Soul Patch

Chapter 125 Even TV wouldn't dare to portray it like this

A Mansion, afternoon tea time.

The warm sunlight slanted in and shone into Huang Dongheng's study, where Huang Dongheng and Wenjie each held a cup of hand-ground coffee.

Wenjie took a small sip and found it a bit bitter. He picked up a bag of milkshakes and added two more sugar cubes.

He stirred the coffee gently, the metal spoon striking the cup with a crisp, pleasant sound.

Huang Dongheng picked up his coffee, took a sip, pointed to the pastries on the plate, and smiled, "Try these pastries, my sister baked them."

Wenjie also picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and instantly felt the rich and mellow aroma of coffee fill his mouth. Hand-ground coffee is really different from the instant coffee you buy on the street.

He stared with interest at the gold-rimmed disk in front of him, which contained several pieces of dark cake.

The sweet taste is just as good as cakes on the market, but the appearance is not very appealing.

"Did Huang Weiwei bake this?"

Huang Dongheng chuckled and said, "That's right, she really likes baking. When I have money in the future, I'll help her open a bakery on a street corner in the city."

Wenjie's hand holding the coffee cup trembled slightly. He calmly put the coffee cup down, picked up a piece of cake from the paper cup, and carefully took a small bite of the cake. It actually tasted pretty good.

He showed a pleased expression and praised, "Her cakes are really delicious. Brother Huang is so lucky to always get to eat freshly baked cakes."

"Haha, that's right, that's right."

Upon hearing Wenjie praise his sister, Huang Hongheng was very happy, and his gaze towards Wenjie became more friendly.

The two ate and drank, and soon the last piece of cake was finished.

Huang Dongheng put away the coffee cups and tea trays, wiped the desk, and said apologetically, "My office lease expired last month, and I didn't have any clients, so I simply moved my office back home."

Wenjie quickly smiled and said, "This place is nice, it's more comfortable. It won't interfere with our business discussions."

"Yes, when clients ask me to meet them, I always meet them at the coffee shop near the entrance of the residential area. Because you and Yang Shanshan are quite familiar with each other, and Yang Shanshan and Huang Weiwei have a good relationship; she sometimes comes to visit my home."

So, I didn't stand on ceremony with you and invited you to my home.

Huang Dongheng rubbed his hands together and sat back down at his desk.

For some reason, his expression became a little unnatural after he mentioned Yang Shanshan.

Wenjie calmly stared at Huang Dongheng in front of him, the image of Huang Weiwei crying downstairs last night kept popping into his mind, making him feel complicated.

Perhaps a life that is both difficult and comfortable now is not bad at all; it's better than walking on the edge of danger and accidentally falling into an abyss of no return.

"If there's a chance to rise to prominence, say, for example, if the law firm becomes famous and makes a fortune, allowing you and Huang Weiwei to live a wealthy life..." Wenjie pondered for a moment, then continued:

"What I mean is, you can buy Huang Weiwei a house in a high-end neighborhood like Jinjiang, or you can open a bakery for Huang Weiwei at the intersection of Huamao Street and Xuanheng Street in the West District, but you might lose your life because you offend customers or competitors..."

What would you choose?

Huang Dongheng was originally organizing the key information about the Qianqian case that Wenjie had mentioned on paper, so he didn't pay much attention when Wenjie was rambling on and on.

He's past the age of listening to motivational platitudes and isn't interested in hypothetical things.

But when he heard about the proposed locations for the Jinjiang International Residential Complex and the bakery, he suddenly stopped, his hand gripping the pen.

He looked up in disbelief, his gaze towards Wenjie filled with confusion.

He had visited the model apartments in Jinjiang International Community more than once. There was one apartment that he really liked; the floor was right and the layout was perfect. If he had the money, he would have bought it without hesitation.

He even accompanied other clients to see the actual house more than once. Standing inside felt even cooler than looking at the model.

He stood at the bay window for a long time, looking out at the commercial district across the street, and secretly vowed: I must work hard and give Weiwei a good life.

However, the moment she turned around, the man who had come with her to look at the house reserved it.

That fat, bloated man walked with a measured gait, looking like an official.

A graceful girl was nestled beside him.

The girl was very young, about the same age as Huang Weiwei.

The two people look like father and daughter.

The saleswoman smiled broadly, praising the man for his good taste in choosing the best apartment, and then guided them to the sales office to pay the down payment and sign the contract.

Huang Dongheng watched as the young girl kissed the obese man in front of the other clients, saying coquettishly, "Brother Wang, the house must be put in my name!"

The man's chubby hand slid down from the girl's waist, pinched her buttocks, and looked at her with a grin.

The girl gave him a shy push and said, "You're so annoying!"

As for the second address that Wenjie mentioned, he remembered it even more vividly.

He noticed a laundry shop on the street corner, but because it was a bit far from the surrounding residential areas, business wasn't good, and a "for rent" sign had been posted.

This place isn't really suitable for a laundry, but it would be perfect for a bakery.

Huang Weiwei was fired from her job again last week. She was quite content staying at home for the first two or three days, and I made soup and baked cakes for her every day.

But these past few days, he's clearly started to be distracted.

I've lost interest in my favorite baking hobby.

The cake I baked the day before yesterday was overcooked and looks burnt black. I haven't finished it in two days.

What Huang Dongheng couldn't understand was that he hadn't even told Huang Weiwei about these things, so how did Wenjie, whom he had never met, know them?

Wenjie noticed Huang Dongheng's reaction.

Wenjie didn't mind any of that.

He stared intently at Huang Dongheng, waiting for his answer.

"Whether you live a life of compromise or a life of glory, it's still a life. As long as you shine brightly enough... If I had to choose, I would choose your hypothetical scenario." Huang Dongheng's gaze was firm, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the pen as he spoke.

Wenjie lowered his eyes, avoiding Huang Dongheng's gaze.

He looked down at the corner of the desk, his mind filled with images of Huang Weiwei wailing and crying...

He suddenly realized that many things could be done over again, and some people's life trajectories still developed in the predetermined direction.

Is it due to his personality, or his heart's desire?

"By the way, Wenjie, I'd like to know if you're dating Yang Shanshan right now?"

There was a suppressed pain in Huang Dongheng's eyes. He tried his best to appear relaxed, even though what he was about to say was anything but:

"I liked Yang Shanshan from the first moment I saw her. If she's not officially dating you, I want to compete with you fairly; whoever wins her over gets to keep her."

“It’s too late, we’re living together.” Wenjie thought of that night when the elevator kept opening and closing, and of that glaring crimson stain the next morning, and he clearly rejected Huang Dongheng.

He looked up at Huang Dongheng and saw pain and regret in Huang Dongheng's eyes.

Suddenly it dawned on him that Huang Dongheng's quick agreement to meet him, and the fact that they arranged to meet at his home, was premeditated.

And yet, he was afraid that Zhang Meng and Huang Dongheng would miss each other because their life trajectories were being altered.

That's why the scene downstairs happened.

The room suddenly fell silent. Huang Dongheng lowered his head and continued drawing on the paper, saying seemingly casually, "Oh, sorry, just pretend I didn't say anything!"

Wenjie silently watched Huang Dongheng, who had taken off his coat and was now only wearing a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, intently looking at the blank page on his desk.

The room was cool with the air conditioning on, but Wenjie felt his palms sweating.

He recalled the image of Yang Shanshan standing with Huang Dongheng, and that image stung him.

He used to admire and respect Yang Shanshan, a goddess, and guarded her with utmost devotion. But from that night on, everything changed, and he could no longer bear to lose Yang Shanshan.

Any man who gets close to Yang Shanshan will make him jealous and envious.

Yang Shanshan belongs to Wenjie; no one can take her away from him.

Huang Dongheng worked on the paper for a while longer, then put down his pen and said calmly, "Wenjie, based on your description, I've compiled evidence that's detrimental to you. Take a look."

He then handed the paper to Wenjie.

While Wenjie was looking at that page, Huang Dongheng hesitated and said, "Wenjie, since we're trying to clear your name, I think you should tell me more details, such as why you were at Ye Wenqian's house in the early morning."

Besides you, who else is in her family?

After you left her house, you lingered downstairs for so long, what were you doing?

Wenjie glanced at the text on the paper and saw that Huang Dongheng had organized the ins and outs of the matter very clearly, and raised several doubts:

1. The identity of the deceased;

2. There was a third person in the room at the time. If Ye Wenqian were home alone and discovered a strange man in her home, she would have called the police.

3. If there was no third person at home, Ye Wenqian and Wenjie should know each other, which would explain why Wenjie appeared at her home late at night.

These points are logical, especially the first one, the identity of the deceased. The person who died in Ye Wenqian's home may not necessarily be Ye Wenqian; even Wenjie overlooked this point.

This made Wenjie look at Huang Dongheng with new respect.

Wenjie carefully recalled the scene that appeared before his eyes after the system was activated: the living room, the bedroom, and the woman's corpse lying on the floor in the bedroom.

His body was a bloody mess, and his face was so badly damaged by the chandelier that it was unrecognizable.

He had sensed something was off before; the woman had clearly died from excessive blood loss, so why was it being made to look like she had hanged herself? There was a silk scarf wrapped around her neck, the other end of which was tied to the chandelier.

Perhaps this is the issue of the deceased's identity that Huang Dongheng mentioned.

This effectively conceals the victim's identity and interferes with the police investigation.

The identification of the deceased will likely require DNA comparison, and the results will be available at least tomorrow. In that timeframe, the murderer could easily escape.

Since the system assigns tasks with the target being the murdered woman.

To complete this task, we not only need to find the murderer, but also find a way to understand the murderer's motives in order to possibly persuade the murderer to give up the killing.

Seeing that Wenjie did not answer for a long time, Huang Dongheng's eyes dimmed, and he had a bad feeling.

All the evidence points to Wenjie, but Wenjie has been unable to provide clear explanations for many of the suspicious points in the case…

So... he... might really be the murderer.

Huang Dongheng looked at Wenjie coldly, his eyes filled with vigilance.

Wenjie looked up at Huang Dongheng and slowly said, "I didn't kill him. Someone framed me."

Huang Dongheng was startled, but then smiled to cover it up.

He glanced at the time; it was almost five o'clock. Why hadn't Huang Weiwei returned yet?

He took out his phone and started calling Huang Weiwei.

I dialed once but no one answered, then dialed again but still no one answered.

Did this girl not bring her phone?

That shouldn't be the case; I always bring my phone when I go out.

He was still worried and prepared to go check on Huang Weiwei's room. He stood up, turned to Wenjie, and said, "Excuse me, I'm going to check on my sister's room."

"Oh, please go ahead," Wenjie replied thoughtfully.

Huang Dongheng quickly went to Huang Weiwei's room, looked around, and didn't see the phone. This meant that his sister had taken the phone with her when she went out.

He went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and returned to his desk.

"Wenjie, would you like me to get you some water?"

"Oh, no need to thank me."

Wenjie didn't have time to think about drinking water. There were no new suspects in the case, and once the victim's identity was confirmed and all the evidence pointed to him, it would be difficult to guarantee that the police would call him back to the police station from time to time to cooperate with the investigation.

"Your sister has a scar on her wrist?" Wenjie suddenly asked this question.

"Huh?" Huang Dongheng was taken aback, not understanding what Wenjie meant.

Wenjie kept recalling the scene when he entered Ye Wenqian's bedroom through the system. At that time, the murdered woman was covered in blood, but her arms were not stained with blood. Instead, she was holding a piece of white paper.

Just as Wenjie was about to see the contents of the paper, he heard the sound of the police breaking down the door, and he quickly logged out of the system.

As the system screen faded, a scar appeared on the woman's wrist on the ground.

It looks a bit like a burn.

"Your right wrist? There's a burn there, like a cigarette burn," Huang Dongheng said casually.

Wenjie was startled and looked up at Huang Dongheng with anxiety and horror in his eyes: "A burn? It's round, about the size of a fingernail, right?"

Huang Dongheng stared blankly at Wenjie. He had thought that Wenjie had met Huang Weiwei before and might have noticed the scars on Weiwei's arm, and had asked about it casually today.

So he didn't think about it too deeply.

But looking at Wenjie's horrified expression, this was hardly a casual question!

This is even more terrifying than seeing a dead body!

dead?

Huang Dongheng looked down at the first point he had written on his paper and was instantly stunned.

He grabbed Wenjie's clothes like a madman, pulling Wenjie in front of him, his eyes bloodshot and veins bulging on his forehead: "Wenjie, explain yourself! What scar are you talking about? Where did you see the scar?!"

"I..." Wenjie was also completely bewildered, stammering, "The girl in Ye Wenqian's bedroom... the one who was murdered... had a scar on her arm..."

"What did you say... Explain yourself!" Huang Dongheng roared, wishing he could tear Wenjie to pieces.

When Wenjie saw Huang Dongheng suddenly go crazy, he realized that the gruesome corpse in Ye Wenqian's house might be Huang Weiwei.

Huang Weiwei!

He was so shocked that he felt like he was about to explode.

What's going on? What's this all about?!

Even TV wouldn't dare to portray it like this!

(End of this chapter)