Chapter 7

Chapter 7

But that photo… he had already made Wen Miao delete it.

Could Wen Miao have brought it up to Meng Ran on her own initiative? And then Meng Ran told Xu Lei?

Or perhaps, the perpetrator of the second crime had changed?

Nan Mu clutched his head, stumbling as he stood up from the floor.

His phone, which had just gone quiet, began ringing again. It was still Qiu Ziyu.

Nan Mu answered the call. “Does Xu Lei have a wife? Who is she?”

The voice on the other end paused. “How did you end up investigating Xu Lei? The department doesn’t allow us to disclose details about the case to unrelated personnel.”

“I’m not asking you about the case. I’m asking you if he has a wife!”

“Aren’t you just asking me to check his household registration? Do you think I can just tell you that?”

Nan Mu didn’t feel like arguing. “Then why did you call me?”

“Why else? I’m asking how the investigation into that key is going. Have you found the room it opens yet?”

Nan Mu glanced sideways at the quantum computer behind him. “No. You won’t even tell me if Xu Lei has a wife, so how am I supposed to find the room?”

“Does this lock have something to do with Xu Lei’s wife?” Qiu Ziyu’s voice sounded surprised over the phone. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

Nan Mu let out a cold laugh. “Just say whether you’ll check or not.”

Qiu Ziyu knew immediately that Nan Mu was playing him. He laughed in exasperation. “You’ve really got some nerve… Fine, just you wait!”

With a huff, he hung up the phone with a sharp click.

Nan Mu shoved his phone into his pocket and stepped out of House 110. He locked the main door exactly as it had been when he arrived and returned to his car.

Just as he got in, Qiu Ziyu called again.

Nan Mu picked up. The other man’s tone was stiff, clearly showing his displeasure. “I checked! He has a wife. Her name is Meng Ran.”

“First marriage for both?”

“…Yeah, no divorce records. Why?”

Nan Mu was stunned. He had assumed Wen Miao died because she had stumbled upon a secret relationship between Xu Lei and Meng Ran. He hadn’t expected them to be legally married…

Did Wen Tangtang killing Xu Lei have nothing to do with Wen Miao’s death?

Then who was the person who killed Wen Miao?

Qiu Ziyu pressed on, unwilling to give up. “That key-what does it open? Did you find it?”

Nan Mu paused for a moment. “Are you free right now? Let’s meet and talk.”

Qiu Ziyu named a location. After instructing his team to continue the interrogation, he packed up his laptop and drove to meet Nan Mu.

When he arrived, he opened the door to get out. He hesitated as he was about to close it, looking back at the laptop in the car. After a moment’s indecision, he decided to bring it with him.

In truth, Wen Tangtang had confessed to the crime immediately after her arrest. The methods used in this case were clear and the evidence was conclusive; a conviction was practically guaranteed. It was only Qiu Ziyu’s intuition-a gut feeling that there were still secrets behind this murder that remained unsolved.

Media reports claimed that Wen Tangtang and Xu Lei had a dispute over work-related issues. However, according to the police investigation, Xu Lei was a man of few words, a typical academic researcher who spent most of his time immersed in the laboratory. Furthermore, as a recipient of the Nobei Prize in Biology, everyone in the company held him in high esteem. No one had ever had a public conflict with him.
As for Wen Tangtang, she was cheerful and often came up with novel, whimsical ideas in the research lab. She had a knack for stumbling upon solutions to difficult problems the lab faced, earning her a reputation as a recognized biological genius within the institute.

How could two such outstanding individuals suddenly turn on each other with such violence?

“Is there a possibility?” Nan Mu proposed a new hypothesis after hearing Qiu Ziyu’s report. “Xu Lei was Wen Tangtang’s supervisor. Is it possible he claimed her research results as his own, which triggered the conflict between them?”

“No,” Qiu Ziyu said with certainty. “In fact, Xu Lei has been considering retirement for the past few years. Most of the research results from the lab he oversees have been credited to the lab staff.”

“That generous?”

Nan Mu was surprised.

People in academia might not pursue profit as aggressively as businessmen, but their pursuit of fame could sometimes be even more cutthroat than any commercial tactic.

“Yes. According to the lab staff, ever since his wife recovered from a serious illness, Xu Lei seemed to have gained a new perspective on life. He stopped chasing fame and fortune. Everyone says that being able to join Xu Lei’s lab is a stroke of luck that requires three lifetimes of good karma.”

The more Qiu Ziyu spoke, the more puzzled he became. He couldn’t understand Wen Tangtang’s motive for murder at all, especially since the lab’s evaluation of her was equally high. “They said Wen Tangtang joined Wisdom Biotech Company because Xu Lei gave a lecture at A University of Science and Technology. He was practically a mentor to her, and Wen Tangtang herself held Xu Lei in high regard. In fact, among all the people in the lab, no one noticed even a hint of dissatisfaction from Wen Tangtang toward Xu Lei before the incident.”

“Do you think Wen Tangtang might have some mental health issues? Otherwise, I can’t explain why she would murder a mentor she respected for no reason.”

“Unlikely,” Nan Mu shook his head as he listened. “Even if we assume Wen Tangtang had mental health issues, how do you explain Wen Xin? Instead of stopping her, he assisted her in the murder. We can’t just say they both have mental health issues.”

“Speaking of Wen Xin, it gets even more ridiculous.” Qiu Ziyu reached up and scratched his head. “We investigated Wen Xin’s call logs and his movements over the past few months. There was absolutely no crossover with Xu Lei. Furthermore, both teachers and students at A University of Science and Technology speak very highly of him. Aside from saying he has a somewhat cold personality, there’s nothing to criticize. The students’ evaluation of him is even higher because Wen Xin is exceptionally good-looking. Even those who aren’t his students have heard of him. Every year, countless students fight for a spot as his graduate student. He has supervised three cohorts of graduate students so far, and not a single one has had anything bad to say about him.”

“Three supposedly wonderful people,” Qiu Ziyu said with a bitter smile. “What kind of irreconcilable conflict could there be? Something so bad they couldn’t even talk it out and had to resort to knives.”

“Wen Miao.”

“What?”

“Wen Miao. Only Wen Miao.” Nan Mu felt as though everything was circling back to the starting point. “The three of them… and perhaps including Wen Miao, must have a secret we haven’t discovered yet.”