Card Room

The police in Yuezhou City were very efficient. They found Jin Xiaoyong's residence in the afternoon and allowed Xiao Wu to return to Binzhou with Jin Xiaoyong. Jin Xiaoyong thought that the exchange of ID cards was discovered by the police and his face was full of panic.

He confessed the moment he was taken into the interrogation room. "Officer, I know I was wrong. I didn't do anything bad with my sister's ID card. I just went to see my girlfriend in the next city. This shouldn't constitute a crime, right? It isn't worth locking me up. I can accept criticism, education, fines, apologies or even writing a review! I will definitely reflect on it seriously and never do it again."

Yu Hanjiang frowned at the man in front of him.

This Jin Xiaoyong was around 1.7 metres tall. So when Jin Xiaoyue pretended to be him, she only needed to wear a pair of shoes with inner insoles. The hairstyles of the two siblings were exactly the same. Obviously, Jin Xiaoyue had cut her hair and dyed it blonde temporarily to pretend to be her brother. Jin Xiaoyong was a bit feminine when he spoke and his voice was soft. This was why Jin Xiaoyue's disguise as a man didn't arouse the suspicion of Liang Ting and her agent.

Yu Hanjiang handed Jin Xiaoyue's ID card to him and asked in a low voice, "Tell me in detail. Your parents died when you were 18. Why did only you go to school in the end?"

Jin Xiaoyue had told them about this matter but he still needed to confirm it with the brother to see if she was lying.

Jin Xiaoyong was stunned. "Why are you asking about a matter from over 10 years ago?"

Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at him. "Obediently answer the question."

Jin Xiaoyong was frightened by the police officer's sharp eyes and replied honestly. "Yes, I begged my sister because I particularly wanted to learn a craft at the time. The family's savings was only enough for one person to go to school. My sister was soft-hearted and let me go. She said she can work in a milk tea store, earning money and saving for tuition. She can review her lessons and go back to school next year."

Yu Hanjiang wondered, "Then why didn't she return to her studies the next year?"

Jin Xiaoyong was full of regret. "The high schools in our county changed their policy the second year and no separate repeat classes were set up. We didn't know anyone and had no way to go to another school, so it was difficult to transfer the student status… in the end, this matter was delayed too long, I felt sorry for my sister, so after I started working, half the money I earned went to her."

Xiao Lou heard that different places had different regulations. Some schools didn't accept repeat students. Jin Xiaoyue gave up the opportunity to go back to school for her younger brother and waited a year, working to make money. Then she missed out on her chance. She must've really regretted it at the time.

Then Yu Hanjiang questioned, "Where did your sister go to work in recent years?"

"A hotel front desk, company logistics, etc. She had done many jobs but none of them lasted more than a year. My sister is too ambitious and always looks down on these jobs."

"Does she like singing?"

Jin Xiaoyong nodded. “She has loved singing since she was a child. Everyone says that she sings well.”

Yu Hanjiang continued. “In the singing contest five years ago, she made into the top 10 and was eventually eliminated. How was her mood when she returned home? Did she say anything to you?”

Jin Xiaoyong had obvious sadness on his face when he remembered this matter. He lowered his head and answered, "My sister shut herself up when she got home. She cried and smashed a lot of things. I persuaded her for a long time and told her that it was fine, she could sign up next year… she scolded me, saying there were so many next years. She always thinks about doing it again next year only to miss the best opportunity."

Jin Xiaoyong spoke up to here and his eyes were red. His voice was also choked up. "I know that my sister blames me in her heart. If I hadn't begged her then she wouldn't have softened and given up the opportunity to repeat her studies… I also regret this incident. I should've gone to work and let her retake the university entrance examination. Then I could've found a way to go to vocational school… I delayed her…"

Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Didn't she participate in the audition show again the next year?"

Jin Xiaoyong wiped his face, controlled his emotions and spoke hoarsely, "She went but was eliminated in the screening stage because she was too nervous and forgot her lyrics. The person in charge voted her out."

Xiao Lou, "…"

Jin Xiaoyue always seemed to drop the ball at a critical moment. However, at the end of the day, it was a matter of mentality.

Yu Hanjiang wondered, "What was she doing after she quit her job and stayed home?"

"She has been in a bad mood recently. She is at home all day long and doesn't go out. I was afraid she would become sick and gave my computer to her, letting her play games at home to relax."

Yu Hanjiang inquired, "What games?"

"Shooting, gun battle games. She likes these types of games. They are all downloaded on the computer. I don't know if my sister has downloaded a new game."

Xiao Lou, "…"

This type of game where you blew people's heads away with guns was very hot-blooded and popular with boys. However, Jin Xiaoyue playing this type of game was simply adding fuel to the fire. The hatred in her heart continued to ferment and she even produced the idea of violent murder.

Jin Xiaoyong added, "I told her that even if she doesn't go out to work, the money I earn will support her for the rest of her life. If she adjusts her mood then she can go to my hair salon to be a beautician. I will introduce her to a teacher and it wouldn't be too late to learn from scratch."

Xiao Lou inwardly sighed. This younger brother was actually very concerned for her sister and had been trying to make up for the debt he owed her. Unfortunately, his sister was too extreme. If she could let go of the past and start from scratch then the lives of the siblings would slowly get better.

Yu Hanjiang finally asked the most important thing. "Was the exchange of identities your sister's idea? What was her reason?"

Jin Xiaoyong said, "My girlfriend's birthday coincided with the concert. Teacher Liang Ting invited me and I didn't want to refuse. If my sister does the styling for Teacher Liang for me then she can help me gain fame without delaying my date with my girlfriend. In addition, she was bored at home every day and I was worried. I was happy when she was willing to learn hairstyling. I created a model of Liang Ting and taught her how to do it. My sister is very smart and she learnt it quickly after I taught her."

He paused and looked at Yu Hanjiang awkwardly. "Ah, I know it is illegal to exchange ID cards but we didn't have any malicious intentions. It was just an exchange between siblings and I promise not to do it again!"

Up to now, Jin Xiaoyong still didn't know that his sister had committed a crime. He thought that the police had brought him into interrogation just for the exchange of ID cards."

Yu Hanjiang frowned. "Take us to your place to search."

Jin Xiaoyong was stunned. "This… is this necessary? Officer, I have made the reason for exchanging the ID clear. I really didn't lie to you. Searching my place for something like this is illegal, isn't it?"

Yu Hanjiang showed him a stamped piece of paper. "This is a search warrant."

He saw the other person's doubts and immediately continued speaking. "Liang Ting is dead and your sister is suspected of murder. We need to conduct a detailed search of her residence."

Jin Xiaoyong's mouth instantly became big enough to stuff a duck egg inside.

Yu Hanjiang took people to the siblings' residence. There was no evidence in Jin Xiaoyue's room but after going through the computer, Yu Hanjiang found a lot of searches about potassium cyanide dosage and Liang Ting.

The evidence was conclusive. All that was left was for Jin Xiaoyue to confess. They returned to the police station and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou interrogated Jin Xiaoyue again. They replayed the variety show from five years ago in front of Jin Xiaoyue and her face was as grey as ash.

Yu Hanjiang spoke solemnly. "In October, you were working the front desk of the hotel and ran into a beautiful old classmate and a small, famous singer from the same variety show. The contrast made your mental state more unbalanced. During the half a month of staying at home, you thought about it every day while playing games. The more you thought about it, the more you felt that Liang Ting is too hateful. Liang Ting ruined your dreams and future so you decided to kill her to vent your anger, right?"

Jin Xiaoyue's lips trembled violently and she buried her face in her hands. A moment later, her shoulders shook constantly like she was laughing or crying. After a while, she suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were flushed and she roared like a wounded beast, "It is all because of her! If that slut hadn't given me a red light, I would've become a contracted singer of Starlight Entertainment. How could I have fallen to the point of working at a hotel?!"

"Hahaha, old classmate? On the surface, they are warm but they must've been laughing at me secretly! I obviously got good grades and neither of them could surpass me. They became white collar executives? They must've colluded with the leader behind the scenes!"

"There is also that garbage singer. She obviously wasn't as good as me but she chose a song that everyone liked to listen to and bounced around the stage like a monkey. Why? Why did she make it to the finals but not me? Liang Ting was biased against me!"

"God is too unfair, too unfair to me! I wasn't doing well but Liang Ting didn't even think about me! If it wasn't for her, I would already be a famous singer right now!"

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked calmly at the crazy woman in front of them.

The years of knots in her heart had completely distorted her psychology. It was always someone else's fault and she was always right. Her old classmates were doing well and she couldn't bear it. Obviously their grades weren't as good as hers. The singer of the same period became famous and she couldn't bear it. Why could this person become famous when she sang better?

She always complained so much but she never found that the reason was with herself.

At first, she chose to have a soft heart and helped her brother, missing out on the university entrance examination. This was truly tragic and regrettable. However, it had already happened and there was no need to keep thinking about it for so many years.

In fact, in recent years, she had many opportunities to change her destiny. She could go to a mature age university and then find a job or she could go to a music school to lay a solid foundation before participating in a singing competition. Her younger brother was even willing to give her more income and help her learn a craft. She could become a stylist, makeup artist etc. and have a very good life.

She just never worked hard to change her destiny. She was only immersed in the pain and regret over and over again, complaining about how God was unfair.

She was blinded by hatred and jealousy and the world in her eyes was always grey. She couldn't see the warmth around her nor the hope in life. So in the end, she was burned to pieces and vented all the grievances of many years onto Liang Ting.

She was psychologically fragile and didn't dare admit her failures. She pushed all her mistakes to others. On the surface, she was bold and a good planner so she dared to kill a person at a concert. In fact, she was the weakest person.

'If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars'—Tagore

6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

Proofreader: Fictional Reality