Chapter 149: New Suspect

At noon, Su Yuqing walked slowly out of the school gates, looking a bit lonely.

From her expression, it was clear she was lost in thought.

In fact, she was worried about Chen Mo, wondering if he was feeling any better.

Just as she was lost in thought walking out of the school gates, a shadow suddenly fell over her. When she looked up, she saw Chen Mo looking down at her with a smile on his face.

A flash of joy crossed her face, but it quickly turned into a look of concern. "What are you doing at school? Are you all better?"

"Not completely, but I’m well enough to come pick you up," Chen Mo said casually.

To Su Yuqing’s ears, however, his words sounded exceptionally sweet.

A radiant smile spread across her face. "Then let’s go home."

Su Yuqing was happy and touched that Chen Mo had come to get her despite being sick, but she was still worried about his health. "We’re between spring and summer now," she reminded him. "The temperature swings a lot, hot one moment and cold the next. You shouldn’t be walking around outside too much, or you’ll make it worse."

"Being cooped up at home all day isn’t good for you either," Chen Mo replied with a smile. "It’s better to get out and move around a bit."

He had a point, so Su Yuqing didn’t press the issue, only reminding him to dress a little warmer when he went out.

"By the way, did the teacher ask about me?" Chen Mo asked, looking at Su Yuqing.

"She did. I told her you were sick."

As she said this, Su Yuqing seemed to remember something. "Teacher Tian was pretty surprised. She said with your build, it’s strange you’d get sick so easily. She just saw us last Saturday night."

"And what did you say?"

"I said you caught a cold after jumping into the river to save someone. The students and teacher all praised you for it." Su Yuqing’s smile was full of pride as she spoke, as if sharing in his glory.

"The P.E. assessment is on Wednesday. Hopefully I’ll be fully recovered in the next two days," Chen Mo said, glancing at the date on his phone.

"That’s what Teacher Tian said, too. She hopes you get well soon so you don’t miss the P.E. assessment."

"If I finish up my IV drips in the next two days, I should be fine by Wednesday," Chen Mo said with a smile.

Back home, Su Yuqing had planned to make lunch for Chen Mo.

But as it turned out, he had already cooked.

There was still plenty of congee left from the morning; he had just made a few extra side dishes.

After they enjoyed a lovely meal together, Su Yuqing pushed Chen Mo down onto the sofa, wrapped him in a blanket, and told him to rest.

She would handle everything else.

She cleared the table, washed the dishes, and cleaned the kitchen floor, handling each task with clean, swift efficiency.

Once everything was done, she made two glasses of honey lemon water and brought them into the living room.

For a cold and fever, it was a great combination: vitamin C from the lemon, and honey to soothe the throat.

’Having someone to take care of you really makes you lazy. All you have to do is sit there, and someone brings you whatever you want to eat or drink.’

’The rooms get cleaned every day, the laundry gets done every day... If life was always like this, a person would completely fall apart.’

Of course, Chen Mo couldn’t let that happen.

He always pitched in and helped whenever he could.

He couldn’t stand seeing Su Yuqing work so hard all by herself.

It was just that being sick these past two days, he really didn’t feel like moving.

’Then again, being lazy once in a while felt surprisingly good.’

In the afternoon, Su Yuqing went back to school by herself. Left at home with nothing to do, Chen Mo went back to pondering the phone call he’d received, still unsure if it had been a dream or the result of a genuine timeline regression.

’Was there any death-row inmate from his memory who had some connection to Su Yuqing?’

He closed his eyes and thought hard, but after a long while, nothing came to mind.

Of course, it was also possible he’d never received that kind of information in the first place.

After all, even though he was a detective, there were many criminals his unit never handled.

And for those criminals, it was impossible for him to know all the minute details of their cases.

Between the medicine and the mental exertion, Chen Mo quickly started to feel tired.

Drowsily, Chen Mo drifted off to sleep on the living room sofa.

In his dream, a crowd of people appeared before him.

They were all standing motionless, lined up in a row.

Every one of them was a person Chen Mo had once suspected.

Many were people he had met since his return and had already cleared of suspicion.

Others were people he had yet to encounter since his return.

And then there was a group he had met, but had not yet cleared.

This time, however, a new face appeared among the suspects—someone Chen Mo hadn’t noticed before.

This person bore a slight resemblance to Li Gang.

At first glance, Chen Mo mistook him for Li Gang. But he quickly realized there was another Li Gang standing right beside him.

Except this Li Gang was slightly thinner.

The bizarre scene shocked him awake.

By the time he woke up, it was already four in the afternoon.

It was time to go pick Su Yuqing up from school.

Chen Mo shook his groggy head, threw on a long-sleeved jacket, and headed out.

The air was a little chilly. The moment he stepped outside, a gust of cold wind hit him.

The wind instantly cleared Chen Mo’s groggy mind.

He suddenly remembered the scene from last night.

His fever had been so bad last night that his memory of it was hazy, which was why he’d had to go to the hospital.

At the hospital, his attention had been fixed on Li Fengzhi, so he hadn’t paid much mind to the people behind her.

But he had, in fact, seen the two people behind her.

Thinking back on it now, he was suddenly struck by a realization. ’How could there have been two Li Gangs?’

He decided he would ask Su Yuqing about it after picking her up.

Because Li Gang had been hospitalized for his injury, with hospital surveillance footage providing a solid alibi for the entire duration, he was completely free of suspicion.

The police naturally hadn’t considered him a suspect.

Consequently, they hadn’t investigated him any further.

The main thrust of the investigation had remained focused on Su Yuqing’s social circle.

They also focused on identifying any suspicious individuals who were in the vicinity on the day of the incident.

Of course, even if he wasn’t a suspect, Chen Mo still knew Li Gang’s personal details.

He knew Li Gang had two brothers, but he’d never seen them in person and had no idea one of them looked so much like him.

After all, of the three brothers, only Li Gang had moved to the city. The others still lived in the village, so they didn’t interact much.

If Li Gang hadn’t been hospitalized, Li Tie probably wouldn’t have even been at the hospital.

But now that this person stood out in his mind, Chen Mo suddenly recalled the way the man had looked at him last night.

It was a look he had seen on the faces of countless criminals—a look filled with malice.

’It was clearly the first time we’d ever met,’ he thought. ’So why would he look at me with such malice?’

Now, with a clear head, recalling this detail made Chen Mo’s heart beat faster. He felt like he was on the verge of uncovering a vital new piece of information.