Jian Jing twisted open the plastic cap at the end of the mop handle and tilted it downwards, shaking it vigorously. A seamless steel tube slid out. Nowadays most mops were telescopic models with hollow handles that could conveniently conceal a slightly smaller steel tube inside. Yet such ubiquitous household items tended to blend into the environment, causing people to instinctively overlook their existence and rarely inspect them closely.
Nevertheless, Lin Yao stubbornly maintained, "I didn't know that thing was there. It might have come from the factory that way."
"So confident. It seems when you used the weapon, you must have worn gloves," Jian Jing had found the crux and grew increasingly composed.
She walked straight to the trash can in the kitchen, and fished out a bottle of tomato sauce from inside.
The tomato sauce was in a translucent, frosted bottle, a large household size, already more than half empty with about 20% remaining.
"There's still some left, why throw it away?" she asked.
Lin Yao stiffly said, "I wanted to throw it away, do I need a reason?"
"Maybe in your eyes, it makes perfect sense to toss something before it's finished, but unfortunately, I find that very odd," Jian Jing shook the bottle and simply upended it.
This was not easy to do. The pail-shaped design did not easily stand inverted, but slowly, the tomato sauce inside poured out, revealing a syringe hidden at the bottom.
Lin Yao heaved a deep, powerless, sorrowful sigh.
"You pretended to accidentally knock things over to take out the steel pipe hidden in the mop, and concealed the syringe and needle in the bottle. Naturally the thread used to secure the plunger and recover the needle was mixed in with the yarn," Jian Jing held up the bottle, peering through the light to examine its contents, "There's only one needle. So the second puncture was when you went over this morning?"
To disguise it as a venomous snake bite, there had to be two holes, injecting poison twice was clearly more troublesome than adding another jab the next day amidst the chaos.
Lin Yao asked, "Where did I reveal my flaw?"
"No flaws, I eliminated other suspects then worked backwards to this conclusion. I had come to your room before but didn't look around at all," Jian Jing couldn't help but sigh, "The typhoon last night was the perfect chance to destroy evidence, unfortunately you were detained and didn't get the opportunity to prepare, otherwise..."
The typhoon last night was so fierce, if she had tossed the murder weapon into the back hills, one gust would have blown it away, making it near impossible to find again.
"Luckily for me, there's probably still traces of the venom inside the syringe," she asked.
Matters having reached this point, Lin Yao had nothing worthwhile left to defend herself with, silently sitting down on the sofa, choking back tears.
After a moment, the pent-up emotions reached a threshold, bursting forth past rationality.
"I hate Xiao Xiao so much. Although she did nothing wrong, I really hate, hate her!" She hated that Xiao Xiao had won Ying Jie's affection, hated that she didn't properly cherish him, leaving him so heartbroken, hated that she had clearly given him up, yet after her fiancé's death, was intimate with him again!"
She choked out a sob, hands covering her cheeks, venting her agony in heart-wrenching pain: "I had already resigned myself, but she suddenly broke up with him. I thought it was my chance, that he could finally see me, yet it was still her..."
"I desperately hoped she would disappear from this world. Without her, I wouldn't be Xiao Xiao's friend anymore, but Lin Yao, Yao Yao!"
Tears burst forth like a dam, and she abruptly lifted her head, teeth gritted, screaming hoarsely: "What's wrong with me? What's so good about her? Why, why?!"
Jian Jing softly sighed, neither answering nor condemning.
She knew Yao Yao actually understood love had nothing to do with this. Liking someone was just liking them, not liking was just not liking. Even if Yang Xiao died, Si Yingjie still may not look upon her.
Yet when ample reason encounters the most unreasonable love, defeat is destined.
One can hardly help fantasizing their schemes were flawless, able to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. One can hardly refrain from hoping another's death would turn Cupid's arrows their way.
To gamble such an illusory possibility, she had gambled away herself.
Ding dong, a phone rang.
Jian Jing glanced at it and said, "The police are here, do you want to see Si Yingjie one last time?"
Lin Yao's tragic laments abruptly ceased.
She raised her head, a glimmer of hope and yearning flashing through her sweet countenance, lighting up her eyes as if they contained thousands of unspoken words. Yet the flame only blazed for an instant before dying out like a candle burnt through the night.
"No need," Lin Yao said with difficulty, "I don't want to see Ying Jie hating me."
Before her voice faded, muffled sobs emerged from her throat—in that brief moment, she had regained her senses. Si Yingjie would not love her because of Yang Xiao's death, only hate her.
She did not wish to face him as a murderess.
"Just let the police come," she pleaded in a humble, pitiful way.
Jian Jing agreed.
But when Kang Mu Cheng brought the police over, Si Yingjie insisted on going inside. He loudly called from the doorway, "There must be some mistake, Mu Cheng, are you crazy? Jing Jing is just a child, she doesn't understand investigating cases at all. How could it possibly be Yao Yao? She's so timid, if she sees a stray dog on the road she has to take it to the vet."
He stated categorically, "Impossible!"
Jian Jing shook her head, signaling Kang Mu Cheng to stay and clean up, while she herself stepped outside, grabbing his arm, "Come with me."
Si Yingjie tried to shake her off but found himself unable to break free, stumbling straight along as she dragged him. He thought he was still drunk: "Jing Jing! Tell Mu Cheng he made a mistake, impossible."
"I found the murder weapon in her room, she admitted it herself," Jian Jing pulled him along, "Now isn't the time for this, let's hurry to Room 12."
Si Yingjie was confused: "What are we going to Room 12 for?"
"To see your ex-wife."
The police's actions were loud enough to wake A Xu and Coach Yin who had still been sleeping. They hurriedly came over, shocked and puzzled by events, looking on as spectators.
But with such a big commotion, Ai Lina and Zong Xunmei were nowhere to be seen.
They were both in Room 12.
Si Yingjie truly felt wretched. This morning when he awoke, he first heard his good friend had killed her lover. And now he saw his ex-wife appear in his cousin's former room, even holding a gun.
Luckily the muzzle was aimed at Zong Xunmei, otherwise he would have thought he was still in a drunken dream.
"What are you guys doing?" He gaped in disbelief.
Ai Lina glanced at Jian Jing, "If I were you, I wouldn't have dragged him into this. What's happening here had nothing to do with any of you originally."
Si Yingjie was furious, "What nonsense are you spouting? Put the gun down! Have you lost your mind? The police are on the island."
"Shut up, it's none of your business," but Ai Lina was extremely cold, glaring at Zong Xunmei as if throwing knives, "Get out of the way or I'll shoot."
Zong Xunmei raised his hands in surrender, but his tone was utterly unperturbed, "Killing me is useless, the item is no longer here."
Ai Lina's expression grew increasingly unpleasant, "So you're also one of them..."
"It's best you withdraw for now. Otherwise when the police take you away, there will be considerable trouble," Zong Xunmei urged sincerely.
Ai Lina's gaze narrowed, seemingly judging if he was bluffing.
"Don't think I'm deceiving you," he gave a faint smile, "When Dr. Wu passed away, the data on his computer and mobile devices were all erased. His personal belongings did not contain anything special either. That item wasn't on his person."
Jian Jing felt as if she had walked onto the wrong set, filled with confusion, quietly asking, "Ying Jie, who is Dr. Wu?"
"My cousin," Si Yingjie's stare was pitch-black, his demeanor gloomy, "He died overseas by unknown causes, said to be sudden myocardial infarction, but..."
"Dr. Wu was a technical consultant for a marine development firm. He single-handedly led the R&D for their 'Candle Dragon' deep sea excavation system," Zong Xunmei supplemented. "This technology is at least 5 years ahead of major American and European companies, in order to obtain it, they murdered Dr. Wu."
Jian Jing gasped, unable to believe her own ears.
"But no one obtained Candle Dragon's data," Zong Xunmei continued. "Three days before his death, Dr. Wu seemed to have a premonition and left his will with his lawyer, including arrangements for his estate. I'm sure many have already searched through the villa he lived in, finding nothing."
The more he revealed, the uglier Ai Lina's expression became.
Although not stupid, Si Yingjie swiftly grasped the situation, staring fixedly at Ai Lina, pressing aggressively, "You married me also because of this?"
"She is the 'special talent' hired by the Egill company," said Zong Xunmei with a smile in his eyes. "They want to get close to you to uncover Dr. Wu's secrets—clearly suspecting something wrong with the will."
Si Yingjie: "Damn it!"
Now exposed, arguing was useless. Ailina revealed the truth: "Before Dr. Wu died, he was holding a cup of Starbucks coffee, but he never drank coffee normally, only tea."
Jianjing finally understood.
The Starbucks logo is a mermaid.
Ailina coming to Mermaid Island was no coincidence.
So commercial warfare in this world is that intense? Directly sending a beauty to infiltrate and investigate? Compared to chairmen secretly filming in my old world, the gap is more than just a little!
Too scary.
"The villa is so big, you've been here more than once, did you find it?" Zong Xunmei asked with a smile.
Ailina's face was extremely ugly.
Zong Xunmei said, "I'll give you a chance to leave. If you don't go now, it'll be too late to regret it."
Ailina quickly glanced at Si Yingjie. He was so angry his face flushed red, the veins in his temples throbbing, but he barely held himself back: "Get lost now, or I'll have someone catch you."
Exposed, unable to obtain anything, and the police already on the island, a confrontation was not worthwhile.
Really unlucky, half a year's work wasted.
Ailina resentfully thought it was bad luck, but had no intention of continuing the standoff—after all she was just a corporate spy, doing her job for money, not a real agent who could fight off a hail of bullets.
"How heartless." She put away her gun, her figure darting out the door like a fleeing rabbit, leaving only a familiar teasing laugh, "A night of husband and wife, a hundred nights of grace. Farewell, Yingjie."
Si Yingjie had a lump of anger stuck in his chest, but was unable to vent it, only furiously kicking over a chair.
Jianjing felt very sympathetic, but had no time to care as her gaze locked onto Zong Xunmei: "Ailina was sent by that company, what about you? Why did you come here? Do you have Candle Dragon?"
"Three years ago I met Dr. Wu and was entrusted by him—OK, of course I was paid a considerable fee—to retrieve backup data of Candle Dragon for him and deliver it to his designated person," Zong Xunmei spread his hands unhurriedly. "The previous two years the situation was tense so I didn't rashly take action, also because I didn't have any other clues, what I knew was the same as what they knew."
Jianjing still wanted to ask more, but Si Yingjie could no longer endure it and angrily shouted, "What do you take me for? Coming and going as you please? Get lost! You get out too!"
"Entrusted by another, loyal service," Zong Xunmei was also unconcerned, only pausing slightly as he passed Jianjing to explain, "The situation was urgent, I offended you, apologies."
As he gestured, he tucked his business card into her braid: "I owe you a favor, feel free to look for me anytime. Farewell, Miss Jian."
The instant he raised his hand, Jianjing moved to block him, but she was a step too slow, only catching a card.
Looking at it, there were only two lines written:
Zong Ye.
Then a phone number.