The Vanishing Lover

"Please have some tea."

Auntie Feng carried an exquisite tray bearing two freshly brewed cups of green tea. The faint, elegant fragrance immediately identified it as premium West Lake Longjing.

"Thank you," the female officer sitting on the sofa took a cup, nodding politely to Auntie Feng. She then turned to Xu Ruyi, answering her earlier question. "My surname is Lu, just call me Xiao Lu. This tea smells wonderful. Auntie Feng, you brew it perfectly."

"Brewing tea... my father was the real expert," Xu Ruyi murmured, staring blankly at the tea in front of her.

"He loved tea. We had so many tea sets at home. I used to ask, 'Why buy so many cups? There's no space!' He'd just laugh and say I didn't understand yet. He said every kind of tea needs a different brewing method to bring out its best flavor. Like green tea, brewing it directly in a porcelain cup like this is wrong. You need a glass cup. First, you warm the cup – the warmth activates the tea's aroma. Then you rinse the tea leaves, and then you swirl for fragrance... He laughed when he said 'swirl for fragrance,' saying it was really just shaking the cup to appreciate the aroma... Finally, you add the water. Hmm... green tea brewed like this is truly fragrant, sweet, and mellow..."

Xu Ruyi mechanically recited a fragment of memory, then suddenly stopped, her gaze vacant and unfocused.

"Miss is thinking of the old gentleman again," Auntie Feng explained softly from the side. "It's been less than five months since he passed. She hasn't moved on yet."

"Understood, understood," the young police officer nodded, glancing at her watch again. Her superior had asked her to return, and she had been waiting for over twenty minutes, unsure what question to ask, feeling quite awkward.

Finally, the doorbell rang.

Auntie Feng opened the door. A man in uniform strode in quickly. "My apologies, traffic was terrible. I'm late, keeping everyone waiting."

Xu Ruyi recognized him. This was Captain Qi, head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, He Zhisheng's superior.

"Apologies, Miss Xu. I heard your child just got out of the hospital, and you yourself fractured something last time and need rest. Truly sorry to disturb you," he said, sounding apologetic while already finding a seat. "Qin Guan has been arrested. There's just one small point we need to confirm with you. It'll be quick."

What kind of "small point" required the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit to come in person?

Xu Ruyi nodded and sat quietly. From the moment Xiao Lu had returned, she knew today wouldn't be simple.

Auntie Feng brought out another fresh cup of tea.

"Oh, Miss Xu, you've been crying?" Captain Qi took the tea, sipped, and looked up to ask.

He was in his mid-thirties, with a stern face that clearly didn't belong to someone fond of jokes or small talk.

He was younger than He Zhisheng but was his superior, proof enough of his extensive experience and exceptional ability.

Therefore, the questions he asked were never simple.

"You were just crying, weren't you?" His sharp eyes fixed on Xu Ruyi's red, swollen eyes.

"Yes," Xu Ruyi lowered her head, pressing a finger to her nose. Her eyes reddened again, seemingly unable to hold back tears. "I miss my parents. With all this happening... I'm alone, I really don't know how to face it... Him... cheating... and killing... How can I accept it? How can my daughter accept it? She's so young... How will she ever hold her head up..."

"Miss Xu, please don't be too sad," Officer Xiao Lu quickly pulled out a tissue and handed it over.

But Captain Qi remained silent, watching Xu Ruyi. "When did you discover your husband was having an affair?"

Xu Ruyi's heart clenched.

He wasn't here to confirm minor details.

His purpose in coming was specifically aimed at her.

Or rather, he suspected her.

"Qin Guan was considered a model husband, well-regarded in the neighborhood, very good to you and the child. When did you find out he was cheating? And after discovering it, you never confronted him? Why?" He sipped his tea, asking seemingly casually.

Qin Guan had just been arrested. Why were they shifting focus to question her?

Had Qin Guan said something?

Xu Ruyi didn't need to think to know what Qin Guan would say. The question was, did they believe him? And why?

"Actually, I'd suspected he was cheating for a long time," Xu Ruyi sniffed – this explanation was one she had long prepared, knowing this day would come.

"A wife sharing a bed with her husband usually has a sense if there's another woman. But... I just didn't want to believe he would do that. After all, we've known each other since childhood, grew up together. Our families have such a history..."

"What specific incident confirmed it for you?" The other party wasn't interested in emotional narratives; he went straight to the point.

"A lipstick stain," Xu Ruyi, seeing this, didn't delay. She looked up, meeting his eyes directly. "It was the evening of the second day after he returned from his business trip. Auntie Feng was washing his clothes and found a lipstick stain on his shirt collar. And I... I never wear lipstick."

Auntie Feng beside her nodded. "Yes, I usually hand-wash Sir's clothes. I found it that day. It looked wrong, so I showed Miss..."

"So, you only found out after Qin Guan returned from his trip? Before that, it was just suspicion?" The Captain frowned, his gaze deepening and sharpening. The next second, he tilted his head back with a slight laugh, seemingly letting the question go. "I can understand how you felt..."

He handed his cup to Auntie Feng. "Trouble you for some more water? This tea is excellent, look, I've nearly finished it in one go!"

Auntie Feng took the cup and hurried into the kitchen to add water.

At that moment, Captain Qi turned back to Xu Ruyi and continued, "You must remember which shirt it was? White? Striped? I see Qin Guan likes wearing stripes. Blue stripes? Red stripes?"

Xu Ruyi froze.

She couldn't possibly answer which shirt it was.

Because that day, she hadn't found any lipstick stain at all – Qin Guan's affairs were always meticulously concealed. No lipstick, no stray hairs, no strange perfume on his shirts.

He was an extremely cautious, extremely professional offender.

How to answer?

White?

But what answer would Auntie Feng give when she came out? What if it was different?

They had never pre-coordinated this answer, as they both subconsciously considered it the least important detail in the case.

What was Captain Qi's intention in asking this?

"Details. Sometimes, the police use seemingly unrelated details to scrutinize the truthfulness of witness testimony. Generally speaking, testimony that remembers every single detail clearly after a long time is most likely pre-rehearsed and false!"

That was something Qin Guan used to say often at the dinner table.

"White or striped? I really don't remember. It was too long ago. Honestly, my attention wasn't on the clothes at the time," Xu Ruyi frowned, pretending to "think," then finally "gave up," shaking her head with a sigh, her expression downcast. "All I felt then was sadness, shock, disbelief..."

"What about your father's will? Were you aware of it before?"

The other party's sharp gaze didn't waver an inch, fixed directly on Xu Ruyi's face, staring into her eyes.

"That will of your father's was completely unfavorable to Qin Guan. If you didn't know about it either, he could have simply destroyed it. Then he could have shared your parents' inheritance with you. Why didn't he destroy it? Instead, he hid it in a safe?"

"I don't know,"

Xu Ruyi replied, still calm, shaking her head. "Maybe he was worried there were other versions? Worse versions?"

"Possibly. Perhaps he kept it to look for some formal version your father left behind, or to use it opportunistically later..." As he spoke, Captain Qi suddenly unzipped his bag. "You haven't been able to see this will yet. Here's a copy. Take a look."

He placed the copy of the will in front of Xu Ruyi.

How familiar the handwriting was! How familiar the content! The moment her eyes touched the paper, a tsunami of suppressed shock, rage, and pain surged violently within Xu Ruyi's frail body.

She forced her eyes wide open, holding back the tears.

After all, this will was the very thing she had discovered!