A Chan – CH 078

Chapter 78: New Clues (3)

Li Weiyi thought for a moment and answered, “Liu Ying, Cheng Chuan, and Li Jinxiong.”

“That’s right.”

Li Weiyi felt relieved; thankfully, Xu Yi wasn’t involved. She felt guilty towards him; although they couldn’t be lovers, she didn’t want to be his enemy.

“Wang Ming and them…”

“They’re very well hidden. There’s no obvious connection. I plan to go back to 2014 to look for clues.”

“Okay.”

Seeing he wasn’t going to continue, Li Weiyi asked, “What’s your second discovery?”

Zhang Jingchan replied, “You’ll know when we get there.”

Li Weiyi crossed her arms and looked at him sideways: “I’ve noticed you’re quite capable this time, uncovering so much.”

Zhang Jingchan, still looking straight ahead, replied, “In this life, I didn’t carry 1 billion yuan on my back. I’m the top taxpayer in the city, so the connections I can use are naturally different.”

Li Weiyi muttered, “You’re really something, always aiming for first place.”

Zhang Jingchan finally smiled slowly but still didn’t look at her, as if the air itself had made him smile.

After a while, Li Weiyi said, “I broke up with Xu Yi, but he didn’t agree, and later he just stopped talking to me.” Zhang Jingchan seemed not to hear him, not even raising an eyebrow.

Li Weiyi ignored him, continuing, “I’ve thought this through completely—regardless of whether I find a boyfriend in the future, I should break up with him. You’re right, this is a relationship that shouldn’t have happened. I’m not her; I can’t be with him while carrying her memories. When we go back to 2014 and change history, he won’t remember anything, and he won’t be hurt. Everything will return to normal.”

Zhang Jingchan still didn’t speak, but the car slowed down imperceptibly.

Li Weiyi added, “Besides, theoretically, we’re just boyfriend and girlfriend. Since we’re not married, breaking up doesn’t require his consent.”

The car stopped in front of a traffic police station.

Zhang Jingchan turned off the engine, unbuckled her seatbelt, and said calmly, “Get out.”

Li Weiyi silently scoffed inwardly, maintaining a nonchalant expression as if she hadn’t said a word, and followed him inside.

A man led them to an office and showed them a security camera video.

Li Weiyi immediately recognized the black Jeep that had crashed into them in the footage. She didn’t remember any distinctive features of the car, but the impact was too strong; her intuition told her, “That’s it!”

“This car was stolen, and the license plate is fake—a cloned plate. Mr. Zhang, thank you for the tip. We will be searching the entire city for this car.”

Li Weiyi glanced at Zhang Jingchan, wondering how he was managing to fool them this time. She vividly remembered how he had ordered Ding Chenmo around, executing orders flawlessly.

Zhang Jingchan, one hand on the table, was watching the monitor. Although he didn’t look up, he seemed to sense her glance, suddenly raising his other hand and patting the back of her head, his voice as calm as still water: “Don’t overthink it. Watch the monitor.” Li Weiyi froze, her face instantly burning. She quickly glanced at the police officer beside her.

The officer simply smiled.

So Li Weiyi bent down, leaning close to Zhang Jingchan to watch the screen intently. A small trumpet flower seemed to slowly bloom in her heart, rustling gently in the breeze. The bitterness and melancholy buried within her for days vanished instantly because of that long-forgotten little gesture.

“Is it this person?” Zhang Jingchan asked.

In the surveillance footage, the suspect vehicle pulled into the gas station. A man in an old black cotton coat got out. He was of medium build, slightly overweight, and wore a baseball cap the entire time. He paid the bill and returned to his car.

The police officer replied, “That’s right, it’s him. The surveillance footage didn’t capture his face clearly. I asked the clerk, but with so many drivers filling up at their gas stations every day, she doesn’t remember him. Can you recognize him?”

Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi both fell silent.

The camera froze at the moment the man got into the car. He had his back to the monitor the whole time, and his movements weren’t very agile. They could even vaguely see the graying temples under his hat, but they couldn’t recognize him at all.

—

As night fell, Xu Yi drove back to the underground parking garage of his apartment complex. After parking, he didn’t move. Since that person stopped coming to his house, it seemed there was nothing left to return to.

He lit a cigarette, leaned back, closed his eyes, and slowly smoked.

How much time had passed, he didn’t know.

Until a hoarse, deep male voice sounded from the window: “Assistant Xu, long time no see.”

Xu Yi’s hand holding the cigarette paused.

It had been many years since anyone had called him that.