After work, Shi Nian returned to Kangchuan University. As soon as he crossed the large lawn, he saw an Eastern woman standing at the entrance of the dormitory building. She was very tall, over 170 cm, and with 10-inch high heels, she did not look any shorter than Western students.
The woman had short, thinly styled hair, with the left side only reaching her ear, while the right side extended beyond her cheek, perfectly accentuating her beautiful and cold features. However— looking from the left, she seed a bit like a boy, but from the right, she appeared as an elegant lady. Overall, she possessed a rebelliousness and individuality uncommon in ordinary Eastern won.
She wore a black dress, with a black suit vest as the top, revealing her slender arms, and a black chiffon long skirt below, with the hem sweeping over her feet. Shi Nian silently praised in his heart: the perfect clothes hanger.
Having noticed so much, he didn’t mind examining her accessories. Shi Nian’s gaze slid to her wrist. He saw her left wrist was bare, while the right was filled with trinkets—apart from a professional wristwatch, she wore a string of bodhi beads. 108 beads wound around her wrist four full tis and hung loosely, lazily draping over the back of her hand, enhancing her cold and graceful skeletal beauty.
Shi Nian couldn’t help but take another look, and at the sa ti, couldn’t help but—stop in front of her.
This strikingly tall beauty was none other than An Cheng.
Shi Nian didn’t know her, yet he still stopped in front of her.
An Cheng squinted at Shi Nian and nodded, asking in Chinese, "Nana?"
Shi Nian sighed, "Prosecutor An."
.
An Cheng squinted at Shi Nian again, "How did you know it was ?"
"1. Prosecutor An stood under the dorm where I live, looking around, clearly waiting for soone;"
"2. During the wait, Prosecutor An looked up at my room 507’s window three tis;"
"3. Because Prosecutor An knows Nana is an exchange student from China, whenever an East Asian student passed by, you would take an extra look, the sa applied when I passed by, you also looked at a few tis."
"4. Prosecutor An once glanced at the office of the campus police where Sean died, and it wasn’t a casual glance, but a deep look at that window."
"5. And of course, the most crucial point—I once heard Prosecutor An’s voice on the phone, so when Prosecutor An tentatively called out Nana’s na, I was able to confirm it."
An Cheng couldn’t help but be slightly surprised by what he heard, "Impressive."
Shi Nian shook his head, "Prosecutor An flatters, it’s just the basics."
"That must an your professor is remarkable," An Cheng crossed her arms, "No wonder you’re from the behavior analysis class, and you’ve only attended a few classes."
As the prosecutor of the case, An Cheng naturally knew the background information of everyone involved like the back of her hand. Shi Nian’s heart stirred, "Prosecutor An, why don’t we go off-campus for a cup of tea and talk slowly."
"Just what I wanted."
.
Shi Nian and Tang Yanqing returned to school one after the other, not wanting the whole school to know about their personal relationship.
During the day, Tang Yanqing accompanied her to work on "Deep Throat," wearing a police uniform; after work, back at school, she had to change into casual clothes in the car beforehand.
After Shi Nian had spoken with An Cheng for a while, Tang Yanqing slowly walked over from the large lawn. From afar, she spotted An Cheng, paused for a mont, but didn’t expect An Cheng to be sharp-eyed. While still chatting with Shi Nian, she casually looked back and imdiately spotted her.
An Cheng frowned, reached out to grab Shi Nian’s wrist, and led her out. She directly walked up to Tang Yanqing and raised an eyebrow high, "Yanqing?"
Tang Yanqing knew she couldn’t avoid it, so she didn’t try to, smilingly raised a finger, "Shh... on duty."
An Cheng raised an eyebrow, looked at Tang Yanqing, then at Shi Nian, "Witness protection?"
It was witness protection, but not because of Mark’s case. It had been ongoing since Nisha’s case; however, at this mont, they went with the flow, and Tang Yanqing confird it with a nod, "Correct."
An Cheng pointed to the door, "Then let’s go together. I’ll drive Nana first, you follow behind in your car." After saying this, she added a playful line, "Surely you recognize my car, don’t you?"
Shi Nian was slightly surprised, "You, know each other?"
Shi Nian already knew that Tang Yanqing was acquainted with An Cheng. After all, Tang Yanqing had once used An Cheng to threaten his brother. Shi Nian had assud their relationship was purely professional; however, from their tone earlier, it didn’t seem purely businesslike, rather it seed quite intimate.
An Cheng turned and stared at Shi Nian for a mont, then shrugged, "Uh, I’m his girlfriend."
Shi Nian almost stumbled, nearly twisting his ankle in his high heels.
He couldn’t help but glance back towards Tang Yanqing, luckily seeing her roll her eyes.
Only then could Shi Nian not help but smile softly.
Fortunately, he had long known that Tang Yanqing used An Cheng to threaten Tang Yanxi, which hinted at An Cheng’s unique regard for Tang Yanxi. Otherwise, he might have been truly frightened by An Cheng’s serious deanor.
.
The three of them deliberately took a longer route and arrived at a quiet café.
An Cheng led Shi Nian inside, first calling over a waiter to get a cup of coffee for Tang Yanqing, but instructed the waiter to deliver it to a booth separated from them by a row of seats. She then led Shi Nian to a seat in a corner by the window.
Shi Nian pointed at the cup of coffee that had been bought.
An Cheng shrugged and nodded, "Mm, as long as he can see you, that’s enough. I’m not planning to let him hear our conversation. He’s police, I’m prosecution, our stances are different."
Shi Nian was also surprised, "I thought you were on the sa side. Isn’t the prosecutor supposed to supervise the police investigation?"
An Cheng shook her head, "Our fundantal interests align with the police; we all want the suspects to plead guilty and face justice. But in the specific execution steps and scales, we often have conflicts: the police hope that every suspect they manage to catch will plead guilty with the highest possible sentence; however, for us in prosecution, sotis we have to negotiate legally with suspects, which leads to argunts with the police."
"Oh." Shi Nian found it interesting and lowered her head with a smile.
An Cheng is Tang Yanxi’s courtroom opponent, and now it’s evident she’s also an enemy of sorts with Tang Yanqing... this relationship is intriguing.
An Cheng raised an eyebrow and stared at Shi Nian, "Why are you smiling? Why do I get the feeling it’s a bit wicked?"
Shi Nian was also slightly startled, lifting her eyes to look at An Cheng.
An Cheng shrugged, "What I say is what my eyes see. No need to be surprised."
By this ti, Tang Yanqing had already entered and was seated at the booth on the other side, guided by the waiter. He picked up his coffee and glanced over in their direction.
Shi Nian steadied her mind and smiled gently, "The first impression Prosecutor An gave was aloof, yet now it turns out you’re quite approachable. A bit surprising, please don’t mind."
"So you thought I was cold, which is why you refused to see last ti? Well, for to take the initiative to visit this ti is quite approachable, isn’t it?"
Shi Nian could only apologize with a smile, "Last ti Prosecutor An’s tone—pardon my frankness, was indeed sowhat condescending. However, the reason I didn’t go wasn’t because of that; it was truly because my identity makes it inconvenient to testify in court."
Moving to the main topic, An Cheng spread her hands, "This ti I’m here, you should know I’m still going to talk about that matter. Since you’re willing to co out and talk, it ans your attitude should have softened."
Shi Nian raised her brows with a sly smile, "How about an exchange of conditions?"
"What conditions?" An Cheng squinted her eyes.
"I can testify in court."
Shi Nian thought since her identity at Kangchuan University had already been revealed, and Xiang Yuan would no longer serve as Mark’s defense attorney, all her obstacles to testifying in court were removed.
"But, Prosecutor An, you have to help with sothing too."
An Cheng looked down, stirring her coffee, "Let’s hear it first."
Under the soft deep orange light, Shi Nian lifted her eyes, captivatingly contrasting black and white.
"I want Mark’s background information."
An Cheng was slightly taken aback, "Oh?"
Shi Nian’s face flushed a little, "Because I can’t find it myself... but I’m sure Prosecutor An would have it."
An Cheng then smiled, gracefully taking a sip of her coffee.
"It’s normal that you can’t find it. If you could easily find it online, that would be surprising. Nowadays, truly prestigious families hire very professional PR firms to specifically clear out any information about their identity and background from the internet, even rumors circulating privately."
"You could say they’re discreet, or perhaps they wish to keep the family’s history under wraps. Those in the country who boast about being so wealthy young master aren’t truly from prestigious families, most haven’t surpassed three generations; and due to having such descendants, they’re destined never to beco true prestigious families, at most nouveau riche."
Shi Nian thought of a certain internet celebrity and pressed her lips together with a smile.
An Cheng’s gaze drifted towards Tang Yanqing.
This Qing Guan’er, his posture really gives it away. Look at him, seemingly leisurely drinking coffee, yet foolish enough to use a straw unconsciously, and his body is instinctively turned 45° towards them... it’s all an act, but in reality, he’s very interested.
"Why not ask Mr. Tang? Naturally, the police are also investigating Mark’s background."
－
[Second update in the morning]
Reviews
All reviews (0)