Zhou Meixin’s voice rang crisp and clear within the car. Even though the volume was not loud, the silence seemed to amplify her voice. For a brief moment, Chen Jinxuan and Li Guangchen held their breathing. They exchanged glances as if they were confirming what they had just heard.

“Say it again.” Chen Jinxuan felt as if there was another boulder that came crashing on his shoulders just when he had just gotten rid of one burden.

“Director Chen, they found a dead body on the land where the apartment will be built.” Zhou Meixin repeated. Her voice was calmer and carried more certainty. If Zhou Meixin could not calm down and speak with certainty, Chen Jinxuan would not have taken her seriously, but now that she could and firmly said what had happened, he had no reason to not believe.

“Are the police there at the location?”

“Yes. I was notified by the evaluation team. They are on their way to the location too. Will you be able to make your way there now, sir?” Zhou Meixin said as a bang of a car door was heard from her side. Subsequently, the sound of a car's engine starting could be heard.

“I will be there in less than an hour. Send me all the information you have on your hands.” Chen Jinxuan threw a glance at Li Guangchen. Li Guangchen nodded and kept an eye on the surrounding vehicles before driving out.

“Alright.” Zhou Meixin ended the call. In a few minutes, she sent all the details she had received from the evaluation team.

Chen Jinxuan gave a call to Han Qiyu. Immediately, the phone was picked up. “Hello, Jin-ge. I got caught in traffic near the crossroads, but I am running over there now. I am just a few metres away.”

“Something came up at work. I have dropped Chen Ling off at the restaurant. Send her back to her dorm after dinner.”

“Huh? Will you not join the dinner? I have arrived.” Han Qiyu questioned.

Chen Jinxuan looked towards the restaurant and saw that Han Qiyu was looking around in front of the entrance. Chen Jinxuan felt bad for failing to meet his promise time and time again, but he could not see his own project go naught. He could only owe Han Qiyu another meal.

“Next time.” Chen Jinxuan said and ended the call. “Let’s go.”

Li Guangchen took a glimpse at Han Qiyu who entered the restaurant before driving towards their destination. “Read out the details your secretary sent you.”

Chen Jinxuan sighed as he opened the email Zhou Meixin had sent. Seeing the contents, Chen Jinxuan secretly took a mouthful of cold breath before reading it out loud for Li Guangchen, “A body of a man was found buried under the ground where the foundation was supposed to be implanted just half an hour ago. The body is in a terrible state with burns and bruises all over.”

“How deep was it buried?”

“You will have to ask the police later when we arrive for more details.” Chen Jinxuan kept his phone and fell silent. Multiple possibilities emerged in his mind, but none of them matched the scenario. Chen Jinxuan only knew one thing for certain—the project would be delayed.

When Chen Jinxuan and Li Guangchen arrived at the location, they saw conspicuous yellow ribbons around the area, preventing people from entering. They also saw policemen stationed there with a few units of police cars. The red light from the siren painted the area with colour of unrest.

Both of them got out of the car and approached Zhou Meixin who was speaking with a middle-aged man, seemingly the leader inspector. That man had a rather big build. His face had well-sculpted features with a short beard which made him look intimidating, benefitting his position.

“Greetings, sir.” Li Guangchen strode forward first and stretched a hand to the inspector. “I am Li Guangchen, from Huaduan law firm.”

“Zhang. My name is Zhang Bo.” The inspector shook his hand and shifted his gaze to Chen Jinxuan.

Immediately, Zhou Meixin stood next to Chen Jinxuan and introduced, “This is Director Chen. He is the one leading the project.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Zhang. If there is any information you need, we will provide.” Chen Jinxuan stretched his hand out to shake with Zhang Bo’s. They exchanged a few greetings before moving the topic to the newly found dead body.

Zhang Bo brought them to where the dead body was secured. A few forensic members were inspecting the body. The man’s clothes had been removed and the body had been placed in a body bag. The torso was exposed for inspection. They could see patches of purple bruises and patches of burn marks on the poor man. The hair was messily cut.

“Do you recognise this man?” Zhang Bo asked casually but threw his pair of hawk eyes at Chen Jinxuan and Li Guangchen.

“No.” Li Guangchen said firmly as he met Zhang Bo’s gaze.

“I do not recognise him, officer. Who is he? ” Chen Jinxuan and the others were brought near enough for them to see the dead body, but not close enough to interrupt the forensic members.

Zhang Bo sighed as he looked at the dead man’s profile. “Ning Jinhai. Age 29. He used to smuggle drugs before. He is a runaway we have been searching for the past two years.”

“Ning Jinhai?” Chen Jinxuan turned to look at Li Guangchen, exchanging confused stares—Wasn’t Ning Jinhai Fang Yaowei’s lover?!

This man was clearly another person. Then, who exactly was that man whom Fang Yaowei had dated for a year? Could it be a coincidence that their names were the same exact words?

“The body looks rather fresh. The wounds too… How deep was he buried? How was he found?” Li Guangchen prodded. “This area, being a certain distance away from the central city, is not very crowded. How did someone manage to do this?”

Zhang Bo threw a glance at Li Guangchen, contemplating whether to inform or not.

“I will be representing Xiuyan Real Estate in this case. We will fully cooperate with the police in the investigation.” As if guessing the inspector’s thoughts, Li Guangchen spoke calmly and yet with a hint of intimidation.

Zhang Bo looked at Chen Jinxuan and Chen Jinxuan nodded in response.

“The forensics estimated that his death was in the afternoon about 1 to 2 PM. He was not buried deep, only in the depth of three metres. From the soil that stuck to the body, we estimated that he was buried an hour after his death.”

“It is as if the culprit wants us to find the body…” Li Guangchen frowned with his eyes on the dead body. “Running in the underground society, it is inevitable for him to have few enemies. With this, the police owe them one favour.”

“Whoever they are, we do not owe them anything. We are not involved in their possible internal dispute.” Zhang Bo straightened his back and turned to Chen Jinxuan. “Who else is a part of this project, Mr. Chen?”

“There are two other investors. Director Wang from Yongjian Construction and Director Xie from Liumin Equity Firm.” Chen Jinxuan’s mind was running full of suspicions around Fang Yaowei’s lover whose identity was unknown. He wondered if he should inform the police about this man although it might not help… Could this case have something to do with Fang Yaowei?

‘You will regret this’, what did he mean by it?

Zhang Bo wrote the names down and made a light nod. “We will be conducting investigations to all involved members including the workers for the construction members and the evaluation team. It will take some time, but it is a procedure.”

Chen Jinxuan and Li Guangchen nodded in compliance.

“I shall inform them immediately.” Zhou Meixin excused herself as she procured her mobile phone to dial the two investors.

“Officer, if there is nothing else we can help with. We will be making our way.” Li Guangchen already had his hand hanging in the air, waiting to be shaken by the officer.

Since there was indeed nothing they could do at the moment, Zhang Bo shook that hand and proceeded to guide them out of the crime scene.

Chen Jinxuan exchanged a few words with Zhou Meixin regarding the project. Since a crime had happened, they must comply with the police. Since the victim had been successfully identified, the case could be closed in a maximum of two weeks. They could afford delaying it for two weeks as the due date for the first batch of loan payment was next month.

For the next few days, Chen Jinxuan’s schedule was crammed full of meetings and questioning sessions from the police. Not just him, Director Wang and Director Xie were both exhausted from the gruelling process. Now that the project was put in a passive state, there was nothing but anxious waiting for them.

Chen Jinxuan sat in his office, sighing as he looked at the newspaper. The news that a dead body was found at the construction site had spread throughout the town. The discussion was wilder on the internet forum with people playing armchair experts in case-solving.

The clock hit 7 PM and Chen Jinxuan had just finished an online discussion with Director Wang and Director Xie to coordinate their plans for the project and for the bank loan. While other employees had finished their work and gone home, Chen Jinxuan had just gotten off work and had not even had his dinner.

Reaching the front motorcycle parking area in front of the lobby, Chen Jinxuan saw a middle-aged woman waiting by the one and only motorcycle—his motorcycle.

“How may I help you, madam?” Chen Jinxuan asked politely as he pointed at his vehicle where the woman was leaning on.

Upon his arrival, that woman went on her knees and started to beg. “Director Chen, please grant us mercy! My son may have made mistakes, but he murders no one! You left him with nothing, and he cannot even hire a lawyer to talk on his behalf! Please, you have to help us!”

“Your son?”

That woman clung to Chen Jinxuan’s leg, wailing. “After being forced to resign and pay a large sum of fines… Yaowei has no source of income, and he has not been able to find a new job. We are barely hanging on with our daily needs, and now he is being investigated for a murder case he never commits. Please, grant us mercy!”

“I am not obliged to do this.”

“You forced him to quit his job and pay fine when you could have compromised with him! You shut our only survival means, and you are saying you are not obliged?! Where is your conscience?!” This woman was Fang Yaowei’s mother, Fang Ronghua. She wailed as she clung onto Chen Jinxuan’s leg tightly.

“What do you want?”

Upon his question, Fang Ronghua wiped away her tears as she looked at Chen Jinxuan with pleading eyes. “Enough for us to hire a senior lawyer and enough for us to live through half a year.” 

With his head starting to throb from restless nights, Chen Jinxuan seemed to lose his patience quicker than usual. He had absolutely no mood to deal with this woman. Now that Fang Yaowei knew there was no benefit from begging in person, he asked his mother to beg instead? What a bastard.

Chen Jinxuan ripped a sheet of cheque out and procured a pen to write a sum on that piece of paper. He handed it to Fang Ronghua and without batting an eyelash, he mounted his motorcycle and rode away.

“If this much is all you can give, you shouldn’t have thrown us in a ditch!” Fang Ronghua shouted from behind.

Chen Jinxuan figured from Fang Ronghua’s words that Fang Yaowei must be under the spotlight. He recalled Fang Yaowei had transferred money to Ning Jinhai’s bank account. This record was enough to put Fang Yaowei as the prime suspect. However, if the dead man was truly Ning Jinhai, then Fang Yaowei might just be innocent in the murder case…

Losing his mood and appetite, Chen Jinxuan decided to return to his condominium and cooked himself instant noodles instead for the night.

That night, before he turned in, he received two messages.

‘Jin-ge, I know you have been busy and there is nothing much I can help with in the office. I just want to remind you to make sure you rest well—Chen Ling.’

Chen Jinxuan smiled as he typed in his reply. ‘I will. No worries. See you tomorrow.’

Not long after he sent the message, a new message came in.

‘Good evening, Jin-ge. Chen Ling and I had a great dinner today, but she was disappointed that you could not join. I was disappointed too. You still owe me a meal because I paid the bills today. Not that I mind paying bills for time spent with Chen Ling, but it is a different case with you, right?—Han Qiyu’

Chen Jinxuan could not help but chuckle at the message. Just how shameless this man could be? It was true, however, that he had to treat Han Qiyu to something other than a meal since they did not seem to have the fortune over it. Remembering that day when Chen Ling was at the verge of getting hit, if it weren’t for Han Qiyu, Chen Ling would have gotten hurt. It was something he never wanted to see again in his life.

‘Did she give you a chance to court her?’

‘I am not sure. You were all we talked about that day. She likes you a lot, huh. Can’t believe my rival is you, Jin-ge.’

‘You are absolutely out of her radar.’

‘Jin-ge, can you not say it outright? I am trying my best. Anyway, are you resting well? I saw the news.’

‘Everything is within control.’ Chen Jinxuan sent and placed his phone next to his pillow. He shut his eyes, succumbing to slumber’s temptation.

23rd December, Happy Birthday Chen Jinxuan!

Art by @nalangs_