My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Mo Qingshan shook Qin Weizhe's hands, traces of fatigue on his eyes. His brows were taut with nerves and tension. "Thank you for coming all the way here, Detective Qin."

"Principal Mo." Qin Weizhe smiled. "Don't be so polite. Binchen's friend is also my friend. My apologies, but because there's a personal connection between you and him, it isn't appropriate for him to be in the team. To make up for it, he asked me to come and help."

"I know." Mo Qingshan nodded and kneaded his forehead, a wry smile on his face. "He has helped me a lot.. If not for him, I would not be able to arrive so fast."

The rest of the investigation team members were busy executing Qin Weizhe's orders. In the meeting room, only Qin Weizhe, Mo Qingshan, and Yao Xiurong remained.

Teacher Yao's complexion wasn't good, her face was ghastly pale even though she tried to maintain coolheadedness. "I am Yao Xiurong, Li Qing's homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you, Detective Qin."

After the short greetings, they moved on to the main topic: Li Qing's death, was it murder or suicide?

Yao Xiurong expressed her stand firmly. "She wouldn't have committed suicide. Detective Qin, I have taught her for three years. Even though I don't know her inside out, I can confidently say that I know her temperament. Even though she's introverted, she is a strong and tenacious girl."

Qin Weizhe listened patiently and nodded. "I understand where you're coming from, Teacher Yao. If you're convinced that it isn't suicide, then you're saying that there's a murderer rampaging inside the school?"

Yao Xiurong's face paled further.

Mo Qingshan interjected gently. "We shouldn't make any conclusions yet. Teacher Yao, I know that you cherish each of your students but a person's heart is the hardest to guess. I am not refuting you, but I want you to realize that you're only a teacher, similarly I am only a Principal, the things we know are limited."

A faint smile appeared on Qin Weizhe's lips. "Your point is?"

"To let us understand Li Qing further, let's start with her closest friends and classmates around her." Mo Qingshan said. "Detective Qin, I will give you the full authority to investigate her death."

"Thank you for your trust, Principal Mo. Then we shall start. Which class is she in again?"

Yao Xiurong answered. "Class 1. It's Class 1, Year 3."

"Alright. We will conduct an investigation from there."

At that moment, Luo Ning knocked on the door and came in. "Detective Qin, here's what you want." He handed Qin Weizhe a few pages of paper.

"Great." Qin Weizhe grinned and flipped the pages to find the list of students from Class 1, Year 3. There were 28 students, excluding Li Qing. "I will have to ask Teacher Yao's help to ask for the students in your class to come here. Yes, starting from Tian Wen, Hao Dong, Chen Jiawei—wait, what?!" Detective Qin's eyes widened as he exclaimed in surprise. "Shi Nian?!"

"Do you know her, Detective Qin?" Mo Qingshan questioned. "She is the new transfer student that's brought in by Xu Binchen."

Qin Weizhe and Luo Ning looked at each other and found the same astonishment in each other's eyes.

Was this a coincidence? Why did cases start to crop up one by one wherever she went? First, Wu Wengen's case in the apartment district and now, there's another one…

Qin Weizhe's eyes flashed before he regained his usual cheerful smile. "Oh, nothing. Yes, I met her a few times before because of Xu Binchen. I just didn't expect to see her here, haha, it's such a small world. Okay, Teacher Yao, I will trouble you to call the students here one by one."

From the first two students—Tian Wen and Hao Dong, Qin Weizhe and Luo Ning learned about Li Qing's school life which could be said to be mediocre and flat. 

Well, it was more because the boys tended not to pay attention to others except the girls they liked, thus Qin Weizhe couldn't extract any important information from them.

But in the end, he finally learned something interesting. "Oh? Tell me about the forum's thread."

Tian Wen was shocked as he flusteredly denied. "No, no, Mr. Detective. That matter hasn't been solved yet. Nothing is confirmed until now."

"Don't worry." Looking at this youthful puppy-like boy, Qin Weizhe couldn't help but tease him. "Why did you seem so reluctant? Don't tell me you have a crush on Shi Nian?"

Tian Wen instantly blushed. "N—No, I didn't! I definitely don't!"

The more he tried to deny it, the more obvious it seemed.

Qin Weizhe: "…" Alas, Old Xu, you lost the opportunity to see how popular your kiddo becomes.

"I just…" Tian Wen scratched his head. "I know that Li Qing's death is very sensitive right now, especially when the conflict between them has just happened not long ago, so people will inevitably think that it has something to do with Shi Nian. But seriously, ever since she transferred here, she has been studying so earnestly. We aren't even sure whether the chat is real or not. Nowadays, there's a lot of photo fabrication, right?"

He was talking until his saliva turned dry, but the point was only one. He didn't want Shi Nian to be dragged unjustly into this matter.

Qin Weizhe suddenly felt bitter, feeling like he was very old already as he looked at the boy's bashful yet careful look. 

"Alright, I understand." He patted Tian Wen's shoulder. "I promise to be impartial. Now, all you should do is to tell me the truth and leave everything to the police, got it?"

Tian Wen heaved a sigh of relief and nodded.

***

"I heard that when the thread accusing Shi Nian came out, only you and Li Qing were in the classroom, so if we exclude Li Qing, the only person possible to do it is you. What do you have to say about that?"

Ruo Tingran had just sat down when Qin Weizhe suddenly asked this question. She was so shocked that she stopped sobbing. Her eyes wet with tears widened delicately. Qin Weizhe wondered how someone could be so inspirational to create waterproof mascara to let girls cry without looking like a vengeful ghost.

"M—Mr. Detective, I—" She stuttered. "This is just an accusation! Li Qing blamed me because she's looking for an excuse!"

Qin Weizhe tapped on his notebook. "So you're saying that it's Li Qing who created it?"

"Of course! If it's not her, who else?!"

Qin Weizhe's eyes bore down onto her for a long few seconds. His eyes sharp and indecipherable, as if he was digging into the depth of her soul.

Ruo Tingran fidgeted nervously in her seat, ten fingers wrung together.

In the end, the handsome detective's face blossomed into a bright smile. "Don't be scared, I am only asking casually."

Ruo Tingran didn't have the heart to appreciate the beauty in front of her as lingering fear gripped her heart like iron claw. "Y—Yes…"

"Next question," The man smiled until his eyes curved. "If you don't really like her, then why did you accept her into your group?"

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A/N: what do you think, is it murder or suicide?

The investigation method of the three men are very distinguished ne~

1. Jin Renguang - imposing, high pressure 

2. Xu Binchen - play with psychology until the other person collapsed

3. Qin Weizhe - stabbing where it hurts with a bright smile

Extra chappie for my lovely readers, thanks for 50 GT! If MDG reach 100 GT this month, I will do a 5 chapters mass release!