Here is the English translation of the Chinese novel excerpt using the provided glossary:
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The closest of relations and the most distant as husband and wife.
Si Yingmei and her husband had been married for ten years. Their feelings towards each other were neither intensely loving nor bitter, and could be considered harmonious and affectionate compared to other business marriages.
No matter how reasonable her husband's explanations were - yes, since he couldn't have children, why couldn't he treat Cong Cong as his own child - Si Yingmei knew that he was fully capable of doing such a thing.
"Yingmei, believe me," pleaded Sister's husband. "I had nothing to do with it."
Second Sister Si pursed her lips, but looked to Jian Jing instead.
Jian Jing understood and began to analyze: "The nanny said it was a spur of the moment decision for the child to go to the skate park. Without his father's consent, he couldn't have gone that many times. If the kidnapper had observed and judged for himself, he would have been more likely to target somewhere the boy went more frequently."
Sister's husband argued: "Why couldn't he have followed him the whole way and seized the opportunity?"
"The car avoided numerous surveillance cameras, so they must have mapped out points in advance. It was a premeditated location, and the only ones who could have influenced Cong Cong's actions were the nanny or the father. " Jian Jing explained unhurriedly. "So I have suspected all along that there was an insider in your family, I just couldn't be completely sure."
"So I set a trap by having Mrs. Si change the ransom from jewelry to antiques. I figured the kidnapper wouldn't be so omniscient as to have thoroughly investigated her private collection, right?"
Sister's husband stubbornly resisted: "He wanted the jewelry to begin with. Antiques are hard to sell off, how does that prove anything?"
"The second trap," Jian Jing continued. "I told you that I had identified a suspect in People's Park and decided to follow him to investigate - this was false, I predicted he would send someone or an accomplice to create a diversion, so I tricked you all."
"Having received false information from the insider, he knew I had no backup and boldly collected the ransom on Sakura Avenue.
"To verify this conjecture, all that needs to be checked is the number of drones he purchased. If it is indeed more than one, it goes some way to corroborating my thinking, doesn't it?"
Jian Jing threw back a rhetorical question, not expecting an answer, and went on: "Of course, this is all circumstantial. What truly convinced me to confirm it was you who wanted him dead was the food poisoning, such an irrational way to tear up the ticket."
"If the kidnapper wanted to tear up the ticket to prevent the child from revealing information after being rescued, he should have decisively finished it, not left a bowl of stale river noodles gambling on poisoning him. That would only enrage the family and force you to call the police, seeking vengeance for the child."
Sister's husband gave a cold laugh: "Your reasoning is too far-fetched. I say it was just bad luck that he bought stale noodles, didn't eat them himself, and Cong Cong happened to eat them accidentally."
"You're the one being unreasonable. The kidnapper's purpose in starving the child was to buy time to escape. Why would he go out of his way to leave a bowl of noodles for him? Out of kindness? Would someone kind leave noodles that have been sitting for days?"
Her rapid-fire questions were logical and persuasive, leaving Sister's husband momentarily lost for words.
Jian Jing continued: "I believe that according to the employer's instructions, the kidnapper abducted and killed the child, but he left himself room to maneuver, unwilling to personally take a life, since the sentencing for murder and kidnapping differs greatly. So he deliberately starved the child and left a bowl of tainted food, luring him into eating it of his own accord."
"You..." Si Yingjie couldn't stand to listen any longer. He rushed over to grab the man's collar. "Are you even human? If you didn't want the child just get a divorce. Can't the Si family support one little kid? You had to do this?"
Sister's husband silently pried his fingers away, a fierce look flashing through his eyes.
Jian Jing paid him no more attention. When she returned today to report on Cong Cong, this man's identity was already unquestionably clear in her eyes. She only turned her head to Second Sister Si: "Apart from the video from earlier, there is currently no other evidence. It requires further investigation and evidence collection by the police. Whether to report to the police or cover it up, that's for you to decide."
Second Sister Si did not give a direct answer, but asked her husband instead: "Why?"
Sister's husband was silent.
She pressed him: "A lifetime as husband and wife, and you don't cherish our feelings at all?"
"It was for the sake of our feelings that I did this," replied Sister's husband. "Yingmei, believe it or not, I never thought about divorcing you."
Si Yingmei was stunned, and understood everything. He could neither accept a child that wasn't his own, nor did he want the marriage alliance between the families to be affected.
The best solution was for Cong Cong to "accidentally" die.
He was "saving" this marriage.
Si Yingmei closed her eyes for a moment, and left the ward to make a call.
After connecting, she spoke in a low voice: "Dad, I..."
Jian Jing rolled her eyes. She thought to herself, not only is this a marriage alliance, even filing a police report has to consider the impact and seek the patriarch's opinion.
Fortunately the Si family did not disappoint too much. Soon after, Second Sister Si returned and crisply notified her: "You should prepare to find a lawyer. I've called the police."
That's more like it.
Jian Jing let out a breath and kicked the hospital bed, snarling: "Hey, time to get to work!"
As soon as the kidnapper opened his eyes, he saw police officers in uniform. He immediately knew things were beyond salvaging and chose to cooperate, exposing Sister's husband.
It turned out they were college classmates and both basketball team members.
Half a year ago, due to some irregular operations, he had been fired from the security company. Later, he happened to meet Sister's husband again. Upon learning about his previous job, Sister's husband deliberately got close to him, directly and indirectly divulging information about the child.
The kidnapper understood his insinuations and secretly made plans for the kidnapping.
He thought the old classmate only wanted revenge on his cheating wife. But after taking action, Sister's husband called again, implying - "If the child was gone, the things I'm worried about won't happen, right?"
The person was already kidnapped, what if the old buddy turned around and sold him out?
The kidnapper was riding a tiger and couldn't get off, and was truly greedy for the huge 200 million bounty, steeled himself to pull off this job. But just as Jian Jing said, he was not without self-interest either. The crime of murder carried a much heavier sentence than kidnapping. He had to find a win-win way.
Thus he decided to have the boy "accidentally ingest" some spoiled river noodles, creating the appearance of accidental death through negligence.
Everything had been going very smoothly at first.
With eight years of experience in the security industry, he had excellent physical fitness and anti-reconnaissance capabilities, and some technical know-how. Together with the inside man, he thought there wouldn't be big problems, and didn't even need an accomplice.
Who could have expected to be tailed and directly taken out like that!
What a huge blunder.
On the other side, Sister's husband also confessed his "difficulties".
He did not admit to attempted murder, only admitting to planning the kidnapping, and claimed he never intended to harm the child: "The son I waited so long for, it turns out isn't my own flesh and blood according to the DNA test. If it were you, could you swallow this insult? I was just blinded by rage and wanted to get back at my wife."
As for why he didn't get a divorce, he said he couldn't bear to part with his wife after ten years together, and he got along well with his father-in-law's family too. Neither set of parents would have agreed.
The police recorded truthfully, whether it was believed or not was for the judge to decide.
In any case, Jian Jing's work was fully completed.
She returned the 20 million RMB worth of jewelry, and shamelessly extorted Si Yingjie: "Treat me to a meal."
Si Yingjie: "Oh!"
Then asked Kang Mu Cheng to accompany her.
Only then did Kang Mu Cheng realize she had once again—uh, why again...nevermind, not important—anyway she had righteously intervened once more.
Such news could no longer make Chairman Kang raise a single brow these days. All he said was a simple: "Eat more."
Jian Jing would not be polite about extorting Si Yingjie, picking an upscale Japanese restaurant with a 5000 RMB per person average spending. The ambience was elegant and quiet, with rock gardens, kimono-clad women, shamisen music, and a thick Japanese atmosphere.
As she ate, she complained: "Not your own biological child and you want to kidnap and kill him, a green hat really is a lifelong sore point for men."
Kang Mu Cheng & Si Yingjie: "..."
Freshly fried tempura was served, the coating fried to a golden brown.
She angrily speared a shrimp and devoured it, sincerely advising: "Don't be so obsessed with reproduction, an individual's genes aren't that important!"
"Ha ha." Si Yingjie gave a dry laugh and changed the subject. "Mu Cheng, when is Jingjing's new book coming out?"
"The new book is still early, the movie is almost ready." Kang Mu Cheng replied.
Si Yingjie was greatly surprised. "Wow, little Jingjing is getting ahead in the world, even starring in movies now? What film?"
Kang Mu Cheng: "Jungle Fright in the Haunted House."
Si Yingjie was confused: "What's that?"
"A cameo in a variety/reality movie."
Si Yingjie: "Oh."
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Jian Jing was not very happy: "Oh, what do you mean?"
"It means, brother will definitely watch, book the whole venue to watch." Si Yingjie laughed loudly.
Jian Jing was frustrated, she flipped open the menu on the side, and ordered a few more of the most expensive dishes, plus a top-tier performance by a courtesan, costing thirty thousand for twenty minutes.
Si Yingjie was very conscious of being the big brother, he acted as if it was nothing: "Not exactly authentic, but since Jingjing likes watching, I'll book it, brother doesn't lack that bit of money."
Jian Jing: I hate rich second generation.
She also wanted to be a rich second generation qaq
After eating and drinking enough, Si Yingjie went out to have fun alone, Kang Mu Cheng sent Jian Jing home.
But before that, he had to go to the Kang family to pick up Knight.
Since he was going anyway, he might as well take a turn around the new house.
The little Western-style house Jian Jing bought had been renovated for a few months, the hard furnishings were already seventy to eighty percent done, so it was a good day to go see the results.
The wiring for water and electricity had all been laid out, with a flick of the switch, the halfway furnished rooms instantly came into view.
The rooms with brick wallpaper already looked proper, the style tending towards British, echoing the exterior of the Western-style house. Because the furniture had not yet been placed, at first glance, it was as if they had returned to the British countryside from a hundred years ago.
"It'll look more modern after it's done." Jian Jing walked to the window and looked left and right for a bit, then suddenly laughed, "Chairman Kang, isn't that your house over there?"
Kang Mu Cheng went over to take a look, and it really was the balcony of his house.
"The garden and enclosing wall haven't been built yet, maybe later it won't be visible." She thought for a bit, then said, "But the balcony upstairs can definitely see it, shall we go up and take a look?"
He nodded, and casually asked: "How did you arrange it?"
"Downstairs is the living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, plus I added a cafe and half a dog house, the dog house connects to the outside, a room for Knight." Jian Jing shared her ideas, "Upstairs is the study, bedroom and a deduction room."
Kang Mu Cheng was puzzled: "What deduction room?"
"Come this way." She turned into the room at the end of the corridor.
Kang Mu Cheng saw the pasted red floral wallpaper and antique-style black fireplace.
At first glance it looked rather gaudy, but this color scheme was also very familiar... "Baker Street?" He remembered.
Jian Jing nodded happily: "That's right."
"In the future, my study will be used exclusively for writing. The cases I've handled before, the information I've collected, I'll arrange it all in this room like Holmes' habits." She made a vague gesture, "Put two high-backed chairs here, one is mine, one is Watson's... Oh no, or just put in an armchair instead?"
With soft furnishings still a hundred thousand miles away, she was already agonizing over these details.
Kang Mu Cheng shook his head, too lazy to critique her fan mentality.
He went out for a turn, the study was standard and bright, with a nice open view, looking directly at the garden and front gate, if he got tired from writing he could gaze into the distance anytime.
The bedroom was oriented in the opposite direction, standing on the balcony, one could see a corner of the nearby park, even more quiet and private.
"What do you think?" Jian Jing asked for his opinion.
Kang Mu Cheng pondered for a while, then suddenly asked: "You didn't plan a spare bedroom?"
Jian Jing was surprised: "What's the spare bedroom for?"
Kang Mu Cheng looked at her and sighed: "Nothing."
The author has something to say: Quickly resolve the kidnapping case
A bit defeated, a fictional case is still not as sinister as real news...
I won't write this kind of case in the future qaq
