Xiao Nian is not difficult to guess.
Because Liang Yan's expression had already told Chen Xiao half of the answer.
Her tone was essentially suggesting that the person Chen Xiao might think of, but it's not that easy to pinpoint.
There aren't many people involved in the case now; Xiao Nian counts as one, Zhao Hai counts as another, and Lighter can barely be counted as one.
So it's just a choice between two.
Looking at the two women's surprised expressions, Chen Xiao smiled wryly and said, "It's not hard to guess now, but I'm quite curious, how did Xiao Nian, a woman, become interested in knife forging?"
"Actually, to be precise, it's not Xiao Nian who is interested in knife forging, but another man who is very closely connected to Xiao Nian."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao felt that the story was about to get interesting.
"That man, wouldn't happen to be...?" Chen Xiao didn't finish his sentence before Liang Yan teased Lin Xi:
"Tsk tsk, Xiaoxi, it seems your man knows a lot about those ways."
Lin Xi deliberately glared at Chen Xiao but also got straight to the point: "You're right, that man has been maintaining an improper relationship with Xiao Nian. But, speaking of which, it could also be that Zhao Hai intervened in her relationship with that man."
"Let me clarify, according to Xiaoxi's words, Xiao Nian originally was in a relationship with that man, but later Xiao Nian met Zhao Hai, and in Zhao Hai's financial attack, Xiao Nian chose the latter, right?"
Chen Xiao analyzed while Liang Yan nodded: "That's right, so now I have a guess without evidence, Chen Xiao, you should know what it is."
As she said this, Lin Xi was also looking at him.
With this look, Chen Xiao understood that Lin Xi had guessed it in a very short time.
Of course, for him, this wasn't difficult either.
"You're suspecting that Zhao Xiaohong discovered Xiao Nian and that man's affair, thus leading to murder and silencing?"
Before Chen Xiao finished, Liang Yan had already nodded affirmatively.
But soon, Liang Yan responded with some distress: "This guess has some reasonability, but it's extremely far-fetched."
"Captain Liang finds it far-fetched because of Zhao Xiaohong's corpse humiliation behavior, right?"
"Right, generally speaking, cases of murder to silence revolve around three very common words: quick, accurate, ruthless! To eliminate the threat in the fastest, most precise, and most ruthless manner at the moment of the secret's exposure; this fits the profile of murder to silence."
"But after the killer killed Zhao Xiaohong, they humiliated his corpse, and the hatred here is too strong. In theory, the man definitely hates Zhao Hai more than Zhao Xiaohong."
Chen Xiao did not respond, but in his heart, he agreed with Liang Yan's analysis.
There is reasonability, but unfortunately, not much.
However, if combined with Chen Xiao and Luo Dali's speculations, would it be more reasonable then?
Thinking of this, Chen Xiao no longer delayed and directly said: "While at the police station, Dali and I talked a bit about this case, and the two of us have a guess regarding the humiliation of the corpse."
"Tell me," Liang Yan immediately said.
"An eye for an eye." Chen Xiao stated eight words, and Liang Yan instantly understood the reasoning behind them.
"You mean, Zhao Xiaohong humiliated the killer in a similar fashion, so the killer held a grudge and humiliated him in the same way?"
Chen Xiao nodded: "Yes, but my point is combining these two guesses, might Captain Liang's hypothesis be more reasonable then?"
"You're suggesting that after discovering Xiao Nian and Gu Yue's affair, Zhao Xiaohong humiliated Gu Yue in the same manner. But Zhao Xiaohong alone definitely couldn't have accomplished this. I've seen Gu Yue's profile; his physique is no match for Zhao Xiaohong, it would have taken several people to possibly suppress him. If multiple people were involved, it would be easy to investigate and highly susceptible to exposure."
After Liang Yan finished speaking, Chen Xiao couldn't help but furrow his brows.
Indeed, wisdom comes with age.
Compared to case experience, Liang Yan is far more seasoned.
She immediately pointed out the loophole in Chen Xiao's speculations!
"But speaking of which, the hypothesis you put forth is a direction for investigation; after all, in this world, not every major case is high-IQ crime, especially actions that easily infuriate people, which might cause an originally smart person to lose their expected rationality."
After finishing her statement, Liang Yan gave Chen Xiao a thumbs up and praised Lin Xi: "No matter what, Xiaoxi, your husband is really something!"
Luo Dali couldn't help but impatiently say: "Captain Liang, I... me too."
Liang Yan chuckled and shook her head: "Alright, alright, you're something too."
With that, Liang Yan went to find Lighter again.
Chen Xiao wasn't idle either, he told Luo Dali, Xiaoji Knife Man, and Xiaoji: "Hurry up and inquire about this matter, try to find out early."
Luo Dali didn't say a word, he took Xiaoji Knife Man and Xiaoji and walked away quickly.
Once they dispersed, only Chen Xiao and Lin Xi remained in the corridor.
The latter happily took Chen Xiao's arm, causing him to glance around as he smiled: "You're being affectionate during your working hours, aren't you afraid of encountering your boss?"
"Tch, Captain Zhang went out of town for a case, Sister Liang is the biggest in the team now, I'm not afraid at all. Besides, it's already lunch break time!"
Chen Xiao just realized, glanced at the time and said: "Shall we go eat then?"
"Sure."
Lin Xi took Chen Xiao's arm and was about to leave but was surprised to run into two familiar faces.
Zhao Hai and Xiao Nian!
Zhao Hai still wore the same menacing expression, heading straight into Liang Yan's office; soon after, shouts could be heard.
"Captain Liang, tell me honestly, when will you solve the case!"
"It's been more than half a day, all you keep saying is investigate, investigate, but where are the clues? The suspects? Why none of them!"
"Alright, alright, you're talking procedures, huh? Fine, I knew you officers never exert effort without benefits!"
"I'm offering a hundred thousand, whoever identifies the real culprit, I'll personally offer a hundred thousand bounty!"
"What do you mean? Too little? Alright, two hundred thousand... I'm offering a two hundred thousand reward!"
Zhao Hai's shouting echoed in Liang Yan's office.
Chen Xiao knew well that Liang Yan couldn't possibly reveal the case's progress to him, especially when Xiao Nian was involved as a suspect, not even a word would be mentioned.
But nobody expected Zhao Hai's mindset to deteriorate this way.
Soon, some guarding policemen rushed into Liang Yan's office and dragged Zhao Hai out.
As he came out, Zhao Hai roared furiously.
But, once Zhao Hai was taken outside the hall, he collapsed on the ground, hugging Xiao Nian and weeping bitterly.
"NianNian, I don't want to be a madman."
"But I only have this one son, he's my only hope!"
"I know he despises me, even wishes I die earlier, but however I die is fine, he can't die before me!"
"This time don't stop me, even if I have to exhaust my fortune, I have to find out who killed Xiaohong!"
When Zhao Hai spoke these words, Chen Xiao's gaze didn't leave Xiao Nian's face.
He stared at Xiao Nian, not because of her beauty, but because at this moment he might capture Xiao Nian's true inner world.
However, the next second, Chen Xiao's inner shock couldn't be controlled anymore.
He saw Xiao Nian tenderly squatting on the ground, opening her arms to hold Zhao Hai tightly, saying:
"Alright, I'll listen to you, all listen to you. No matter who it is, if they killed Xiaohong, we must get them to pay with their lives!"