No one doubted Xu Ruyi.
She sat on the hospital bed, her frail body trembling faintly under the weight of pain and grievance, looking utterly pitiful. The air around her seemed to freeze in sympathy. The auto shop owner's eyes brimmed with compassion, and even Old He stopped pressing her, watching her with patient gentleness.
After a long moment, Xu Ruyi finally took a deep breath and steadied herself.
Sniffling through her pain, she continued, "I was in so much agony—so much. I couldn't sleep night after night. We fought, we grew cold, we separated… but none of this was what I wanted. Yet I couldn't find a solution. I could only torment myself. I took sleeping pills—ones he bought for me…"
No. None of this is true.
Qin Guan's heart pounded violently, his tongue tied. Xu Ruyi's deepest suffering had been during her parents' deaths. Their separation stemmed from her father's passing. She had taken sleeping pills, and he had bought them—but there had been no fights, no cold wars. None of it.
Why is she saying this? What's her goal?
"My husband was cheating, but I couldn't find proof. I was so stupid—utterly useless. I suggested installing a dashcam in his car, but he refused." Xu Ruyi covered her mouth, sobbing softly.
Another lie.
Qin Guan shook his head silently. He knew she was fabricating everything but dared not interrupt. He had no idea what trap her lies might spring.
"I had no choice," Xu Ruyi wept on. "I decided to secretly copy his car keys to search his vehicle for evidence. But I feared if he discovered it was me, we'd fight again, and he'd guard against me even more. So when I went to copy the keys, I pretended to be Qi Min."
"As for my own car keys—I originally had two, but I lost one. I'm always misplacing things. So I asked this technician to make another copy. His work is reliable, good quality, affordable…" She even nodded earnestly, complimenting the shop owner.
The owner chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head. "Yeah, my customers all praise my skills. Reputation's everything in this line of work…"
The tense atmosphere in the room inexplicably lightened.
"Why did you call the auto shop owner on the afternoon of the 12th to retrieve your key early?" Old He, not one to be sidetracked, smiled along before suddenly zeroing in on Xu Ruyi.
"Oh, that day…" Xu Ruyi flushed, glancing bitterly at Auntie Feng by the door. "Auntie Feng knows. At noon, my husband mentioned his car was stuck outside a supermarket because the key malfunctioned and he couldn't open it."
"After returning home, he kept obsessing over the key issue. It made me nervous—was he onto me? Had he discovered I'd copied his keys? I panicked, found an excuse to leave, and urgently called the shop owner to retrieve the key early."
"I told him to contact 'Qi Min' because that's the name I'd used. I even had him message 'Qi Min.' I did all this…" She sighed deeply, lips quivering with feigned despair, "…as a pathetic, helpless wife. Facing my husband's affair, I could do nothing but frame the other woman. I just… hoped they'd fight—a messy, unresolved fight—so he'd finally cut ties and come back to us."
Flawless.
Her story was seamless. Even Qin Guan, the seasoned defense lawyer, couldn't spot a crack. A betrayed wife, desperate to save her marriage, resorts to petty schemes—it was tragically believable.
"All I wanted was for them to quarrel." Her plea dripped with such vulnerability it tugged at heartstrings.
But Qin Guan knew the truth. That day, his car had been parked outside the supermarket because he'd hidden the stocking-filled bag under the driver's seat—the very bag that later vanished.
That was when his suspicions of Xu Ruyi began.
Yes, he'd tested her by repeatedly mentioning the keys that night—but Xu Ruyi had called the shop owner that afternoon. She'd anticipated his doubts and prepared her defense in advance.
Now Qin Guan was certain: Xu Ruyi had taken the stockings from his car.
What is she plotting?
"That's everything. I admit my mistakes. I shouldn't have impersonated Qi Min or interfered with the investigation…" Xu Ruyi clasped her hands penitently. "But I haven't seen Qi Min in ages. It wasn't until you and Li Yang came to our home that night that I learned she'd gone missing."
Is this her goal? To cement his guilt in Qi Min's disappearance by denying any contact, trapping him under permanent suspicion?
"Why?!" The word finally tore from Qin Guan's clenched teeth.
He glared furiously at Xu Ruyi.
She met his gaze head-on, her eyes devoid of emotion—no anger, no fear. Just twin blades of ice stabbing into him, threatening to pry open long-sealed chambers of his psyche.
Qin Guan flinched away instinctively. Whatever her game, he couldn't—wouldn't—let this woman defeat him. He was a top criminal lawyer. This was his battlefield.
"She claims she hasn't seen Qi Min? Lies! Everything she just said is fabricated! Don't bother questioning Auntie Feng—they're in cahoots!" He turned urgently to the officers. "If you want Qi Min, investigate Xu Ruyi's movements before her hospitalization! Check the Xinhe Hotel! That's where she met Qi Min! With her appearance, the front desk staff will remember her!"
"Xinhe Hotel?" Old He frowned. "How do you know that? Have you been there too?"