Roses in Flames

Xiao Lin immediately became alert, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. "How are Lin Qianqian's grades?"

Xia Xingran wiped away her tears. "I was first in my class in my major, and Lin Qianqian should have been in the top 20, but with Professor Xu's strong support, the exchange student spot still went to Lin Qianqian."

Xiao Lin tapped the table lightly with his long, slender fingers. "What else did you hear back then?"

"I think I heard Professor Jiang say something like, 'If you dare to let Lin Qianqian go, I will ruin your reputation,' in a very emotional way."

Xiao Lin nodded. "Okay, thank you for the clue."

"Officer, may I see Professor Jiang one last time?"

"We need to wait until the case is closed."

Xia Xingran nodded. "I hope you can find out the truth as soon as possible."

After Xia Xingran left, Xiao Lin called Song Che in, "Ache, you immediately go and check all of Ye Da's student Lin Qianqian's entry and exit records and related information."

"Yes."

……

trial room.

Seeing Xiao Lin enter, Xu Bainian indifferently lifted his eyelids.

"Officer, the 48-hour period will be over in an hour. You've detained me without finding any evidence. My lawyer is on his way. When I get out, I'm definitely going to file a complaint against you!"

Xu Bainian's eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his usually refined face was filled with anger and exhaustion.

Xiao Lin sat expressionless opposite Xu Bainian, staring directly into his eyes, his entire being radiating an oppressive aura. "Don't you really feel any remorse? Jiang Ning's parents sponsored your university education, and Jiang Ning supported you every step of the way. She was willing to give up her own chance to become an outstanding professor to give you that opportunity. When you had nothing, she followed you without complaint, giving you her whole heart. Is her ultimate fate to be killed by you?"

Faced with Xiao Lin's questioning, Xu Bainian's face showed no emotion. He even curled up a mocking smile. "Officer, I really don't understand what you're talking about. I love my wife very much. To this day, I still don't know how she was murdered. I'm in more pain than anyone else."

After saying that, he pretended to cry again, "I was hoping you police officers would give me an explanation, but all you do is interrogate me. Are you trying to abuse your power and force a confession out of me?"

Ye Yuntang, Cheng Lei, and Song Che, who were standing outside the glass wall of the interrogation room, were all furious when they saw this scene.

Ye Yuntang pressed her tongue against her cheek, really wanting to rush in and punch that guy a few times in a fit of rage.

"His conscience has been eaten by dogs; even cold-blooded animals would call him 'ancestor'!"

Shen Lei and Song Che nodded in agreement.

"Officers, you guys aren't incompetent, unable to find the real culprit, so you're trying to pin the blame on me, are you?"

Xu Bainian's lips curled into a mocking smile, his eyes revealing an arrogant confidence, as if the police could not find any fatal evidence.

Xiao Lin was used to all kinds of suspects' sophistry, and he remained unmoved in the face of Xu Bainian's provocation.

He glanced coldly at Xu Bainian, then threw a stack of photos onto the interrogation table.

"Look at this for yourself, what is it?"

Xu Bainian looked down.

Upon seeing this, he was completely stunned.

The photo shows Lin Qianqian holding her child and walking out of a residential area with her mother.

"The child's birth certificate has your name on it. Was it because Jiang Ning discovered your affair with Lin Qianqian and that she was pregnant, and you were afraid the scandal would be exposed, that you killed her?"

Xu Bainian's pupils contracted. He suppressed the fleeting panic in his heart and continued to argue, "No, I didn't kill anyone! Even if I cheated on my wife, it's just a moral issue. My wife's death has nothing to do with me!"

Just then, officers from the technical department arrived.

"Captain Xiao, we found Jiang Ning's cell phone before her death. It was in a rented room under Xu Bainian's father's name. We also found out that Xu Bainian majored in computer science in college, and he was proficient in virtual positioning and data spoofing."

Xiao Lin glanced at the phone in the transparent bag. "Immediately perform fingerprint analysis on this phone."

After saying that, his dark eyes swept sharply over Xu Bainian, "Fingerprints don't lie. Your fabricated activity and attempts to cover up your crimes will soon be exposed."

Xu Bainian's emotions collapsed instantly.

He slumped into the chair, his shoulders trembling slightly, his previous arrogance vanished instantly.

He pressed his hands against his forehead, his voice hoarse, "I never intended to kill her. It was she who kept pushing me, refusing to let me go..."

……

He truly loved Jiang Ning and was grateful for the help her family gave him.

He was a poor boy who studied desperately to get out of the mountains and get into his dream university.

The two met in high school, and back then, Jiang Ning's grades were better than his.

She offered to tutor him, and since he couldn't afford university, she even persuaded her parents to provide him with financial assistance.

He had once sworn that he would treat her well for the rest of his life.

After graduating from university, they both stayed on as professors and got married that year.

Everyone said they were a model couple, a perfect match, but no one knew the bitterness and frustration in his heart.

Her paintings frequently won awards, and she was promoted earlier than him. Many teachers at the school privately discussed that his ability to stay at the school and leave the mountains was all thanks to her.

Back at her home, her parents kept implying that Jiang Ning was marrying down, while he was marrying up, and that he should cherish her even more.

In their family, he always seemed to be an outsider, always the one who was looked down upon.

He doesn't even have the right to argue with him; if you do, it means he doesn't know how to cherish you.

Lost in his memories, Xu Bainian's eyes became increasingly bloodshot. He lost control of his emotions, and his voice became somewhat hysterical. "I endured all those grievances because I love her. But what I can't accept is that she can't have children. It's clearly a problem with her body, yet she casually said, 'You can be happy even if you're childless.'"

He was the only son in his family. He had no children, and his parents were gossiped about and cursed in the village for having no descendants.

Every time he calls his family, his mother cries and asks what sins she committed in her past life.

Thinking that he loved her, he forced himself to accept a childless marriage.

But as he gets older, seeing his colleagues posting pictures of themselves with their babies on social media, and watching his mother secretly wiping away tears, makes him feel incredibly sad.

"Lin Qianqian is a college student from our village. I sponsored her and she was admitted to Ye University, becoming my student."

Xu Bainian's eyes softened. "She admired me a lot, saying that my lectures were better than anyone else's. She also said that I shouldn't be overshadowed by Jiang Ning's fame... Lin Qianqian was a good girl. Although I had some feelings for her at that time, I never thought about cheating on her."

Xu Bainian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued, "Until that incident happened—"