Chapter 133

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That night, Sun Yao sent Han Bohan all the way to where his car was parked and watched him get into his car with no intention of leaving.

When Han Bohan backed his car up, from the rearview mirror, he saw Sun Yao frozen on the side of the road, watching as his car slowly drove away until it disappeared around a corner.

At present, Han Bohan was both reluctant to believe that Shu Mian was a suspect and certain that there was definitely something up with her.

He wanted to get to the bottom of it. Using his professional identity, Han Bohan privately found Shu Mian and Sun Xunyan’s classmates, and from a female student who had a decent relationship with Sun Xunyan, he discovered that Shu Mian and Sun Xunyan were inseparably close. Shu Mian would go to Sun Xunyan’s house almost every week and hang out with her on the weekends. At school, the two were practically joined at the hip, yet in actuality, Sun Xunyan wasn’t all that fond of Shu Mian—she once complained that Shu Mian was too clingy and made her feel smothered.

Han Bohan asked why Sun Xunyan never turned Shu Mian away, and the girl said that Sun Xunyan had a frail nature; she was terrible at saying no to others. Han Bohan also asked her if she knew about Sun Xunyan and Cao Yuxiang, but the girl said that she didn’t, that Sun Xunyan hadn’t told her anything, but she frankly said that Sun Xunyan wouldn’t like Cao Yuxiang, let alone jump off a building because of him.

“Xiao Yan and her dad are really close. If she dies, then her dad’ll be alone, why would she abandon him?” was the girl’s original words.

All of Cao Yuxiang’s high school classmates had all graduated and gone to university—finding them was an even harder feat. Han Bohan always felt that, if Cao Yuxiang and Sun Xunyan hadn’t dated, then there would generally be someone who was close with Cao Yuxiang who knew what went on back then, but Han Bohan couldn’t find a single person who genuinely knew the ins and outs.

He contacted Cao Yuxian’s friend, the one who’d given a witness statement back then, and tried to find Cao Yuxiang’s other friends who he’d met with when he returned from university. In the end, there was one person who, upon seeing Shu Mian’s photo on Han Bohan’s phone, said that he’d seen her before.

At the time, that person had been with Cao Yuxiang. He was driving his car past the entrance of the high school Cao Yuxiang used to attend, when Cao Yuxiang told him to slow down. He had pointed at a girl on the sidewalk and asked, “Isn’t she pretty?” That girl was Shu Mian. Because she was too beautiful, one look was enough to leave a deep, lasting impression.

Other than that, Han Bohan couldn’t find further evidence. It was possible that Cao Yuxiang would have something in his possession, but it was practically impossible to approach the Cao family. At that time, as the case was already concluded, the police officer who’d been in charge of it no longer had the least bit of interest in anything related to the investigation, so he rejected Han Bohan with a few brief words.

Since there was no way to investigate Cao Yuxiang’s home, then he could only start with Shu Mian.

Han Bohan always felt that he might’ve made a mistake. If he’d truly been mistaken, then whatever the case, he had to set things right, even if he ends up losing his job.

In the meantime, Han Bohan brought Sun Yao and Sun Xunyan to the hospital to have her examined by his classmate.

This scene was filmed at a real hospital, but they shot it in the middle of the night, when there were no longer any outpatients.

These days, Han Bohan looked haggard, so when the makeup artist did Xia Xingcheng’s makeup, she specially emphasized the shadows under his eyes, and his lips were also pale. As filming entered summer, no day went by without excessive amounts of sweating. His appetite wasn’t the best either, so Xia Xingcheng grew thinner with each passing day. His whole being conformed with Han Bohan’s.

Before filming, he walked back and forth in the hospital corridor, a trace of sweetness leftover in his mouth from the candy Yang Youming had fed him a moment ago. At this time, the candy had already completely melted in his mouth, and when the last of the sweetness finally faded, Xia Xingcheng immersed himself in his character’s state of mind.

Han Bohan and Sun Yao stood in the corridor, waiting for Sun Xunyan’s examination.

Sun Yao’s hands were crossed on his chest, looking tense and visibly restless.

Han Bohan was in civilian clothing—a hooded tee and jeans that made him seem young. He sat on a bench in the corridor, his legs stretched out, leaning back against the wall. “Are Shu Mian and Xiao Yan close?”

Sun Yao calmly turned to face him. “They are.”

Han Bohan then asked, “Does Xiao Yan like her?”

This time, Sun Yao didn’t speak.

Han Bohan tilted his head slightly so it rested on the wall. “There’s no way that Xiao Yan liked Cao Yuxiang, right?”

Sun Yao’s tone was frosty and tinted with hatred. “Of course, it’s impossible.”

“Then how do you think Xiao Yan actually fell back then?” Han Bohan asked in a quiet voice.

Sun Yao’s eyes pierced through Han Bohan’s. “Xiao Yan was forced by him to jump. She didn’t want to be touched by him.”

Han Bohan appeared as if he was lost in thought. “Then after so long, Cao Yuxiang saw Xiao Yan once again, still hadn’t given up, and he climbed through your window to lay his hands on her again.”

This was Han Bohan’s initial conjecture. He believed that this whole incident ought to have panned out like this. Afterwards, Sun Yao killed Cao Yuxiang out of self-defense. So what part did Shu Mian play?

Han Bohan asked Sun Yao, “You’ve always believed that Cao Yuxiang harmed Xiao Yan for so long, yet you’ve never thought of getting revenge?”

Sun Yao coldly asked, “What could I do? I told the police from the get-go. I wanted to find Cao Yuxiang but there was nothing I could do. Xiao Yan was alone at the hospital. She couldn’t be without me for a second—what was I supposed to do? Prosecutor, teach me, how do I take revenge?”

Han Bohan looked at Sun Yao, and said, “I’m sorry.”

Sun Yao didn’t continue speaking. He turned away and looked towards the tightly closed doors of the examination room. After a long while, he didn’t hear another word come out of Han Bohan’s mouth. When he turned his head, he found that Han Bohan was asleep.

The skin under Han Bohan’s eyes had traces of black and blue. His face was gaunt, his lips pale. The hand that hung over his lap showed prominent wrist bones. He was truly beaten.

Sun Yao noiselessly walked up to Han Bohan. Lowering his head, he gazed at Han Bohan for a long time, his face containing a hint of frostiness. Eventually, he merely turned and sat down next to Han Bohan. He bent down and buried his face in his palms.

At this time, He Zheng called for a stop.

Yang Youming straightened up, yet he found that, next to him, Xia Xingcheng hadn’t opened his eyes at all. Instead, his head lolled to the side and fell onto Yang Youming’s shoulder.

Hua Hua ran over, asking in astonishment, “Is he really asleep?”

Yang Youming turned his head to look at him and nodded. “He’s been too exhausted from filming these days.”

Recently, the filming schedule had been tighter than it was before. Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming both lacked sleep, but Yang Youming had it slightly better, while Xia Xingcheng was often sleepy.

When a crew member bumped the equipment they were carrying against the wall, it let out a loud noise, and Xia Xingcheng woke up with a jolt. He lifted his head and couldn’t remember where he was for a moment. He turned around to look at Yang Youming, initially blanking out for a second before he realized that he wasn’t in the play. He heaved a sigh of relief and said, “It turns out I fell asleep.”

Yang Youming said to him, “Go sleep in the car.”

Xia Xingcheng nodded. He turned to find He Zheng and shouted, “Was that okay?”

He Zheng didn’t lift his head, only giving them a thumbs-up.

When Xia Xingcheng rose to leave, he saw Song Yanyan in a nightgown squatting in a corner, typing away on her phone. He walked over to ask her what she was writing.

Song Yanyan promptly hid her phone away. She looked at him and said, “Not showing you.”

Xia Xingcheng turned away and walked towards the elevator. When he looked back, he saw Song Yanyan with her head down again, both hands typing rapidly, making a weird grin as she wrote something.

Sleepy, he yawned and waited for the elevator to come down.

When Xia Xingcheng returned to his nanny car, he grabbed Yang Youming’s coat in passing, draped it over his head, and fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t have that long to sleep as they would be starting a new day of filming at dawn.

When he woke up, he heard Yang Youming speaking next to him. He lay there, motionless, wanting to hear what Yang Youming was saying, but Yang Youming only said ‘Mm’ and ‘Okay’ before hanging up.

Xia Xingcheng lifted the coat covering his head away and asked, “Who were you calling?”

Yang Youming was sitting by his leg. He leaned over and rubbed Xia Xingcheng’s head, and said, “Sleep a little longer.”

After they changed the filming location, Xia Xingcheng saw Ling Jiayue with Ren Keting at her side. Upon spotting Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming, Ling Jiayue averted her gaze, yet Ren Keting calmly walked over to greet them. She said she had gotten in touch with a school overseas for Ling Jiayue, and that she would send her abroad when shooting wrapped up next month. She wouldn’t be participating in the following promotional activities, including the film awards.

Xia Xingcheng didn’t know what to say, so he only greeted her before leaving in a hurry.

The next scene they filmed was a location scene where Han Bohan and Shu Mian went on a date. On Saturday morning, Shu Mian had make-up classes, so Han Bohan drove to her school to pick her up at the entrance at noon.

As it was currently summer vacation, the students coming and going through the school gates were all extras the school had invited. Xia Xingcheng was highly popular among this group of high schoolers, and his every appearance would cause an uproar. The school teachers were the one tasked to keep control of things.

Xia Xingcheng was wearing a short-sleeved linen T-shirt and black pants. He opened the car door and, when he extended a leg and stepped on the ground, it seemed long and straight, somewhat titillating and sexy.

Han Bohan had gone to find Shu Mian on his own accord. Since the night Shu Mian had taken that cake to Sun Yao’s place, Han Bohan had never gone to see her, and they hadn’t been in touch.

That day, Han Bohan intentionally waited for her to finish her class. He saw Shu Mian with two girls in their school uniforms walking out of the school, and immediately pushed the door and got out.

Shu Mian spotted him, stopped in her tracks, then made her way over to Han Bohan. “I thought you were angry.”

Han Bohan said, “Wasn’t that you?”

Shu Mian glanced at his car. Upon seeing that no one was inside, she said, “Were you waiting for me?”

Han Bohan hummed. “Let’s have lunch.”

Shu Mian suddenly took a step forward and hugged him, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Han Bohan was slightly startled. Before he could react, Shu Mian had already moved away from his lips, turning back and smiling at her two female classmates while waving at them. She said, “My boyfriend came to pick me up.”

Han Bohan felt a little averse hearing the word ‘boyfriend’. He never considered himself Shu Mian’s boyfriend from the beginning; he had no idea how to deal with a highschooler for a girlfriend. Now, it was even more unacceptable, considering how this high school girl might be involved in an intentional homicide case.

Without changing his expression, he drove away with Shu Mian and asked her, “Do you need to call your family?”

Shu Mian seemed to be in a good mood—she was humming a song. “No, I don’t usually eat at home.”

Han Bohan glanced at her. “Who else is home?”

Shu Mian looked back at him, the corners of her mouths slightly raised the whole time. “My grandma.”

“Just your grandma?” Han Bohan asked.

Shu Mian let out a soft ‘Mm’. “Just grandma.”

Han Bohan tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He felt his palms slightly dampened by sweat. Licking his dry lips, he said, “We’ll get something to eat then pay a visit to your grandma, okay?”

Shu Mian looked at him, and her smile suddenly grew more noticeable. She said, “Okay, grandma would definitely love it.”

Han Bohan took Shu Mian to buy a few cooked dishes and fruit then drove her home. It was his first time visiting Shu Mian’s house. The surroundings were better than he’d imagined, and it was a pretty decent neighbourhood. They took the elevator upstairs and got out on the third floor. Shu Mian walked ahead of him and unlocked a door to the left of the elevator.

It was a three bedroom apartment with a living room. Shu Mian’s parents were overseas, and she lived with her grandma. Her grandma was very old; she had poor eyesight and she seemed a little out of it.

Han Bohan poured the cooked dishes he’d bought into bowls and ate with them. In reality, he didn’t eat a grain of rice nor drink any water, he merely ate the dishes and fruit he’d bought.

After eating, Shu Mian helped her grandma wash the dishes and told Han Bohan to wait for her in her bedroom.

Shu Mian’s bedroom was an ordinary girl’s bedroom—there was nothing special about it. The walls were white, her bedsheets had a yellow cartoon duck pattern, and she had floral curtains. There was a desk in her room with a neat and orderly row of university entrance exam exercise books on top.

Han Bohan heard the sound of water from the kitchen. He opened a drawer and saw that the contents inside were also neatly arranged. There was nothing unusual at a glance. He also perused the bookcase next to the desk; there was no time to examine it carefully, but as he scanned through the rows of textbooks and exercise books, there was something sandwiched in one of the books.

He took the book out and opened it to see a photograph. It was a group photo of Shu Mian, Sun Yao, and Sun Xunyan. It seemed to have been taken at a park or somewhere else; Sun Yao had a hand wrapped around Sun Xunyan’s shoulders, while Shu Mian was standing next to Sun Xunyan with her hands behind her back. There was actually nothing special about it, but Han Bohan had this incessant, unpleasant feeling in his heart.

He placed the photo between the pages of the book, then placed the book back on the shelf. He felt that he probably wouldn’t be able to find anything here—Shu Mian would never leave anything related to Cao Yuxiang lying around.

Perhaps, this case might really be taken to the grave. Even if Han Bohan handed the evidence he currently had on hand to the police, he feared that it would be of no use—it wasn’t enough for the police to reopen the case.

At that moment, the door was locked with a ‘click’.

Han Bohan immediately whirled around, only to see Shu Mian standing in front of the closed door, facing him. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

All of a sudden, Shu Mian raised a hand to the zipper of her school uniform, then pulled down the zipper little by little. Underneath, she was only wearing a skintight, short-sleeved T-shirt. After she took off her uniform, she grabbed at the hem of her T-shirt and took it off completely.

No beautiful thoughts crossed Han Bohan’s mind whatsoever. A layer of sweat broke out on his forehead, and as Shu Mian undressed, he asked, “What are you doing?”

Shu Mian bent down to take off her pants. Her movements stilled for a bit, and she looked at Han Bohan, sounding puzzled as she said, “Don’t you want to have sex?”

Han Bohan sounded somewhat stern. “How old are you?”

Shu Mian blinked. “I’ve turned eighteen.” As she said so, she slowly approached Han Bohan.

Han Bohan shook his head. “Put your clothes on, I won’t do anything with you.”

As soon as he said that, he heard a knock on the door.

Shu Mian and Han Bohan turned to the locked door at the same time. Shu Mian shouted, “What is it, grandma?”

Yet Sun Yao’s deep voice pierced through the door. “Open the door! It’s me!”

Han Bohan saw that Shu Mian was clearly a little stunned. He didn’t know why, but he felt relieved at the sound of Sun Yao’s voice. He was reluctant to continue staying in a room with a shirtless Shu Mian, so he thoughtlessly walked over to open the door.

Just as Han Bohan unlocked the door, he suddenly received a heavy blow to the back of his head, and his vision swam. But right then, the door had already opened, and Sun Yao’s tall figure appeared before him, although his face had gone blurry.

Sun Yao lifted a hand to support Han Bohan and roared at Shu Mian, “Are you crazy?!”

Han Bohan hadn’t wholly passed out. He was only dizzy for several moments, cold sweat continued to flow down his forehead. He registered Shu Mian’s calm voice ringing out behind him: “He already knows that we intentionally lured Cao Yuxiang over and killed him. If you don’t kill him, he’ll put you in jail, and after that, there’ll be no one to take care of Xiao Yan anymore.”

Right then, Han Bohan felt the hand Sun Yao was holding him with suddenly tightening. He realised that Shu Mian had truly intended to kill him since the beginning, and he also realised that this time— he might not be able to escape.

☆ ☆ ☆

thank you to Vkngbd for the kofi! ❤

t/n – ty sofia for the editing help! i tled this super long chapter in a day and would probably cry if i had to edit on top of that

also! small easter egg that i completely forgot to mention 20 chapters ago: han bohan and sun yao’s names are a nudge(?) at jingangquan’s old (now locked) novel that was posted on jjwxc titled ‘保持沉默’ (eng. remain silent). the MC and ML in that novel has the same han and sun family name, and one of them is a prosecutor too! the plots are completely different tho~

⟵ Chapter 132 | TOC | Chapter 134 ⟶

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