Chapter 55

  The letter was brief, just a few lines of scribbled words.

  Qian Tong, I have always been haunted by the events of that year. I was extremely worried that you would be implicated, fortunately, thanks to the help of the eldest daughter of the Si family, I can finally put my mind at ease and do what I need to do. As for you, I admit that I am not a qualified father, but I will try my best to make up for it.

  To Wen Tian

  The letter didn't mention where he was going or what he would do. Qian Tong closed the letter and opened the locket, inside which was a photo of her parents holding her when she was little, it had been a long time since she last saw it.

  In Qian Tong's eyes, even the person in his own heart felt very strange.

  "Qian Tong?" Si Luo Chen softly called out.

  Qian Tong calmed down and closed his pocket watch: "Let's go, it seems Father still doesn't want me to find him." He put the dictionary back on the bookshelf, and the two of them left.

  Back in the car, he told Si Ruo Nan about it, and it seemed that this only clue was also broken.

  "Sister, where are we going now? Have you contacted mom?" asked Si Luo Chen.

  "Uh, let's head back to the house first. She's at her father's place now, don't worry, it's just that they have something on and can't come back for a while." Turning around to face Irina, "Do you want to tell Uncle Ivan about this?"

  Yilin understood what Si Ruo Nan meant and shook her head: "No need, the Yis have never controlled where I go."

  Si Ruo Nan nodded, indicating for the driver to start the car.

  Yilin's words surprised Si Luochen, he didn't expect that Yijia would be so biased towards boys over girls.

  Xiang Qian Tong has been silent in his father's letter, staring out the window without saying a word. He always feels that his father won't leave things like this, there must be some problem here, it's just that he hasn't figured it out yet.

  Several cars stopped in front of the Si family's gate, because a figure was standing at the entrance. This figure made Si Luochen pause for a moment, and then she opened the car door and left, walking towards this figure who always looked cool.

  "Is it another coincidence that you're here?"

  Wang Shaokuo wore a grey slim-fit English-style suit, with a white wooden-framed glasses hanging from his ears, leaning against the wall at the entrance of Si Luochen's house. The corner of his mouth was always holding that pipe, seeing Si Luochen and the people following behind her, he smiled slightly: "Hey, long time no see."

  In Si Luochen's impression, Wang Shaokui didn't like wearing glasses, especially just a frame.

  Taking a closer look, I just noticed that Wang Shaokuo has a red mark at the corner of his left eye. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed: "Shaokuo... your eye..."

  Wang Shaokuo slightly tilted his head, pointing with his hand: "Ah... the doctor said there will be a scar here. After being disfigured, I should look more like a detective, right?" Although he was joking, in Si Luochen's eyes, Wang Shaokuo seemed somewhat different this time around.

  Xian Yun walked aside, slightly surprised and said: "It's really a rare guest, let's go inside the house and talk again."

  Si Luo Chen understood his sister's meaning, Wang Shao Ke had a smile at the corner of his mouth, and after giving a handsome greeting to each of them, several people walked into the Si family mansion.

  As soon as Wang Shaokuo entered the villa's living room, she couldn't help but shake her head and sigh, thinking that this place was just like a royal palace. She thought to herself that if she had such conditions, she wouldn't be a detective.

  "Lu Chen, I've known you for so many years, and it's actually your first time coming to my home, you're too much!"

  "Everyone knows where I live even if they've never been here, who's being more unreasonable?" Si Luo Chen raised an eyebrow and retorted.

  Wang Shaokai: "......"

  Qian Tong sat beside him with a smile at the corner of her mouth, and the two of them really started fighting as soon as they met.

  In Irin's eyes, she knew of Wang Shaokuo's existence but didn't often see him. She didn't expect that he would be so androgynous and yet very handsome. Especially in this English-style suit with a subtle white dress shirt inside, it was the style that Irin had always liked.

  Wang Shaokuo felt Irene's gaze and met her eyes with a smile: "Miss Irene, hello."

  Yilin exclaimed: "Do you know me?"

  "Irene, don't mind her, she's always like that, likes to make a mystery out of nothing. I reckon she's professionally investigated everyone around me." Si Luochen knew Wang Shaokuo wouldn't appear here for no reason, and now that she just found out about her injury, rushing back like this must mean something has happened or she's discovered something.

  "It can't be said like that, I recognized Miss Yi through two points. Firstly, when we just passed by each other, I smelled a faint scent of traditional Chinese medicine on her body. Among the several families with good relations with the Wang family, only the Yi family is known for their traditional Chinese medicine practice. And the second point..." Wang Shaokuo's mouth curled up into a confident smile as he paused to pique everyone's interest, especially Yi Lin, who was indeed very curious about what this second point was.

  "This is the second one... During university, Miss Yi's figure often appeared beside Luo Chen. Such a beautiful girl, I naturally... remember." Wang Shaokuo finished speaking and found Luo Chen's cold eyes, as well as Yi Lin's slightly shy expression, as if she was afraid of being misunderstood by Qian Tong.

  Wang Shaokuo chuckled to himself after speaking, and casually patted the sofa behind him. He shook his head: "Luochen, this casual sofa of yours is enough to cover my law firm's expenses for a year, isn't it?"

  In Si Lu Chen's eyes, the eloquent Wang Shao Ke looked like her usual self, with a hint of a smile, and said: "Then take it away and try it out, see if it's enough?"

  Wang Shaokuo innocently looked at Qian Tong and said with deep meaning: "......Qian Tong, I really admire you."

  Qian Tong sat quietly beside him, shaking his head helplessly, without saying a word, and Yilin was taken aback.

  Si Lu Chen saw that she had been selling Guan Zi all along, cleared his throat and asked: "I just knew about your injury, you came here to find me, what's the hurry, is there something?"

  Xie Yunan returned home and went to deal with some matters. As soon as he entered the living room, he heard Xie Luochen's question.

  Wang Shaokuo knew that the people in the Si family didn't smoke, so he extinguished his pipe before entering the door, but still habitually held it in his mouth. Sitting on the sofa, his eyes fell on Xiang Qian Tong's body. From the atmosphere just now, Si Rou Nan had acknowledged their relationship, and since that was the case, she didn't plan to pretend anymore.

  "I know where you just came from, so I'm here to tell you that the person you're looking for, I know where they are."

  Everyone stared at Wang Shaokuo in slight surprise, even Xiang Qian didn't know about it, how did she find out!?

  But Si Luchen knew that Wang Shaokui wouldn't joke about this kind of thing.

  Wang Shaokuo felt Si Luochen's gaze and let out a quiet sigh. He took the pipe out of his mouth, raised an eyebrow and said: "Luochen, don't stare at me like that. I only found out about this recently too, so let's just be straightforward with each other. Since you were ambushed, and Qian Tong helped you block the knife, I've been secretly investigating this matter. Because even if you told me, and the police said it was an accident, my intuition tells me that this is absolutely not an accident. I personally went to investigate, and that person's background is fake. So... whether it's for you or Qian Tong, I will definitely get to the bottom of this. Because I'm afraid, afraid that something similar will happen to you two again."

  It's impossible for this speech to be unmoving, usually always with an air of playing the fool, but now speaking seriously like this, it actually makes people feel a bit unaccustomed.

  But in Si Luochen's heart, he had a different opinion about Wang Shaokuo, especially after not being able to contact her for the past two weeks. The anxious Si Luochen only then realized an important issue - despite knowing her for so many years, he didn't understand Wang Shaokuo at all.

  Her family, where they are, and even everything about her... She usually talks a lot, but has never let anyone truly understand her, instead unintentionally letting them know many things. Looking back on all these years, Wang Shaokuo says every sentence, does every single thing, seemingly simple and clear, but none of it is actually so.

  "Is there any clue?" asked Si Luochen.

  Wang Shaokuo played with the tobacco pipe in his hand, hearing Si Luo Chen's question, his eyes swept over Si Rouyun and then looked at Yi Lin: "Cooperation between the Si family and the Yi family."

  Upon hearing this, Si Wen Nan's expression turned slightly serious as she sat on the couch. She really wanted to know how much Wang Shao Ke knew and how far beyond her expectations he had gone. From the first time she met Wang Shao Ke, she felt that he wasn't as easy-going as he seemed on the surface, but at the time it was just a guess. It wasn't until Si Luo Chen found Xiang Qian Tong's things that Si Wen Nan realized Wang Shao Ke's cleverness - what seemed like an accident was actually all within his control. The so-called arrogant and self-conceited personality was just a weakness and flaw that he intentionally showed to others, with the goal of making them let their guard down around him. Indeed, reading Conan Doyle's books hadn't been in vain; if you want to be a good detective, first you have to learn how to disguise yourself.

  Yilin stared at Wang Shaokuo in surprise, this was the secret that Si Ruonan had just told them. She didn't expect her to know everything and even predict that they would make a futile trip. Glancing at Si Ruonan's expression, she also sensed the suppressed puzzlement. Yilin, who had read criminal psychology, was very curious about what Wang Shaokuo knew next. But from the perspective of the Yi family, she didn't want to hear anything bad.

  Qian Tong had been quietly listening all along, because these were things she didn't know about.

  "What cooperation? And what direct relationship does Qian Tong have with him?" Si Luo Chen asked curiously.

  Although Si Ruo Nan had told her about it before, there were still many things that her sister couldn't explain clearly, and she really wanted to know more from Wang Shao Ke.

  Because he wasn't used to wearing glasses, Wang Shaokuo occasionally pushed them up and replied: "Things happen for a reason. If the other party's goal was to harm Luo Chen, I would naturally investigate who the Si family offended. But after Qian Tong got hurt, this matter was no longer pursued...I found it strange, even a bit unexpected."

  Wang Shaokuo's words undoubtedly reminded everyone of the details that had been overlooked, and also highlighted the key points. Especially Si Luochen, whose entire brow was furrowed tightly.

  "At that time, I couldn't imagine who Qian Tong would offend, so I still focused on Luo Chen's side, but I didn't get any results, and what I got was not what I wanted. Until...” Wang Shao Ke paused slightly, frowned and pushed his glasses, looking at Qian Tong: "Until recently, I found out that their target has always been you, Qian Tong. You can also say... they just want to find your father through you."

  This was the hint Shen Lue gave her, during her coma, Shen Lue had come to see her three times, she knew each time, wanting to see her, but couldn't wake up no matter what. She knew that every time Shen Lue would hold her hand, only the last time when holding it slipped in a note.

  In Wang Shaokuo's eyes, Shen Lue seemed to know everything, even when she was about to wake up. The first thing Wang Shaokuo did after waking up was to open the note, only to find that those places she didn't understand in her previous investigation directions were all explained by this note. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out why Shen Lue would be so clear about her investigation.

  If such a woman wasn't... Wang Shaokuo didn't know how many times she had died.

  Everyone was silent and waiting quietly for what came next.

  After a brief moment of contemplation, Wang Shaokuo cleared his throat and continued: "As for why I'm looking for your father, I think it has something to do with the third party cooperating with the Si and Yi families. However, I think Qian Tong's father should have gone to... Xiangxi Fenghuang City."

  "How did you know, Xiao Ke? Who is that third party?" After being silent for half a day, Xiang Qian Tong finally spoke up. It was because she had an impression that her father had gone to Xiangxi several times before. Most importantly, she really wanted to know if that third party was... that voice.

  In response to Qian Tong's question, Wang Shaokuo did not answer immediately, and was silent for about ten seconds. His gaze swept over Si Yunnan, and in the instant their eyes met, Wang Shaokuo discovered that Si Yunnan's eyes were subtly exuding a chill. She knew that if she wasn't careful with her next words, it would be like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth.

  Wang Shaokuo shook his head: "I really don't know who the third party is, and I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to tell you how I knew about this place. But since it's related to the Si family and the Yi family, I think Rou Nian and Miss Yi should be more aware of it." He felt a slight relaxation in Rou Nian's gaze, and Wang Shaokuo let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

  Yilin was completely unaware of this and followed everyone's gaze to look at Si Wennan together.

  "I only know that our two families did have cooperation in Xiangxi, but what specifically it was and who the third party is, I'm not clear about. Moreover, this cooperation stopped several years ago."

  Wang Shaokuo nodded, she also knew about this matter.

  Everyone thought the clue was cut off like this, but heard a voice rising.

  "Sister, I'm going on a trip to Xiangxi."

  The author has something to say: _(:з」∠) Sha Ke is out. Long time no see, miss you very much.

  Recently saw a modification update prompt in front, don't worry, I just feel that there is a slight progress in the writing process. Seeing that many of my own adjectives are not in place, I modified them a bit. Hmm...

  There is a typo, I will correct it later. Mua mua da.