Roses in Flames

Three years ago, my mother brought relatives from the mountains to visit the city.

Jiang Ning had something to do at school that day and couldn't receive the guests in person, so her mother bought groceries and entertained them at home.

There's a stray dog ​​that Jiang Ning picked up and raised seven years ago. The dog is usually quite obedient, but that day it barked at a guest.

The guest was so angry that he kicked the dog.

After the dog fainted, the guests egged on him, and his mother killed the dog and stewed it into a hot pot.

When Jiang Ning returned home, he didn't find the dog. His mother lied and said that the dog was disobedient and had run away.

Jiang Ning didn't believe it, so she turned on the security camera in the living room.

She discovered the truth in the surveillance footage and was furious to learn that her dog had been eaten.

She made a huge scene and wouldn't let it go.

He called his wife's family over and forced his mother and relatives to apologize.

Not only that, but they also ordered his mother and relatives to leave the house.

This incident made him lose face.

When he returned to the village, he would be pointed at and gossiped about.

At this point, Xu Bainian became extremely agitated. "She keeps saying she loves me, but she doesn't give me any face at all over such a trivial matter. My mother got sick because of her, and she didn't even go back to her hometown to see her. She and her parents look down on me from the bottom of their hearts! I may not be a live-in son-in-law, but I'm not even as good as one!"

"Is a dog really that important? She can't have children, and I've never blamed her! Besides, if it weren't for her dog biting my relatives first, would my mom have cooked it?"

Xiao Lin's brows furrowed, his features cold and sharp. "Jiang Ning raised that dog for seven years, which is enough to prove that she is a very loving person. Maybe every day after get off work, what she looks forward to most is the dog carrying her slippers to the entrance, and being able to take it for a walk after dinner. Your mother and relatives cooked her dog, and they were probably chatting and laughing while eating. Have you ever thought about how sad she was inside?"

"I know she's not feeling well, and I've said before that if she wanted to keep it, I could replace it with another one, but she herself didn't want it anymore."

Xiao Lin's eyes were cold and sharp. "Even animals understand human nature, but you don't. You're not even as good as an animal."

Xu Bainian doesn't think he's done anything wrong. Some people like pets, and some don't. He's one of those people who doesn't like pets.

Every time Jiang Ning tells him that without children, dogs are like their babies, he feels extremely disgusted.

"If I were an animal, why didn't Heaven take me away, but instead took Jiang Ning's parents? Maybe even Heaven couldn't stand them anymore! They said they treated me like their own son, but deep down they looked down on me and my parents in the countryside!"

After her parents' accident, coupled with her own wrist injury that prevented her from painting, Jiang Ning became emotionally unstable.

She would get agitated and argue with him over the smallest things.

He'd had enough. That year, she refused to go back to her hometown to celebrate the New Year with him, so he went back alone.

During the Spring Festival, when visiting relatives and friends, all the aunts and uncles gathered together and talked about how their family line had ended.

His mother gave him an ultimatum: if she couldn't hold her grandson in her lifetime, she would die with regrets.

During that time, Lin Qianqian also returned to the mountains.

When he was in a bad mood, Lin Qianqian would come to his house to keep him company from time to time.

Lin Qianqian has a sweet tongue and knows how to comfort people. Whenever he is unhappy, she will comfort him in a soft voice.

Xu Bainian raised his hand and pressed his temples, his eyes filled with a complex and indescribable look. "That night, I drank too much and, fueled by alcohol, I crossed the line with Lin Qianqian."

Afterwards, Lin Qianqian nestled in his arms, comforting him and telling him not to blame himself, assuring him that she wouldn't ruin his family.

She had been in love with him for a long time, and she was willing to be his mistress as long as she could be with him.

Who wouldn't love a young, beautiful, gentle woman who adores him and understands his feelings?

Moreover, Lin Qianqian served him very well.

Once you do it the first time, you'll do it a second and a third time.

He and Lin Qianqian carefully kept it a secret from everyone. She never made any excessive demands and just quietly stayed by his side.

He never considered divorce, after all, his image as a model couple with Jiang Ning was already deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Jiang Ning's family has undergone such a major change. If he leaves her, he will only be criticized as a heartless man.

He wanted to keep the "red flag" (domestic woman) flying high at home while having affairs on the side.

Lin Qianqian is his student, and no one would doubt their relationship.

Two years passed in this way, and the obedient and well-behaved Lin Qianqian suddenly became bold.

While Jiang Ning was away on a business trip, she secretly went to his and Jiang Ning's home.

She put on Jiang Ning's nightgown, sprayed on Jiang Ning's perfume, and lay on the bed Jiang Ning had bought to seduce him.

She said that the most exciting thing was the feeling of sneaking around and being afraid of being discovered.

Just as Lin Qianqian said, he was completely addicted to the thrill of having an affair.

Whenever Jiang Ning wasn't home, he would call Lin Qianqian over.

Jiang Ning installed surveillance cameras in the living room, but he was knowledgeable about computers, so every time Lin Qianqian came over, he would modify the program in advance so that Jiang Ning wouldn't notice anything unusual.

But paper cannot contain fire after all.

Jiang Ning likes to collect perfumes from niche brands. Once, Lin Qianqian came over and took one of the perfumes with her.

Jiang Ning searched for a long time but couldn't find the perfume.

Later, when Lin Qianqian went to his office, Jiang Ning smelled that perfume on her.

Jiang Ning did not confront her directly; she remained calm and claimed that she had to go on a business trip.

He thought she was really going on a business trip, so that evening he brought Lin Qianqian home.

To his surprise, Jiang Ning suddenly returned while he was having sex with Lin Qianqian.

She caught them red-handed.

Jiang Ning slapped him and Lin Qianqian several times on the spot.

He knelt down and begged Jiang Ning to give him another chance.

Jiang Ning made him write a guarantee.

At that time, he had no intention of killing Jiang Ning.

But as luck would have it, Lin Qianqian found out she was pregnant.

After his mother learned of this, she threatened to kill herself, forcing him to find a way to keep the child in Lin Qianqian's womb.

There was no other way but to bear the pressure and let Lin Qianqian go abroad as an exchange student.

As a result, Jiang Ning had a fierce argument with him.

She also threatened to ruin his reputation.

During that time, Jiang Ning did not return to their newly bought house, but instead lived in the old house.

He was afraid that Jiang Ning would really expose his affair with Lin Qianqian, so he went back to beg her again.

But the moment he opened the door, he saw her sitting in front of the TV, the screen showing footage of him and Lin Qianqian having an affair.

She glared at him with a ferocious expression, her eyes filled with hatred. "Xu Bainian, what do you think would happen if I put this video on the big screen at the school's anniversary celebration? Your carefully cultivated image as a good husband and professor, built up over a decade ago, would be ruined in an instant, wouldn't it?"

"Are you crazy!" Xu Bainian rushed towards her, snatched the phone from her hand, and said, "Jiang Ning, delete the video!"

Seeing the panic flash in his eyes, she sneered, "Now you're scared? When Lin Qianqian wore my nightgown, sprayed my perfume, and slept with you, why weren't you scared then? Xu Bainian, you have no conscience. If it weren't for my support and my parents' help, could you have gotten to where you are today? How could you bear to betray me?"

Her words wounded his fragile pride and defenses.

A bloodshot glint flashed in his eyes, his face contorted in pain. He grabbed her by the neck. "Jiang Ning, you're the one who disregarded our years of marriage. You want to ruin me, so don't blame me for being ruthless!"

She struggled violently, but his hands held her tightly like steel locks.

Xu Bainian clutched his hair tightly with both hands, a hot tear rolling down his cheek. "If she hadn't driven me to this point, I wouldn't have strangled her..."

Xiao Lin stared coldly at Xu Bainian. "Continue!"

"Later, I was still angry, so I hit her on the head a few more times with an ashtray. After I calmed down, I was afraid that the truth would come out, so I put her body in a suitcase and then disposed of the body."

After explaining all this, Xu Bainian couldn't help but burst into tears.

His cries were a mixture of countless complex emotions.

He regretted that he had personally strangled the person who had accompanied him from darkness to light.

Fear of imprisonment and the loss of reputation.

What he was most upset about was that the image he had painstakingly cultivated for over a decade had been ruined in an instant.

……

Ye Yuntang watched the entire interrogation process.

She was filled with mixed feelings and emotions.

Women really shouldn't marry into poverty-stricken families. If they do, they're more likely to be met with resentment, betrayal, and distrust than gratitude.

Especially those "phoenix men" (men from humble backgrounds who achieve success but fail to recognize their own status) who have a strong sense of self-esteem, will forget their original aspirations once they gain power.

Xu Bainian and Jiang Ning are the most typical examples.

Jiang Ning is more outstanding than Xu Bainian, and her family background is also better than his. He has long felt unbalanced, resentful, and pressured.

If outsiders were to say even a little bit that he got to where he is today because of Jiang Ning, it would puncture his sensitive and fragile self-esteem.

There's also Xu Bainian's mother, a woman from the mountains, with traditional values ​​and a mysterious self-confidence.

They felt that their son's success in getting into university and leaving the mountains was entirely due to his own efforts.

She wouldn't be grateful to Jiang Ning and her family; instead, she would think her son was incredibly outstanding and that Jiang Ning was lucky to have him.

In particular, Jiang Ning has a fatal flaw: she cannot have children.

That's why she recklessly stewed the dog that Jiang Ning had raised for seven years, and even felt justified in thinking that she was not wrong and was just an animal.

Under normal circumstances, Xu Bainian's confession about how he killed the victim, prepared the body, and disposed of it is sufficient to consolidate the evidence and close the case.

But Xiao Lin felt like something was stuck in his heart, and there was something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He walked out of the interrogation room and said to his team members, "You've all worked hard lately. We won't work overtime today. Go home and get some rest."

Ye Yuntang was about to return to the forensic lab to clock out when she saw a tall, slender figure walking towards Xiao Lin.

"Team Leader Xiao."

The girl who walked over was wearing a police uniform. She had very beautiful features, and her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Xiao Lin.

Ye Yuntang could tell at a glance that the girl had feelings for Xiao Lin.