Controlled Experiment Chapter 33

Game of Death – 9

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Coming out of Gu Qingyu's home, Du Yusheng had a stifled rage simmering in his chest.

All the way back, Du Yusheng's face remained dark. He was clearly in a foul mood, and Xiao Bai could tell. There were plenty of people like Gu Qingyu who believed that wealthy businessmen ought to offer their money and effort unconditionally, you'd find them around you, and even more online. But Gu Qingyu had one more trait, he had the audacity to owe money and still act righteously about not repaying it. It was contemptible.

When Du Yusheng reached the bottom of his building, he looked up.

His move hadn't been fully completed yet. He estimated it would take another hour, and with the time he'd need to sort things out, at the very least, it would take all morning.

Du Yusheng glanced at Xiao Bai.

"What do you make of Gu Qingyu?"

"Well, I noticed straight away that when Gu Qingyu was talking to me, the fabric of his pyjama pants was nearly rubbed thin, he's definitely hiding something. And then, Brother Yu, you saw it too, those shoes of his. So coincidentally, just that one pair, he hadn't just wiped the tops, he even cleaned the soles. And judging by Gu Qingyu's usual appearance, he doesn't strike me as the type who cares about hygiene, so I think he wore that pair of shoes to do something."

Xiao Bai put his hands on his hips, combing his hair while talking

"Remember that night in Chen Xin's hospital room, we didn't find a single footprint." Du Yusheng said, "If Gu Qingyu really was the killer, then after cleaning up the prints at the scene, he must've still been uneasy, so he went home and wiped down the soles too."

It added up, Xiao Bai nodded.

"But there's still a problem," Xiao Bai frowned. "When we were leaving, he asked us what had happened to Chen Xin. Judging by his reaction, it seems like he really doesn't know that Chen Xin died."

"Exactly, that's the part I can't figure out," Du Yusheng said with a yawn. "Don't dwell on it for now. Go pull the surveillance footage from outside Gu Qingyu's house, if he left by car, get in touch with the transport department and track his route, see if he went to the hospital. The hospital should have surveillance too."

Xiao Bai nodded.

"And another thing," Du Yusheng pressed, "have you looked into Chen Xin's other social circles? Apart from this Gu Qingyu, is there anyone else suspicious? Didn't his father say Chen Xin owed money to the factory? What about those workers whose wages were delayed, could any of them be suspects? Check them out too."

Xiao Bai rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking to himself what an enormous workload that would be.

Easy for you, you just have to open your mouth and give orders.

Xiao Bai scratched his nose and added, "Brother Yu, I doubt it. The workers are the least likely to want Chen Xin dead, once he dies, they'll never see their money. So far, the one with the clearest motive is that Gu Qingyu upstairs. With Chen Xin dead, he doesn't have to repay a thing."

Du Yusheng turned and left Xiao Bai with just one sentence.

"Check it anyway."

Although it was standard procedure, Xiao Bai still gave Du Yusheng's retreating back the middle finger.

Having assigned all the legwork that had been nagging at him, Du Yusheng felt a lot more comfortable.

To be honest, he actually hoped the killer was Gu Qingyu. If the murderer turned out to be someone with no connection at all to the victim, Chen Xin, then the case would be much harder to solve. That would mean there wasn't even a clear scope for investigation, it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack. And besides, judging from what they had so far, the killer had been meticulous, there was no trace left behind at the scene, except for that surveillance footage. And they still hadn't received a cause of death from Qin Yan's side, he was stuck too.

As Du Yusheng stepped out of the elevator, the first thing he saw was Li Yao yawning in the doorway.

Maybe he hadn't felt at ease leaving the movers alone after seeing Du Yusheng leave, he was leaning against the doorframe in his pyjamas, watching the movers like a hawk. He had clearly been woken up early and looked utterly exhausted, but his eyes never left the workers. The sight warmed Du Yusheng's heart.

If he could, he really wanted to go up and touch him this way and that.

But now that they'd be living close to each other, that kind of thing was only a matter of time. As these thoughts wandered through Du Yusheng's head, his heart started pounding faster.

"Why are you still standing out here?" Du Yusheng hurried over and said, "It's cold outside, and none of this stuff is worth much, if anything goes missing, the moving company will pay for it."

Li Yao tilted his head and smiled. "It's fine, I've got the day off too."

"Well then, if you're off, you should really rest properly."

Du Yusheng opened the door to Li Yao's apartment and nudged him inside.

His own move-in was nearly finished, the furniture had all been brought up and the only thing left was for him to organise everything himself.

The lead mover came over holding the final invoice, reading off items and amounts as he went through the list with Du Yusheng. But Du Yusheng couldn't be bothered to check everything one by one. Instead, he scribbled his name in a flourish at the bottom of the invoice and transferred the payment via Alipay.

Before the movers left, he even gave them a case of bottled water.

After sorting all that out, Du Yusheng wiped his scuffed shoes and turned to see Li Yao still standing there, watching him with a grin through the crack of his open door.

Du Yusheng cursed inwardly, Damn, and his face flushed red, Things are progressing quickly.

"Have you had breakfast?" Li Yao asked.

Dumbly, Du Yusheng shook his head.

Li Yao beckoned him over. "I haven't eaten either, let's have something together."

Still crouched down polishing his shoes, Du Yusheng was too surprised to react. Li Yao's tone when inviting someone was very strange; it felt less like he was inviting you to dinner and more like he was just saying "hello," devoid of any emotion. If it weren't for the smile in Li Yao's eyes, Du Yusheng would have seriously suspected he wasn't being sincere and that he had ulterior motives.

Whatever the case, Du Yusheng followed along eagerly.

In truth, Li Yao rarely cooked, and most of the appliances in his kitchen were still nearly brand new. His cooking could best be described as dramatic, people who had tasted it all agreed it left quite an impression. So Li Yao typically stuck to semi-prepared dishes: boiling noodles and cooking frozen dumplings, those were his signature moves.

Today was no different.

Looking at the spread on the table, the corners of Du Yusheng's lips twitched slightly. Inwardly, he wondered if perhaps Li Yao really did lack sincerity and did have ulterior motives.

The toast had been heated in a bread machine, the fried eggs were done in a mould in the microwave, and both the soy milk and the milk were instant, just warmed up. The only thing that showed any effort at all were the slices of ham and sausage, which Li Yao had cut himself. But when he saw each slice was a full centimetre thick, Du Yusheng couldn't sit still any more.

He snatched the kitchen knife from Li Yao's hand, rolled up his sleeves and sighed.

"The only thing your hands can do is hold a scalpel, right?"

Du Yusheng rinsed the chopping board under the tap and glanced at Li Yao, who clearly had no idea what he was about to do.

"You, Grand Master, just sit tight." Du Yusheng added, "Wait for the food, I'll show you what I can do."

There was half a bowl of leftover rice in Li Yao's fridge. Du Yusheng brought it to his nose and sniffed it to make sure it wasn't bad. There was also a tomato. After a moment's thought, Du Yusheng took that out as well.

Ham, sausage, eggs, and rice.

Enough to make a decent fried rice.

There wasn't much else to cook with, so Du Yusheng used the tomato to make a simple egg drop soup.

In less than fifteen minutes, the rice and soup were served, both steaming hot.

Li Yao blinked at him in disbelief. In all the time they'd known each other, this was the first time Du Yusheng had seen such an expression on his face, like a daft teenager.

"Clearly never had a proper meal in your life," Du Yusheng grabbed a bowl and glanced at his watch. "Perfect time for brunch."

Du Yusheng was a decent cook. Li Yao took a bite and nodded in approval, and Du Yusheng, grinning, stroked his chin, smugness written all over his face.

Li Yao ate slowly and unhurriedly, the exact opposite of Du Yusheng, who wolfed everything down. As Du Yusheng chewed, his eyes couldn't help drifting to Li Yao's face. He thought that this feeling, two people eating together at the table, was something special. Like family.

Ever since Old Master Du had his accident, Du Yusheng had rarely gone home. He had kept the truth hidden from Madam Du, telling her that Old Master Du had gone to the Middle East to expand the market. She believed him for half a year, for a full year. But now, nearly two years on, Madam Du had gradually started to sense something wasn't right. The two of them were like people separated by a sheet of window paper, neither saying a word.

What frightened Du Yusheng most was going home and seeing the look in Madam Du's eyes, grief buried so deep it was almost calm, pretending as though nothing had happened, as if she knew nothing at all.

Du Yusheng was too ashamed to look her in the eye.

Over time, he rarely went home.

But today, with nothing more than an ordinary meal, Du Yusheng found himself tasting the long-lost feeling of home. Perhaps it was because he had been an only child for too long, Du Yusheng was starting to feel a certain fondness.

"Is it good?"

Li Yao nodded.

Du Yusheng lowered his head, smiling with quiet satisfaction.

Halfway through the meal, Xiao Bai sent a message on WeChat. Du Yusheng glanced at it and snapped his fingers.

Li Yao asked, "What is it, you look pleased."

Closing his phone, Du Yusheng replied with a grin, "I just went to see that Gu Qingyu, didn't I? That bastard denied everything, said he'd been home the whole time and never left the house. But guess what? Xiao Bai found footage on the surveillance cameras, around ten o'clock last night, Gu Qingyu drove out. His car was parked in the underground parking garage of Huan Island Hospital, just before eleven. Chen Xin was killed sometime between eleven and midnight. And get this, Gu Qingyu's height and build look a lot like the man caught on the surveillance outside Chen Xin's room."

Li Yao finished the last few grains of rice in his bowl and pushed it aside.

"So you think he killed Chen Xin?"

Du Yusheng nodded. "It's highly likely."

Li Yao suddenly smiled. He reached for a sheet of paper and a pen from the side, and with a few strokes, sketched a rough layout of Chen Xin's hospital room.

Then he turned the paper to face Du Yusheng.

Capping the pen, Li Yao said, "I think the exact opposite, I don't think Gu Qingyu was the one who killed Chen Xin."

He took a sip of the warm water in front of him.

Then Li Yao finished what he had to say.

"By the time Gu Qingyu entered the room, Chen Xin was probably already dead."

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Author's Note:

Feel free to imagine Li's cooking skills.

‿︵‿︵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: June 2, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 24, 2025 by Angel