Ch55 - Dispute

Ji Qinghuai was stunned and blurted out, “That’s impossible!”

With a frown, Xie Yan said to Qin Lang on the phone, “I’ve been with him since yesterday afternoon.”

Thinking back to last night, Ji Qinghuai was anxious to defend Xie Yan, “Last night, he was already annoyed with me pestering him, how could he have time to…”

The word “kill” came to his mouth, but Ji Qinghuai thought it was inauspicious to say it on the first day of the new year, so he changed his tone and said, “How would he have time to go after Ma Wenbin?”

“I figured you two were together, that’s why I called you.” The truth of this matter was not clear at the moment, but there was something more troublesome for Qin Lang who was investigating the case.

Qin Lang raised his hand and rubbed his brow, “Wake up already, you can’t sleep soundly today. Uncle Ma is making a scene at my place. Xie Yan can come over if he wants. I’m afraid there’ll be a scene if we don’t stabilize him first.”

Ji Qinghuai looked at Xie Yan and waited for his opinion. Xie Yan nodded his head.

He replied, “Okay, we’ll be there in a moment.”

Hanging up the phone, Ji Qinghuai no longer had the pleasure of going back to sleep. The news of Ma Wenbin’s death was so sudden that his heart felt stifled.

Ma Wenbin’s father, Ma Zhishan and Ji Xianzhi were friends, so Ji Qinghuai and Ma Wenbin had also known each other since childhood.

With Ji Qinghuai’s personality, he could get along well with everyone except for Ma Wenbin. Every time they saw each other, they would start fighting and this had continued since childhood.

Now his only rival was gone…

Ji Qinghuai sighed softly.

Looking at Ji Qinghuai, Xie Yan said warmly, “Let’s go and see first, at least we have to figure out what’s going on.”

“We should understand the situation first.” Ji Qinghuai took a deep breath to sort out his emotions.

This matter involved not only Ma Wenbin but also Xie Yan. Last night, the two of them stayed together the whole time, was it possible for him to leave and kill someone?

There was now an extra life on Xie Yan for no reason. They must first understand the context of the matter before they could think of countermeasures and prove Xie Yan’s innocence.

Without delaying for too long, they quickly washed up. Xie Yan wiped his face dry with a towel, looked at himself in the mirror, and glanced at his white neck.

Xie Yan hung up the towel, calmly went back to the room to change clothes, and wrapped a scarf around his neck before leaving.

Ji Qinghuai touched his nose in tacit understanding.

On the way to Qin Lang’s house, Ji Qinghuai received a message from him and roughly understood what was going on.

Ma Wenbin had accidentally met Xie Yan outside last night and took the initiative to approach him. Who knew that just after saying a few words, Xie Yan would suddenly shoot Ma Wenbin. Ma Wenbin was defenceless and caught unprepared, and was thus killed by a single blow in full view of the public.

Many eyewitnesses were present at the time. Someone recognized Xie Yan, and the murderer’s title was stamped on him.

But Ji Qinghuai knew very well that Xie Yan had only been framed. The only possibility was that someone impersonated Xie Yan and killed Ma Wenbin, then pinned the blame on Xie Yan.

Half an hour later, the car stopped outside the building and the two got off together. They took the elevator to the ninth floor and Ji Qinghuai walked out first. Before reaching Qin Lang’s office door, he heard a “bang”.

Something fell to the ground followed by a man’s angry voice from the office.

“Qin Lang, what do you mean? So many people saw what happened, but you still want to help Xie Yan!”

It was Ma Zhishan.

Qin Lang’s voice came later, “Calm down.”

“How can I calm down!”

Ma Zhishan paused and realized that his current attitude was inappropriate. He said slowly, “Xiaolang, you and Wenbin have known each other since childhood and have always been playmates. Uncle knows that Wenbin has a short temper, but he hasn’t done anything bad to you. Just because Xie Yan is your boss, you can’t…you can’t cover up an innocent life for personal gain.”

Qin Lang was about to answer when the door to his office was pushed open from the outside.

“It’s not like he was killed by Xie Yan, so why talk about covering up?”

Ji Qinghuai walked into the office, followed by Xie Yan. As the door of the office closed, the room quietened for a moment.

“Xie Yan!” As soon as Ma Zhishan saw Xie Yan, the anger in his heart could no longer be suppressed. He rushed over, wanting to attack the other.

“He just went out to drink and get together with his friends. What’s your problem?”

“What right do you have to kill innocent people indiscriminately?”

Ji Qinghuai stepped in front of Xie Yan, preventing Ma Zhishan from getting closer. “Uncle Ma, calm down, I have something to say.”

Ma Zhishan looked at Xie Yan and then at Ji Qinghuai who was stopping him. He calmed down and lowered his raised fist.

Ji Qinghuai stood in front of Xie Yan and didn’t move. “Your son’s death has nothing to do with Mr Xie. He didn’t do anything.”

“If it’s not him, then who can it be?” When Ma Zhishan heard this, the fury that had just been pushed down rose again. He pointed at Xie Yan and asked Ji Qinghuai, “What benefits did you two brothers receive from him? When he killed my son, there were so many eyewitnesses at the scene. Is it something that you, Ji Qinghuai, can brush aside with a single sentence?”

“You misunderstood.” Ji Qinghuai explained calmly. “I was with Xie Yan all night yesterday. I can testify for him. The murderer definitely can’t be him.”

“Why should I believe you?” Ma Zhishan demanded angrily, “As long as you defend Xie Yan, I won’t believe a word you say!”

“How could I lie to you about something like this?” Ji Qinghuai asked with a serious face, “A life is at stake. If I lie about such a big thing to protect someone, my father will be the first to punish me.”

After all, Qin Lang and Ji Qinghuai were still juniors. They dared not clash with Ma Zhishan head-on. They could only persuade him as much as possible. The last sentence greatly improved the credibility of Ji Qinghuai’s words.

Although Ji Xianzhi was more indulgent towards Ji Qinghuai, he wasn’t lax in his upbringing. As Ji Qinghuai himself said, if he dared to lie about this matter, Ji Xianzhi would not spare him.

Ma Zhishan also knew this and he began to hesitate in his heart. He stared at Ji Qinghuai and asked, “What were you two doing together? What evidence do you have to prove that you were together the whole time?”

The two questions choked Ji Qinghuai.

What were they doing together last night… He couldn’t answer that.

Ji Qinghuai looked back at Xie Yan with some discomfort, and he saw that Xie Yan was still as calm and unperturbed as Buddha.

He was instantly relieved.

This was originally just a casual small action, but Ma Zhishan noticed it and felt that Ji Qinghuai had a guilty conscience and was once again enraged.

“Why, the lies you spouted are see through?” Ma Zhishan shook his head at Ji Qinghuai with a look of utter disappointment. “Ji Qinghuai, Ji Qinghuai, no matter how playful you used to be, at least your mind was pure and your conduct was fairly decent, but I didn’t expect that you would dare to make up such frivolous lies to defend a murderer.”

“I know you don’t have a good relationship with Wenbin, but when have I ever blamed you for beating him black and blue? It wasn’t you who suffered.” Ma Zhishan’s hands trembled. “Now that he died unjustly and the murderer is right in front of you, how can you lie and say false statements just because you two fought a few times.”

Ma Zhishan was full of grief and indignation. He lifted his trembling finger to Ji Qinghai. “Your father has been just and upright his whole life and no one could ever criticise him. However, you are simply corrupting the Ji family…You don’t deserve to be a child of the Ji family!”

“Don’t go too far.” Qin Lang frowned slightly. His tone had cooled from the previous polite and patient one.

Yet, Ji Qinghuai was stunned by Ma Zhishan’s last words.

His father, Ji Xianzhi, was a mountain that he could never overcome in his lifetime. He always knew that many people envied his origins and admired his excellent father, but the surname “Ji” was never a constraint of his.

Without waiting for Ji Qinghuai to think more, a slender and powerful hand landed on his shoulder. He turned around and his gaze landed on Xie Yan. Looking at the calm eyes, the clouds that had gathered in his heart dispersed.

Xie Yan withdrew his hand and slowly walked to Ji Qinghuai’s side, asking lightly, “Is your brain just for decoration?”

Ma Zhishan was stupefied by the sentence.

Xie Yan continued, “As a demon, it is not difficult to practice illusionary techniques to confuse the eyes and ears, haven’t you thought about this possibility?”

“Don’t use this reason to mislead me.” Ma Zhishan resolutely believed that Xie Yan was the one who killed his son and wasn’t polite to him, “A few months ago, you almost strangled him in public. Su Yuhe can testify for this. At that time, I didn’t look to settle accounts with you so that you could save face, not because I was afraid of you!”

“Ma Wenbin’s death has nothing to do with me. I advise you to look at things clearly. Don’t waste your time with me.” Xie Yan replied calmly.

This was like pouring fuel on the fire. Ma Zhishan was going berserk. “Don’t think that your Master is…”

At this point, Ma Zhishan paused, “Don’t think you can do whatever you want even if you make a scene in front of Mr Shen. I’m also reasonable, don’t be too rampant!”

“Rampant?” Hearing these two words, Xie Yan’s eyes turned cold, “Even if I don’t rely on my Master, what can you do to me?”

“You…” Ma Zhishan was speechless.

Xie Yan spoke, “If someone died at my hands, it would be easier for me to handle this matter. I’ve already explained it to you. Don’t think that being an elder will allow you to say such words.”

Ji Qinghuai turned his head to look at Xie Yan, his heart warming. But this wasn’t a good time to be moved.

Ji Qinghuai said to Ma Zhishan, “Uncle, the murderer is indeed someone else. Please give us some time, we will find the murderer as soon as possible and give you a proper explanation.”

“Don’t pretend to be a good person here.” Ma Zhishan replied coldly. “Stop acting smart, you just want to find someone to take the blame using the illusion technique as an excuse, don’t even think about it!”

Ma Zhishan’s eyes swept over Xie Yan and Ji Qinghuai, and then turned to Qin Lang, “You are all birds of a feather, I can’t trust any of you, I…I’m going to find Ji Xianzhi. I must get justice for my son!”

After that, Ma Zhishan strode out of the room, slammed the door and left. The office was silent.

Ji Qinghuai and Qin Lang looked at each other, then at Xie Yan, “What do we do next?”

“Find a clue,” he replied.

Ji Qinghuai sighed helplessly, cursing the bastard who killed Ma Wenbin and framed Xie Yan.

When that person falls into his hands, Ji Qinghuai must make that person reveal his true colours!

The family and elder situation here is a reflection of Asian families. I could go on and on tbh but anyways my main issue is how elders are always ‘right’ even when they aren’t. And also, why do relatives need to know everything? I’m confusion ???