Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

By the time the police car returned to the police station, it was already late at night, but the station was still brightly lit, as bright as day.

All officers are working overtime to organize the physical evidence collected today, take statements, and prepare to interrogate the drug dealers overnight in an effort to break through the case as soon as possible.

Without pausing for a moment, Li Hanting personally went into the interrogation room to interrogate the drug lord.

Under the cold interrogation lights, the drug lord sat in a chair, looking up at Li Hanting, his eyes still filled with lingering fear.

He stared intently at the man before him, his heart pounding: Who exactly is this man? How could someone possibly stop a bullet out of thin air? He must have panicked and imagined it!

Li Hanting sat opposite him, his eyes cold and sharp as knives, staring directly at him. He cut to the chase: "Tell me, who tipped you off tonight, leaking information about our arrest operation?"

The drug lord's lips were tightly pressed together, his expression ruthless yet tinged with fear. No matter how Li Hanting pressed him for answers, he remained tight-lipped, refusing to utter a single word, displaying a stubborn resistance to the very end.

He still harbored a sliver of hope: as long as he remained tight-lipped and the traitor wasn't exposed, he might still have a chance to escape. This contest had only just begun.

The atmosphere in the interrogation room was oppressive. Li Hanting stared at the drug lord across from him, who was stubbornly refusing to utter a word. The other man's eyes were full of hope and resistance. No matter how Li Hanting tried to win him over, he remained silent and refused to reveal any information about the mole.

After a long stalemate, Li Hanting finally got up, rubbed his tense brows, and planned to go out for a smoke to catch his breath and clear his mind.

As soon as he stepped out of the interrogation room, officers from the technical team quickly approached him, their expressions grave: "Captain Li, we've checked the drug lord's phone you sent over earlier. There was only one incoming call number in the contacts today. We traced the number back to its source and found that it was an unclaimed number. The registered owner had passed away six months ago, and we couldn't find the actual user at all."

"The trail has gone cold."

Those four simple words made Li Hanting's brows furrow even more, and his aura of coldness intensified.

He should have realized that someone capable of acting as a mole within the police force must be meticulous and would never leave such an obvious clue. Now that the only lead has gone cold, the only way to find the mole is to pry open the drug lord's mouth.

"Put him in solitary confinement, and forbid anyone from visiting him, or bringing him water or food," Li Hanting ordered in a cold, hard voice.

The team members understood immediately. Director Li was using the "enduring the hawk" method to break the drug lord's willpower. This man had just been captured and still harbored a glimmer of hope, so naturally he was defiant. However, prolonged deprivation of food and water, and isolation from the outside world, would gradually break even the strongest willpower. Once his psychological defenses were completely breached, it would be the best time to break through the case. However, this method was time-consuming and required considerable patience.

After explaining everything, Li Hanting looked at the police station's lights that shone brightly all night, his eyes filled with gloom. As long as the mole was not eliminated, the police force would be uneasy, and subsequent operations would be at risk of being leaked again at any time.

Meanwhile, the night faded and the sky gradually brightened, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

This was the day of Kyoto University's annual faculty selection conference. All faculty and staff, as well as university leaders, were present. Even staff from the Education Bureau came to supervise the event. All students were suspended from classes for the day.

The dormitory was still quiet in the early morning. Her two roommates, Song Ran and Lin Miaomiao, were still fast asleep. Shen Jingshu got up quietly, intending to wash up, change clothes, and go out.

Just as she threw back the covers and got out of bed, Xu Zhixia, who was in the bunk next to her, sat up rubbing her eyes, her voice still languid from just waking up: "Jing Shu, you don't have class today, where are you going so early?"

"To the lecture hall," Shen Jingshu replied in a low voice.

"Go watch the teacher selection?" Xu Zhixia asked, looking puzzled. She yawned and said, "What's so interesting about that? It's the same every year. You can guess the process and the results. It's so boring."

"I'm not here to watch the selection process, I have other things to do," Shen Jingshu said while washing up.

"Something else? Is there some gossip?" Xu Zhixia perked up instantly, her eyes sparkling. She always loved joining in the fun and listening to gossip, and her sleepiness vanished in an instant.

Shen Jingshu nodded helplessly, and had just answered "Yes" when Xu Zhixia immediately jumped out of bed and quickly got ready: "I'll go too! Wait for me, I'm super fast at washing up!"

The two moved quietly in the bathroom, trying not to wake their sleeping roommate.

But by the time they finished getting ready and came out of the washroom, Song Ran and Lin Miaomiao, who were on the other two beds, had already woken up and were sitting up getting dressed.

"You guys got up so early too, are you going to the lecture hall to watch the teacher selection?" Song Ran rubbed her hair and asked with a smile, "We've got nothing else to do anyway, so we thought we'd go join in the fun."

Lin Miaomiao nodded in agreement: "Yeah, classes are canceled today, and it's boring to stay in the dorm, so it's good to go check it out."

Shen Jingshu and Xu Zhixia greeted the two with smiles. After a quick tidying up, the four of them prepared to head to the school's lecture hall together.

As soon as the four of them stepped out of the dormitory, they bumped into Li Xiao, who was wandering back and forth in the corridor.

The moment she saw Shen Jingshu, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly floated to her side, lowered her ghostly voice, and asked in a tone full of urgency and anticipation, "Are you sure you can expose that poisonous woman Wang Xuemei today? Are you sure you can let everyone know her true colors?"

Shen Jingshu remained calm and replied in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Of course I'm certain, today is her day of retribution."

"Great! I'll go with you!" Li Xiao was so excited that the yin energy around him seemed to lighten a bit, and he couldn't wait to go to the lecture hall.

Just as she stepped out of the dormitory, Shen Jingshu suddenly turned back and went back inside to get a parasol.

Seeing this, Xu Zhixia scratched her head in confusion, looked up at the sky where thin clouds obscured the sun, and asked, puzzled, "Jing Shu, it's not sunny today, why are you carrying an umbrella?"

"Even without the sun, there are still ultraviolet rays, and I'm afraid of getting a tan." Shen Jingshu casually made up an excuse and dealt with the situation calmly.

Although Xu Zhixia found it strange, she didn't ask any further questions.

As soon as she stepped out of the girls' dormitory building, Shen Jingshu opened her umbrella and deliberately tilted the edge of it to the side so that Li Xiao's ghost would stand in the shadows under the umbrella, avoiding the daytime sunlight and being burned by the yang energy.

Xu Zhixia glanced at her friend holding the umbrella and muttered to herself: "It's a perfectly good umbrella, but there's a huge empty space next to it, making it look like someone's standing next to it." She shook her head, chuckling to herself that she'd been too sensitive lately, just overthinking things.

As they walked towards the lecture hall, they encountered many other students who were also there to join in the fun, creating a lively atmosphere. When the four of them arrived at the venue, the large lecture hall was already quite full, bustling with activity.

The front row was occupied by school leaders and education bureau supervisors, followed by the teachers who were participating in the professional title evaluation. Wang Xuemei was among them, sitting upright with a determined look in her eyes. She occasionally chatted with the male teacher next to her, appearing kind and proper.

Shen Jingshu led her roommates to find empty seats in the back row. As soon as they sat down, she stood up and said to them, "I'm going to the restroom."

"Hey, why didn't you go when you first arrived? You just sat down and now you want to run off again." Xu Zhixia waved her hand helplessly. "Go on, the selection is about to start, don't be late."

"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible."