Genius Club-Chapter 189 - 31 Catching a Thief by Shouting "Stop Thief

"Ji Xinshui?"

Lin Xian repeated.

What a strange name.

"Ji Xinshui."

Chu Anqing read out this name, her eyes widening:

"I know this name!"

"You’ve heard of it?"

"Yes!" Chu Anqing nodded affirmatively:

"I heard my dad mention him because his name is so unique... it left a deep impression on me."

"My dad has always paid close attention to the scientific field and matters involving scientists, especially the scientists from Donghai City; he pretty much knows all of them."

Lin Xian was very interested:

"Did your dad also fund Ji Xinshui’s research?"

Chu Anqing shook her head with a smile:

"That wouldn’t be the case."

"This Mr. Ji Xinshui, he is a very remarkable person! He doesn’t need my dad’s funding... He might even be richer than my dad."

Wealthier than Chu Shanhe?

Lin Xian blinked.

That was indeed incredible...

Someone wealthier than Chu Shanhe could probably rank high in the entire country.

Of course, Lin Xian was guessing. He didn’t really know how rich Chu Shanhe was, since various rumors, both good and evil, were all conjecture.

Seeing Lin Xian’s keen interest, Chu Anqing continued:

"I remember my dad mentioning... that Ji Xinshui wasn’t very accomplished when he was younger, experienced neglect in his field of research, and was even ostracized and targeted by people from Donghai University Research Institute."

"But later on, it seemed as though he suddenly caught a break. He published several significant research findings, which made a big splash in the medical chemistry world, and he firmly secured the position of dean at Donghai University Research Institute."

...

I see.

It’s one of those tales where fortunes can reverse in time, and one should never despise the young for being poor.

He used to face academic marginalization, just like Xu Yun.

But then he had a stunning breakthrough and firmly took the seat as the dean of the institute—quite the Cinderella story.

"Then he must have been Xu Yun’s mentor for a long time, quite possibly from being a graduate student, to a Ph.D. student, and then to a researcher, Xu Yun was his student all along."

Lin Xian pondered:

"That said, the two of them should have had a good relationship, right? On this graduation photo, he looks at Xu Yun with such affection, almost as if he’s looking at his own child."

Chu Anqing nodded:

"Now that you mention it, I also remembered that my dad mentioned this gentleman recently when he was talking about Xu Yun with me. The relationship between Xu Yun and him was indeed very close, almost like a father to his disciple."

"Moreover, Professor Xu Yun’s wife was introduced to him by this old gentleman; she’s his niece... So, in the end, Xu Yun’s relationship with this elder wasn’t just one of teacher and student, they even became relatives."

I see...

Listening to Chu Anqing’s description, Lin Xian fell into contemplation.

The good relationship between Chu Shanhe and Xu Yun was widely recognized. Chu had funded Xu for a full ten years, and Xu was deeply grateful, so the two of them must have talked a lot privately, and Chu Anqing’s information should all be true, straight from Xu Yun’s mouth.

But there was still one question he couldn’t figure out...

[If Xu Yun and Ji Xinshui had such a close relationship, akin to father and son, then why did they end up parting ways over the hibernation research, with no contact for a decade?]

That seemed a bit overblown.

"Then why did their good relationship fall apart in the end?" Lin Xian directly asked his own question.

Chu Anqing shook her head:

"I’m not so sure about that. My father only mentioned these things in passing when chatting with me, and I didn’t inquire in detail."

"I only know that later on, Mr. Ji Xinshui left East Sea University, and it seems like he went into business? Or maybe he was involved in some research? I’m not too clear about that, but from what my dad said, this gentleman holds a high position and has considerable power."

Lin Xian took out his phone and searched for the name "Ji Xinshui."

He found quite a few news articles.

However, most of them were from several years ago, with the most recent piece of information also two years old. Perhaps as he aged, this Mr. Ji preferred to stay out of the limelight.

Lin Xian casually opened a news article.

It was an international medical conference, with Ji Xinshui sitting in the front row, towards the middle, which indicated his high status and standing.

Enlarge the photo.

At this moment, Ji Xinshui looked significantly older than he did in the graduation photo album.

His hair was almost all gone, and the little that remained was completely grey. His face had many more wrinkles, and his skin was very dry, even sporting some age spots.

Time spares no one.

Compared to his appearance in the graduation group photo, he seemed to have aged about 20 years; by estimate, Ji Xinshui must be around eighty years old now.

Recalling that Ji Lin and Ji Xinshui shared the same surname, plus Ji Lin saying that Xu Yun was his sister’s husband, and that he was adopted,

it all adds up to...

Visit frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓ for the b𝘦st novel reading experience.

[Aren’t these people just all one family after all?]

The relationships were a bit tangled; Lin Xian decided he needed to organize his thoughts once he got back.

After taking a picture of the doctorate graduation photo with his phone, he bid farewell to Chu Anqing and returned home.

He took out a piece of paper and began to summarize the intricate relationships between these individuals.

Based on the known information and guessing along the timeline... Lin Xian theorized that the story between these people should go like this:

First, Ji Xinshui was a very successful and influential figure with great power and prestige, and he made his fortune quite abruptly, fitting the template of a light novel protagonist. When he met Professor Xu Yun, he was already the Dean of the Donghai University Research Institute (information from Chu Anqing).

Then, Ji Xinshui met the young Professor Xu Yun and took him as his protégé. It appeared that their relationship, both as mentor and student and in private, was exceptionally good, akin to that of a father and son. Moreover, Ji Xinshui even introduced his niece to Xu Yun as a partner and helped them get married and give birth to Xu Yiyi (information from Chu Anqing).

And this little niece had an adopted little brother named Ji Lin. Since Ji Lin called Xu Yun’s wife his sister, it must have been the father of Xu Yun’s wife, Ji Xinshui’s own brother, who adopted him, which is why their surnames were the same (information from Ji Lin).

During that time, everyone’s life was happy, with Ji Xinshui and Xu Yun growing even closer, Xu Yun and Ji Xinshui’s niece being deeply in love, and even the young Ji Lin who became friends with Xu Yun, listening to his stories and viewing the books he brought (information from Ji Lin).

Afterward, tragedies struck one after another. Xu Yun’s wife died of amniotic fluid embolism during Xu Yiyi’s birth, departing from this world. However, this incident didn’t seem to affect the relationship between Xu Yun and Ji Xinshui. Their fallout likely occurred when Xu Yiyi fell from a slide at four or five years old, becoming comatose. Xu Yun insisted on researching hibernation pod technology, leading the two to part ways (information from Xu Yun).

In the following ten years, everyone led separate lives without any intersection. That is, until Lin Xian brought back the manuscript from the future to Xu Yun, enabling him to conquer the Hibernation Pod Filling Liquid and causing Xu Yun to die tragically on the streets (information from himself).

After Xu Yun’s death, the situation became chaotic. Tang Xin was invited by Ji Xinshui to conduct research in Donghai City, Ji Lin came to Donghai seeking revenge for Xu Yun’s murder, Huang Que also warned Lin Xian that he was in the midst of a game of Catch Me If You Can, and Tang Xin died in front of him at 00:42, with Zhou Duanyun very likely being one of the murderers (information from himself).

Click.

Lin Xian capped his pen.

"So, that’s the gist of the relationships among these people."

Lin Xian felt that his deduction seemed to be missing something...

There were a few areas where the logic didn’t add up.

He had always suspected that Ji Xinshui and Zhou Duanyun were involved in Tang Xin’s murder, but now it seemed Xu Yun and Ji Xinshui were close as father and son... If the killer of Xu Yun and Tang Xin was the same person, could Ji Xinshui really bring himself to do it?

"Actually, it might not be impossible."

Lin Xian suddenly thought that seeking humanity in a murderer was meaningless. If he dared to kill a stranger for some reason, he would also dare to kill his own relatives for greater benefits.

Even though there’s the saying that even tigers won’t eat their cubs, in real life... there are many cases of feuds and betrayals between fathers and sons, brothers and siblings.

Continuing with this logic...

If Ji Xinshui indeed was the murderer of Xu Yun, and Ji Lin came to Donghai under the pretense of avenging Xu Yun, was he oblivious, deceived, or knowingly playing the fool?

Lin Xian pondered over this question for a long time while twirling his pen.

He didn’t think Ji Lin was foolish.

He was a globally renowned genius detective novelist who had assisted China’s police in solving several international cases and had quickly cleared numerous complex cases for Donghai City’s police department in just a few days.

The kind of scenarios you’d find in detective comics were enough to prove that Ji Lin was a genuine genius detective.

"So... If an ordinary person like me can deduce this much by following the clues, exposing the suspicions about Ji Xinshui and Zhou Duanyun,"

"then with Ji Lin’s high IQ, his experience in solving cases, and his position within the Donghai City Police Department where he could access an abundance of clues... he has no reason not to discover the criminal suspicions surrounding Ji Xinshui and Zhou Duanyun!"

Bang.

Lin Xian smacked the pen in his hand down on the table.

In an instant, enlightenment dawned on him, as if he had received an epiphany.

Indeed, he had always felt something was off... Now, as all clues converged, Lin Xian finally uncovered the biggest blind spot in all these events—

[With all the clues so apparent, Ji Lin not only didn’t suspect Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui but didn’t even doubt the possibility of those chat records being fabricated, and he unreasonably used these fabricated records to test me!]

Lin Xian cursed inwardly, glad that he had been cautious that morning and hadn’t directly come forward to clear Tang Xin’s name.

This was a complete trap!

This trap was too deep...

If all his deductions were correct, then Tang Xin’s death was also a part of this trap! The purpose was to lure him, the biggest fish, in!

"It seems it’s not that the Donghai City police investigation is lacking."

Lin Xian calmed his emotions, sat back in the chair, and stared out of the window at the dark night sky:

"But rather, someone is deliberately disrupting the direction of the investigation by relying on trust..."

"[The thief is crying ’stop thief!’]"