Chapter 330: Chapter 330: Blinded by Excitement
Sang Ning was indeed starving. She devoured the remaining three chicken legs in one go.
Li Juezhou suggested taking her out for dinner, but she refused. She had more important things to do—visiting each apartment in the district where Doctor Zhou fell to see if she could uncover any key evidence.
She had initially proposed this idea to the police, but they rejected it outright, claiming they had their own investigation process and wouldn’t prioritize Sang Ning’s time-consuming and labor-intensive method.
Sang Ning didn’t want to force them, so she decided to handle it on her own.
Li Juezhou had already arranged a meeting with Chu Tian and his wife, but he hadn’t told Sang Ning about it yet.
Although Chu Tian wanted to collaborate with the Hai Chuan Group, it didn’t mean he would honestly disclose everything to them.
Since they couldn’t rely entirely on Chu Tian, Li Juezhou decided to follow Sang Ning’s proposed approach and assist her.
Sang Ning took Li Juezhou along as they visited each household, but she underestimated the intensity of her current online reputation.
At the first two households, she didn’t disguise herself at all—she smiled and greeted people, hoping to build some rapport with her friendliness.
Who would’ve thought that as soon as they saw her, their expressions turned cold: "Isn’t this the trafficker’s daughter? Why are you at my house? Are you trying to kidnap my child?"
The woman’s emotions were extremely agitated. She turned away to grab a broom and stormed back, ready to beat Sang Ning.
"Sorry to bother you," Sang Ning saluted the woman, quickly pulled Li Juezhou along, and bolted.
Their hearts didn’t settle until they had stayed outside the complex for quite a while, making sure the woman hadn’t followed them.
"Alright, alright, I guess I’d better wear my mask," Sang Ning tugged her mask up over her chin, covering the lower half of her face, and pulled her hoodie over her head, shielding the upper half of her face.
Li Juezhou pulled down her hoodie. "Better not wear the hood. If your whole face is hidden, people will be even more suspicious and chase you away faster."
"Then you lead the way," Sang Ning stepped behind Li Juezhou, pushing him forward.
After successfully communicating with several households, Sang Ning couldn’t help but marvel at how the world seemed to have changed. It appeared that a "beauty trap" was now less effective than a "handsome man trap."
They had visited at least five households, and Li Juezhou hadn’t been shut out even once.
Afraid that she might still be recognized even with a mask on, Sang Ning would step aside in a corner whenever Li Juezhou knocked on a door, only coming out after he had finished speaking with the residents.
Sang Ning started to have suspicions—if "handsome man traps" only worked on women, was Li Juezhou’s charm so universally appealing that it worked on all genders? Surely not!
When they reached an empty corner, Sang Ning couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked, "How do you talk to them? Why is everyone so cooperative, answering everything you ask?"
Li Juezhou quickly pulled something resembling an ID badge from his shirt pocket. Sang Ning caught a glimpse of a small photo ID but didn’t have time to read the text before Li Juezhou stashed it back in his pocket.
"Simple—law-abiding citizens are normally happy to assist police investigations," Li Juezhou said smugly.
Sang Ning’s lips twitched slightly. "So your brilliant tactic was impersonating an undercover cop?"
No wonder his interactions were so smooth—he was cheating with a fake badge!
"Let me see your fake badge," Sang Ning reached for it, and Li Juezhou obliged, handing it over.
What she saw left her stunned. Apart from a photo of Li Juezhou in a police uniform, the badge had no text at all.
"You flash that badge so quickly that no one notices it’s blank," Sang Ning muttered, flipping the badge over repeatedly, astonished.
"Can’t help it. I used to do this kind of work. Even after all these years, I still give off an unmistakable air of a cop," Li Juezhou said, glancing down at Sang Ning with an easy smile in his eyes.
The work ID photo was taken when he was serving as a policeman. Many had praised how sharp and good-looking he looked in the picture. Since Sang Ning had been staring at it for so long, she probably thought he looked appealing too.
"However, Xiao Li, do you have a fear of being photographed? Why do I feel like you’re crossing your eyes in this picture?" Sang Ning suddenly looked up, meeting Li Juezhou’s gaze, speaking with complete sincerity.
Li Juezhou’s smile froze on his lips, teetering dangerously close to collapsing.
He subtly reclaimed his badge, slid it into his shirt pocket, and changed the subject: "Let’s focus on the task at hand."
Li Juezhou felt dejected. He didn’t want Sang Ning to see his shortcomings. If she thought the picture was unflattering, he might as well destroy it after finishing their work—there was no point in keeping it.
Having decided to discard the photo, he was surprised when, on their way back after finishing their investigation of the first building, Sang Ning suddenly made a suggestion: "Aside from the slight cross-eye issue, the picture is actually pretty handsome. You probably won’t have the chance to be a cop again in the future, so you should absolutely keep this photo as a memento."
"If it’s ugly, I’ll destroy it. No point keeping it," Li Juezhou muttered gloomily.
"Huh?" Sang Ning’s eyes widened in shock. She froze for a moment before realizing that Li Juezhou was throwing a childish tantrum. Unable to hold back, she burst out laughing. "If you don’t want it, then how about giving it to me? I’ll keep it for you."
Li Juezhou stared at Sang Ning, and suddenly his mood brightened. A grin spread across his face. "Of course, no problem!"
...
Chu Xi felt like her world was collapsing when she learned Shen Yi was retiring from the entertainment industry.
Part of the reason she returned to school was to prove to Sang Ning and those ignorant netizens that she could be a cultured and accomplished person.
The main reason, though, was to improve herself so she could appear in Shen Yi’s life in her best state.
But now Shen Yi was retiring. If that was the case, what was the point of all her efforts?
Chu Xi had almost never initiated contact with Shen Yi, but now she couldn’t gather any updates about him online.
Unlike his haters, Chu Xi didn’t think Shen Yi’s past was shameful; instead, she felt deeply for him. She wanted to comfort him face-to-face, and if she could, she wanted to give him a hug.
Emotion eventually conquered reason, and Chu Xi resolved to take the brave step of reaching out to Shen Yi.
After a lot of mental preparation, Chu Xi dialed a voice call to Shen Yi.
The moment the call connected, Chu Xi fell silent.
As she hesitated, unsure how to begin, Shen Yi broke the silence first: "Chu Xi, do you have time? I’d like to meet you."
Chu Xi never expected Shen Yi to invite her to meet. She was so overjoyed she felt like she might faint from excitement!