Mermaid Island was in chaos.
Around noon, after inspecting the scene, the police took Lin Yao away. Si Yingjie forcibly demanded to see her, but facing his questioning, Yao Yao remained silent, tacitly admitting to the crime.
He was dealt blow after blow, and having caught a cold from drinking, he developed a high fever that afternoon.
Kang Mu Cheng had no choice but to ask Jian Jing to pack up and take Si Yingjie to the hospital for treatment.
Before leaving, Jian Jing stood in the bedroom on the second floor, staring at the tropical fish tank directly opposite the bed - her villa was no different from others', the only highlight was the large fish tank that Si Yingjie had sent here.
He had said that this was something left behind by his cousin and was a very valuable species of fish.
These fish were indeed especially beautiful, their colors were like a dream, their posture elegant and agile. Falling asleep facing them, even dreams were of an underwater world.
Moreover, according to the staff who specially cared for these fish, Dr. Wu had even named them.
They were called: Vast Sea, Moonlit, Flowing Pearl, Blue Field, Warm Sun, Jade Mist.
The vast sea and moonlit, pearls have tears, the blue field warms, jade arises from mist.
She fished out the red tropical fish called "Flowing Pearl" and examined it carefully with a magnifying glass, finally discovering a shallow wound on its belly.
Sure enough.
The mermaid referred to Mermaid Island, but was not limited to Mermaid Island alone. Mermen in ancient China were called Kun (鲛) people. Guo Moruo had a line of poetry, "Fear that there would be mermen by the shore, shedding pearls towards the moon."
There was probably some chip implanted in the fish.
Tsk, Eileen really suffered from lack of culture, she didn't understand the subtleties. If she had seen the scene of the white ape concealing the Nine Yang Manual in its belly, she could have guessed Dr. Wu's methods.
What was the use of being able to read Chinese? She didn't understand the essence.
But this could also explain Zong Xunmei's behavior that night.
Previously when investigating, she had asked the butler where the spare keys were kept - in the safe in the study, with only him and Si Yingjie knowing the password to open it.
Zong Xunmei had probably wheedled out of someone where the fish were, knowing they were in her bedroom, so she decided to get Jian Jing drunk, steal the keys, and secretly take the chip.
Shameless.
Jian Jing made a mental note of this debt. After getting Si Yingjie settled into the ward, she would ask Kang Mu Cheng about this person surnamed Zong.
Before asking, she didn't actually have much hope, just seeking help out of habit. But to her surprise, after listening, Kang Mu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "I've heard this name before."
Jian Jing was shocked. "Ah?"
"Wait a moment." Kang Mu Cheng made a phone call, said a few words softly, then told her after hanging up, "I asked a friend, I have indeed heard this name before, not sure if it's the person you're asking about."
Jian Jing asked, "Who is he?"
"A merchant in the intelligence business," Kang Mu Cheng replied.
This was a completely unexpected answer. Jian Jing was stunned for a moment, and all kinds of classic spy movie scenes flashed through her mind.
Hey, was this for real?
Could there be any more surprises (shock) from this parallel world?
Seeing her complex expression, Kang Mu Cheng immediately understood her misunderstanding. He quickly explained, "It's not what you think. He has an investigation company that analyzes publicly available commercial information and produces research reports for companies. It doesn't involve any secrets, it's a very normal business with a good reputation in the industry."
Jian Jing was skeptical. "Are you sure?"
What proper person would use a fake name? He didn't look like a company boss at all, but more like an intelligence officer from TV shows and movies.
When she said it, Kang Mu Cheng also became uncertain and hesitated. "I know his investigation company, I've never seen him in person. I heard he's quite a mysterious figure."
"What's the name of that company?"
"Mountain Skylark."
She didn't say Homing Pigeon. Jian Jing mocked inwardly as she searched for it online.
Just as Kang Mu Cheng had said, Mountain Skylark Information Analysis Company was a legitimate and lawful enterprise with a good reputation. She could also find registration information.
She then searched for "Zong Ye".
No valuable information.
She turned to search for Mountain Skylark, and found an official account. As was well known, corporate official accounts had very few followers, it was basically just employees sharing to inflate the numbers.
She randomly clicked on an account to go in and searched for "company" keywords.
A Weibo post about the annual meeting popped up.
Unimportant female employee:
Today at the annual meeting, I got the grand prize. The boss personally awarded it to me, so happy~ Handsome Master Hot Pot
[Photo jg]
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Jian Jing clicked to open the photo. Aside from the female employee herself, there was also a rather handsome face that looked somewhat similar to Zong Xunmei, but could only be described as upright and handsome. It was far from the shocking impression she had previously.
A huge "?" slowly emerged in her mind.
Wha...what's going on?
Her phone vibrated. Jian Jing instinctively picked it up to look, an unread message from an unfamiliar number.
[Don't you really want to contact me? I heard you're looking for someone, do you need help?]
The message looked aggressive. Jian Jing immediately did the math: [Don't you feel very shameless?]
[I considered just stealing the key, but didn't find a chance. I originally planned to compensate you in another way_]
Jian Jing sent back a string of "......".
[It's my first time getting such an unwilling reply. Could you have found my photo?]
Jian Jing couldn't help but ask a silly question: [Did you get plastic surgery? Which hospital?]
Introduce it to me!
[Unfortunately, I have never had any work done. If you want to meet the best cosmetic surgeon, I can introduce you_]
Jian Jing: [So what I saw before was your real appearance?]
[Would you be very disappointed if it wasn't?]
Jian Jing: I would.
There was no helping it, people were all hypocritical dogs. Things that could be forgiven of a beauty could not be forgiven of an ordinary person. However, in all fairness, she had interacted with him face to face and did not detect anything unnatural at all, only sensed an anomalous aura several times.
She thought about it and replied: [Not at all]
He sent back an emoji, and asked again: [Do you really not need my help finding that person you're looking for? I sincerely want to make amends with you]
Jian Jing seriously hesitated.
The boat had sailed, and going back in time to settle scores was impossible. Since he wanted to make amends, it would be foolish not to accept a favor.
He might really be able to find Qi Tian.
But after careful consideration, she still didn't really want to expend this favor on him. Many people were looking for Qi Tian, and with Qi Tian's temperament, he wouldn't stay in hiding for long.
In comparison, there were two things she was more anxious to figure out: the identity of Scarface, and... her own secret.
Scarface's identity didn't hold much value. If he was hiding, there was nothing she could do about it.
Jian Jing pursed her lips and replied: [I don't want to find him. I want to know something else]
[Please ask]
She turned sideways, glancing at Kang Mu Cheng from the corner of her eye. He was sitting by the hospital bed, discussing something with the doctor in charge. He didn't notice anything happening over here.
Her fingers tapped the keyboard: [Do you know Saint Angel? The Saint Angel that sent the greeting card]
[I will give you a message as soon as possible]
The chat ended.
Jian Jing let out a soft sigh. She only realized then that just struggling over it for a moment had already caused slight pain in her chest.
Would he be able to investigate it? Would Saint Angel be the breakthrough point for everything?
She held up her forehead. She both wanted to know the answer and strangely dreaded the answer at the same time.
That very night after being admitted to the hospital, Si Yingjie's fever broke.
But he remained mired in depression and unable to pull himself out of it. Jian Jing and Kang Mu Cheng chatted with him, yet he didn't want to speak at all. His appetite was also very poor and he didn't want to eat anything.
He had originally still wanted to ask Yao Yao "why did you do this", but after Jian Jing told him "because she likes you", he deflated like a balloon that had sprung a leak.
"It's my fault Xiao Xiao died," he blamed himself.
Jian Jing struggled with whether to speak.
He regretted, "I shouldn't have come this time!"
Kang Mu Cheng sighed and gripped his shoulders. "Yingjie, it wasn't your fault. Lin Yao was confused for a moment, it had nothing to do with you. Don't be like this, cheer up."
But if a few words could cure heartache, why were there still so many heartbroken people in the world?
Unable to do anything, Kang Mu Cheng could only temporarily entrust him to Jian Jing for now. He himself had to communicate with the local police to extradite Lin Yao back to their home country. The process required no small amount of paperwork that kept him occupied, unable to attend to anything else.
Jian Jing was also very troubled. She racked her brains for topics to divert Si Yingjie's attention and get him to stop dwelling in regret all the time.
But with the two of them not knowing each other for long, and without Kang Mu Cheng, there really wasn't much to talk about.
She simply asked about things from when they were young.
Si Yingjie faced Kang Mu Cheng, and could pretend to be a disappointed man ignoring him. But when a girl ten years younger than him tried to comfort him, he could not help feeling embarrassed and made an effort to cheer up and reciprocate.
"How did I get to know Mu Cheng? Middle school. We knew each other since middle school. Madam Kang is a powerful businesswoman who relies entirely on nannies. My mom is a full-time housewife, and she would sometimes invite him over for meals at our home. We got familiar with each other over time.
"However, I did not get scolded less because of him. Mu Cheng has been extremely self-disciplined since childhood. My parents saw this and were so envious of Madam Kang they wished they could trade her son for me, you know what I mean, he is like other people's kid. It was not until he went abroad to study that I felt relieved. It was not easy..."
He chatted on and on, and his emotions gradually calmed down.
Jian Jing smiled gently and said indifferently, "To be honest, don't tell Mr. Kang, but for kids, you are much better than him."
"Right?" Si Yingjie's expression lightened up a bit smugly, "The first time I saw you at Mu Cheng's home, I almost gasped. I thought, wow, what era is this that there's still such an introverted little girl?! You must have been controlled too strictly by Mu Cheng. Indeed, I asked Aunt Wang and she said he would ask what you eat every day and forbid you from eating street food. My god, street food is the most delicious food, isn't it?"
At first, Jian Jing wanted to laugh when listening, but she felt more and more uncomfortable as he went on.
Why would Kang Mu Cheng control what she eats every day?
Si Yingjie explained it right away to resolve her doubt, "When I asked him why he enforced monastery education, he said you've just recovered from a serious illness. The doctor said you need to pay attention to your diet, get regular exercise, and sleep on time. I thought you just looked a little pale and sensitive to the outside world, and didn't see anything wrong... Oh yeah, what illness did you have at that time?"
"I've forgotten about it already." Jian Jing evaded the key point and said, "Speaking of street food, do you want to eat BBQ? Let's have a BBQ party tonight."
Si Yingjie just asked casually, and she changed the topic, so he naturally went along with it, "Sure, whatever you say. I originally wanted to take you out for fun, but this happened..."
He sank into the emotional black hole again, slumping on the sofa, just wishing to get dead drunk.
Jian Jing said, "Get up, let's go play tennis."
Si Yingjie said, "Pour me a drink."
"Are you getting up or not?" Jian Jing grabbed his collar, "Walk yourself or should I drag you there?"
Si Yingjie: "..." He really didn't want to relive the pain of being dragged away, so he slowly got up, "You just mentioned Mu Cheng, you're the same."
Jian Jing was slightly startled, then her mind lit up suddenly.
Could it be that she had also experienced some severe psychological trauma?
Once the thought came up, it was unstoppable. The tennis was a mess with them hitting balls all over. Fortunately, Si Yingjie was even more absent-minded than her. The two of them were just going through the motions and ended the game hastily.
A few days later, after Lin Yao was extradited back to China, Yang Xiao's body was also to be sent home.
Jian Jing got on the plane back home.
To be honest, everything was normal on the plane and she didn't feel anything. But after getting off the plane, when she was looking for a tissue in her bag to go to the bathroom, she suddenly froze.
There was an extra snow-white envelope in her handbag.
