My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

"I think you've truly gone insane." Xu Binchen stated mercilessly. "You should register yourself into the asylum."

After cursing out to his heart's content, Qin Weizhe hung up on the phone and continued to do his job. Only after he managed to bring everything under control did he go to Xu Binchen's house to meet him. The man looked as fit as a fiddle. It's only proper to discharge him from the hospital as soon as possible. Keeping him was basically a waste of funds. Of course, Qin Weizhe wouldn't dare to say it in front of his face.

He winked playfully. "I think the asylum is unable to detain the great me."

Xu Binchen rolled his eyes and gave a disgusted expression. He turned to Wang Chengbing who had made himself at home for the past few days. "How is Si Yusheng?"

"Just regained consciousness a few hours ago. He said he's willing to answer our questions as long as we can keep his family safe."

"His family?" Xu Binchen frowned. "He has a family?"

Wang Chengbing snapped his fingers. "That's exactly my question. I've scanned through his house registry and found that all his family members had passed away. He is also single and has no child, where does this family come from?"

"Could it be that he faked their death?" Xu Binchen made a speculation.

"For what?" Wang Chengbing scoffed. "Why does he need to do that? Is he threatened by the owner of Dreamscape Bar or something? If so, why does he still work for them and even helps to run the business all these years? Is he stupid?"

Xu Binchen slapped the back of his head. "Why are you asking me? You should go and ask him instead."

"I can't." He grimaced and crossed his arms sulkily. "He said that as long as we haven't given the word, he will not say anything. That place isn't safe. I guess we can only talk only after we move him into another hospital. Where is Captain Jin anyway?"

"Let me ask something." Qin Weizhe chimed in and asked in a casual tone. "Does Si Yusheng have a sister?"

"Oh yes, he does." Wang Chengbing frowned and dug through his memory. "His sister died quite long ago. Almost five—no, six years ago? There's nothing specific about that. It seems like she died because of an accident."

"What's his sister's name?" Qin Weizhe pressed further, his heart palpitating.

"How can I remember all of that unimportant data?!" Wang Chengbing scratched his head and typed on his laptop. "Give me a minute. Let's see. Si Yusheng is the eldest son of the family and his sister's name is…"

"Si Qingzhao." Wang Chengbing and Qin Weizhe said in unison.

"Huh?" Wang Chengbing lifted his head in surprise. "You've known it, why are you asking me again?"

Xu Binchen detected something from Qin Weizhe's perplexed look. "What's wrong?" 

Qin Weizhe's mouth closed and opened without a word. After that, he suddenly went mad by messing up his hair and groaning in frustration, pacing back and forth in the living room like an orangutan. Xu Binchen threw a slipper which landed squarely on his head, earning him a pained exclamation. "Where is Captain Jin? Call him!"

Wang Chengbing dialed Jin Renguang's number and relayed the question. "He's in Senior Ru's place. He said that there's something he needs to tell and ask us to gather in the police station."

"No." Qin Weizhe disagreed. "I don't want to talk about this in the police station. Let's go to Miss Ru's place. Right now."

Wang Chengbing passed on the message and received the approval. Thus, five people crowded into Ru Meiqi's apartment. The woman carried out a tray and put the glasses of coffee in front of them. "Please make yourself comfortable."

On the other hand, Jin Renguang looked reluctant and pissed as if the area that was intruded was his personal space. Of course, Ru Meiqi pretended not to see that. "So, who wants to talk first?"

Qin Weizhe still needed some time to rearrange his thoughts so he gestured for Jin Renguang and Ru Meiqi to go ahead. Ru Meiqi nodded. A standing transparent board was dragged into the living room with a few words written on it in bold characters. 

[Si Zhening → Alexithymia(?)]

Ru Meiqi knocked on the board. "I know you're confused why I am bringing this up all of a sudden but I think there's something weird about him." Then she wrote underneath. 

[Si Yusheng. Related?] 

"Ah!" Qin Weizhe exclaimed in shock. "That's also what I want to tell you!"

"Huh?" All eyes turned to him. "What do you mean? Si Zhening is related to Si Yusheng?"

Qin Weizhe stood up and grabbed another marker, writing furiously. Soon, the board was filled with dense notes.

[Si Zhening→ Alexithymia(?)

Si Yusheng asked the police to protect his family. (From whom? The owner?) 

Si Yusheng→ Si Qingzhao (deceased sister)→ Nan Cheng (brother-in-law) → Nan Xukun (nephew) 

Nan Xukun→ Shi Nian (childhood friend)

Main question: 

1. Who's the owner?

2. Who is Si Yusheng's family we ought to protect? What relation does he have with Si Zhening?

3. What is the connection between all of them with the serial killer?]

"Wait, wait!" Wang Chengbing gasped in shock. "What the heck is this rapid development?! Let me arrange my thoughts for a while. So, Si Yusheng is the CEO of Henan Corporation—Nan Cheng's brother in law? And Si Zhening might be related to them? I don't understand your third point. Why are you bringing the serial killer here?"

"Because I suspect Nan Xukun." Qin Weizhe declared firmly. "He fits all the criteria of our profiling and he also had a severe mental disorder. If so, then what Captain Jin said about Dreamscape Bar related to the serial killer applied here. Maybe from the start it isn't Dreamscape Bar in the context, but Si Yusheng himself. Si Yusheng is related to the serial killer."

"I beg to differ." Ru Meiqi interjected. "I am more inclined toward Si Yusheng being the main suspect. First, he showed the symptoms of Alexithymia—the inability to feel emotions. Such a person tends to become perfectionist and desperate to chase after what he is lacking. What Si Zhening desires the most is stimulation. A very large stimulation. Fear, anger, grief, excitement. To learn those emotions, he might possibly start to kill because only then can he perceive such emotions. Of course, that's just an analysis according to his psychology."

Then both of them turned to Jin Renguang and asked simultaneously. "What do you think, Captain?"

Jin Renguang tapped his fingers on the table, pondering deeply. "I'm sorry but—instead of the identity of the serial killer, I am more concerned about what Si Yusheng meant. He wanted us to protect his family when he's related to the Nan Family in person. Who do you think will be able to touch the Nans in the whole country?"

"Someone stronger than Nan Cheng?" Xu Binchen frowned.

Wang Chengbing guessed blindly. "Jiang Huocheng…? Hey wait, don't look at me like that! When we talk about Nan Cheng, the only person who comes to mind instantly is Jiang Huocheng. After all, they are the two giant business moguls in China. Even until now, the economic analysts still can't decide who is stronger than whom."

Qin Weizhe rubbed his chin and added Jiang Huocheng's name on the board. "So you mean that you suspect Jiang Huocheng is the owner of Dreamscape Bar? Well, it's a possibility."

The atmosphere turned silent in an instant. Everyone was deep in thought, trying to sort out the messy jumbles of puzzles in their minds. 

"It can't be Jiang Huocheng."

The sudden statement broke the stillness. All eyes turned to the one who had just spoken, Xu Binchen. Surprised, as it was rare for Xu Binchen to give such a subjective comment. 

"Why?" Qin Weizhe asked.

Xu Binchen himself looked taken aback as if he had blurted out the sentence without thinking. "I…don't know." The person who secretly came to the hospital to visit his son in the middle of the night, fatigued and travel worn, only to stay for less than twenty minutes without anyone knowing. The person who bought an entire private island for his wife's labor and spent his time recuperating there. The person who looked cold outside but actually passionate and caring inside… Somehow, Xu Binchen couldn't bring himself to suspect him. 

To his surprise, Ru Meiqi echoed. "I agree with you. I also think that Jiang Huocheng isn't the one. We can slowly dig for evidence of the relation between Jiang Huocheng, Si and Nan Family but I can guarantee that we won't be able to find anything. Just call it…a woman's intuition."

In the end, they took a short break for fifteen minutes to freshen up. 

Qin Weizhe intended to give Luo Ning a call when his phone rang in a timely manner. He picked it up, smiling. "Do you think telepathy is real? I suddenly want to hear your voice and here you are."

Regrettably, what he received in response wasn't Luo Ning's adorable stutter but his anxious inquiry. "Detective Qin, where are you?!"

"What's wrong?" Qin Weizhe's tone became serious. "Calm down first then speak."

"Err…there's a situation here. It's Ruo Tingran." Clicking his tongue, Luo Ning continued. "She said there's something she wants to confess. She said that Li Qing's suicide was intentional and someone was controlling everything behind the scene. One more thing, she will only talk to Shi Nian."

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A/N: omg what will Ruo Tingran confess?