Genius Club-Chapter 180 - 23 Gifts

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"Lin Xian, my condolences."

The day after returning to Donghai City from Hang City, Zhou Duanyun’s Rolls-Royce Phantom appeared downstairs at MX Company. He came to Lin Xian’s office, sat on the sofa, and looked at Lin Xian:

"I know you must be very upset, but... no one wishes for such things to happen. I am equally pained by Tang Xin’s death."

"Actually, I wasn’t planning to tell you this, fearing that you would feel even more guilt after hearing it... That night, Tang Xin had something to give you. I helped her prepare it for a long time, and it was in my car. That’s why she ended up in an accident."

Zhou Duanyun sighed and crossed his hands:

"To tell the truth, I bear more responsibility."

...

Lin Xian sat in front of his desk, propping his cheek with his left hand, spinning a pen with his right, saying nothing.

Gao Yang had once gone to the Donghai Public Security Bureau with Tang Xin’s younger brother to get more information.

To them, Tang Xin’s death was a major incident, as if countless conspiracies were entangling her.

But from a broader perspective, Tang Xin was not that special.

In this city, an average of 500 car accidents happen each day, resulting in the death of four people and injuries to 30 due to traffic incidents.

These are just the statistics of one city. Nationally, globally... the number of people dying from car accidents on Earth every day is approximately 3,200.

Tang Xin was just an insignificant one among them.

Compared to Professor Xu Yun’s death, her demise was inconsequential. Or rather, if not for similarities to Professor Xu Yun’s death, her passing would be nothing to the people of Donghai City, not even worth a feather’s weight.

No one cares about the other 3,199 people who died in car accidents on the same day as Tang Xin, who they were, where they were, and at what time they died.

The reply Gao Yang and Tang Xin’s brother received was —

At present, the hit-and-run vehicle has not been found, evidence is insufficient, please refer to the final police report as the main source.

Lin Xian and Zhou Duanyun were also questioned by the police at their homes, and both responded truthfully.

It seems to be a simple case of a girl crossing the road to get a gift from a car and then dying in a tragic accident...

Of course.

That’s under the assumption that Xu Yun’s incident hadn’t happened.

If there hadn’t been Xu Yun’s unresolved case, Tang Xin’s death would almost certainly have been simply defined as such.

But are Tang Xin’s case and Xu Yun’s case really related?

The police are also uncertain because, once again, there’s that same phrase...

No evidence.

Investigations require proof. Without evidence, nothing can be concluded unless the culprit themselves admits guilt. In such cases, a confession can be used as evidence in an investigation.

Xu Yun died at 00:42:02, hit by a black Audi sedan, with a taxi fleeing the scene.

Tang Xin died at 00:42:41, hit by a taxi, with no other vehicles fleeing along with the taxi.

These two incidents, if one insists on relating them or deeming them as committed by the same perpetrator, there could be a case.

But this is a forced narrative the police won’t accept without evidence.

So...

The key lies in...

[Evidence].

In recent days, Lin Xian also intentionally stood at the edge of the sidewalk at 00:42 multiple times, testing the dangerous threshold.

But each time was uneventful, without a ripple.

If it weren’t for Huang Que’s reminder that the "Catch Me If You Can" game had begun, he couldn’t have imagined being a target for those murderers.

He’s not a scientist and doesn’t study hibernation, so why should he be targeted?

Nevertheless, Lin Xian believed what Huang Que said, so it wasn’t difficult to deduce...

He was indeed being watched by the murderers now, but they didn’t intend to kill him at the moment. Perhaps the reason was the same — lack of evidence.

Lin Xian stopped spinning his pen and looked up at Zhou Duanyun who was sitting on the sofa.

Perhaps...

The truth was just as he had guessed —

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

[He couldn’t find evidence they killed Xu Yun and Tang Xin, and they couldn’t find evidence that he was Xu Yun’s accomplice!]

[In this tug-of-war and probing... whoever is first to obtain evidence or get caught by the other side will lose this game of Catch Me If You Can!]

So that’s how it is.

Only then did Lin Xian finally understand what Huang Que meant by "Catch Me If You Can."

He had originally thought it was merely a game of cat and mouse, where he was very passive and could only hide cautiously to avoid detection.

But it’s not like that at all!

The cat and mouse are not yet determined; it’s a game of racing against time. While his current situation is passive, but...

Lin Xian looked at the line of variously styled Rhein cats on his office desk...

If the mouse is clever enough, it might not be impossible to turn the tables and become the cat!

Seeing that Lin Xian was not speaking,

Zhou Duanyun stood up, smoothed the wrinkles of his suit, and looked at Lin Xian:

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"Lin Xian, the gift Tang Xin prepared for you is still in my car. Do you still want it? If so, I can have my driver give it to you…"

"No need." Lin Xian shook his head:

"Just help me throw it away."

The current Lin Xian did not trust Zhou Duanyun. Who knew if the so-called gift Zhou Duanyun was offering was real or fake?

Besides, even if it was real, what use would it be?

Tang Xin had died, and Lin Xian was very certain that she had been murdered, possibly with this very former classmate’s involvement in the planning.

What use is a gift stained with blood?

"Ah?"

Zhou Duanyun was surprised, his eyes widening as he looked at Lin Xian:

"Are you really... sure you don’t want it?"

"I watched Tang Xin die right before my eyes. How could I have the face to accept her gift?" Lin Xian leaned back in his executive chair, chuckling lightly as he looked at Zhou Duanyun:

"What I really hope is that one day in the future when I visit Tang Xin’s grave, I can bring her a gift."

"You might not quite understand Lin Xian…"

Zhou Duanyun shook his head with a smile:

"Nowadays in Hang City, they advocate civilized commemorations, and burning paper money is no longer allowed."

"Really."

Lin Xian responded indifferently:

"Then I’ll just burn something else."

"..."

Zhou Duanyun was speechless.

Was the point really the paper money?

The point was the burning itself!

...

Zhou Duanyun left shortly after.

Lin Xian peeled back the blinds, watching Zhou Duanyun leave the parking lot through the slits.

This person…

What exactly is he busy with?

What exactly is he doing?

All of their classmates, including Lin Xian himself, had previously thought of him as a successful person. But why was he successful, and where was his success?

To Lin Xian’s surprise, once he started to scrutinize Zhou Duanyun carefully, he realized he didn’t understand him at all.

Be it his lonely, self-deprecating high school days or his present successful status, he knew nothing about him.

Lin Xian did not believe in the innate evil of human nature.

If Zhou Duanyun had really changed from a poor child into a murderer, then there had to have been some catalyst for the transformation.

And this catalyst…

Maybe it was the key to finding all the answers!

Ding-dong~

Just a few minutes after seeing Zhou Duanyun off, the WeChat notification on his phone rang.

Lin Xian picked up his phone and saw that it was a message from Chu Anqing—

"Senior Lin Xian, do you have time at noon tomorrow? My dad said he would like to invite you to our house for a meal. He said he wants to have a few drinks with you. My mom has cooked a lot of delicious food and is preparing to treat you well!"

Chu Shanhe actually invited him to his house for a meal?

That was somewhat unexpected.

In modern society, with dining out so convenient, there were only two scenarios where one would invite others to their home:

1. Thinking that dining out is too expensive, so in order to save money, they choose to cook at home.

2. They have a very close relationship with, or place great importance on the person, thus opting to cook at home to entertain guests.

Clearly.

Chu Shanhe was definitely not doing this to save money.

After some thought, Lin Xian replied to Chu Anqing with:

"Sure, I have time tomorrow."

Chu Shanhe’s status in Donghai City was unrivaled.

He even knew about the Donghai police secretly hiring an "external staff member."

Since Chu Shanhe intended to thank him, feeling he owed Lin Xian a favor, there was no need for Lin Xian to decline. It was better to take the opportunity to accept and try to gather some useful information from him.

Perhaps, at some future moment...

In Donghai, Chu Shanhe could offer Lin Xian extraordinary assistance.