Exploration chapter

  "Are you done yet? If you don't leave now, I'll have to call security."

  "Mr. Wu, if you don't..." Sanqi's words were cut off again by Wuchengyue before he could finish speaking.

  "You can go find whoever you want to find. I've said it, Zhi Ling and I are just friends. That's all there is to say, no need to discuss further." Wu Cheng Yue made a gesture of serving tea to send off the guest.

  "Alright. Tongtong, let's go." Sanqi reluctantly turned around to leave, but found that she was still there without moving. "You? What's wrong?"

  "Mr. Wu, I... can I have your... autograph?" Tongtong said softly with a red face.

  "What the...?! How come I didn't know you're a movie buff, Tongtong?!" Sanqi occasionally had moments of surprise.

  "Hehe, okay." As Wu Chengyue said that, he took out a pen from his pocket. At this time, a key fell out of his pocket and landed right at Sanqi's feet. "Give it to me!!" Originally calm and collected, Wu Chengyue suddenly became extremely agitated. "Hand it over!" He exclaimed as he rushed past Tongtong and pounced on Sanqi.

  "Ah?...... Hehe, I understand. This is Miss Zhi Ling's house key, right? Hehe, want it?" San Qi saw that he had already grasped the opponent's handle and became even more unscrupulous.

  "What are you kidding me? I... how is this possible that it's Zhiling's key. This is my family's key, give it back to me quickly." No matter how one looked at it, Wu Chengyue's behavior seemed unnatural.

  "Of course I can give it to you, but it's from the police." Sanqi wrapped the key in a handkerchief with a red edge.

  Wu Cheng sat slumped in his chair, his face ashen. "Zhilin wasn't killed by me. When I arrived she was already..."

  "Is she dead?"

  "No... um... I'm not sure either. That day, I arrived at Zhiling's house around 9:30. I just wanted to have a private conversation with her about our relationship, but I found Wenxi inside, so I didn't go in. I thought Wenxi would leave soon, so I waited outside the door. Before long, I heard Zhiling's scream coming from inside. I was startled and didn't dare to enter, so I left directly. Who knew that the next day I would hear about Zhiling's death? I was afraid of being suspected by the police, so..." At this point, Wucheng lowered his head deeply.

  "What are you doing with the key?" Sanqi asked coldly.

  "I... nothing." Wu Cheng hesitated and stopped.

  "Do you think I don't know? You want to find out who Miss Chih-ling's 'mysterious boyfriend' is, right?"

  Wu Cheng let out a sigh "Actually I know who that person is, it's just that I'm still not sure."

  "Does this person really exist?"

  "Of course. Haven't you heard of the saying 'no waves without wind'? I saw Zhirong having dinner with a man myself."

  "Did you see who that person was?"

  "I didn't see his face, but I'm very familiar with his back - Boben. However, I don't think they're particularly close usually, so I managed to get a key to Zhiling's house and planned to verify it."

  "How many keys do you have?"

  "Except for the bedroom key." Wu Cheng Yue's expression became very awkward.

  "Hmm, is that so? ...If possible, lend it to me first." Sanqi had already stretched out his hand, and Wucheng Yue, although still somewhat hesitant, ultimately handed them over to Sanqi.

  "Thanks. Now the last question......" Sanqi put the bunch of keys together with that one. "Who do you think would be the murderer who killed Miss Zhiling?"

  "Qian Cao shouldn't be the murderer. I also don't think it's Bo Ben. If I had to say, Mu Director and Wen Xi might still have a possibility."

  "Isn't Wen Hei very close to Zhi Ling?"

  Although it is said so, however, Zhiling seems to be very opposed to Wenxi and Qiancao getting along. Wu Chengyue explained to him.

  "Thank you for your cooperation, we will see each other again soon." With that, Sanqi and Tongtong walked out hand in hand.

  "Sanqi, you just looked like a detective." Tongtong couldn't help but praise Sanqi at this time. "I don't know why, sometimes you make people feel very secure, and sometimes you also make people feel not too reliable."

  "That's for sure. Others may pretend to be experienced, but I'm actually quite clueless. However, I might really not have any musical talent, which is why you think I'm unreliable." Sanqi spread his hands out, looking like he was also in a difficult situation.

  "Musical talent?"

  "Yeah, because I'm neither reliable nor in tune. Haha. See you later."

  "Where are you going?"

  "Go see Miss Senkō."

  Half an hour later, the two arrived at Chigusa Mano's home. Miss Chigusa's home was filled with traditional Japanese furniture, with a fresh and natural, simple and elegant style that seemed even more leisurely and carefree for people living in the city. The clear lines made the room's layout give off an elegant and clean feel, with a strong sense of depth. Unexpectedly, Miss Chigusa was actually together with Mr. Bohben. Although it didn't seem like anything on the surface, from the two people's expressions, it seemed like they had a special relationship that wasn't ordinary.

  "Miss Qiancao, my name is Tian Sanqi, I'm a private investigator. This time I came to investigate the case of Miss Cheng Zhiling's murder. And this is... my assistant, Luo Yutong." Sanqi tried his best to communicate with her in standard Mandarin Chinese.

  "You... want to know what... I understand." Her sweet smile gave people a kind of sultry feeling. At least in Sanqi's heart, she didn't want her to be the murderer.

  "Wow, you're really something! You truly understand people, unlike some others." As he spoke, Sanqi glanced back and saw a pair of murderous eyes staring at him. "Heh heh, Tongtong, don't you think so?"

  "Hmm...I don't know."

  "This... sister... is... very beautiful." Chigusa Marino seemed to have used up all the Chinese vocabulary she had learned to say this sentence.

  "Cough! Alright, let's stop the small talk. I'd like to ask, where were you two at 9:30 last night?" Upon hearing this beautiful woman praise herself as "beautiful", her face immediately lit up, and she was about to chat with Miss Chigusa when that "good-for-nothing" Tan Sanqi interrupted again.

  "I should have been resting at home back then. Because I was waiting to watch the 9:30 reasoning drama that night." A smile appeared on Boben's face.

  "Really? I've been watching that TV series too. I've seen every episode so far. Which one is your favorite?" As he spoke, he wrote three words on the paper.

  "This TV series is great every episode, just like yesterday's one. No one would have thought that the sister was the murderer." Boben seems to be getting along well with Sanqi.

  "Could you translate this for me?" Sanqi said, handing the paper in his hand to Boben.

  "What's going on?" Boben asked Sanqi absent-mindedly.

  Sanqi exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't Mr. Bohen French?" Then immediately smiled apologetically and said: "Sorry, these three French words were seen by me on that reasoning drama, as a result I didn't even recognize them. Originally wanted to ask you this foreigner, who knew you wouldn't know either."

  "Sorry, I'm a German. Because I grew up in Germany since I was a kid and have been living in China since I was 13. Although I've always yearned for it, I've never been to France," said Boben, wiping the sweat with a tissue.

  Tongtong saw the three words written on the paper were "Deutsglisch, Franzoesisch" and said to Sanqi: "French is also a Latin language. I don't recognize the first word, but the second and third seem to mean 'British' and 'French'."

  "Oh. Tongtong is really knowledgeable! I'll take note of that." She said, jotting down the two meanings and blushing, "Sorry about that, I went off topic. Continue, Miss Qiancao, what were you doing at 9:30 last night?"

  "I was very tired that day, so..." she said, putting her hands together in a prayer-like gesture and making a sleeping motion with them.

  "Oh, I see. Hehe. What's the relationship between Mr. Bohan and Miss Zhiling and Miss Chigusa?"

  "I and Zhi Ling are just ordinary friends. As for Qian Cao, we actually are..."

  "Lovers?" Sanqi asked.

  "Hmm" Bob nodded.

  "That's strange! If Mr. Poben and Miss Chigusa are dating, why would someone see you having dinner with Miss Shirerin?"

  "This... haha, I think there's nothing to explain. Even if we're just ordinary friends, can't we have a meal together? Is this also against the law?"

  "It's nothing. Just asking casually." Tóng Tóng felt that Sān Qī was really lacking the "spirit of a detective", giving up just because someone glared at him.

  "One last question. Who do you think is the killer of Miss Zhiling?"

  "This, I'm not too sure about." Boben said apologetically, and Miss Chigusa also shook her head.

  "Miss Chigusa, if you need a Chinese tutor in the future, feel free to look for me." Sanqi didn't forget to show his courtesy to Chigusa Tane before leaving.

  "It seems you really need to eat a pair of whales. Mr. Bohan won't teach Miss Chigusa, will he?" Tongtong felt very uncomfortable as soon as she saw Sanqi talking to other girls.

  "Come on, I've told you how many times already, whales are mammals, not fish!"

  "Whales are not fish, why should they have a 'fish' character?" Tongtong continued to argue.

  "That 'Japanese person' also has a 'person' character." Sanqi winked at her.

  "Okay. Whales aren't fish..." Tongtong suddenly remembered that she was in front of a Japanese person and hastily stopped talking. She saw that Chigusa-san didn't seem to have any reaction, but rather it was Hogen who was secretly smiling on the side.

  "Alright, alright, we won't disturb you anymore."