“The child is…” Miao Ying started, frowning.
“Sigh…” Zhao Yu shook his head. He already knew the answer.
“Yes! I did not lack for suitors from the time I was in school to the time I became a successful female entrepreneur. But I never had any feelings towards them. None of these men could live up to Ah Biao’s standards. Not a single one would have robbed a bank simply because of a phone call!” Cheng Lingfei replied.
“That means… the child…” Miao Ying trembled slightly. “The child really is Yang Zebiao’s… I still thought…”
“What? You thought it was Jiang Ke’s?” Cheng Lingfei responded immediately, shaking her head in disgust, knowing what Miao Ying was going to say. “Just because the child is named Jiang Er, that doesn’t mean he’s related to Jiang Ke, right? Jiang Ke is just a subordinate who listens to my commands, that’s all!”
“But… Yang Zebiao…” Thinking of Yang Zebiao’s mental condition, Miao Ying had a hard time comprehending what Cheng Lingfei was doing. It was some kind of twisted love for such a ruthless and smart woman to be with Yang Zebiao, whom she had locked up for so many years.
“In this world, only Yang Zebiao can reassure me and make me feel secure. He suffered so much for me and was wronged, but never once did he betray me. I couldn’t betray him either! When I had this child, I had already let the issue of brother Shi Hai and Wu Fangfang go. That’s why I let Wu Fangfang off the hook!” she explained. “As my stomach grew bigger, I disappeared briefly to give birth to the child in secret. I named him Cheng Xiao, after my surname. Jiang Er was a nickname my mother gave him.”
“Since she knew about the child, did your mother also know about Yang Zebiao?” Zhao Yu asked.
“No!” Cheng Lingfei said sternly. “I understood my mother too well. If she knew that I had something to do with the Rural Cooperatives Homicide Case, she would never have kept it a secret. To this day she has no idea who the father of my child is. If I don’t say anything, she wouldn’t dare to ask either!”
“And your mother is now…” Zhao Yu prompted.
“She’s overseas! Although I have the money, they are unable to live a normal life here, so I sent them overseas and let him study there. Since Ah Biao can’t go anywhere, every new year, Jiang Er comes back and stays with us. And in order not to disturb our family reunion, I don’t let my mother come back,” she explained to Zhao Yu.
After listening to Cheng Lingfei speak, Zhao Yu was certain Cheng Lingfei’s mental condition was in a worse state than Yang Zebiao’s. On one hand, she was ruthless and merciless and wouldn’t let anyone who scolded her get away with it; on the other, she had so much love in her for people she cared for, and although Yang Zebiao was irrevocably damaged, she still loved him!
But such twisted love also guaranteed her misfortune. Even with all the power in the world, she would never be able to be as happy as a normal person. Was this some unfortunate destiny or a punishment from God?
“Let’s continue talking about this in chronological order, if not I will confuse myself!” Cheng Lingfei said, slightly tired and dejected. “After taking back my father’s house, I hired a professional interior designer to renovate it and I brought Ah Biao in afterward. I left my most trusted lackeys to look after him so he could live a carefree life.”
“Without anything left to worry about, I was able to relax slightly and focus my efforts on the main event. I got Jiang Ke to expand overseas and help remotely with my business. If it weren’t for me, Jiang Ke would still be a small-time hooligan with nothing to his name, so he owes a lot to me. From the way he looked at me when I was playing the violin, I knew that he had a secret crush on me,” Cheng Lingfei explained. “He even spent a lot of effort getting the commemorative edition CD of Late Autumn with the Japanese writer’s signature.”
“I loved that CD but couldn’t accept it so I gave him a stern warning that it would be impossible for anything to happen between us and that he and I would never be anything more than business relations!” Cheng Lingfei shook her head and let out a sigh. “Thinking back, I should have just accepted that CD!”
“That means… Jiang Ke already knew that you had helped him escape from prison back on the Hong Ming Jiang bridge?” Zhao Yu couldn’t help but ask.
“Of course, from the moment he received the call he knew!” Cheng Lingfei nodded.
“Then did he know about the explosives under his car?” Zhao Yu wondered.
“He knew that too. I had already told him, but who knew why the explosives ultimately didn’t go off!” Cheng Lingfei answered. Oh… Zhao Yu nodded slightly. At the end of the day, Jiang Ke had already known what was going to happen! It was no wonder that after getting off the bridge, he had turned around to look. He was expecting a car explosion!
The conversation with Tian Xudong at the seafood market afterward was also a lie. He couldn’t let anyone know that Cheng Lingfei was the mastermind! And later, when the bread truck charged into the supermarket, although Jiang Ke knew about the explosives, he and Zhao Yu both didn’t realize that the huge fire would ignite them. That explained why he was knocked out by the explosions as well! The whole story made sense now!
Cheng Lingfei showed no signs of stopping and continued her story. “Seizing the company and house back was only the start. My real revenge was yet to come! The first targets were naturally my brothers and sisters, as they had scolded me the most. They deserved to pay the price. After my younger brother and sister were admitted into the mental hospital, in order not to be on the police’s radar, I paused my plan for a while.”
“During that time, I thought I would quit. But obviously, after everything that had happened my thirst for revenge was insatiable. In those three short years I had already killed all of those who had scolded me!” At this point, Cheng Lingfei became really excited. She seemed proud of what she had accomplished. “All these people mostly died overseas, and in accidents, so nobody would have suspected me. After my revenge, I still felt unsatisfied, so I slowly shifted my efforts towards Jiang Ke and used him to execute my gun challenges one after the other!”
“Only after each success could I feel a small amount of satisfaction. To be honest, I didn’t have to use such risky methods and would still have been able to earn lots of money. It was an addiction… Everything went according to plan at first, but who would have thought that the supposedly flawless smoke robbery actually was ruined! Even Jiang Ke got caught in the mess. That really shocked me! Which is how all this eventually came about! Detective Zhao…” Cheng Lingfei glanced at Zhao Yu. “You are indeed impressive. From the Hong Ming River bridge, you’ve managed to guess my intentions.”
“You were right! I was afraid that one day, a detective who specialized in unsolved cases would come knocking on my door, so I was trying to take that chance to get rid of you!” Cheng Lingfei’s eyes flickered wickedly. “The Rural Cooperatives Homicide Case was the first crime I committed and it wasn’t flawless. Ah Biao being alive is actual evidence, if you put your heart into investigating it there are many loose ends you could find! So, I couldn’t let someone like you live!” Cheng Lingfei gritted her teeth. “And killing Wu Fangfang wasn’t just about the personal problems I had with her, she also knew too much about me!”
“The child is…” Miao Ying started, frowning.
“Sigh…” Zhao Yu shook his head. He already knew the answer.
“Yes! I did not lack for suitors from the time I was in school to the time I became a successful female entrepreneur. But I never had any feelings towards them. None of these men could live up to Ah Biao’s standards. Not a single one would have robbed a bank simply because of a phone call!” Cheng Lingfei replied.
“That means… the child…” Miao Ying trembled slightly. “The child really is Yang Zebiao’s… I still thought…”
“What? You thought it was Jiang Ke’s?” Cheng Lingfei responded immediately, shaking her head in disgust, knowing what Miao Ying was going to say. “Just because the child is named Jiang Er, that doesn’t mean he’s related to Jiang Ke, right? Jiang Ke is just a subordinate who listens to my commands, that’s all!”
“But… Yang Zebiao…” Thinking of Yang Zebiao’s mental condition, Miao Ying had a hard time comprehending what Cheng Lingfei was doing. It was some kind of twisted love for such a ruthless and smart woman to be with Yang Zebiao, whom she had locked up for so many years.
“In this world, only Yang Zebiao can reassure me and make me feel secure. He suffered so much for me and was wronged, but never once did he betray me. I couldn’t betray him either! When I had this child, I had already let the issue of brother Shi Hai and Wu Fangfang go. That’s why I let Wu Fangfang off the hook!” she explained. “As my stomach grew bigger, I disappeared briefly to give birth to the child in secret. I named him Cheng Xiao, after my surname. Jiang Er was a nickname my mother gave him.”
“Since she knew about the child, did your mother also know about Yang Zebiao?” Zhao Yu asked.
“No!” Cheng Lingfei said sternly. “I understood my mother too well. If she knew that I had something to do with the Rural Cooperatives Homicide Case, she would never have kept it a secret. To this day she has no idea who the father of my child is. If I don’t say anything, she wouldn’t dare to ask either!”
“And your mother is now…” Zhao Yu prompted.
“She’s overseas! Although I have the money, they are unable to live a normal life here, so I sent them overseas and let him study there. Since Ah Biao can’t go anywhere, every new year, Jiang Er comes back and stays with us. And in order not to disturb our family reunion, I don’t let my mother come back,” she explained to Zhao Yu.
After listening to Cheng Lingfei speak, Zhao Yu was certain Cheng Lingfei’s mental condition was in a worse state than Yang Zebiao’s. On one hand, she was ruthless and merciless and wouldn’t let anyone who scolded her get away with it; on the other, she had so much love in her for people she cared for, and although Yang Zebiao was irrevocably damaged, she still loved him!
But such twisted love also guaranteed her misfortune. Even with all the power in the world, she would never be able to be as happy as a normal person. Was this some unfortunate destiny or a punishment from God?
“Let’s continue talking about this in chronological order, if not I will confuse myself!” Cheng Lingfei said, slightly tired and dejected. “After taking back my father’s house, I hired a professional interior designer to renovate it and I brought Ah Biao in afterward. I left my most trusted lackeys to look after him so he could live a carefree life.”
“Without anything left to worry about, I was able to relax slightly and focus my efforts on the main event. I got Jiang Ke to expand overseas and help remotely with my business. If it weren’t for me, Jiang Ke would still be a small-time hooligan with nothing to his name, so he owes a lot to me. From the way he looked at me when I was playing the violin, I knew that he had a secret crush on me,” Cheng Lingfei explained. “He even spent a lot of effort getting the commemorative edition CD of Late Autumn with the Japanese writer’s signature.”
“I loved that CD but couldn’t accept it so I gave him a stern warning that it would be impossible for anything to happen between us and that he and I would never be anything more than business relations!” Cheng Lingfei shook her head and let out a sigh. “Thinking back, I should have just accepted that CD!”
“That means… Jiang Ke already knew that you had helped him escape from prison back on the Hong Ming Jiang bridge?” Zhao Yu couldn’t help but ask.
“Of course, from the moment he received the call he knew!” Cheng Lingfei nodded.
“Then did he know about the explosives under his car?” Zhao Yu wondered.
“He knew that too. I had already told him, but who knew why the explosives ultimately didn’t go off!” Cheng Lingfei answered. Oh… Zhao Yu nodded slightly. At the end of the day, Jiang Ke had already known what was going to happen! It was no wonder that after getting off the bridge, he had turned around to look. He was expecting a car explosion!
The conversation with Tian Xudong at the seafood market afterward was also a lie. He couldn’t let anyone know that Cheng Lingfei was the mastermind! And later, when the bread truck charged into the supermarket, although Jiang Ke knew about the explosives, he and Zhao Yu both didn’t realize that the huge fire would ignite them. That explained why he was knocked out by the explosions as well! The whole story made sense now!
Cheng Lingfei showed no signs of stopping and continued her story. “Seizing the company and house back was only the start. My real revenge was yet to come! The first targets were naturally my brothers and sisters, as they had scolded me the most. They deserved to pay the price. After my younger brother and sister were admitted into the mental hospital, in order not to be on the police’s radar, I paused my plan for a while.”
“During that time, I thought I would quit. But obviously, after everything that had happened my thirst for revenge was insatiable. In those three short years I had already killed all of those who had scolded me!” At this point, Cheng Lingfei became really excited. She seemed proud of what she had accomplished. “All these people mostly died overseas, and in accidents, so nobody would have suspected me. After my revenge, I still felt unsatisfied, so I slowly shifted my efforts towards Jiang Ke and used him to execute my gun challenges one after the other!”
“Only after each success could I feel a small amount of satisfaction. To be honest, I didn’t have to use such risky methods and would still have been able to earn lots of money. It was an addiction… Everything went according to plan at first, but who would have thought that the supposedly flawless smoke robbery actually was ruined! Even Jiang Ke got caught in the mess. That really shocked me! Which is how all this eventually came about! Detective Zhao…” Cheng Lingfei glanced at Zhao Yu. “You are indeed impressive. From the Hong Ming River bridge, you’ve managed to guess my intentions.”
“You were right! I was afraid that one day, a detective who specialized in unsolved cases would come knocking on my door, so I was trying to take that chance to get rid of you!” Cheng Lingfei’s eyes flickered wickedly. “The Rural Cooperatives Homicide Case was the first crime I committed and it wasn’t flawless. Ah Biao being alive is actual evidence, if you put your heart into investigating it there are many loose ends you could find! So, I couldn’t let someone like you live!” Cheng Lingfei gritted her teeth. “And killing Wu Fangfang wasn’t just about the personal problems I had with her, she also knew too much about me!”
