Chapter 55 - Chapter 57 (1/2)

It was nighttime and a strong sense of autumn lingered under the moon-lit sky.

Yao Meng lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the urban area alongside Lin Qingyan. Tonight they were wearing a matching set of household clothing. Lin Qingyan looked tall and refreshed and when they saw Ji Bai and Xu Xu at the door, they were both surprised.

The four sat down on the sofa and Lin Qingyan stood up politely. "I'll go make some tea, you guys go ahead."

There was a short pause when Yao Meng saw Feng Ye's picture.

"We were high school classmates. I heard about the 'angel killer' incident but I wasn't very familiar with it. What happened?"

Yao Meng might be in danger but of course, Xu Xu could not reveal everything regarding the case since she was no longer a police officer. Xu Xu took out some basic information surrounding the case and handed it to her. Yao Meng quietly finished reading it and nodded while blushing a little. "Okay, but what does this have to do with me?" Yao Meng was a little stunned when she saw the sneak photograph.

Ji Bai asked, "What is your relationship with him?"

"Just ordinary classmates, we're not that close."

At this moment, Lin Qingyan came over with some tea and saw the serious look on their faces. He sat down beside Yao Meng and asked softly, "What happened?"

Yao Meng raised her head and smiled at him. "Nothing. They came to ask me about my former classmate."

After chatting for a while, Ji Bai and Xu Xu stood up. "That's all for now, we'll stop bothering you."

Yao Meng smiled back and got up. "I'll send both of you off." She turned around nodded at Lin Qingyan. "I'll be back soon."

The three of them walked silently all the way to the empty boulevard outside the housing area when Yao Meng suddenly asked softly, "Xu Xu, can we talk?" Xu Xu nodded and Ji Bai looked at the two of them before going to wait in his car.

The two of them found a bench and sat down as Xu Xu looked at her quietly. Yao Meng raised her head to look at the clear night sky and smiled, "I didn't want to say this because Qingyan was there just now, but if you go to the school to investigate, you'll find out that Feng Ye and I, we used to date in high school."

Xu Xu was lost for words. Although she could tell that Yao Meng was hiding something, she did not expect the two of them to have had such a relationship.

Yao Meng said softly, "I don't know what to say as I've dated such a monster."

Xu Xu looked at her sorry expression and frowned. "Did you... love him very much?"

Yao Meng paused for a moment before she shook her head while chuckling. "Why would I? I was young and ignorant at that time."

Was it love? Yao Meng did not know.

Towards Ji Bai, it was adoration with a strong sense of admiration. After she was rejected, her self-esteem was bruised, but it did not hurt that badly. However, she was, still feeling a little sore about the incident. Therefore, she subconsciously wanted to avoid him now that she was talking about her relationship with Feng Ye.

As for Lin Qingyan, it was his maturity and sense of belonging that attracted her. His charm and temperament deeply moved her but it was undeniable that his money and status also came into play. He was more like a marriage candidate to Yao Meng.

What about Feng Ye?

Two equally outstanding teenagers who were both enthusiastic and impulsive, and feeling as though they could love each other forever. Nonetheless, when she thought about it now, all she could do was smile.

He was stubborn and he came from a poor family background. Moreover, he would have gone on to study in Hong Kong, which was the reason why Yao Meng had broken up with him at that time. Even after so many years had passed, she still felt a dull pain in her heart whenever she was reminded of this pure and innocent love - she did not feel the same attraction with Ji Bai and Lin Qingyan. Later on, after she heard about the "Angel Killer" incident, this nostalgic feeling morphed into intense disgust, so much so that she did not want to think about this rapist anymore.

Xu Xu remained silent for a moment before asking, "Did he show any signs of psychological change when he was dating you?"

Yao Meng shook her head. "He didn't seem particularly odd as boys of that age are usually wild and impulsive. Moreover, we were only in a relationship for a year, so I don't know him that well." Their feelings were strong but they were often ignorant and strongly emotional.

Xu Xu continued to probe, "What about sex? Did he have any fetishes?"

Yao Meng lowered her head and murmured. "We did not have sex." After saying that, she looked at Xu Xu.

Both of them instantly had the same thought. This meant that she was in an even more dangerous situation now because Feng Ye might return as he had not truly 'got' Yao Meng.

Xu Xu quickly said, "I'll send someone from unit to offer you full-day protection."

"N-no. This will affect my work." Yao Meng frowned.

Being protected by police officers would certainly attract other people's attention. She might as well close down her magazine agency if news about her being targeted by a perverted killer was being spread to the public.

Even so, Xu Xu was still worried. Yao Meng smiling said when she saw how Xu Xu was silent. "You can rest assured as I'm either at the company or at home. Moreover, I'm usually with my colleagues and Qingyan often picks me up from work. It won't be easy to abduct me. In addition to this, you're not sure that it was him anyway, right? It's still likely that he had died at sea way back then." She paused for a moment then continued, "How about I talk to Qingyan about this when I get back and tell him that my high school classmate is a stalker - he will probably arrange for two bodyguards for me. Don't worry about it."

Only then did Xu Xu nod slowly.

After Xu Xu and Ji Bai left, Yao Meng stared blankly at the empty boulevard before returning to her house. As soon as Yao Meng walked through the door, she saw Lin Qingyan sitting on the sofa quietly with a book in his hand. A 35 years old man with the elegance of an older gentleman, yet with the appearance of a handsome youth.

She walked over to him and leaned against his shoulder.

Lin Qingyan put down the book and pulled her closer to him. "Baby, is everything okay?"

She buried her head in his chest and then looked up at him. "Nothing, I just spent some time talking to Xu Xu."

Over the next ten days, the police dispatched a large number of officers to conduct a full-scale search for Feng Ye, but they did not find anything. Moreover, there was no progress on the investigation of the victim, Bai Anan.

Everyone in the criminal police unit was getting tenser by the day as they were afraid that a second victim might suddenly appear.

However, life still had to go on even if they had yet to close the case. Ji Bai did not tell anyone in the unit about Xu Xu's pregnancy as the current case was very stressful and he did not want to distract the rest of them with his personal matters. He told Little Zhao that recently, Xu Xu was not feeling too well and asked him to look after her; Little Zhao naturally agreed to this as he was the one who dealt with all sorts of errands in the unit. After this, Xu Xu was well taken care of under Little Zhao watchful eye.

Nevertheless, although the case was very tense, Xu Xu's pregnancy went along very smoothly. Despite feeling nauseous during the first few days, she was feeling quite alright now. She looked energetic every day and her complexion had gotten a lot better as well. Ji Bai claimed that it was his strong genes that were changing Xu Xu's body composition.

At noon, everyone went to the cafeteria to have lunch. Due to their heavy workload, lunch was the only time they get to relax, so they would naturally use it to chat more enthusiastically.

More people soon started to funnel into the cafeteria. Since Ji Bai was afraid that someone would bump into Xu Xu, he asked her to sit down and he went to get food for her himself. Then, he sat down next to her and chatted with the others while he ate.

Xu Xu ate quietly and did not attract anyone's attention, but after a while, she suddenly nudged Ji Bai. He turned sideways and saw that her plate was now empty - it seemed like she had finished eating her portion relatively fast today.

"Are you done? Should I accompany you back to the office?"

Xu Xu nodded. "I want to have more."

After saying this, everyone looked at Xu Xu in awe as she was well-known to have a small appetite, this was totally unlike her.