Silent Witness - Chapter 9

Under the bright moonlight, the night air was warm and still. Unnoticed, the small figure on the right leaned to one side, her breathing gradually evening out. Li Hewei drove the Beetle directly into the underground parking garage on the second basement level of Imperial Garden International, parked in a designated space, and turned off the engine. She unfastened her seatbelt and turned around. Tao Ling, sitting beside her, was frowning even in her sleep, her rest clearly uneasy.

Noticing the car’s temperature steadily rising, Li Hewei gently patted Tao Ling’s thin shoulder, her voice soft and clear: “Wake up.”

“Hmm?” Tao Ling opened her hazy eyes, glancing around. “Sister Wei, where are we?”

“We’re going to my place tonight.” Li Hewei wasn’t naive. She knew Tao Ling was deliberately hiding something. How could anyone sleep soundly in this sweltering heat without air conditioning?

Tao Ling hesitated, reluctant to impose. “But…”

“But what? Can’t you stay with your sister-in-law?” Li Hewei blurted out, then suddenly wondered if she’d lost her mind. She’d been determined to avoid any connection with Tao Yang and had even been relieved that Tao Ling didn’t call her “sister-in-law” every day. Now, she was claiming the title herself.

Is she having a “sister-in-law” moment?

Tao Ling’s ears flushed inexplicably. “I didn’t bring any spare clothes.”

“We have disposable underwear at home, and a couple of unworn outfits with the tags still on,” Li Hewei replied. She had never liked the styles of the summer clothes the original owner had bought, and they had remained neglected in the closet ever since.

Tao Ling nodded quietly and followed her out of the car.

Inside the cramped elevator, where the air felt stagnant, Li Hewei made conversation. “Have you been here before?”

“No,” Tao Ling replied.

They really never interacted privately before, Li Hewei thought. No wonder they feel so awkward around each other. Given Tao Ling’s personality, she should have gotten along well with the original owner. How did things end up this way?

The elevator stopped on the ninth floor. They turned right out of the elevator and walked to apartment 902. Li Hewei entered the passcode to unlock the door. Before they could step inside, Cheng Yingqiu rushed over to greet them. “Sis ordered takeout for us! Come eat!”

She handed Tao Ling slippers and, after she changed, pulled her inside. “We’ve got barbecue, spicy hotpot, duck necks—everything!”

Li Hewei went to the kitchen to get water, grumbling, “I asked you to order dinner, and you got all this stuff that won’t fill us up?” She had noticed earlier at the dinner table that neither of them had eaten much, so she had Cheng Yingqiu arrange for takeout.

“Not enough to eat? How is that possible?” Cheng Yingqiu beamed as she opened the lunch boxes one by one, arranging them on the small solid wood round table beside the coffee table. She handed chopsticks to Tao Ling. “Eat up. Don’t save any for her.”

Tao Ling looked up, smiling and holding out her hand. “Sister, 132.”

“Here’s a red envelope.” Li Hewei sat beside Tao Ling and sent her a 150 yuan red envelope with the note: 18 yuan for your hard work.

Thank you, boss.

Li Hewei put away her phone, noticing Tao Ling’s hesitant movements. She said softly, “Go ahead and eat.”

“Tao Ling, hurry up and eat,” Cheng Yingqiu nudged her arm with her elbow. “She’s your sister-in-law, she should be treating you. Even if she and your brother divorce later, she’ll still be your boss or a friend. Treating you to a meal is perfectly reasonable.”

“Okay.” Touched by their warmth, Tao Ling’s heart warmed, and a thousand thoughts surged through her mind. Not wanting to spoil the mood, she picked up her chopsticks and said softly, “Thank you.”

Cheng Yingqiu gnawed on a duck neck as she said, “Sister, guess what? I added Qiu Wan on WeChat today.”

Li Hewei: “For work?”

“Yeah.”

“And then?” Li Hewei picked up a slice of fatty beef, blew on it to cool it, and slowly put it in her mouth, a stark contrast to her earlier fiery and outspoken manner.

Cheng Yingqiu took a sip of chilled soda water. “I sent her a friend request at noon, but she didn’t accept it until 3 PM. Do you think she was deliberately ignoring me?”

“And when I went to her grocery store to buy water, her expression was completely unwelcoming. She clearly doesn’t like me.”

“Really?” Li Hewei had been exchanging private messages with Qiu Wan frequently lately and found her quite approachable and very conscientious about her work.

Cheng Yingqiu nodded vigorously.

“When did you go to buy water?”

“Around noon.”

Li Hewei analyzed the situation. “Team Leader Qiu probably worked all night and was catching up on sleep. Who would be happy to be woken up?”

“So, she accepted my friend request at 3 PM because she was still sleeping?” Cheng Yingqiu pondered. “After adding her, she acted quite normal. We’ve already scheduled the interview, and she even proactively asked about any special instructions.”

“Stop overthinking things.”

“Alright, alright.” Cheng Yingqiu glanced at Tao Ling, who had been silent the whole time, and asked, “Hey, are you close to Qiu Wan?”

Li Hewei looked puzzled. “Why are you so curious about Team Leader Qiu?”

Cheng Yingqiu’s smile deepened. “Just chalk it up to my natural love for gossip. Besides, we used to know each other.”

“We didn’t interact much back then, so we weren’t close,” Tao Ling chimed in. “But Sister Xiaoting, our squad’s resident gossip queen, told me some stories about Team Leader Qiu.”

Cheng Yingqiu rested her chin in her hand, listening intently. “Tell me more.”

“After graduating from university, Team Leader Qiu worked at the grassroots level in rural areas. At 29, she led a team that assisted the Major Crimes Unit in solving a major case, earning her a third-class merit award. The following year, she was promoted to deputy director of the police station. Her reputation precedes her, so this year Director Liu recruited her from the police station to specialize in criminal investigation and major crimes.”

“She’s the only one in the Major Crimes Unit besides a colleague on maternity leave, so she’s single-handedly managing about twenty male colleagues with egos as big as the sky. She’s truly remarkable.”

Cheng Yingqiu burst out laughing. “Egos as big as the sky, Tao Ling! That’s a perfect description!”

No wonder Qiu Wan needed to communicate with their department personally—the colleague who used to handle liaison duties was on maternity leave.

“That’s all I know,” Tao Ling said, setting down her chopsticks to indicate she was full.

“Have a couple more duck necks—they’re delicious!” Cheng Yingqiu handed her a pair of gloves, took off her own, and chugged two mouthfuls of water, exclaiming, “Spicy! The spicier, the better!”

With their hunger satisfied, Li Hewei led Tao Ling to the small bedroom across from the workshop. “You’ll be staying in this room.”

“Okay,” Tao Ling replied.

Li Hewei brought over a tall stool and carefully climbed onto it, with Tao Ling steadying the base. She retrieved an air conditioning blanket from the top of the wardrobe and tossed it onto the large bed behind her.

“The central AC is set to 26 degrees Celsius, so it shouldn’t get too cold,” Li Hewei said slowly as she climbed down and returned the stool to its place.

Touched by her thoughtfulness, Tao Ling repeatedly thanked her.

Li Hewei suddenly asked, “How many times have you said ‘thank you’ tonight?”

“I…”

“Try to say it less in the future.” For some reason, Li Hewei disliked Tao Ling’s overly polite language. It wasn’t quite aversion, but it made her feel uneasy.

“Tha… okay,” Tao Ling quickly corrected herself, feeling a bit clumsy.

Li Hewei went to her room and returned two minutes later with clothes and disposable underwear.

Tao Ling took them, listening as Li Hewei explained, “You’re a bit shorter than me, so the white short-sleeved shirt can be worn as pajamas.”

“Wear the avocado-colored blouse tomorrow with your own white pants. It should look nice.”

Tao Ling nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

“Take a shower after Yingqiu comes out. Turn the shower knob to the left for hot water.” Without waiting for a response, Li Hewei turned her back, raised her right hand straight above her shoulder, and waved. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Tao Ling replied, watching her retreating figure. A warm current seemed to surge from her heart, slowly spreading through her entire body.

It had been so long since anyone had shown her such genuine care. The last person who had treated her this way… was also Li Hewei.

Would Sister Wei, once her memories returned, still be like this?

Was she destined to lose this warmth again someday?

Tao Ling bit her lip lightly and averted her gaze.

After blow-drying her hair, Li Hewei emerged from the master bedroom. Noticing Tao Ling’s room was empty, she assumed Tao Ling was in the bathroom and turned toward the workshop.

It was past 10 p.m., and Qiu Wan’s investigation remained stagnant. Director Liu called personally to inquire if they could reconstruct the deceased’s original face, even if only with fifty percent accuracy.

Li Hewei agreed, promising to give it her all. She closed the workshop door, sat before her easel, and stared intently at the finished sketches from earlier that afternoon, racking her brain for ideas.

“Sister Wei, during my six-month internship, my mentor was too busy to supervise us closely. So whenever I encountered a particularly challenging case, I’d research similar cases on my own.”

Cases, references, analysis… Li Hewei’s mind flashed back to her conversation with Tao Ling during their drive that afternoon. Inspiration struck. She opened her computer, logged into her work account, and used her access privileges to retrieve archived files. She printed photos of digital victims, both before and after death, and plastered them across several easels.

The stark visual impact hit her hard. She took a deep breath, focusing intently on finding the right angles, studying the changes in skin tissue after swelling, comparing the subtle differences in wrinkles…

Her pencil danced across the paper. Li Hewei stood gracefully before the easel, sometimes scribbling furiously, sometimes closing her eyes in deep thought, sometimes leaning in to add a few strokes. She sketched rapidly, identified discrepancies in the details, and continued refining her work.

“He should be wearing glasses,” Tao Ling said suddenly, appearing behind her without warning.

Li Hewei, with her unflappable composure, wasn’t startled by the sudden intrusion. Instead, she remained focused on the case. “Why do you say that?”

“There’s a pressure mark on his nose bridge. The body’s been submerged in the river, causing the skin to swell and wrinkle, making the mark less noticeable.”

“Alright, go get some rest,” Li Hewei said, turning back to her work. She picked up her pencil again, then paused as if struck by a thought. “If you’re not sleeping, what are you doing in here?”

Tao Ling pressed her lips into a thin line. “Sister Wei, I accidentally dropped your clothes on the floor and got them wet…”

“It’s fine, I’ll just wash them tomorrow,” Li Hewei said, her gaze falling on Tao Ling’s hands. Her eyes widened abruptly. She had been tidying up earlier and seemed to have inadvertently placed her underwear for tomorrow on the bed, then handed it to Tao Ling along with the rest of the clothes…

“Um, just put it over there,” she said, gesturing to the sofa by the door.

Tao Ling placed the underwear on the sofa, backed out of the room, and closed the door behind her, her movements swift and seamless.

Why is a straight girl blushing?

Even I’m not blushing. Li Hewei raised a hand to touch her cheek, which felt slightly warm.