Starting with dissecting ghost stories

After Shen Xing sat down, he looked at Lu Wenying, who was sitting to his right, and maintained his expression.

Now, controlling facial muscles to make the micro-expressions he wants is as simple as breathing for Shen Xing.

At this moment, he was a kind-hearted, indecisive old man who knew a little about the inside story but forced a smile because of the successive deaths of his loved ones.

Although it might sound a bit cheesy to describe it so directly, the most important thing in acting is conviction; you have to convince yourself first.

When it comes to not laughing on set, Shen Xing is absolutely top-notch.

"Why didn't you tell me that Grandma came looking for you that night?" Lu Wenying asked Shen Xing directly from the start.

From the perspective of police interrogation, this definitely has the suspicion of being induced, but Lu Wenying seems to be asking the questions from a perspective similar to that of a friend.

"That night, I stayed with Grandma the whole time, listening to her talk for a long time... She sounded very open-minded, and I thought she had moved on," Shen Xing took off his glasses, tilted his head back slightly, and took a deep breath. "I never expected things to turn out like this..."

"What did she talk to you about?" Lu Wenying pressed.

Upon hearing this, Shen Xing's gaze naturally lowered, focusing on the notebook in front of Lu Wenying.

This is the most standard eye movement direction for humans when recalling the past, shifting downwards and to the left.

If you make direct eye contact, it's confrontational; if your gaze is shifty, it's guilty. Only a gaze that seems to see through an object into the past is truly convincing.

He felt the muscles in his brow moving along a pre-set trajectory.

Raise the inner ends of the eyebrows upwards, and bring the eyebrows together in the middle of the forehead.

This action must be extremely precise.

If the height is not high enough, it becomes confusion; if it is too high, it becomes fear. It must be somewhere in between grief and regret.

"We talked about some trivial things," Shen Xing wiped his glasses with the hem of his T-shirt and put them back on his nose. "We talked about Xiao Hua, about Xiao Yuan and me when we were little... She's really looking forward to Chinese New Year this year because the four of us can have New Year's Eve dinner together."

He paused for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down once.

"Then she talked about Li Ya. She seemed to regret it a lot, really regretting that she hadn't been able to be ruthless enough to completely sever ties with Li Ya, instead of remaining entangled like this..."

"At the time, I thought she was just lonely and wanted someone to talk to," Shen Xing seemed to recall some details, paused for a moment, and then murmured, "She said that she had only learned a little cooking from the old man in her life, and when she went in, she stir-fried two servings of noodles for me and Xiao Yuan to take back and eat together..."

"I should have realized this sooner..."

Shen Xing's movements were all very restrained, with very few physical gestures, trying to avoid appearing hyperactive. Too much movement would seem like a performance, and restraint is the proper attitude for an adult.

After hearing Shen Xing's words, Lu Wenying also fell silent.

Shen Xing's demeanor reminded her of the local police officer, Lao Zhang.

If I had done something sooner, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

Lu Wenying remained silent for a moment, giving Shen Xing some time to process and recall, before asking:

"Did you notice anything strange about the old lady that night? Or any other details?"

"Anything is fine."

"Nothing... Oh right, it seems the old lady wasn't open that day, but there was still the notebook she used for keeping accounts on the spot where Li Xiaohua was sitting." Shen Xing thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing else is there."

"Okay, thank you." Lu Wenying nodded slightly, and seeing the sadness on the face of the person in front of her, her eyes also stung.

This is the same thing the police saw in the old lady's shop; what Shen Xing saw should be the notebook where the old lady Zhang wrote her will.

"You spoke to Grandma Zhang on the phone before? The day before Li Ya's accident," Lu Wenying changed the subject, asking about the phone call, "Why did you call Grandma Zhang then? What did you say on the phone?"

Upon hearing this question, Shen Xing's fingers, which were crossed on his knees, tightened slightly.

"I asked the old lady on the phone where Li Ya was."

"what?"

Lu Wenying was stunned for a moment; clearly, she hadn't expected Shen Xing to answer like that.

From Lu Wenying's reaction, Shen Xing understood the current progress of the police investigation.

The police haven't found Li Ya's gambling buddies yet, or if they have, they haven't been able to get any information about Shen Xing. After all, they don't know Shen Xing's name, but if they were to identify him, someone would definitely be able to. So there's no need for them to lie about this.

"Actually, Grandma often brought up this matter when I came back. She thought I was very capable and had read a lot of books. She asked if I could help her persuade Li Ya to find a proper job and stop hanging out with those shady people."

"The night before the phone call, which was Friday, Li Ya also brought Li Xiaohua back. At that time, the old lady probably felt that Li Ya could still be saved."

"I happened to have nothing to do on Saturday, so I rode my bike there to talk to Li Ya about this."

Shen Xing paused for a moment, but Lu Wenying, impatient, pressed on, "Have you seen Li Ya?"

"I saw him, but..." Shen Xing hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Li Ya acted very strangely. He ran away the moment he saw me."

"They ran away?"

"Yes, in that abandoned hotel, he was gambling. When he saw me, he took the money and ran away through the window."

At this point, Shen Xing frowned and continued, "But I've seen him twice before when he came to see Li Xiaohua. But when he saw me, he didn't think about running away. It felt like he was a prodigal son returning home. He wanted Grandma to give him a chance to celebrate Xiaohua's birthday."

"Did you look for him again after that? Did you notice anything at the time?" Lu Wenying was puzzled as to why Shen Xing didn't reveal this crucial information when she asked him to help check the scene.

"I talked to him a lot, but his eyes kept wandering and his emotions and mental state were very unstable."

After the topic shifted away from Granny Zhang, Shen Xing seemed to become more serious, but his tone was somewhat hesitant: "At the time, I thought he was afraid of my identity as a police officer... After I confessed that I had quit, he still seemed confused."

"At the time, I felt that he might be addicted, so I confronted him directly, told him to go to a drug rehabilitation center, and that he could start a new life after he quit. I also helped him find a job."

"If you think he's been using drugs, why didn't you just call the police?!" Lu Wenying's voice rose, and she couldn't control her emotions for a moment, her tone becoming accusatory.

If Shen Xing had called the police that day, Li Xiaohua wouldn't have died, Grandma Zhang wouldn't have been in trouble, and Li Ya's case would have come to light when the police arrested him.

But what Lu Wenying didn't expect was that Shen Xing, under repeated questioning, was also ignited with anger.

He looked at Lu Wenying, his eyes seemingly filled with tangible anger. He kept his voice as low as possible, his right hand resting on the armrest beside him, leaning forward slightly, and said angrily, "Call the police?"

"Grandma thinks her son can be saved! She wants me to help Uncle Li so Xiaohua can have a father again. You want me to send Uncle Li to jail? What will Grandma think? What will Xiaohua, who just had her birthday, think?!"

"I even considered persuading the old lady to forcibly send him to a drug rehabilitation center! Who knew that Li Xiaohua would disappear that very night, and the next day..."

Lu Wenying was somewhat intimidated by Shen Xing's imposing aura. She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything more.

Old Wang's judgment was right again. Shen Xing values ​​relationships and is willing to help with anything, which is why he sometimes misses some important information because of his feelings.

Shen Xinghui is a good forensic doctor behind the scenes, but he can never be a good detective.

The fact that Shen Xing felt embarrassed and angry after being exposed also confirmed why he hadn't revealed this crucial information immediately.

By saying it, he was essentially admitting that his own mistakes and soft heart had led to the deaths of Li Xiaohua and Granny Zhang.

"Sorry... I got carried away."

Shen Xing seemed to realize that he had been a bit agitated, picked up the paper cup in front of him, and took a big gulp.