Miss Cousin is Always Busy

Don't run away from me?

Jun Zishu read the two bookmarked pages. The story spoke about a crying boy holding onto a girl, the former pleading the latter not to leave him.

Jun Zishu returned the bookmark and closed the book. However, she did not put the book back into the bookshelf.

After browsing through the other books, she did not find any other bookmarks.

Apart from photos, there were also awards and certificates posted around the room. After taking a quick look, Jun Zishu found that they were for piano and Latin dance recitals.

It would seem that Chen Yin was a girl capable of both singing and dancing.

At this time, Yang Tianxiao crouched down and shone a flashlight under the bed.

"There's a box here, Chief."

Yang Tianxiao reached under the bed and pulled out the box in question.

Jun Zishu narrowed her eyes on the box. Seeing that there wasn't any dust collected on it, it should've been put under the bed or taken out recently.

There was only one red thread that was neither very long nor very short stored in the box. Other than the thread, there was nothing else in the box.

Jun Zishu brushed a finger along the edges of the box. Then, she blew away the dust her finger collected.

It would seem that the box had been taken out for viewing recently. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so much dust collected along the edges but nothing collected on the lid.

"Can I take this away?" Jun Zishu asked Liu Yiping as she pointed at the book in her hand.

"Of course."

"Is this your daughter's handwriting?" Jun Zishu asked as she pulled out the bookmark and waved it in front of Liu Yiping.

"I'm not sure," Liu Yiping said hesitantly.

"Hm?"

"These look like my daughter's handwriting when she is writing in curlicues, but Qianqian's curlicues also look the same. So, I can't really differentiate between their handwriting when they write in curlicues. The two of them frequently help out with writing the greeting cards in my flower shop."

"Okay." Jun Zishu returned the bookmark to its original position and nodded. "Are there any other personal belongings at home that are important to Chen Yin?"

"Other than a few old items, I don't think there is anything else," Liu Yiping said, shaking her head after giving Jun Zishu's question some thought. "Officer, will these questions really help find my daughter's killer?"

"The more information we have, the better the deductions we can make."

"Then… Feel free to look at and ask whatever you want."

"Then, I wish to know how much you understand about Chen Yin's social interactions."

"Okay."

"Does she have a boyfriend?"

"She had one in her first year of university, but she broke up with him the next year."

Chen Yin was currently a third-year student.

"Do you know the reason?"

"I'm not sure. They are only children, so I didn't think much about it when they broke up."

"What about her other relationships?"

"Little Yin has many friends that normally invite her out to play. Many people also celebrate her birthday with her. Out of all her friends, the person she is closest to should be Qianqian. Besides Qianqian, Little Yin has two more roommates at university. I don't remember their names, but Little Yin gets along quite well with them. Little Yin has also joined her university's student committee. Oh, right, there is one boy who sings quite well among Little Yin's friends. That boy and several other of Little Yin's friends have come over to have a meal at our place before."

Liu Yiping was doing most of the talking throughout while Chen Jianlong simply nodded in agreement.

Jun Zishu memorized these details in her mind and nodded after getting a general picture of Chen Yin's social life. Then, she ended the inquiry by saying, "If anything else comes up or you discover something, please do call us."

"Okay."

Afterward, the couple sent Jun Zishu and Yang Tianxiao to the door and closed it.

"What do you think?" Jun Zishu asked Yang Tianxiao as they made their way downstairs.

"It feels like the victim is close with her parents, probably because she is an only child. When you asked if the victim had any conflicts, the mother practically had 'my daughter is well-behaved, there is no way she will come into conflict with anyone' written on her face. We will have to meet up with Duoduo and hear his findings before we can come to any conclusions," Yang Tianxiao analyzed while fiddling with the camera in her hands.

"There is a high possibility that an acquaintance committed the crime. Possibly a vendetta. The killer might have an accomplice as well. Or maybe even two," Jun Zishu said. The more people involved in a crime, the more likely the suspects would accidentally expose themselves.

For the moment, Jun Zishu was opting against designating this murder incident as a crime of passion. This was because the victim's clothing was intact. There were no signs of sexual assault on the victim's body, either.

A crime of passion would often involve sex to a certain extent. Of course, this wasn't always true.

However, if it was a vendetta, what was the cause of hatred?

"It seems the killer is merely an ordinary university student," Jun Zishu deduced.

"What kind of person do you think Chen Yin is?"

"A lively, outgoing girl with good interpersonal relationships. She likes reading romance novels, so she might be a girl harboring romantic fantasies. She also has a carefree personality," Jun Zishu recited her findings, these superficial descriptions painting a faint image of Chen Yin.

"How could such a girl provoke such great hatred?"

"That's why we need to investigate."

After saying so, Jun Zishu strode forward, and Yang Tianxiao hurriedly followed her.

Chen Yin must have some secret not known to her parents. Otherwise, how could such a sociable person provoke hatred to the point where someone had gathered up the courage to kill her?

When Jun Zishu and Yang Tianxiao walked out of the apartment, they crossed paths with a person.

The person in question was a girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail. The girl was wearing a white shirt and black sweatpants.

The girl's attire was the same as Chen Yin's attire when she died. When walking past the girl, Jun Zishu quickly recognized the other party. After all, she had only seen the other party's face recently.

"Liu Qianqian," Jun Zishu called out, the other party subconsciously turning back upon hearing her name being called.

"Are you calling me, Miss Officer?" Liu Qianqian pointed at herself, a look of confusion appearing on her face.

Liu Qianqian was very beautiful, the gentle type. She had an oval face, willowy brows, and a pair of watery eyes.

"Are you Chen Yin's close friend?"

Liu Qianqian's expression brightened when she heard Jun Zishu's question. Then, she said excitedly, "Yes, that's me. Did you bring Little Yin back? Did you find Little Yin already?"

"Unfortunately, she was met with an accident," Jun Zishu said, her eyes carefully scrutinizing Liu Qianqian's facial expressions.

"What? What happened to her?"

"Her corpse was found on a mountain east of the city."

"How can this be?"

Liu Qianqian's complexion paled, shock coloring her face. Immediately afterward, tears started rolling down her eyes. Her body even started trembling, giving her a difficult time standing.

"Are you going upstairs to visit Chen Yin's mother?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask Auntie if Little Yin had returned. If not, I planned to accompany her," Liu Qianqian said as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. However, her tears did not stop flowing. "I'm sorry… I…"

Jun Zishu took out a tissue paper from her pocket and offered it to Liu Qianqian.

"Thank you."

"We wish to ask you some questions. May I know if you are free to talk?"

"Okay."

Liu Qianqian followed Jun Zishu and Yang Tianxiao to their car and sat with her legs closed and back hunched. She looked very much like she was in a hurry.

At this time, the girl's eyes had also turned red, and her face looked void of blood.

"Are you close friends with Chen Yin?"

"Yes. We are extremely close friends."

"When did you two first meet?"

"During the first year of high school. We were classmates and deskmates. She is a very righteous person, and she took care of me a lot, so we quickly became close friends. We also happened to share the same interests, so we applied to the same university and major."

"In that case, you should understand her a lot, right?"

"Mhm, yes."

"Has she come into conflict with other people recently?" Jun Zishu asked.

Liu Qianqian thought for a moment before shaking her head and saying, "I don't think so… She hasn't gotten into any arguments with anyone recently."

"What about in the past?"

"In the past… She did get into arguments before, but that's because some people insisted on annoying her. But since we were still in school. So, even if she didn't get along with some people, she wouldn't shed all pretenses with them. So, she shouldn't have come into any major conflicts."

"What about Chen Yin's romantic problems?"

"Ah… You mean in university?" Liu Qianqian hesitantly asked.

"Relationships outside of university are also fine. The more details, the better," Jun Zishu said as she tapped a finger on the armrest.

Getting Jun Zishu's signal, Yang Tianxiao quickly took out a voice recorder and recorded Liu Qianqian's answer.

"Many boys had tried to chase after her during high school. She had two boyfriends during that period. She broke up with the first one near the end of her first year. She broke up with the other one during the first semester of her second year."

"Did she not date anyone during her third year?"

"Our studies had gotten a lot more intense in the third year, so she was focused on studying."

"What about university?"

"If it's in university, she should have two or three."

"Why would you describe it like that?"

If Chen Yin had two boyfriends, then she had two. If she had three boyfriends, then she had three. Why would Liu Qianqian say two or three?

"Because one of her relationships doesn't necessarily count as dating. Little Yin has never officially gotten together with her. The two of them just fooled around a little without getting too serious, and they separated when Little Yin was still in her first year. During her second year, Little Yin dated two people. One lasted three months, while the other lasted one month."

"How long has she been single thus far?"

"Let me think… Two… Three… Hmm… It should be almost half a year now."

"Has she maintained an intimate relationship with any other boys during this time?"

"No."

Liu Qianqian shook her head definitively.

"How are you so sure?"

"Because she likes… But she hasn't managed to win his heart yet, so of course, she would clear all of her relationships before that."

"Who does she like?"

"Sun Chenxin."

Jun Zishu's finger paused upon hearing a new name. Then, she asked, "Is he a boy who sings well and looks good?"

"How did you know, Officer?"

"Chen Yin's mother brought it up."

"That's right; it's him. We met him during our second year's semester break. Little Yin said that she fell in love with him at first sight. After taking care of her other relationships, she started pursuing him in earnest, but Sun Chenxin didn't agree to her confession. However, Little Yin isn't a person who's easily defeated, so she eagerly became friends with Sun Chenxin."

"Her confession got rejected?"

"Mhm. Everyone says that Sun Chenxin likes Li Xunyi. I'm not sure about this since Li Xunyi and Sun Chenxin have only recently gotten acquainted with each other. Sun Chenxin even introduced her to us previously. Anyway, the few of us are friends now," Liu Qianqian spoke in a clear voice, her voice placing a slight emphasis on the word "friend."

"Alright. Can you tell us in detail what happened on the 19th? Where were you in the afternoon that day?"

"The 19th was Friday, the day where Little Yin went missing. That day, I visited my grandmother's house in the afternoon. On my way back, I came across Sun Chenxin. It was close to dinner time back then, so we decided to have dinner together. Thinking that Little Yin likes him, I planned to invite Little Yin to join us, but her phone was turned off at the time."

Liu Qianqian seemed to have remembered everything very clearly as she answered Jun Zishu's question without hesitation. She even pulled out her phone from her pocket and showed her call history to Jun Zishu.