S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 17

The Card Murderer 17 – Family

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left together and headed to the magazine publisher first.  

Meanwhile, Bai Chi was eating a cat paw bun while watching the news. The overly sweet taste filled his mouth, and he found the bun rather disappointing, its appearance in the advertisement was vastly different from the reality.  

Muttering to himself about how dishonest the shop was, his gaze landed on a plate of untouched omelettes on the coffee table. Bai Chi stabbed a piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth...  

Zhao Zhen had just been about to get up and take a shower when he suddenly heard Bai Chi let out a muffled "Mmph!" and shake his head vigorously while covering his mouth. Thinking Bai Chi was choking, Zhao Zhen quickly sat beside him and patted his back.  

Bai Chi pointed at the omelette, tears welling up in his eyes as he covered his mouth and coughed uncontrollably. He grabbed the cup of coffee on the table and took a sip.  

As a result, there was a "pfft" sound.

Zhao Zhen hurriedly handed him his own bottle of mineral water.  

Bai Chi gulped down nearly half the bottle before finally catching his breath. Taking a deep breath, he gasped, "I nearly died!"  

Zhao Zhen picked up the fork and lifted the omelette for a closer look. Underneath the egg, the plate was smeared with a yellow-green mixture that smelled strongly of wasabi and honey.  

Zhao Zhen held the plate towards Lisbon, who sniffed it, flicked his mane in disgust, and backed away.  

Bai Chi looked at his coffee cup and shook his head. "Are cat tongues just incapable of handling bitter things?"  

Zhao Zhen pointed at the wasabi-honey omelette. "What kind of cat can eat wasabi?"  

Bai Chi was helpless. "My brother, an angel's face, a human's body, and a devil's taste buds!"  

......

At that moment, Zhan Zhao was in Bai Yutang's car, browsing through the Pei family records that Jiang Ping had dug up on his tablet.  

Bai Yutang recalled that Pei Tian had written several recommendations for Zhan Zhao's novels, even claiming to be a fan, and they had met a few times before. Pei Tian was an older man with sharp eyes, giving off an almost menacing aura.  

Zhan Zhao didn't have a particularly deep impression of Pei Tian. Though Pei Tian always mentioned being a fan whenever they met... it was likely just pleasantries. He probably said the same thing to every author published by his publishing company.  

However, after going through Pei Tian's background, Zhan Zhao found himself intrigued by the old man.  

Pei Tian had three children, as well as an elder brother who had passed away many years ago. After his brother's death, he adopted his niece, Pei Yun, which meant he now had four children in total, two sons and two daughters. Apart from Pei Yun, his biological children were Pei Xiu, Pei Lin, and Pei Wen, each born to a different wife.  

In some superstitious family legends, people might say a certain woman brings misfortune to her husband... but in the Pei family, it seemed to be the other way around. Pei Tian appeared to bring misfortune to his wives... all three of his wives had passed away.  

"All three of them are dead?" Bai Yutang found it hard to believe.  

"And they all died within a short period of time," Zhan Zhao checked the timeline. "They all committed suicide."  

Bai Yutang frowned. "Was he abusive or some kind of psychological manipulator? How do three wives all end up committing suicide? That's outrageous."

"It does look highly suspicious in terms of timing. His first wife was with him the longest, she committed suicide when Pei Xiu started middle school... The next two wives both committed suicide less than a year after giving birth, and the official reason was postpartum depression." Zhan Zhao flipped through the documents, shaking his head. "Does he live in a cursed house, or is the feng shui in his home all wrong? The first wife drowned in the swimming pool, the second hung herself in the attic, and the third was even more extreme, she drove off a winding mountain road and was blown to pieces."

Bai Yutang thought the whole thing sounded like the perfect setup for a new Final Destination movie, so he asked. "There's no doubt about the cause of death?"

"The forensic reports don't mention anything unusual, but we could ask Mia to look into it," Zhan Zhao turned to another page and was surprised, "Whoa, his older brother also committed suicide!"

Bai Yutang was speechless. "Is this some kind of family disease?"

"There actually is a family history of mental illness," Zhan Zhao just found Pei Tian's older brother, Pei Jie's, medical report. He examined it carefully. "Severe delusions and panic disorder."

"That sounds quite serious."

"It's very serious," Zhan Zhao read the medical records. "He was at the point where he needed to be hospitalised and to have special care..."

"How did he die?" Bai Yutang asked.

"He broke a mirror at midnight, used the shards to slash his own veins, and then ran wildly through his mansion until he bled out and died," Zhan Zhao recited from the forensic report, feeling like he was reading a horror novel. "The next morning, the servants woke up to find the entire house covered in blood."

Bai Yutang frowned. "Can this house still be wanted..."

Zhan Zhao looked at the photos of the house. "This was the Pei family's ancestral home. After Pei Jie died, Pei Tian moved his entire family in."

Bai Yutang was at a loss for words. "They actually moved in? No regard for taboos whatsoever..."

At this point, Bai Yutang suddenly asked, "Could it be that those three wives all committed suicide in this house?"

"Mm-hmm." Zhan Zhao nodded, enlarging a photo of the villa. "The atmosphere is pure haunted house!"

"So what about now?" Bai Yutang was curious. "Are they still living there?"

"Oh, not any more, the house caught fire a few years ago and completely burned down," Zhan Zhao explained. "After the fire, the investigation confirmed that the house was too old and the electrical system short-circuited. The interior had a lot of wooden décor, so it went up in flames fast... Moreover, no one was home that day, and the house was located on the outskirts, so it wasn't discovered until it burned until dawn. By the time firefighters arrived, all that was left was the skeletal frame, which eventually collapsed... leaving nothing behind."

Bai Yutang smiled. "So many suspicious points, yet no evidence left behind."

Zhan Zhao agreed. "Between Pei Xiu's experiences during his school years and the bizarre deaths of his three wives, it feels like it could be a biography about a family cursed by inherited misfortune."  

"There really wasn't anything suspicious?" Bai Yutang found it hard to believe. "Not even a motive?"  

"There was," Zhan Zhao said. "The motive was money!"  

"Money?" Bai Yutang asked. "Insurance?"  

But then he reconsidered. If they were all suicides, insurance companies wouldn't pay out, would they?  

"It was about inheritance." Zhan Zhao tapped on his tablet. "Pei Tian is indeed a media tycoon, but his initial capital came primarily from the inheritance left to him by his older brother. Their family had been wealthy for generations, but when their father passed away, everything went to his older brother, Pei Jie. Before Pei Jie died, he wrote a will transferring all his assets to his younger brother, Pei Tian, on the condition that Pei Tian adopt his daughter and raise her as his own. And as for Pei Tian's three wives, they were all either heiresses to vast fortunes or powerful businesswomen. Each of them left behind a will naming Pei Tian as the sole beneficiary of all their assets."  

"That's a bit suspicious," Bai Yutang remarked. "All the property was left to him, not to his own children?"  

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Everything was left to Pei Tian... and there were no problems with the wills."  

"His last two wives must have died when they were still quite young, right?" Bai Yutang asked.  

"They did," Zhan Zhao flipped through the case files. As expected, the police had also found it suspicious. A series of suicides happening in succession was far too abnormal, so a full investigation was conducted.  

"Not only that, but each of the wives had drafted their wills within a month of their suicides."  

"That makes it even more suspicious." Bai Yutang frowned. "What about his children? Did none of them find it strange?"  

"I haven't seen any records of that. Currently, only Pei Xiu and Pei Yun have inheritance rights. The youngest son and youngest daughter are still in their learning stages and are quite playful, so the likelihood of them inheriting is low." After reviewing the information, Zhang Zhao concluded, "The whole family is very, very suspicious!"

Bai Yutang agreed.  

By now, their car had arrived at the magazine publisher's entrance...  

The area was right by a subway station, with a pedestrian shopping street nearby. It was part of S City's commercial district.  

The publishing house's building was designed to resemble an open book, clean and elegant. Behind it stood the newly built Bai Group hotel, and even further back was the grand theatre. Together, the buildings created an imposing sight.  

Bai Yutang drove into the underground parking lot, parked the car, and got out with Zhan Zhao.  

"Is that Mingdi's car?" Bai Yutang spotted a familiar vehicle parked not far away, it looked like the same model Mingdi had been driving yesterday.  

Zhan Zhao glanced at it, rubbing his chin. "It is indeed the same model, but the license plates are different."

Bai Yutang also glanced at the license plate. At first glance, it looked identical, but on closer inspection – the last digit was different. Mingdi's car ended in a 7, whereas this one ended in a 1... If one didn't look carefully, it would be nearly impossible to tell them apart.  

"Is it such a coincidence?" Bai Yutang dialled a number and asked Jiang Ping to look into the vehicle.  

Jiang Ping quickly called back with the results – the car belonged to Pei Wen.  

"The youngest daughter of the Pei family?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.  

Zhan Zhao nodded and held up his tablet, showing Bai Yutang a photo.  

Looking at the picture, Bai Yutang found the situation rather intriguing. "Which one of them bought their car first?"  

"Mingdi's looks a little older," Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, thinking that this might be a point of breakthrough.

The elevator in the parking lot only went up to the main lobby on the first floor.  

Zhan Zhao had occasionally been to the publishing house, but only to visit the office building where Gao Min and her colleagues worked. This seemed to be the headquarters' main entrance, he had never been here before.  

It seems that when his books had sold well, Gao Min had told him there was a celebration banquet in the building's conference centre, but he had been tied up with a case that day and couldn't attend...  

The two of them walked up to the reception desk.  

The receptionist checked their IDs and then searched through the appointment records. She shook her head and said that they weren't on the appointment list.

Bai Yutang raised a brow – You were the ones who called the police.  

"Uh..." The receptionist hesitated, then said she would make a call to check...  

Just then, a tall, slender woman in a black suit walked down the stairs nearby. "I was the one who invited them."

The receptionist immediately looked nervous and quickly apologised to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, adding that she hadn't realised they had an appointment with the vice president.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – This isn't exactly the receptionist's fault, why is she apologising?

Zhan Zhao had seen the vice president's photo in the files earlier. It was Pei Yun, Pei Jie's daughter and Pei Tian's adopted child.  

Zhan Zhao took a moment to observe her.  

Pei Yun was extremely thin, to the point that her collarbones were almost visible through the shoulders of her fitted suit. Her face and hair appeared bare and unstyled, as if she hadn't put on any makeup at all. However, on closer inspection, her skin was delicate and flawless, and her hair was sleek and smooth... she had likely gone to great lengths to achieve this natural look.  

From his observations, Zhan Zhao concluded that Pei Yun would be a difficult person to question. She was someone who deliberately concealed her personal traits and preferences.  

Whether a person is easy to approach can be judged by the extent to which they reveal or hide their preferences and personality traits.

For example, some people would use a favourite celebrity as their phone wallpaper or carry accessories related to their hobbies, like anime keychains or merchandise from their favourite games...  

If you want to communicate with such a person, just start with their interests, and it will be very easy.

There are also some people who are quite shy and won't reveal their preferences. These people usually use cute little animals or beautiful landscape photos as their phone wallpapers. 

When you encounter such people, you can talk about some common topics, like the weather or food. After getting to know each other better, you can then delve into more personal preferences.

Following this pattern, the more someone conceals their preferences and traits, the stronger their sense of self-protection, making it harder to form a close connection.  

There are also the kinds of people who wouldn't even use the default phone wallpapers. After all, even built-in backgrounds required a choice. Do they prefer the universe or the forest? Warm tones or cool tones...  

These people set their phone wallpaper to all black or all white, hide all the apps they use in folders, and place them on the second page of the phone. If you don't swipe to the second page when you turn on the phone, it looks just like it's turned off. Leave the time on the screen? No way! Because setting the time requires choosing a font, and more importantly, it makes people think you care a lot about time, which could expose your characteristics.

After a brief observation, Zhan Zhao categorised Pei Yun as the most difficult type to approach. Everything she chose to present to outsiders was carefully curated and somewhat misleading. It wasn't necessarily right or wrong, just a reflection of her cautious and meticulous personality.  

Pei Yun gestured for them to follow her, but before leaving, she glanced at the receptionist.  

The receptionist quickly lowered her head and busied herself.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look before following Pei Yun upstairs.  

"Sorry," Pei Yun said. "The news about my father receiving a threatening letter must remain confidential."  

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded in understanding.  

At this moment, a series of hurried footsteps could be heard coming from upstairs. A girl wearing a pink outfit, carrying a small crossbody bag, wearing sneakers with wings, and sporting a princess bun hairstyle, ran down.

What a coincidence, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had just seen a photo of this person and even their car - the Pei family's youngest daughter, Pei Wen.  

Pei Wen's exquisite outfit was adorned with a diamond brooch in the shape of the letters "MD." She wore earrings with one side M and the other side D, and her bag had a chibi doll keychain hanging from it. With curly brown hair, distinct mixed-race features, a casual suit, and a chibi figure with long legs holding a book... no matter how you looked at it, it was Mingdi.

Zhan Zhao nodded – This one is the type that's very easy to approach, the sisters are completely opposite!!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 25, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 19, 2025 by Soojin