Pffft! Xiang Wan brushed his hand away and glared at him, pouting."Yes, yes, yes, I like your body which is tough like the mountain and your soul which is deep like the sea. Will this do, Sir Little Bai?"
"That"s a good one! I"ll give you a reward." Immediately, Bai Muchuan kissed her forehead.
Both of them were controlling their emotions.
However, Bai Muchuan was obviously more nonchalant about it.
"Let"s talk about the case now!"
Xiang Wan cuddled his arm. "No matter how tough our days ahead, I"ll be there with you. Sir Little Bai, congratulations! After several months of hard work, you"ve got yourself a beautiful girlfriend—Me!"
"Hah!" Bai Muchuan patted her head. "If only you"re so obedient every day, that will be great!"
"Oh? So there are times that I"m not obedient, and you don"t like it?"
"Silly girl!"
After teasing each other for a while, they went back to talk about the case.
Xiang Wan"s doubt was: "You said your mom did not die. Where did she go?"
When she thought that she would hear a story full of mysteries…
Bai Muchuan only said coolly, "I don"t know."
"But why… why did the recording say that she committed suicide?"
"That was what they wrote in the dossier. Regarding this question, I"ve asked Cheng Weiji about it before at least eight to 10 times." Bai Muchuan recalled with a frown. "Back then, he was the one who handled this case personally. Of course, there was no need for him to deal with it himself with his rank and position. Nonetheless, since this case involved my mom, he had gone out of his way to handle it."
Xiang Wan listened quietly without interrupting him.
Bai Muchuan contemplated for a moment. "After the incident, some people he had sent brought me away. In my impression, I remembered that I saw my mom…"
Xiang Wan jumped again. "When?"
Bai Muchuan"s eyes looked downward. "It was the night that she "committed suicide". She stood before my bed, stroked my face, and told me that she"s going away and that in the future… some other people will care and dote on me."
Upon hearing that, Xiang Wan felt a lump in her throat.
She wanted to tell him what his mom meant by "going away". She could have meant death when she said that.
Maybe, it was simply because Bai Muchuan refused to admit that fact.
Bai Muchuan was gazing at her and seemed to have read her thoughts.
"It"s not like that," he said, "she had prepared a suitcase."
For someone who wanted to commit suicide, there was no reason for her to prepare a suitcase.
"She was very calm. She told me she had done something wrong and she couldn"t forgive herself… From then on, she hoped that the pain of separation from her child could atone for her sins!"
She had done something wrong. Was she referring to when she did not save Lima and her mom?
Xiang Wan wondered. "Why are you… so sure that she didn"t die?"
Even though she did not want to die.
She could have been killed.
The recording mentioned that Cui Ming had killed many to seek revenge.
There was a questionable doubt in Bai Muchuan"s words.
He seemed to have difficulty explaining this aspect.
"I did not see my mom"s corpse; not even for the last time during her funeral. They did not let me attend her funeral… which was totally illogical since I was already eight years old."
It was a Chinese tradition for a son to send his mother off on her funeral.
"Maybe they"re worried… that you"ll be sad?" Xiang Wan tried to think of other possibilities.
"Hur!" Bai Muchuan sneered. "No one would care about the feelings of an eight-year-old boy."
At this point, he paused for a while, and his frosty gaze stared at Xiang Wan.
"I"ve managed to flip through the dossier of this case. There was a single picture of the scene after the suicide took place… Well, I had meant the corpse. The only pictures inside the dossier were of those when she was undergoing emergency treatment. Those were not pictures that showed her dying. It was from those pictures that I"ve seen… that tattoo."
Well…
That was indeed suspicious.
By right, if they concluded a case as a suicide…
There should at least be a picture after she died?
"There"s one more important reason—" Bai Muchuan suddenly closed his eyes.
His expression seemed pained.
"My memory when I was eight years old is vague! There was a memory I"m unable to confirm about the last time I saw my mom. It was… after the supposed suicide; I saw blood on her body…"
What!?
Huff! Xiang Wan took a deep breath.
She just looked at Bai Muchuan quietly without a word.
It was hard to tell whether or not childhood memory was true.
Bai Muchuan smiled. "Due to all these doubts, I"ve firmly believed that they are keeping something from me. I also want to know where she had been all these years, you know?"
Every kid would want their mom to be alive forever.
Xiang Wan pressed her lips together. "You"ll find her."
Bai Muchuan did not answer but just glanced at her.
Xiang Wan also felt that she had said something which was clearly not what she had thought to be.
After deliberating for a moment, she asked another question. "Did your mom leave you because she was afraid… of that person"s revenge?"
Hur! Bai Muchuan"s eyes were clear and cold. "After listening to that recording, I"ve also a.n.a.lyzed that she could have received a threat or felt threatened that she got Cheng Weiji to take care of me… After all, when facing a strong and crazy man like Cui Ming, it was only natural to worry about her child and did not want the child to come to any harm… She could not protect me since she would not know when that person would seek revenge. As for Cheng Weiji, he already had his own family…"
What other means would she have?
She could only leave her child to a safe place with people she trusted.
This was very logical!
Xiang Wan squeezed his hands quietly.
Bai Muchuan seemed a little stiff. He looked like a child who was desperately trying to put up a strong front, although he had been hurt. Finally, he let out a bitter chuckle.
"If she"s still alive, so many years had pa.s.sed that I"m already a grownup! Why didn"t she come and see me?"
"Maybe…"
Xiang Wan wanted to say…
Maybe she had formed another family.
Maybe she had other considerations…
There were so many changes a person could go through after 20 years.
Who could guarantee that one"s original intention would stay the same 20 years later?
Two decades was long enough to wash away all the feelings one must have.
"So do you still miss your mom?" she asked.
"Nope. I just wanted to find her and ask her why…" Bai Muchuan revealed an unconcerned smile, yet it sent chills to the bones. "I"m a detective. It"s my responsibility to get to the bottom of the matter and clear all these doubts."
Was that all?
Of course not.
Xiang Wan did not want to expose him but just gave a smile.
"All right, I also suggest that we should find out if Xu Zhaodi[Mrs. Zhao], Sun Shangli, Xie Wanwan are connected to this case… Of course, there"s also Meng Chi. Did they have anything to do with that disaster 20 years ago?"
"Xie Wanwan…" Bai Muchuan responded.
He seemed to be a little worried at the mention of this name, as it worried him that Xiang Wan might overthink it.
"She," he glanced at her, "is indeed a little related to this."
…
Eh?
So Xie Wanwan was really related to this.
Xiang Wan showed a half-smile.
She wanted to tell him that their ties were really deep.
It was no wonder that Xie Wanwan loved him to the bones…
However, this was a solemn and important topic.
She chose to keep her mouth shut…
And just gazed at Bai Muchuan quietly.
It was a deep and sad emotional wound that anyone would most probably not want to be questioned about it.
If he talked about it himself, only then would he become stronger.
Bai Muchuan was so deep in thought that he unconsciously took Xiang Wan"s fruit juice and took a sip. When he met Xiang Wan"s gaze, it was only then did he got out of his daze and looked at the nice gla.s.s of fruit juice he was sipping. "It actually taste good!" A smile formed on his face.
Xiang Wan chuckled with a sigh. "You don"t drink this usually. Are you all right?"
Bai Muchuan did not deny that and he rubbed his temples.
"I haven"t thought of the past for a long time."
As Xiang Wan looked at the distracted Bai Muchuan, she was so full of compa.s.sion for him that she did not want to force him at all.
"If you can"t remember, then forget about it. Don"t think about it anymore—"
Bai Muchuan suddenly interrupted her. "Xiang Wan, I need to tell you—"