S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 89

The Culinary Murderer 41 – Foreshadowing

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During the rehearsal stage, Eleven and Issel's "three killer moves" had stunned everyone, including all the SCI members in the office, except for Bai Yutang.

Even Zhan Zhao was curious and asked Bai Yutang if he could become like this after reading those books.

Bai Yutang, holding a cup of water, asked, "Become like what? A slicing god and an egg-boiling sage?"

Zhan Zhao tried not to laugh as he looked at Bai Yutang – It's not easy, give me some encouragement, don't be so strict!

Bai Yutang laughed too. "I'm just worried they're setting the bar too high from the start, and if they mess up later, they'll get exposed..."

Zhan Zhao found that reasonable. "Then maybe give them a few more lessons?"

Bai Yutang widened his eyes at Zhan Zhao – Seriously? Might as well enrol them in a course somewhere.

Zhan Zhao nudged him with his elbow – But you already have a good reputation with Uncle Ye.

Bai Yutang was worried that Uncle Ye might now have overly high expectations of the two of them, and if they made fools of themselves during the actual competition, that would be a real problem. Uncle Ye needed to know that this performance was just a fluke!

......

Halfway through the rehearsal, the practice round for the contestants had ended. The next phase was all about adjusting the lighting and sound equipment, along with some other technical aspects for the livestream.

Bai Ye had finished grinding the coffee beans, packed everything away, and was getting ready for the livestream later.

Fang Beibei still hadn't shown up. Xiao Ding stood at the door, checking his watch, it was nearly the final countdown. One more minute and she'd be disqualified!

Just as Xiao Ding was getting angry, the elevator doors opened. Down the corridor came Fang Beibei at last, dragging a suitcase behind her and running in with that sumo-wrestler-sized bodyguard of hers.

Xiao Ding rolled his eyes at the ceiling, You finally came, your highness.

Xiao Ding made a hand signal to Da Ding.

Da Ding, who wasn't particularly pleased either, signalled to the staff not to contact the alternate just yet.

This time, Fang Beibei wasn't her usual arrogant self. As soon as she entered, she kept apologising, saying the car had suddenly broken down halfway, and she hadn't been able to get another ride, so she had no choice but to run there...

Xiao Ding thought Fang Beibei looked all right, but that "giant" of a bodyguard seemed like he'd just been fished out of a lake. This guy looked to weigh at least three hundred pounds. Did he just run a marathon? Xiao Ding got two strong security guys to help the sumo to the rest area and told them that if anything happened, call an ambulance immediately...

Fang Beibei was drenched in sweat from running and said she didn't need to rehearse, she could go straight into the livestream later.

No one said much in response,  after all, it had been an unexpected situation.

Over at the surveillance screens, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang actually breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of them had said anything earlier, but seeing how Fang Beibei hadn't shown up for so long, they had both genuinely worried for a moment that something might have happened to her.

Thankfully, she had turned up alive and well.

Wen Xiaorou and Zhu Yi went to wash their faces, then came over to join the others watching the fun.

The rehearsal site could be seen quite clearly through the monitoring screen.

Bai Yutang was standing by the desk when he heard a rustling noise beside him. He looked down to see Mia rummaging through the snack box on the table.

She found a piece of chocolate, unwrapped it and sniffed it, then, seemingly displeased with the smell, gave it a cat-like lick, stuck out her tongue, and tossed it aside.

Bai Yutang opened a drawer, took out a box of chocolates and handed it to her. He pointed first to the box, then to Zhan Zhao, and waved his hand – Everything here had eccentric flavours only suited to cats.

Mia took the chocolate and tugged at Zhu Yi and Wen Xiaorou, as if wanting to share it with them.

The three girls sat together on the sofa, eating chocolates.

Mia glanced to the left and saw Zhu Yi sitting there holding the chocolate, staring off into space, seemingly weighed down with worry.

She looked to the right and saw Wen Xiaorou eating chocolate while frowning at Fang Beibei on the screen.

With a piece of chocolate in her mouth, Mia waved her hand in front of both their faces.

The two of them snapped back to attention and looked at her.

Mia pointed to the chocolate, crossed her arms, and gestured to the two of them – Such delicious chocolate, and you two are eating it so absent-mindedly, it's disrespectful to the food!

Zhu Yi and Wen Xiaorou were both amused by her and began eating the chocolate properly. To be honest, they hadn't even registered the taste earlier, but now that they were focused, they realised there were hazelnuts inside.

Zhu Yi said, "Back when I was at school, people used to give me chocolates all the time."

Wen Xiaorou and Mia looked at her with nosy curiosity – Boyfriend?

Zhu Yi shook her head and said she'd never been in a relationship. On one hand, her parents were overly protective and watched her like a hawk, on the other, she seemed to have some psychological shadow, she always felt that any man who got close to her harboured ill intentions and might pull out a hammer at any moment to bash her.

Wen Xiaorou and Mia both looked at her sympathetically.

"Then who gave you the chocolates?" Wen Xiaorou asked. "Did someone have a secret crush on you?"

"Hmm... it didn't feel like it," Zhu Yi said. "Ever since that kidnapping, I've had a real aversion to sweet things, I barely touched desserts at all. I actually used to love them... Then, for a while, I started finding little sweets in my schoolbag from time to time. Most of them weren't overly sweet, mostly chocolate or matcha flavoured... I'd eat a bit here and there, and slowly I got used to it again, now I can enjoy coffee with desserts again. But, oh, back then, I always thought it was my mom putting them in. Later, I happened to ask her about it, and she said she'd never done any such thing."

At that moment, the rehearsal had just ended, and everyone had returned to the lounge to rest. The team members weren't talking much, so there wasn't much worth monitoring.

Bai Yutang's attention was drawn to the conversation between the girls behind him.

"Someone was putting sweets in your schoolbag when you weren't looking?" Bai Yutang asked. "Was there any sort of pattern?"

Zhu Yi shook her head and said she hadn't noticed any pattern, but she didn't find it scary.

"Not scary?" Zhan Zhao seemed intrigued by her judgement.

"They were all things I used to love eating," Zhu Yi said, "so I just thought it was my mom putting them in..."

"Did you use to buy a lot of sweets?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhu Yi thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'd often buy some on my way home."

"Have you ever been to Zhang's Pastries?" Zhan Zhao asked out of the blue.

Xiao Bai Chi looked up as well.

Zhu Yi actually nodded. "I've had it before, I used to love their macarons."

Bai Chi looked over. "Me too!"

"Huh?" Zhu Yi suddenly frowned and tapped her head. "That sweet scent... have I smelled it before too... I can't remember!"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue felt that the girl might just be holding a key piece of information, otherwise... why had someone been keeping such a close eye on her all these years instead of just getting rid of her?

......

Back in the lounge, something had started happening again.

Everyone's attention shifted back to the surveillance footage.

Bai Ye, Issel, and Uncle Chopsticks had unknowingly become the centre of attention.

Guan Xiaoyue was the first to come over and chat with the three of them, asking whether they had ever opened a shop.

The three thought for a moment, then all shook their heads.

Guan Xiaoyue asked Issel how long he had been practising his knife skills, since he was so good with a blade.

Issel replied that when it came to chopping vegetables, he hadn't trained for very long.

Guan Xiaoyue tilted his head – So you didn't chop vegetables before? What did you do then?

Issel and Eleven both crossed their arms and thought for a bit before saying they worked in technical trades.

Guan Xiaoyue wanted to dig a bit deeper, but was dragged away by Xu Lie, who told the little brat not to be so curious and to stop prying into the big shots' affairs.

Bai Ye studied Guan Xiaoyue for a moment, then looked over at Fang Beibei.

Fang Beibei, perhaps from all the running earlier or from sheer exhaustion, didn't seem to be in great shape... Her energy looked low, and her hands were shaking.

At the same time, Bai Ye noticed that aside from himself, both Guan Xiaoyue and another chef were also quietly observing Fang Beibei.

Bai Ye had reviewed the contestants' profiles earlier and recalled that the man was a pastry chef named Qian Lin.

In fact, quite a few people had noticed that something seemed off with Fang Beibei. After falling out with her assistants, she didn't bring her own team to this competition. Instead, the twins arranged for her to have the chefs from the food city.

Both assistants asked if she was all right. Fang Beibei simply said she was fine, maybe just winded from running and needed a moment to catch her breath.

The twins themselves found it rather odd – Fang Beibei, though not exactly unruly, was never this reasonable. If it were the old her, she'd have burst through the door wailing about how exhausted she was... What is going on today? Has she switched characters?

Bai Ye gave Issel a subtle signal to take a closer look at her.

Issel glanced over his shoulder and casually said, "She's faking it."

"Faking it?"

In the office, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both frowned and stared intently at the screen, but they couldn't figure out how Issel had seen through it.

Eleven and Bai Ye, on the other hand, didn't seem to doubt Issel's judgement in the slightest. If he said she was faking it, then she probably was... But the question was, why pretend?

Wen Xiaorou also spoke up. "The last time I saw Fang Beibei, I had a proper look at her. She might appear delicate, but if you observe closely, she definitely works out regularly, and she's very light, there's no way such a short run would leave her trembling like that."

Zhan Zhao reminded them, "She looks like she wants to say something."

At that moment, one of the assistants asked her, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Fang Beibei looked at everyone and finally spoke, "My car broke down."

Everyone frowned – You already said that. Why not get it repaired or just get a new one?

"No..." Fang Beibei shook her head, hesitated, then said, "I think someone tampered with my car, the brakes failed! Fortunately, when it happened, I was driving uphill at a low speed, and it finally stopped after hitting the guardrail."

Her words caused an uproar nearby. "The brakes failed?"

Connecting this to the earlier incidents, one question lingered unspoken in everyone's minds – Is it finally your turn?

The lounge buzzed with discussion. Bai Ye and Eleven glanced at Issel again, their eyes asking – Is it true?

Issel sneered – Made it up.

Back in the office, the entire SCI team was curious – How exactly did Issel figure it out?

Mia pointed to her face and gestured – By watching the muscle movements in the face. Dad sees people like he has X-ray vision, he watches every muscle's movement to judge if someone is telling the truth, he's more accurate than a lie detector! No one can fool Dad!

Everyone marvelled – No wonder they call him Radar.

Zhan Zhao was also curious and asked Zhao Jue – Is this an innate talent or something he trained for?

Zhao Jue smirked disdainfully – Effort is worthless against talent, but talent combined with effort can skyrocket.

In the lounge, Bai Ye, who had come to compete on a mission, also became interested in Fang Beibei's behaviour – She seemed to be implying that her life was in danger, yet Issel claimed she was just pretending.

When someone lies, there's always a purpose. The key isn't the lie itself, but the groundwork laid before the lie. Fang Beibei's behaviour felt like such groundwork. So when was she planning to lie, and who was her target?

Nearby, Issel kept tilting his head occasionally and even touched his ear.

Eleven looked at him – What's wrong?

Issel pointed to his ear, signalling – There's interference.

‿︵‿︵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 30, 2025 by Angel

Edited: October 6, 2025 by Soojin