Chapter 398: Chapter 398: Why Don’t You Believe Me?
Huo Tingdong pinched her cheek: “What’s wrong?”
She had just woken up and was already sulking.
Lin Qi said, “You have the nerve to ask me?”
Huo Tingdong looked completely innocent: “What did I do?”
Lin Qi gritted her teeth, glaring at him. Seeing him so bold and self-righteous, she wanted to grind her teeth into powder, but she couldn’t find the words to reply!
How could she say it aloud?
Lin Qi pouted and murmured, “You dirtied the bed sheets… After getting up, I need to wash them!”
Huo Tingdong said, “Don’t we have a maid at home? Let the maid wash them.”
Lin Qi’s already flushed cheeks grew even redder, as if blood was about to seep through!
Unable to help herself, she pinched the back of his hand.
Huo Tingdong grimaced in pain, caught off guard: “Ouch…”
Lin Qi said, “You have the nerve to say that? If the maid cleans it and happens to see…”
Huo Tingdong asked, “See what?”
Lin Qi replied, “See the dirty bed sheets. Won’t she…”
Huo Tingdong said, “Even if you insist on washing them yourself, isn’t that like revealing the truth for no reason?”
The sheets had just been changed not long ago, and now—suddenly switching them out and washing them herself—the maid, who is already thirty-four years old, not a naïve university graduate, would obviously know what’s going on.
If early in the morning, the maid saw Lin Qi washing the sheets alone in the bathroom, anything worth guessing would have been guessed!
Lin Qi, upon hearing this, found it reasonable.
Huo Tingdong said, “We’re husband and wife, aren’t we? Isn’t this kind of thing perfectly normal?”
Lin Qi said, “I’m pregnant, and you still…”
Huo Tingdong said, “I’ve already consulted the doctor and followed the medical advice.”
His response was airtight, leaving no gaps to dispute.
Lin Qi could only silently sulk.
“Alright.”
Huo Tingdong gently patted her little butt: “Getting up?”
Lin Qi nodded.
She rolled out of bed and suddenly realized how pleasant it was to have the Five Constant System in the house!
Before, her most desperate moments were waking up from a warm cocoon in the cold winter.
Now, thanks to the Five Constant System, even though the outside temperature had dropped to below freezing, the room remained warm like spring.
After getting up, Huo Tingdong walked to the door and called for the maid: “Tidying up the room.”
The maid nodded: “Yes, sir.”
Huo Tingdong walked to the dining room, with Lin Qi closely following him.
Arriving at the dining room, she sat uneasily, her gaze constantly drifting toward the bedroom door. She saw the maid carry a basket of dirty laundry into the room; in no time, the maid tidied up the space and threw the bed sheets into the dirty laundry basket. On her way out, the maid glanced at Lin Qi and squinted with a smile.
Lin Qi became even more flustered, lowering her head guiltily and awkwardly fidgeting with her clothes.
“Mommy?”
Momo noticed Lin Qi sitting absentmindedly at the table and curiously asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Qi said, “It’s nothing…”
Huo Tingdong pulled Lin Qi into his arms and said meaningfully, “Your mommy didn’t sleep well last night.”
Momo asked blankly, “Why didn’t she sleep well?”
Huo Tingdong replied, “That’s not something a kid like you should be asking about.”
Han chimed in on the side: “You’ll understand when you grow up!”
Momo glanced at him, “You already understand?”
Han immediately shook his head like a rattle drum: “I don’t understand either!”
Momo teased, “From your tone, I thought you knew more than me!”
Han retorted, “I was just guessing that Daddy would say that!”
After breakfast, Huo Tingdong suddenly received a call.
It was from Mo Ke.
As soon as Huo Tingdong heard the contents of the call, his expression changed.
“Hmm, I understand,” he said over the phone, “Twenty minutes. I’ll head over right away.”
After those words, he hung up.
Lin Qi asked, “Are you going out?”
Huo Tingdong said, “I need to make a trip to the detention center.”
Lin Qi instantly knew it was about Song Shuyan.
She was currently in custody at the detention center.
Lin Qi asked, “What’s happened again?”
Huo Tingdong explained, “She’s applying for release on bail due to pregnancy.”
He had been worried about this before.
Song Shuyan was now a pregnant woman, and under the law, no matter how heinous the circumstances, the death penalty wouldn’t be enforced immediately. Out of humanitarian considerations, pregnant women have the right to apply for bail.
Lin Qi responded, “I understand. You should go.”
Twenty minutes later.
Huo Tingdong arrived at the detention center.
The initial transcript had already been completed, and the police disclosed that Song Shuyan’s counter-interrogation awareness was exceptionally strong. During questioning, she neither confessed nor explained anything. Her lips were tightly sealed, producing a lengthy transcript with no substantial progress.
For the police, solving cases was often easy; the hardest part came after apprehending the criminal—during interrogation, which was the most challenging phase to crack.
Criminals weren’t fools, especially when they knew intentional murder was a severe crime.
A conviction requires a complete chain of evidence.
First, there must be admissible evidence; second, the evidence must prove the subject of the case; third, the evidence must corroborate each other.
If Song Shuyan adamantly denied any guilt, her sentence couldn’t be determined.
Currently, she had only admitted to the crime of illegal overseas transactions. But as for hiring someone to commit murder, she hadn’t said a word.
Huo Tingdong requested to meet her.
In the meeting room.
Huo Tingdong sat outside the bars.
Just as he sat down, the police shut the door and left.
Soon, the guard escorted Song Shuyan inside.
As soon as she saw Huo Tingdong, Song Shuyan rushed to the bars, furiously pounding on the glass window and shouting, “Tingdong! Tingdong! I’m being framed! It’s Lin Qi slandering me, setting me up! I didn’t hire someone to kill anyone! I didn’t…”
“Sit down!” The police behind her forcefully pushed her into the interrogation chair and cuffed her hands and feet.
Song Shuyan cried bitterly, her tears streaming down as she looked at Huo Tingdong through the glass: “Tingdong… Why don’t you believe me!? Why don’t you trust me!? We’ve grown up together all these years; do you truly think I would commit such a horrific act?”
Huo Tingdong lifted his gaze, his eyes unbearably frosty: “Back at the camp, when Lin Qi fell from the high platform, it was you who pushed her—wasn’t it?”
His tone carried no trace of doubt; it was an assertion.
Song Shuyan hurriedly shook her head, denying it vehemently: “No! No! I didn’t… I really didn’t!”
Disappointment clouded Huo Tingdong’s eyes.
His thin lips pressed together as his Adam’s apple subtly bobbed: “Song Shuyan, stop lying to me.”
His eyes were filled with despair and bitterness.
Song Shuyan continued to argue pitifully, “Am I insane to do such a thing? Tingdong, I’ve studied hard for years, earned my doctorate—I have a bright future ahead! Why would I gamble my entire life on such an unforgivable act? I’m not as malicious as you imagine… It’s Lin Qi! She’s the one throwing dirt on me, framing me! I want to sue her!”