Chapter Eleven: The Forgotten Case

Liu Gang’s eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead. After that hoarse roar, it was as if all the strength had been drained from his body, leaving him slumped in defeat.

He panted heavily and said in a low, broken voice, “It’s me… it’s all my fault…”

The air in the living room instantly froze. Only his labored breathing and Liu Hong’s faint sobs could be heard.

Chen Yu did not urge him to go on. He simply observed the man before him, teetering on the brink of collapse, trying to judge whether his grief was genuine or feigned.

A long silence passed.

Liu Gang lifted his bloodshot eyes to Chen Yu, then swept them over his sister’s ashen face.

He spoke.

“My brother-in-law, Luo Xiangdong, and I—once, we were colleagues.”

“We both worked at the city research institute.”

“He was a key member of a project, I was just a newly hired junior researcher.”

“To be honest, my sister and brother-in-law got together because of me—I matched them up.”

Liu Gang’s voice was low, filled with reminiscence.

“Their relationship was always very good. My brother-in-law treated my sister… there was nothing to fault him for.”

“Fifteen years ago, it was their fifth wedding anniversary.”

“I remember it clearly. That day, my brother-in-law dragged me off to drink with him. He was as happy as a child, said he and my sister had decided—they were going to have a child, to bring more joy to the family.”

At this point, the smile that should have appeared on Liu Gang’s lips was quickly swallowed by pain.

“At that time… I myself had only been married for a short while. My wife… she was already pregnant with our child.”

“We all thought the good days were just beginning, everything was full of hope.”

“But…”

Liu Gang abruptly closed his eyes, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

“That very month, when my sister and brother-in-law were happily planning for a child… my wife… something happened to her.”

“She was… she was murdered, with unimaginable cruelty!”

“In our own home!”

Liu Gang’s fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms, his whole body shaking.

“She was cut open… even… even the unborn child in her womb was not spared…”

That kind of soul-deep agony made Chen Yu’s heart skip a beat.

Liu Hong had already covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

At this moment, a chill rose in Chen Yu’s heart. To commit such an atrocity—what kind of hatred could drive someone to this?

“From then on, I quit the research institute.”

“I couldn’t go back there, couldn’t live that kind of normal life anymore.”

“I was… finished, utterly finished.”

“My sister and brother-in-law, seeing what I had become, seeing the state my wife was in… they… they were terrified too. They never dared speak of having children again.”

“It was me. I destroyed their hope with my own hands. It was me… who made my sister suffer all these years…”

He choked up, hanging his head in anguish.

This truth, buried for fifteen years, was finally laid bare, blood and all.

Liu Hong wiped her tears and looked at her tormented little brother, her gaze complex—filled with both sorrow and heaviness.

“These years, Xiao Gang… he’s suffered so much.”

“All I could do to help him was… just give him some money.” Liu Hong’s voice was barely above a whisper, as if afraid to touch those unbearable memories.

“After my sister-in-law was killed, he went mad. All he could think about was finding that damned murderer.”

“He said he’d hire the best detective in the world, no matter the cost; he had to let his wife and unborn child rest in peace.”

Chen Yu quietly watched Liu Hong.

The deep, genuine pain, exhaustion, and helplessness etched on her face did not look at all like an act.

“At first, I tried to talk sense into him. The police had kept the case open, but so much time had passed—most useful clues were probably long gone.”

“But he wouldn’t listen to a word. It was like he was possessed—no one could talk him out of it.” Liu Hong sighed, her gaze full of helplessness.

“He came to me for money all the time. Sometimes he’d say he’d found a new lead and needed to travel to verify it; sometimes he claimed he’d contacted a famous international detective and needed a huge deposit.”

“I knew he was in pain, unable to move on, so whenever he asked and I had it, I gave what I could.”

“He always said, ‘Just a little longer, just a little more money, and I’ll catch the murderer.’”

Viewers in the live stream were all moved after hearing this.

“It’s so tragic—his whole life is just too pitiful.”

“Fifteen years! What kind of obsession does it take to keep going for that long?”

“His sister isn’t having it any easier—how much money must she have spent on him over the years?”

Liu Hong’s eyes grew vacant.

“All together, over the years… almost ten million.”

She uttered the figure softly, yet it stunned Chen Yu and every viewer in the live stream.

Ten million?

That was not what anyone expected.

Chen Yu, too, was taken aback.

For an ordinary working family, that amount was astronomical—enough to crush anyone.

And if everything Liu Gang and Liu Hong had just described were happening in a typical family, their struggles would make perfect sense—enough to draw tears of sympathy and regret from any listener.

But that’s only for an ordinary family!

Is Liu Hong an ordinary woman? For a billionaire, what is ten million? Not even a drop in the bucket.

Would she really show such heaviness and difficulty over ‘ten million’?

The more she spoke this way, the more Chen Yu found it illogical.

Surely Liu Hong couldn’t have missed the glaring inconsistencies in her own words, yet she seemed completely oblivious?

Chen Yu frowned deeply, unable to make sense of it.

Just then, Liu Gang, who had kept his head down all this time, suddenly moved.

He jerked his head up, his bloodshot eyes locking on Liu Hong. With a thud, he dropped to his knees.

“Sis!”

The sudden kneeling shocked Liu Hong, making her leap up, her face even paler. “Xiao Gang, what are you doing? Get up! Please!”

The live stream audience exploded.

“What the hell is this twist?! He must be acting!”

“No way, no way—don’t tell me he’s asking for money again?”

“After all this, he’s begging for money live in front of everyone? This is too much…”

“Sis! I know how much you’ve done for me over the years! I know I’m useless! I’m a complete failure!”

He shouted, pounding his chest hard, each thud ringing out.

“But I can’t give up! I absolutely can’t! My wife and child’s blood debt must be avenged!”

“Sis, this time, I’ve really found hope! I really see hope!”

Liu Gang’s eyes blazed with sudden brightness. He pulled out a creased flyer from his pocket and opened it with trembling hands.

On it was the stern face of an Asian man wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

“The number one detective on the rankings, Sanada Gouichiro!”

“I went through incredible trouble to find out—he’s in the country right now! All he wants is ten million! He promised me himself—if I can get ten million, he’ll take the case and uncover the truth!”

Ten million!

That number again.

Liu Hong swayed, unable to control herself, the last trace of color draining from her face, her eyes filling with despair.

“Xiao Gang, I… I don’t have another ten million…” Her voice was thick with tears, saturated with helplessness.

“No! Sis! You must have a way! You must!” Liu Gang clung to his last hope, staring desperately at Liu Hong, shouting, “Go ask Dong Zhan for money! He’s loaded! Go to him! That money—wasn’t it supposed to be my brother-in-law’s anyway?!”

His words struck like thunder, instantly chilling the air in the living room to absolute zero.

At the mention of that name, Chen Yu’s brows knit even tighter.

He immediately caught the abrupt introduction of a new name—Dong Zhan.

Who was this?

At that moment, the cold, familiar tone of the system echoed in Chen Yu’s mind, without warning.

[Ding! Special causality node detected. Side quest triggered!]

[Side quest: Fifteen-Year Obsession—Help Liu Gang uncover the truth behind his wife’s murder fifteen years ago.]

[Quest reward: 1000–2000 skill points, depending on completion.]

[Quest deadline: Before the end of this episode of ‘Cold Case Revisited.’]

A ripple stirred in Chen Yu’s heart.

A side quest?

It was as if a pillow had been handed to a drowsy man.

He had only intended to use the question of “Why not have children?” to further destabilize Liu Hong, hoping to expose more of her weaknesses.

But unexpectedly, he had stumbled onto a bloody, sealed case from fifteen years past, and even triggered a system side quest.

A thousand or two thousand skill points—no small reward.

And if he could help Liu Gang solve his wife’s old case, it might even advance the mystery of Luo Xiangdong’s disappearance in unforeseen ways.

After all, from Liu Gang’s story, his wife’s tragic death was the pivotal event that altered the course of Luo Xiangdong and Liu Hong’s lives.

Chen Yu’s gaze shifted between Liu Hong’s despair and Liu Gang’s wild-eyed desperation, a faint smile curling at his lips.

He was more than ready to wade into these muddy waters.