft tissue has multiple old lacerations, which should not have been caused by a single violent attack, but by repeated injuries."

Xiao Lin's expression was grave. "You mean, the deceased suffered prolonged sexual abuse before his death?"

Ye Yuntang nodded, "Yes, prolonged starvation led to the failure of bodily functions, and continuous sexual abuse accelerated the death process. Simply put, she starved to death while being sexually abused for a long time."

Xiao Lin's brows were furrowed, and his deep eyes were filled with an unyielding layer of frost.

This is absolutely cruel to a young woman.

"Captain Xiao, Forensic Doctor Ye, we have completed the three-dimensional facial reconstruction based on the skull."

Xiao Lin and Ye Yuntang immediately went over to check.

On the computer screen, the girl had delicate features and looked charming and kind.

Thinking of this girl who had suffered such tragic abuse before her death, Ye Yuntang felt extremely heavy-hearted and saddened.

Import the restored image into the missing persons database.

The system quickly displayed the matching results.

Lin Xiaoqiao, female, 21 years old, grew up in an orphanage.

Two years ago, a girl named Zhou Qing reported to the police that she was looking for the missing Lin Xiaoqiao.

Zhou Qing works at Night Bar, and Xiao Lin and Ye Yuntang go to the bar together.

Ye Yuntang ate the breakfast that Xiao Lin had bought in the car.

She hadn't slept all night, and her beautiful peach blossom eyes were slightly bloodshot.

She ate two xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and drank half a cup of soy milk before feeling full.

Xiao Lin glanced at Ye Yuntang and said, "Take a nap, I'll wake you when we get there."

Ye Yuntang nodded, lowered her seat, and closed her eyes.

Perhaps because she was too tired, she started dreaming after falling asleep.

I dreamt of a fierce argument before I discovered Fu Shili's infidelity.

"I'm cured there, so we can have sex now, but I really don't want to touch you. You're always touching those dead people, your hands are covered in bad luck. If you don't quit your job as a forensic pathologist, I can't possibly have sex with you!"

No matter how clean you are or how fragrant your perfume is, the moment I get close to you, I'll be reminded of the corpses you touched.

"Either you quit your job and be a dutiful Mrs. Fu, or you join our Fu Group. Otherwise, we can't be together properly. I don't like a woman who only knows how to deal with corpses all day long; I find her disgusting!"

"Forensic Doctor Ye?"

Cold sweat beaded on Ye Yuntang's forehead. Her fingers, which were clenched tightly together in front of her, were trembling with rapid breaths.

Lost in a nightmare, she suddenly heard a deep, cold voice calling her.

She suddenly opened her eyes and met a pair of dark, deep, narrow eyes.

She blinked her long eyelashes, realizing she was in Xiao Lin's car.

Xiao Lin parked the car on the side of the road.

He looked at her with a furrowed brow. "You had another nightmare?"

Ye Yuntang had not yet completely escaped the nightmare; the feeling of being disliked was like an invisible hand tightly gripping her heart.

It made her feel suffocated.

"Do you think I'm dirty?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

Xiao Lin's brows furrowed even more. "What?"

Ye Yuntang pursed her pale lips tightly. "My ex-husband said I deal with corpses all day long and that I'm dirty."

Xiao Lin noticed a thin layer of mist welling up in the woman's peach blossom eyes. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "How could it be dirty? Don't I deal with corpses all the time?"

His brows were stern and his expression righteous, his demeanor cold and unyielding. "Without workers like us, who would champion justice for those who died unjustly?"

Ye Yuntang's long eyelashes trembled slightly as she sat up straight from the back of the chair.

Xiao Lin's facial features were tense as he continued in a cold and dignified tone, "Your profession is sacred, and what you do is also great. Those who think you are dirty are blind and incompetent, unable to distinguish between what is truly dirty and what is truly clean."

"He dislikes the stench of corpses on your hands, but he can't see the truth in your fingertips. He dislikes you guarding the cold autopsy table, but he can't see how many innocent people you've sought justice for."

Xiao Lin looked directly into Ye Yuntang's eyes and said each word firmly, "Those who think you're dirty don't deserve your honesty."

Ye Yuntang stared blankly at Xiao Lin. She hadn't expected that this usually cold and taciturn man would say such comforting words to her.

Her nose felt a little sore, and her eyes were slightly swollen.

What should I do? I feel like crying.

Ye Yuntang tilted her head slightly, forcing back the tears that were about to spill from her eyes.

After calming down, she looked at Xiao Lin again, a seductive smile playing on her lips. "Captain Xiao, do you know what I want to do right now?"

Xiao Lin stared at her small face. "What?"

"I really want to have a big fight with you."

A crack appeared on Xiao Lin's cold, taut face. "Ye Yuntang, can't you be serious for three seconds?"

Ye Yuntang was telling the truth.

Who wouldn't want to sleep with a man like him who's handsome, has a great physique, strong waist, and sound values?

"How am I being indecent? Can't adults just say what they need and feel directly? It's not like you've never done it with me before—"

Before he could finish speaking, the man started the engine, drove off at high speed.

He perched his sunglasses on his high nose bridge, highlighting the sharp contours of his profile.

Looking at his cold and ruthless appearance, Ye Yuntang blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "After meeting you, you became the source material for my erotic dreams."

She gently poked the man's muscular arm. "Captain Xiao, have you ever dreamed about me?"

Xiao Lin, "...No."

Ye Yuntang: "If you don't have one, you don't have one. Why are you moving your Adam's apple?"

Xiao Lin looked at her slender white finger pointing at his Adam's apple, and he freed one of his large hands to grip the steering wheel and squeezed it tightly.

His palms were broad and warm, and as he held them tightly, she could clearly feel the calluses on his palms.

"Captain Xiao, you're pinching me so hard!"

Xiao Lin pressed his tongue against his back teeth. "Ye Yuntang, stop being so horny."

Ye Yuntang: "What's wrong? I'm being horny, and you can't handle it?"

Xiao Lin, "..."