89: Chapter 89 Qin Yi's Anger and Conflict

"So that's how it is," Shen Jianan's voice came through the phone. She gripped her phone tightly, her tone filled with a hint of anticipation as she explained, "I've received intelligence that Brother Dao is planning to lure you out alone. He's likely already found accomplices and is ready to teach you a lesson. I can set up a surveillance operation in advance and take this opportunity to apprehend Brother Dao. Furthermore, based on what our police force knows about Brother Dao, besides running nightclubs and other entertainment businesses, he also operates underground casinos and an Underground Bank. If you can help our police force eradicate this criminal gang led by Brother Dao this time, I might even be able to put in a request to award you a Good Samaritan award or something similar."

The corners of Qin Yi's mouth curled into a playful smile, but his eyes held a bit more wariness.

He shook his head gently, his tone laced with sarcasm, as if he were skeptical of Shen Jianan's proposal: "Captain Shen, don't you think what you just said is a bit like taking off your pants to fart?"

Hearing this, Shen Jianan's brow furrowed slightly, a look of displeasure appearing on her face as she asked in a deep voice: "Qin Yi, what do you mean?"

"Heh," Qin Yi chuckled, shaking his head helplessly as he explained, "Captain Shen, look, you already have an informant, so why bother cooperating with me? Isn't that just doing something unnecessary? Why don't you just have your informant take photos of the underground casino and the Underground Bank for you, then go and arrest Brother Dao yourself? The credit would all be yours; wouldn't that be great?"

"Hey, you need evidence to catch a thief. If Brother Dao were that easy to catch, we wouldn't have allowed him to run rampant in Magic City for so many years." Shen Jianan shook her head, her tone filled with a hint of helplessness.

"Heh," Qin Yi curled his lip noncommittally and chuckled, a flash of mockery in his eyes as he continued in a cold voice: "A mere gangster is that hard to catch? I don't believe it. Could it be that there is a protective umbrella for Brother Dao within your police force? Is that why he has remained at large for so long?"

Hearing this, Shen Jianan's expression froze, and a flash of embarrassment and helplessness crossed her eyes.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, saying with a hint of embarrassment in her tone: "That is certainly possible, I won't deny that. However, rest assured, no matter what others do, I, Shen Jianan, will absolutely never act as a protective umbrella for criminal gangs! Moreover, if you are willing to help me this time, we might even be able to dig out the protective umbrella behind Brother Dao as well!"

Hearing Shen Jianan speak so firmly, and coupled with the fact that Xing Zhenkun had previously vouched for her character, Qin Yi decided to believe her.

"Fine!" Qin Yi said, nodding, his tone revealing a bit of seriousness: "Then tell me, Captain Shen, how do you want me to help?"

"You agree?" A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Jianan's eyes.

"Yeah, you said one thing that's very true. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark! If I don't clear away this hidden danger of Brother Dao, I won't be at ease bringing my parents to Magic City." Qin Yi nodded, his eyes revealing a bit of determination.

"That's great. I'll send you a number in a moment; it's one of my informants. Contact her, and she will tell you the arrangements..." As she said this, Shen Jianan felt a bit nervous. She didn't know how Qin Yi would react if he found out that the so-called informant she mentioned was actually his ex-girlfriend, but for now, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and take it one step at a time.

"Fine. Add me on WeChat then; my WeChat ID is my phone number."

Hanging up the phone, Shen Jianan took a deep breath, letting out a long sigh, and her tense nerves relaxed briefly.

She quickly opened WeChat and sent a friend request to Qin Yi. The request was accepted quickly. Shen Jianan felt a surge of joy, then copied Su Mo's phone number and, feeling nervous, sent it to Qin Yi.

...

Qin Yi looked at the phone number Shen Jianan had sent, and his heart jolted violently!

His eyes sharpened, and his brows furrowed into a deep frown. He was all too familiar with this number!

How is this possible! Could he have remembered it wrong?

He couldn't quite trust his own memory, so he nervously copied the phone number, switched to the dialing interface, and pasted it...

Sure enough, the name that appeared was none other than his ex-girlfriend who had betrayed him and humiliated him along with Wang Hao—Su Mo!

Qin Yi's heart blazed with fire; a feeling of being played for a fool welled up within him, and he immediately called Shen Jianan back.

Shen Jianan gripped her phone, staring at the incoming call display. She couldn't help but swallow hard, her heart filled with anxiety.

As soon as the call connected, ignoring the fact that she was a police officer, Qin Yi roared furiously: "Shen Jianan! Are you fucking playing me?! Where did this number come from?"

The reason Shen Jianan hadn't mentioned Su Mo from the start was that she was afraid it would cause such a misunderstanding and conflict, but she hadn't expected that the very thing she feared would happen anyway.

"Uh..." Shen Jianan heard the hostility in Qin Yi's tone and could feel his anger at this moment. She pursed her lips awkwardly and hurriedly explained, "That... Qin Yi, don't get Life Qi yet, listen to me explain..."

Seeing that Qin Yi didn't stop her, Shen Jianan took a deep breath, trying to keep her tone steady, and then poured out everything Su Mo had told her, as well as her regrets and requests, to Qin Yi all at once...

After she finished, she persuaded him again: "Qin Yi, I know you are furious that Su Mo broke up with you. But you haven't seen the state Su Mo is in now; she is truly pitiful. And she has realized her mistakes. After all, you were lovers before; can't you give her another chance to turn over a new leaf?"

Hearing this, although Qin Yi was touched, a man's pride made him sternly refuse: "Impossible! Shen Jianan, you want to solve the case and make a merit, that's your business! It has nothing to do with me!"

"This, how can this have nothing to do with you? Brother Dao is targeting you; aren't I doing this to help you?" Shen Jianan continued to persuade him.

Qin Yi sneered and said in a deep voice: "I don't care what Brother Dao's background or origin is. If he dares to lay a hand on me and my family, I will show him how to spell the word 'death'! I believe I have the ability to fight against him! As for Su Mo, how she betrayed and humiliated me back then is still vivid in my mind! Let me tell you, I will not contact her again! Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me! That bastard Wang Hao, sooner or later, I will make him pay for what he has done! But not for Su Mo's sake! Tell her to give up on that idea!"

Qin Yi's voice was filled with determination and anger, as if he wanted to vent all his dissatisfaction and resentment!

Because he was so angry, Qin Yi did not intentionally lower his volume. Wu Xiuhua in the east room had not yet rested. She clearly heard her son's voice in the main room. She hurriedly sat up from the bed, exited the east room, cautiously walked under the window of the main room, and quietly listened to her son's voice.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the line, Shen Jianan also practically shouted: "Qin Yi! Are you still a man?! Can't you be more magnanimous?"

"Ask me to be magnanimous? Shen Jianan, stop talking nonsense!" Qin Yi said, standing up abruptly from the sofa, angrily pointing at the empty air in front of him, as if he could point at Shen Jianan that way. He continued, furious, "I was with Su Mo for three years. Ask her yourself, how did I treat her during those three years? And how did she treat me! Oh, now that Wang Hao isn't treating her well, she remembers me?! You tell her, tell her to stop dreaming! I, Qin Yi, will never have anything to do with her again!"

"Qin Yi! Calm down first!" After saying this, Shen Jianan's chest heaved violently. She was also worried that Qin Yi would hang up the phone right then.

Fortunately, she could still hear Qin Yi's heavy breathing on the phone, which made Shen Jianan breathe a sigh of relief. As long as he didn't hang up, there was still room for maneuver in this matter.

She adjusted her breathing, lowered her voice slightly, and continued in a deep tone, "Yes, Su Mo betrayed you, and she admits it. It was her vanity and love for wealth that made her leave you when you were at your lowest and needed her most. But she has already paid the price for it! She told me that ever since Wang Hao was humiliated by you last Friday night, he has been like a different person to her, constantly beating and scolding her. She still has injuries on her face and body right now; that was all caused by that bastard Wang Hao..."

However, before Shen Jianan could finish, Qin Yi sneered, his voice laced with indifference as he interrupted, "So what? It's all her own fault! I warned her that Friday; Wang Hao is a piece of trash. It was she who refused to listen!"

"Yes, you're right. To be honest, I also despise women like Su Mo. But why don't you think about it? You two had a three-year relationship! Can you bear to let her be bullied by that scumbag Wang Hao? Can you bear to let Wang Hao spread those photos and videos of Su Mo everywhere, making them known to everyone? She betrayed you, but is your three-year relationship with her fake? Can you bear to watch the girl you once loved so deeply have her life ruined from now on?"

Shen Jianan's voice carried a hint of questioning and dissatisfaction; she hoped that Qin Yi would help Su Mo out of consideration for their past relationship.

Qin Yi fell silent...

Facing Shen Jianan's questioning, he didn't know how to answer. At this moment, his heart was in turmoil, and his eyes grew complex, filled with both anger and hesitation...

Both ends of the phone fell silent, and neither of them spoke for a long time.

Outside the main house, Wu Xiuhua was also full of worry. Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, she could roughly guess that it was likely that Su Mo was asking her son for help.

She still remembered that just a month ago, the girl named Su Mo had suddenly broken up with her son. Although her son understood that given their family's situation at the time, there was nothing to complain about the girl proposing a breakup.

After all, the girl was about to graduate and had to consider the pressures of reality and the life she would have to face in the future.

During that time, although her son didn't say much, a mother knows her child best, and Wu Xiuhua knew the struggle, pain, and sadness her son was feeling.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have quietly rushed back to the Demon Capital overnight, just for an initial promise.

But, as the saying goes, 'The deeper the love, the deeper the hate.' Wu Xiuhua didn't feel it was her place to say much about matters of the heart. She took a deep breath, shook her head helplessly, and walked back to the east room in silence.

Meanwhile, seeing that Qin Yi remained silent for a long time, Shen Jianan frowned in thought. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, her lively eyes rolled, and a cunning smile curled at the corners of her mouth.

She chuckled, then retorted sarcastically: "Heh, that's right, how could I forget? You, Qin Yi, already have a new girlfriend now! What was her name again? Xu Qian, right?"

As Shen Jianan spoke, her tone shifted, filled with anger and disappointment, "It really is true, men are all no good! One moment you rush to school putting on a devoted act, wanting to reconcile with Su Mo; the next moment you've already started dating a new girlfriend, taking her out to eat and buying her gifts! I suppose you had a very pleasant evening with that Xu Qian, didn't you? Qin Yi, do you think you're being very devoted? Let me tell you! You're really no different from that Wang Hao! You two are both scumbags who abandon those you've toyed with! Bastards! I'm telling you, if you don't help Su Mo this time and something happens to her, will your conscience really be clear?! Think about it yourself!"

After speaking, Shen Jianan didn't give Qin Yi a chance to continue, and resolutely hung up the phone.

Qin Yi was left somewhat dazed by Shen Jianan's barrage of accusations and scolding. He put down his phone in a daze, and deep inside, the memories of the past that had just been sealed away were once again stirred up.

Qin Yi sank back onto the sofa. Time ticked by second by second, and he just sat there blankly, his phone tightly gripped in his hand. His heart was filled with chaos and contradiction, not knowing how to make a choice.

...

On the other side, having vented her anger, Shen Jianan clenched her right hand into a fist and slammed it twice against the steering wheel.

The black Jeep SUV let out two harsh honks, startling the pedestrians passing by, who one after another gave Shen Jianan 'friendly' greetings through the windshield.

Meanwhile, in the cafe, Su Mo had been keeping an eye on the situation on Shen Jianan's side. Hearing the two honks, she mistakenly thought that Shen Jianan was calling her over.

So, she quickly stood up, her eyes flashing with a glimmer of expectation, as if she had grabbed onto a last straw of hope, and trotted over to the black Jeep SUV.

Looking into the car through the driver's side window, Su Mo noticed that Shen Jianan was hanging her head, slumped over the steering wheel, looking completely dejected and frustrated.

Su Mo's heart instantly skipped a beat, and a sense of foreboding welled up in her heart.

She raised her hand and gently knocked on the driver's window. Shen Jianan immediately lifted her head and looked out the window.

The moment Su Mo met her eyes, she read helplessness and disappointment in Shen Jianan's gaze, and her heart instantly sank to the bottom.

In that instant, the faint light in Su Mo's eyes completely vanished, replaced by deep bitterness and despair.

She turned around silently, her back to the car window, and walked forward in a daze, looking like a walking corpse that had had its Soul extracted.

Seeing this, Shen Jianan immediately opened the car door and got out. She caught up with Su Mo in a few strides, reached out to grab her arm, and blocked her path.

Su Mo looked up at her and smiled bitterly, her voice carrying endless exhaustion and despair: "Qin Yi, did he... not want to help me?"

Shen Jianan hesitated, not knowing how to speak to Su Mo.

Seeing this, Su Mo was completely disheartened. She managed to force a smile that was even more aggrieved than crying, and said softly: "Officer Shen, you don't need to say anything; I understand. I'm sorry for wasting your time, my apologies..."

"Su Mo!" Shen Jianan gripped Su Mo's shoulders with both hands, her tone firm and full of strength, "Even if Qin Yi refuses to help you, you cannot give up on yourself! You must pull yourself together! If he won't help you, I will! I don't believe that a mere Wang Hao can turn the world upside down!"

Tears were swirling in Su Mo's eyes. She forced herself to look up at the sky, preventing the tears from falling again.

She had cried far too much in the past two days; she was already tired and didn't want to be like this anymore.

She shook her head, smiled self-deprecatingly, shifted her gaze elsewhere, and said softly: "Thank you, Officer Shen. The fact that things have turned out like this is all my own fault. As long as one of those photos or videos in Wang Hao's hands gets leaked, my life will be ruined. You cannot help me. Since Qin Yi won't help me, I have nothing to say. After all, I was the one who hurt him first, so please, Officer Shen, help me apologize to him."

Having said that, Su Mo broke free from Shen Jianan's grip and continued walking forward.

Seeing that her state of mind wasn't right, Shen Jianan felt a tightening in her heart. She hurriedly followed her and continued to persuade her: "Su Mo, what are you going to do? You must not do anything foolish! Think of your parents, your relatives, and your friends; you cannot just give up on yourself like this!"

Su Mo stopped and a flash of vengeful ruthlessness crossed her eyes. She said softly: "Officer Shen, don't worry. I won't do anything foolish like committing suicide. That bastard Wang Hao ruined my life; even if I die, I will drag him down with me!"

Just then, Shen Jianan's phone rang abruptly, interrupting their conversation!

Shen Jianan took out her phone and looked at it; the caller ID on the screen made a flash of surprise cross her eyes.

She grabbed Su Mo, who was beside her, and almost pressed the phone against Su Mo's eyes, her voice full of excitement: "Su Mo, look, it's Qin Yi, it's Qin Yi's call! Maybe there's still a turning point; wait a little longer, don't give up!"

Upon hearing this, a flash of complex emotions crossed Su Mo's eyes.

She looked at the name on the phone, and the flame that had originally been extinguished in the depths of her heart seemed to have been blown by a sudden gust of wind, reigniting a faint spark.

She bit her lower lip tightly, nodded, and didn't speak.

Shen Jianan pulled her along, and the two sat back in the car. Shen Jianan answered the phone, pressed the speakerphone button, and then placed the phone between the two of them.

The two held their breath, so nervous that they could almost hear each other's heartbeats.