Poisoning

  "Isn't that right?" Li Bin's face still wore a polite smile, but his tone was clearly tinged with dissatisfaction. He muttered, "I know you're Shao Yin's friend and will be biased. But I think Guan Xinyue and Shao Yin are two different people, she absolutely wouldn't sell her soul for money..."

  "But she was Li Cheng's girlfriend, you can't deny that?" I said calmly, suppressing the anger in my heart. Guan Xinyue was a gold-digger, but I swallowed those words back down. No matter what, I had been friends with Li Bin before, and the cruel truth would hurt his self-esteem. I sighed and looked at him: "I don't want to make any judgments about your feelings. Our goal is the same, we both want to find out who killed Guan Xinyue, right? So I think you should say everything you know, and some suspicions that are based on reason. Only then can we comfort the deceased's spirit in heaven, right?"

  Li Bin fell silent, he picked up the cup in front of him, and stared blankly for a while before blinking his eyes several times. He let out a sigh and said: "Alas, how can I put it? These days have been a blur. Just the day before yesterday, I still saw her, she was alive and well, but then I heard the news that...she's now gone to another world. Who could accept this? If we're talking about suspects, it's not hard to think of some...there are many people with motives, aren't there? Li Cheng is one of them. If it wasn't for him, Xinyue and I would have been together long ago. Another one is either Shao Yin or Ye Qing. Haven't you seen her? That slightly neurotic woman. As a woman, she's really failed. If she could make Li Cheng obey her, how dare he fool around outside?"

  Judging from his tone, he also seemed to be suspicious of Shao Yin. I thought about what Shao Yin had said earlier - that someone had sent her a package early in the morning, and she was furious because she saw the photo inside. There must be something fishy going on. But who could it be? I paused for a moment, thinking about how Shao Yin had threatened Guan Xinyue before, and the two of them had clashed more than once. Would Li Bin really not know anything about it? Looking at Li Bin, I asked: "What you said is true. In my opinion, the most innocent person in this whole thing is Ye Qing. I heard that Li Cheng was planning to divorce her?"

  "Divorce? You mean to say... Li Cheng wanted to marry Guan Xinyue?" Li Bin's expression was like being stung by a bee, and then he shook his head bitterly: "Is this what Li Cheng told you after the fact? How could he possibly marry Xinyue? He's just a greedy man who wants to lock Xinyue in a cage, absolutely not giving her a name. Besides, he has a wife and children, how can he abandon them? Only men understand men's hearts, Xinyue is so smart, how could she be deceived by him? He... humph, I don't know how someone like that got to his current position!"

  It seems that Li Bin is indeed poisoned. I shook my head, what was this guy thinking? Guan Xinyue had become a sacred and inviolable goddess in his heart! But this is not surprising, the unattainable is always the best, this is an irrefutable truth. Guan Xinyue's ambiguous attitude only made Li Bin love her more desperately. Continuing to entangle him on this issue would only make me angry enough to spit blood, but it couldn't change Li Bin's infatuated attitude towards Guan Xinyue, his obsession was of no help to my investigation.

  Gu Xinyue's charm is indeed great. I recalled Li Cheng's previous commission, which actually asked me to investigate whether Ye Qing was having an affair or not. Is he also venting his anger on Ye Qing because of Gu Xinyue's death? Thinking about this, I furrowed my brow. "Ye Qing? Have you seen her? Why would you think it's her? Besides being Li Cheng's wife, is there any other reason? I've seen her, she looks like just a weak and gentle woman..."

  "A weak and feeble little woman? Ha! You really know how to use words. Then you've absolutely never seen her throw a tantrum. Weak woman... Hmph, there's one word that describes her perfectly: Mother Night Yaksha. To be a woman and fail at it like she has... I heard that once she had someone beat Xinyue so badly they ended up in the hospital... It makes me heartache." Li Bin's nose turned red, and his eyes became more tender.

  "What are you talking about?" I was very curious, did Ye Qing have a second revenge? Why hadn't I ever heard Zhu Ling mention it?

  "It was last summer, I think it was July. I just happened to see her in the hospital..." Li Bin said with a pained expression, apparently recalling the scene when the two of them met at that time.

  But to me, things seem a bit off. Neither Ye Qing nor Zhu Ling has ever mentioned this matter before. And when Ye Qing went to the door that time, it seemed like Ye Qing was the one who got hurt, not Guan Xinyue? I almost subconsciously asked: "Hasn't Ye Qing learned his lesson? After nearly getting beaten up by Li Cheng for the first time, he dares to go again a second time?"

  "Twice?" Li Bin didn't ask in detail, but his expression was somewhat puzzled. Perhaps recalling something, Li Bin's expression became a bit strange.

  Guan Xinyue deliberately let Li Bin know some facts, but concealed the truth. These things that made Li Bin aware of, just right to evoke his sympathy. What is her purpose? Is it to leave a way out for herself? Or to get Li Bin's pity? This makes me feel confused, what does she want to do? Can't it be just to play with Li Bin's emotions? So, I can only calm down and listen again to Li Bin's complaints about Guan Xinyue's difficulties and her "enduring humiliation".

  It wasn't until Li Bin brought up Ye Qing again, and her interactions with Guan Xinyue, that I had to interrupt once more: "So, have you ever seen Ye Qing in person? Have you ever been in contact with Ye Qing?"

  "No. I've never dealt with shrews." Li Bin shook his head solemnly, a hint of disdain in his eyes. "Initially, I had planned to have a talk with Ye Qing and let her control her own husband, so that Li Cheng could let go and be free. But what I saw was just a woman who knew how to enjoy herself, relying on being the mother of Li Cheng's child, recklessly squandering money without any qualms. What can you discuss with such a shortsighted woman?"

  "You won't... have secretly observed Ye Qing's life, will you?" If it weren't for taking care of Li Bin's self-esteem, I would definitely burst out laughing. But at this moment, I can only look at him seriously and ask the question in my heart.