Chapter 136: Wastepaper and Waste

"Are those two trying to commit a double suicide?" the staff member asked, thoroughly terrified. If anything happened to them, he would be held responsible.

However, the staff member quickly started laughing again and said, "Oh, I see. They're just trying out extreme sports."

The ropes, having lost their elasticity, swayed back and forth with them high up in the air. Not only were the two completely unharmed, but they were bound tightly together, passionately kissing as if they wanted to merge into one forever.

They happily spent the better part of the day at the amusement park. Liu Jingye had never played so wildly or laughed so unrestrainedly in all his remembered life.

Chen Yuxin was like a joyful little bird, fluttering here and there. A heartfelt smile bloomed across her face, displaying the purest form of beauty.

Their affection heated up rapidly amidst the joyful moments, instantly reaching the stage of marriage discussion.

However, as a career-oriented powerhouse, Chen Yuxin wanted to leave after having lunch. "I haven't been back to the station for so many days. I need to go check in, or I might even lose my job as an entertainment reporter."

"Hmph..." Liu Jingye sneered. "I bet the Secretary-General's scandal has settled down. Not only are you cleared of defamation and false accusations, but you're now an anti-corruption hero. So the station has decided to restore your original position and let you back on screen as the lead anchor."

"How did you know?" Chen Yuxin asked in surprise.

"I could guess just by looking at that radiant smile on your face," Liu Jingye scoffed. "Oh right, since you're back in your old role, are you still going to host that housekeeping show?"

"The one where it melts in your mouth?" Chen Yuxin teased.

Liu Jingye nodded frantically. Chen Yuxin playfully stuck out her tongue to scare him and said, "You've been gnawing on it for so long just now, you'd better go check and make sure your tongue hasn't melted off."

"It doesn't matter if my tongue melts, I just worry about other places melting," Liu Jingye started making uninhibited jokes.

Chen Yuxin rolled her eyes and said, "In your dreams. I'm leaving. If I have to record a show tonight, I won't come back. We'll keep in touch by phone."

Liu Jingye nodded and watched her get into a taxi. Having a female anchor, a landmark figure of the city, as his girlfriend—what pride.

No sooner had Chen Yuxin left than Liu Jingye's phone rang. He thought Chen Yuxin was reluctant to part, but looking at the screen, it was a call from Yuan Xiaoying.

Liu Jingye's head instantly pounded with a headache, and he thought to himself, "I got too carried away playing just now and completely forgot I have a ticking time bomb here."

Liu Jingye immediately felt a guilty conscience. He couldn't even steer one boat properly, let alone two, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and brave the wind and waves.

"Hello, Director Yuan, any instructions?" Liu Jingye asked, feigning ease.

Yuan Xiaoying's deep voice came through the receiver: "Chen Shuanghe is dead!"

"What?" Liu Jingye cried out in shock. "How did he die?"

"They said it was a drug allergy," Yuan Xiaoying said. "Didn't he come to the police station covered in blood, insisting on seeing the provincial department's special investigation team? However, because he had gunshot wounds and severe blood loss, the leaders of the special investigation team directly arranged for him to receive treatment first. Due to the massive blood loss, he remained in a coma. Just this morning, they said his wounds showed signs of inflammation and he developed a high fever.

At one point, news even spread that he was in critical condition. According to the leaders' instructions, he had to be saved at all costs. The doctors used some special methods and drugs, but nobody expected him to be allergic to a certain medication, which directly led to heart and kidney failure and resulted in death."

"How is that possible?" Liu Jingye said in a rage. "Even if special drugs are used, a skin test must be performed before injection! How could an allergy cause death?"

"Yelling at me won't help," Yuan Xiaoying said. "The coroner has already conducted an autopsy and confirmed that the doctors operated correctly, and that a skin test was indeed performed prior to the injection. I saw the small skin-test welt on his wrist with my own eyes; there truly was no allergic reaction. Perhaps the dosage in the skin test was too small, and only a large dose could trigger the allergy?"

"Absurd!" Liu Jingye snorted angrily. "Could they have administered the injection first and then done the skin test on his wrist? It's just like your police regulations—you're supposed to fire a warning shot into the air before shooting to kill. But you could easily shoot and kill a criminal first, and then fire a shot into the sky. As long as two gunshots are heard, who would know whether you fired the warning shot first or killed them first!"

Yuan Xiaoying was stunned into silence, unable to refute. After a long while, she said, "Surely it wouldn't come to that?!"

"I told you long ago that Chen Shuanghe is the most crucial figure in this incident. Pull up the radish and the mud comes with it. Now that he's dead, there is no living evidence left for anything," Liu Jingye said with exasperation. "Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on Chen Shuanghe?"

"I couldn't help it either! As soon as Chen Shuanghe appeared covered in blood, he specifically demanded to see members of the provincial special investigation team. Then he passed out from blood loss before he could say a word. The leaders felt the matter was of great importance and arranged for doctors to treat him right inside the police station. But shortly after the drug was injected, he suddenly started foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over, dying within a minute."

"Foul play!" Liu Jingye insisted firmly. "There must be a mole inside your ranks who reacted swiftly to silence Chen Shuanghe directly. And it was done so seamlessly that the entire trail has been completely severed."

"A mole?" Yuan Xiaoying said. "This is a serious matter. So do you think it's someone from our side, someone from the provincial special investigation team, or those doctors?"

"Anyone of them is possible!" Liu Jingye felt a massive headache coming on. He almost wanted to give up right then and there and stop caring about this damned mess.

He looked up at the joyful crowds in the surrounding amusement park, still feeling the faint lingering fragrance of Chen Yuxin on his hands, while Yuan Xiaoying's sweet voice echoed in his ears. He simply couldn't ignore it.

Chen Yuxin's photos in the cloud had been deleted, but her life might still be in danger. After all, Young Master Feng was an extremely cautious person. With Yuan Xiaoying right in the thick of it, continuing to investigate would likely put her in danger too.

"I must never let that dangerous scene with Chen Yuxin repeat itself," Liu Jingye thought to himself. "It was too dangerous back then; if I had arrived a step later, she would have perished. I'm still terrified thinking about it. I cannot let either of them face danger. Stopping violence with violence has become inevitable!"

"Actually, the clues aren't entirely cut off. Aren't there still those few kidnappers?" Yuan Xiaoying thought for a moment and said.

"Forget about that. In a vast sea of people, too many have the same build; there's nowhere to look," Liu Jingye said powerlessly. "You'd better do nothing at all, leave this storm center, and make sure not to get dragged in. I don't have the art of cloning; there's no way I can look after both of you at the same time..."

"What?" Yuan Xiaoying instantly exploded. "What did you just say? You have no way to look after 'both of you'? One of 'both' is me, so who is the other one?"

"Aah..." Liu Jingye wished he could slap himself twice. He had always known he was a rookie when it came to romantic relationships, and now that he was trying to straddle two boats right from the start, he had let it slip.

Cold sweat poured off him as he frantically scratched his head. Quick-witted in a crisis, he blurted out, "The other person is my mom! Didn't I tell you? My parents are back. When my mom heard that I married you and even held a wedding ceremony, she insisted on meeting you. She's been hounding me every day, forcing me to take her to find you. Dealing with her every day is already giving me a huge headache, so I'm begging you to save me some trouble."

"What? Your mother wants to come see me? No, no, no, absolutely not!" Terrified, Yuan Xiaoying quickly said, "I'm not ready to meet your parents yet. You must stop her..."

After saying this, Yuan Xiaoying probably felt it was a bit inappropriate, so she added to patch things up: "Actually, it's not that I don't want to meet your parents, I just haven't prepared myself. How about this, let me get ready, and in a few days I'll go pay my respects to them in person."

"Good, good," Liu Jingye agreed hurriedly, his face and head drenched in cold sweat.

Hanging up the phone, Liu Jingye finally let out a sigh of relief. With Chen Shuanghe dead just like that, all his efforts over the past few days had been rendered completely useless.

"One can imagine that as soon as Chen Shuanghe arrived at the police station, Young Master Feng must have received the news and immediately instructed the mole to find a way to permanently shut Chen Shuanghe's mouth. This mole is likely a member of the special investigation team from the provincial department, and someone with a certain amount of weight in their words. After all, Young Master Feng also hails from the provincial capital, and the family forces behind him are only known to high-level big figures.

Furthermore, I bear some responsibility in this too. Although that gunshot wasn't fatal, I didn't expect that instead of calling the police, he would drive himself to the police station. The journey caused him to lose too much blood and fall unconscious, meaning he didn't get to say a single word, which instead played right into the enemy's hands.

With this development, the only clue capable of striking a blow against Young Master Feng has also been snapped. I never expected their influence to be so vast and far-reaching, planting their own people everywhere like a towering tree with intertwined roots."

Liu Jingye shook his head helplessly. It seemed he had to think of another way.

He walked aimlessly, heavy-hearted, formulating a new plan while a fire burned fiercely in his chest.

As soldiers, they bled and sweated on the frontline battlefields, paying the price of precious lives to guard their country and its people.

Yet within the government, those high-ranking officials who seemingly exhausted themselves in public service turned out to be utterly filthy behind closed doors—riding roughshod over the locals and preying on the common folk. Just like this Young Master Feng, who regarded human lives like blades of grass to achieve his goals.

You must remember, the power wielded by the bigwigs behind him was traded for the lives and blood of countless people. Since they refused to cherish it properly, then as a soldier, he had the right to exercise the duty of defending his home and country. Anyone who stood against the country and the people was an enemy!

Just then, Chen Yuxin suddenly called and said, "Hey, since you're sitting around doing nothing, go to the mall and buy me some daily necessities and underwear. I'm coming over to stay tonight. Also, prepare some ingredients; I'll cook myself and let you taste my culinary skills."

"Heh, does this count as you entering the household tonight?" Liu Jingye joked.

Chen Yuxin said nonchalantly, "I suppose so. From now on, I am a member of the Liu family—I'll be a living person of the Liu family while I live, and a ghost of the Liu family when I die."

Liu Jingye gave a wry smile. "Fine, I'll go right now. What do you need?"

Chen Yuxin rattled off a list like she was counting her family valuables: "Underwear, my vital statistics are 88-59-85. Also towels, make sure they're soft. The toothbrush bristles shouldn't be too hard. The nightgown should be silk satin, preferably with lace trimming. Oh, and sanitary pads, two packs each of the dry type and the night type... Anyway, you figure it out. Since I'm currently stripped of everything, you'd better get it all for me, and buy name brands if you can."

Liu Jingye listened with black lines cascading down his forehead and weakly said, "I can buy them, but the money..."

"Alright, hanging up, bye-bye!"

Chen Yuxin decisively hung up the phone, clearly unwilling to talk about money. Liu Jingye looked despondently at his shriveled wallet and muttered helplessly, "When money leaves a person, it's just waste paper; when a person leaves money, they're just a complete waste!"