❝Good and evil are two sides of the same coin.❞ — Romain Rolland

They were eating at a hotpot restaurant and had ordered a “yuan yang” pot,[[f0zy40]] a divided hotpot with spicy broth on one side and mild broth on the other. The group quickly split into two factions: those who could handle spicy food and those who couldn’t. Sang Tong sat on the spicy side, watching Ding Jianxiu bicker with Le Qiwen over the matter.

Despite his tall, burly build, Ding Jianxiu actually couldn’t handle spicy food at all.

“The moment he eats something spicy, his whole face turns red—like he’s drunk. Last time, when he went to get dipping sauce, Le Qiwen sneakily dipped his chopsticks into the spicy broth for him. Ding Jianxiu had just one bite and looked like a cooked shrimp, instantly red all over,” Le Qiwen laughed as he recounted it.

“Oh, so that’s what happened.” Sang Tong nodded.

“What’s wrong with not eating spicy food? Even Captain doesn’t eat it!” Ding Jianxiu said as he shot Le Qiwen a look. He and the captain were supposedly on the same side.

Sang Tong’s gaze naturally shifted to Ye Jinchen. Honestly, it made sense to her—Ye Jinchen looked like the type who only ate clean, healthy meals, so it didn’t surprise her that he didn’t like spicy food.

But just as Ding Jianxiu finished speaking, they all saw Ye Jinchen calmly fishing a piece of bamboo fungus from the spicy pot and eating it like it was nothing.

Ding Jianxiu: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

Instantly slapped in the face. He wanted to cry. Wasn’t the captain a non-spicy eater too? Now it seemed like he was the only one in the world who couldn’t eat spicy food!

“No worries, I’ll join you. I don’t eat spicy either,” Zhang Weimin said with a grin as he sat beside Ding Jianxiu.

“Huh?” Ding Jianxiu remembered Zhang was totally fine with spice.

“My wife made spicy stir-fry every day for the past few days. Got me all heated up. I’m eating light for a bit,” Zhang Weimin replied with a smile.

Ding Jianxiu: (≖_≖ )

He’d just been force-fed a mouthful of dog food.[[n1tm8i]]Might’ve been better if he hadn’t said anything at all!

Because of the Zhao Jun case, everyone had been in low spirits lately. Even though the case was solved, the truth was heartbreaking.

But after a few days of gloom, this hotpot meal seemed to revive the team a bit. In any case, Sang Tong was going to enjoy her spicy broth—no one could stop her!

Spicy broth with sesame sauce? Heaven.

Sang Tong ate quietly, but she’d long noticed: after Ye Jinchen had that first bite from the spicy pot, everything else he picked came from the tomato side. Tsk tsk… their captain was quite the actor.

He probably couldn’t handle spice either and just tricked Ding Jianxiu into taking the fall. How devious.

“Anyone want barley juice?” Ding Jianxiu asked.

“I want soy milk,” Sang Tong raised her hand.

“Orange juice!”

“Me, barley juice!”

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Everyone chimed in. When it was Ye Jinchen’s turn, he also said, “Soy milk.”

Everyone looked at him like he’d grown two heads. A grown man drinking soy milk?

“Soy milk soothes spice—give it to Ding Jianxiu,” Ye Jinchen said casually. Before Le Qiwen could even pull his spicy-dipped chopsticks back out, Ding Jianxiu had already grabbed his wrist.

“Le Qiwen!” Ding Jianxiu roared.

“Sang Tong just joined us! She hasn’t seen you turn red yet, what’s wrong with a little show?” Le Qiwen bolted as he shouted back.

Sang Tong: …

A big ol’ pot dumped on her head. Well, whatever. She’d carry it.

By the time they finished eating, it was nearly eleven. In the end, only Ding Jianxiu and Gao Feibai drank the barley juice, everyone else had regular fruit juice.

At their first team dinner, Sang Tong had walked at the back with Le Qiwen. Now, she was walking in the middle of the group. Just over a month had passed, and somehow she had already become part of the team.

From nervous and reserved to now feeling at home, Sang Tong really felt likeTeam Eight was a great place to be. She truly loved the atmosphere here.

Both her and Ye Jinchen’s rooms were at the end of the hallway. Everyone else had already gone back to their rooms. Sang Tong trailed behind Ye Jinchen slowly.

“Captain, good night,” she said just before entering her room.

“Mm, good night,” Ye Jinchen replied.

Tsk, they’d been working together for a while now, but Sang Tong still thought Ye Jinchen was cold and aloof in private. Then again, everyone else seemed used to it.

After catching up on lost sleep the past few days, she now found herself a little too awake. Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The day she left the county, she was actually quite reluctant. She didn’t expect herself to adapt to the new place so quickly.

It’s just... every time she thought of the dream she had, Sang Tong would feel a splitting headache. It was too surreal, and just recalling it made her panic.

She let out a long, heavy breath. Better not to think about it, take things one step at a time.

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In the evening, the city’s neon lights had already lit up. Normally, people would have finished work by now.

In the Haixing Development Zone, inside a high-end residential building, Ye Jinchen walked ahead with a cold expression on his face, while Sang Tong obediently followed behind him.

Because housing prices in this area were relatively high, the community’s security was quite good. At this hour, the neighborhood was peaceful, and the corridors were quiet and deserted.

They stopped in front of unit 1301. As Ye Jinchen put on gloves and walked in, the others had already arrived—there were quite a few people in the room.

After entering, Ye Jinchen told Sang Tong to close the door. She responded with a nod and pulled it shut.

“What’s the situation?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“Captain, the bodies are inside,” Xu Ran pointed, and Ye Jinchen understood immediately. He nodded and walked in the direction Xu Ran indicated.

The bedroom door was open. The forensic team was taking photos. From the doorway, one could already see the chaos inside—red bloodstains were everywhere, shocking to look at. Unlike Ruan Tiantian’s death scene, which aside from the blood-smeared walls and blood-soaked bed was otherwise clean, this crime scene was even filthier and messier.

Blood was smeared all around, and the victims' conditions were even more brutal than Ruan Tiantian’s.

Sang Tong only glanced from the doorway and couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

What entered the eye wasn’t just blood, but various mutilated and scattered organs from the victims, rotting in different corners of the room. The air reeked of blood and putrefaction.

There were two victims. The male lay on the floor, the female on the bed. Both had been cut open—gutted—dying in incredibly tragic fashion.

The team was experienced and efficient. With the forensic team’s assistance, they quickly got to work.

“This pile’s the lungs, that one’s the kidneys…” They slowly sorted the shredded organs, a process that was long and hair-raising.

“What about the victims’ hearts?” Ye Jinchen asked. Though the organs had been chopped into pieces, they could still roughly identify them. For example, the segments of intestines were quite recognizable.

“Captain, there’s something in the kitchen,” Xu Ran’s voice came from nearby.

Ye Jinchen stood up and headed toward the kitchen. Oddly, the kitchen was relatively clean, not chaotic like the bedroom. In fact, it was quite tidy. The fridge door was currently open.

Sang Tong followed Ye Jinchen and, upon looking inside, saw a heart sealed inside a storage bag—right next to it was a meat grinder, which was currently holding a lump of ground meat.

Both victims' hearts were missing, but only one intact heart had been found. Sang Tong strongly suspected that the other heart had been minced and was in the grinder.

There wasn’t much in the fridge. Aside from a cold drink and a few fruits, there was nothing else. Ye Jinchen glanced at the label on one of the drinks, it had been bought just yesterday afternoon.

“Preliminary identification says the male victim is Jiang Ziqiang, a director at Jiangchuan Group,” Le Qiwen said from the kitchen doorway.

Jiangchuan Group? Ye Jinchen wasn’t unfamiliar with it.

Not just Ye Jinchen, even Sang Tong had heard of the company. Although Jiangchuan Group had since expanded into various industries, it started as a supermarket chain. The chain had even opened stores in remote towns, which made it particularly well-known.

But what truly made Jiangchuan famous wasn’t just the widespread supermarkets. It was their frequent appearances in news reports—whenever there was a disaster, Jiangchuan Group was always among the first to react, donating massive sums of money.

Every year, they spent billions solely on charity.

However, the woman found dead beside Jiang Ziqiang didn’t look like his wife.

Ye Jinchen had met Jiang Ziqiang’s wife before, she was a powerful woman with a commanding presence. Jiangchuan’s success owed a great deal to her support.

“Who called it in?” Ye Jinchen asked.

“It was the nanny Jiang Ziqiang hired,” Xu Ran replied. The woman had been scared half to death and even suffered a hypertensive episode.[[ohmjmw]] Gao Feibai had already taken her to the hospital.

Based on previous understanding, Jiang Ziqiang had a stomach condition, so he maintained a very regular routine for all three meals. Except for social occasions, he rarely ate out. A housekeeper was specifically hired to cook for him.

This housekeeper was supposed to arrive at 7 A.M. to prepare his meals, but tonight she only showed up around 8 or 9 P.M.

Although Jiang Ziqiang was still a director of the Jiangchuan Group, he had mostly stepped away from management. The company was now run by his eldest son, Jiang Yinghao, with his second and third sons, Jiang Yingye and Jiang Yingcheng, assisting in operations. Besides them, Jiang Ziqiang had two daughters—one was already married, and the other was still studying abroad.

Though Jiang Ziqiang was in his fifties, he exercised regularly and maintained a healthy diet. Despite his stomach issues, he looked quite young—like someone in his forties.

By around 11P.M., most of the family members who lived nearby had arrived; the rest were still on the way.

Perhaps because Jiang Ziqiang’s death had come so suddenly, it hit everyone hard. As the eldest son, Jiang Yinghao remained relatively composed, but his eyes were red, and grief clearly overwhelmed him.

Jiang Yingye and Jiang Yingcheng cried loudly in front of everyone. Upon hearing the news, Jiang Ziqiang’s eldest daughter fainted and arrived a bit later than the others.

Sang Tong stood quietly in place, watching Jiang Ziqiang’s children—some crying, some wailing, each of them appearing deeply emotional and heartbroken.

She wasn’t very good at interacting with relatives, but someone in their team was—Zhang Weimin, who had a lot of experience handling such situations.

According to Jiang Yinghao, over the past few years, Jiang Ziqiang had stopped getting involved in the company’s business. He spent his time fishing and traveling. There wasn’t much to worry about at home either.

"If you’re asking whether it could be a revenge killing, absolutely not. You all know what kind of person my father was. He was kind-hearted and did a lot of charity work. After so many years in business, he never once had a falling-out with anyone. He never made enemies,” Jiang Yinghao said.

Jiangchuan Group conducted business ethically. Its growth was built on trust and a good reputation, step by step. There was no cutthroat competition, no grudges—nothing that would warrant such a cruel murder.

“Do you recognize this woman?” Zhang Weimin placed a photo of the female victim in front of Jiang Yinghao.

Jiang Yinghao glanced at it and shook his head. “No impression.”

“Ever since I took over the company, unless it was something really important, I didn’t bother my father. His health wasn’t great, and he retired early to recuperate. He just needed a peaceful life, and I didn’t want to trouble him,” Jiang Yinghao explained.

His words weren’t unreasonable, but they also hinted that as a son, he hadn’t paid much attention to his father in daily life—certainly not the type to call regularly to check in.

If you asked him why, he’d probably say, “I’m busy.”

“The one who had the most contact with my father was actually Jiang Yingcheng, my youngest brother. He was our father’s favorite. He would often go visit him even when nothing was going on,” Jiang Yinghao added.

As the youngest son, Jiang Yingcheng naturally received more parental attention. Jiang Yinghao had grown up under strict discipline, while Jiang Yingcheng had been spoiled from a young age and had quite a temper. Fortunately, he didn’t turn out badly. He now managed part of the company’s affairs and behaved properly at work, his abilities weren’t lacking.

Still, Sang Tong could sense a trace of resentment in Jiang Yinghao’s tone. Deep down, he probably still felt his father had been biased. But now that they were all adults, those emotions surfaced briefly before being hidden again.

“My father was truly a good man. From as far back as I can remember, people always said that about him. If it weren’t for my mother, he was the type who would get scammed and still help count the money for the scammer. I really can’t believe he had any enemies,” said Jiang Yingye, the second son.

It was clear from his eyes—shining with emotion every time he spoke of him, that Jiang Yingye deeply admired his father.

“But my capabilities weren’t outstanding. Father valued my older brother and doted on my younger one. I ended up stuck in between,” Jiang Yingye said with a bitter smile.

Most of the company was entrusted to the eldest brother. The youngest received all of their father’s affection. Jiang Yingye had spent years trying to prove himself, hoping his father would notice his efforts. But fate didn’t go his way. A while ago, he lost a large sum of money on a failed project and was harshly criticized by his father for it. In the end, maybe he just wasn’t cut out for business.

As for Jiang Yingcheng, he had been the one who suffered the most from beginning to end—sobbing uncontrollably, completely inconsolable, unable to calm down even after a long while.

“I’ve actually always been close to my father since I was little. I know he favored me. My eldest and second brothers didn’t really like that, but my father just never said it aloud. He gave most of the company to them, and only handed me a small one to ‘play around’ with. But I never blamed him for that,” Jiang Yingcheng said.

“When I found out his health was deteriorating, I wanted to bring him to live at my house, but he refused,” he continued, choking up and beginning to cry again.

In fact, he had brought it up with his father several times, but his father never agreed. Jiang Yingcheng knew deep down. It was because his father was afraid the two older brothers would be unhappy, afraid they’d think he was planning to leave the remaining assets to him.

But that was never what he wanted. All he had ever wanted was for his father to be well. If only he had insisted more on bringing his father home… maybe none of this would have happened. The thought left Jiang Yingcheng full of regret.

As Sang Tong listened to the three siblings speak, though they each praised how good their father had been, beneath it all was the same grievance—his favoritism.

In families with many children, it’s difficult to treat everyone exactly the same. As kids, brothers may get along well enough, but once money and interests come into play, even siblings can turn on each other.

Among Jiang Ziqiang’s three sons, Jiang Yinghao—the eldest, was undoubtedly the most capable. Under his leadership, the Jiangchuan Group had expanded in recent years. The second son was more mediocre—some of his projects made money, but most ended in loss.

Sometimes Jiang Yinghao would help cover those losses, but over time, even he grew frustrated. So Jiang Ziqiang often stepped in to solve problems for his second son.

As for the youngest, Jiang Yingcheng, he was clearly spoiled by Jiang Ziqiang. He’d practically monopolized all his father’s affection. Children raised in such indulgence often grow up wayward, but Jiang Yingcheng turned out relatively okay. Although his temper could be bad, he was at least more capable than the second brother.

He consistently made money—though not much, and he liked to spend freely, but he managed to get by.

What Sang Tong found ironic, though, was that whether it was the capable eldest, the average second son, or the favored youngest. All of them had last contacted their father over a month ago.

When asked, each simply said they didn’t want to bother him while he was recovering.

As for the woman who was murdered alongside Jiang Ziqiang, not one of them even knew who she was.

Jiang Yingfang was Jiang Ziqiang’s eldest daughter. She was pregnant and emotionally fragile. The news of her father’s death had caused her to faint at home, and once she recovered, her husband came with her to the station.

She was the epitome of a gentle, graceful woman, carried in her husband’s arms, looking delicate and vulnerable.

Due to her emotional state, questioning had to be paused several times, with her husband helping to calm her down in intervals.

“Father really loved us deeply,” Jiang Yingfang said softly. “I remember when I wanted to eat fish as a child, he would always pick the bones out for us. Even when the business grew and he got busier, he still came home to have meals with us and took us out on weekends.”

To her, Jiang Ziqiang had been a devoted father, he had never missed a moment of her childhood.

“In my memory, he never raised his voice—not even during his worst fights with Mom. He always stayed gentle…” she added.

To the children, their father had always been a kind man. He made a lot of money each year, but he spent just as much on charity. He was the kind of man who’d give hundreds of yuan to a beggar on the street without a second thought.

That someone like him had built such a massive company truly surprised Sang Tong.

“Jiang Ziqiang had business sense, but his personality wasn’t suited to business. His wife, on the other hand, was ruthless. She’s the real key to Jiangchuan Group’s success,” Xu Ran explained to Sang Tong.

Jiang Ziqiang had started from nothing. His initial capital came from his father-in-law. Jiang had ideas, but limited personal ability. Luckily, his wife also came from a business family. She’d grown up immersed in it, had natural talent, and a very forceful personality.

The couple had built the company together, neither one could have done it alone.

If anything, Jiang Yinghao resembled their mother. The second and third sons were more like Jiang Ziqiang. The youngest did inherit some of their mother’s traits, but compared to the eldest’s natural talent, he still fell short.

“The last time I saw my father was half a month ago. He brought over a lot of things. He had been looking forward to seeing his grandchild every day… but before the baby could even be born, he…” Jiang Yingfang couldn’t finish her sentence and broke down in tears in her husband’s arms.

A son can never be as close as a daughter. Jiang Yingfang had frequent contact with Jiang Ziqiang, but after getting pregnant, it lessened. Her health wasn’t great, so usually it was just phone calls, or her father would come visit her.

The last daughter was still on the plane, so the details regarding her would have to wait until she arrived.

“Jiang Ziqiang’s wife didn’t come?” Sang Tong asked.

“Ever since Jiang Ziqiang handed the company over to the kids, he and his wife started living separately. She’s been mostly living in Country F and is now on the plane with the youngest daughter,” Xu Ran explained.

When asked about it, the children all had different versions—some said their mother was expanding the overseas business, others said it was due to personality clashes, and that they were both exhausted and needed some time apart.

However, not one of them recognized the woman who died alongside Jiang Ziqiang.

“The two deceased had sexual relations before death.” That was the result of the examination.

So… this woman was likely Jiang Ziqiang’s lover or someone he was intimately involved with. But none of his children showed any reaction to this?

Was it that they truly didn’t know he was cheating, or that they had long known and kept quiet?

Moreover, Jiang Ziqiang rose to success thanks to his wife. If they weren’t divorced, and he was still fooling around, would his wife really not mind? After all, their marriage had once caused quite a stir, and they had always appeared deeply affectionate, attending charity galas together.

They were considered a model couple in the industry. Who doesn’t change after getting rich? But for over 20 years, not a single scandal—and now suddenly he’s seeing another woman in secret?

“Impossible. My father would never betray my mother. In his heart, she’s the only one he ever loved!” Jiang Yingfang firmly denied.