Additional chapter.

The next morning, the sky was a bleak, pale gray.

Qin Feifei and Wang Xiang called Ye Mian several times. They were genuinely worried. When they heard she was at the police station, the two of them rushed from home. They didn't say much, simply brought her a thick coat, a beef burger, and some coffee. They sat with her for a while before heading off to class together.

In the interrogation room, Jiang Chen sat in a chair. Since there was no evidence confirming he was the perpetrator, he wasn't treated poorly—there were no handcuffs, nor was there a fierce interrogator. The police officer sat at a computer, questioning him about the events of the night.

"You and the deceased were father and son, correct?"

"The deceased?" Jiang Chen looked at the officer, asking lightly, "He’s dead?"

The officer replied, "Yes, I’m sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. Everyone has their fate." Jiang Chen showed no trace of sorrow, only an empty, chilling indifference that seemed to seep into his very bones.

The officer was momentarily at a loss. "Did the deceased jump on his own? Please describe what happened."

Jiang Chen’s narrow eyes gazed at the ceiling. His cold words sounded as if he were narrating a scene from a film. "He was a gambler. He must have been in debt again and came to me for money. I had a sum from the demolition of our house—he tried to force me to hand it over."

"That was my mother’s house. I’d rather burn the money than give him a cent."

"He threatened to jump if I didn’t." At this, Jiang Chen gave a brief laugh. "Isn’t it ridiculous? My mother once threatened him with suicide too. In the end, she died."

At this, the officer felt a chill run down his spine. "Go on."

"I simply watched as he climbed onto the windowsill. There was moss on the wall; he slipped. His fingers were broken, couldn’t grip the edge, and he fell."

The officer frowned. "Why didn’t you pretend to agree to his demands first—wait till he calmed down, then talk?"

"Ah, there wasn’t time." Jiang Chen’s eyes were black as ink, his fingers propping up his chin. "A desperate gambler—if he really had the courage to die, would he have let himself live so miserably for so long?"

The officer frowned again. He couldn’t refute the logic.

But the deceased was his father. In all his years on the force, he had never seen someone so calm after a parent’s death; if not grief, there should at least be hatred.

"Given your family situation, do you hate your father?"

Jiang Chen looked up and smiled gently. "There’s no reason to feel unnecessary emotions for unnecessary people. Whether he lives or dies, it’s of no consequence to me."

Cold-blooded.

Utterly cold-blooded.

The officer’s guard was fully up. According to the records, this boy was the top student in the province. If he ever chose the wrong path, he would surely become a most dangerous, high-intelligence criminal.

Once the school surveillance footage and the medical examiner’s report came in, both confirmed that Jiang Chen had not lied. His father had fallen while Jiang Chen was standing nearby.

But a new problem arose.

In cases of suicide, relatives are obliged to try and prevent it, or they may be liable for intentional homicide.

Yet with Jiang Chen's father climbing up and falling almost immediately, it was hard to judge.

Whether it was an accident or intentional harm would be for the court to decide.

Because of this, Jiang Chen spent several days in the detention center.

Ye Mian would come to the police station almost every day after class to ask after him. She knew the police wouldn't let her see him.

In the end, the prosecutor's office dismissed the appeal due to insufficient evidence and pronounced him not guilty.

When Jiang Chen was released, it was raining.

The rain in Wencheng fell more frequently than in Jiangcheng.

The drops were large and heavy, lacking the gentle, lingering quality of Jiangcheng’s rain.

In November, the rain was bitterly cold.