Mr. Yuan’s Dilemma: Can’t Help Falling in Love with You

Liu Qi came over with his specialized tools and removed the pipe efficiently.

He revealed the internal structure to Wu Huai. Mu Chenyan and Su Qingcheng took the opportunity to sneak a few glances as well. There was a Y-shaped divider at the valve connector where the sink was turned on.

Wu Huai signaled Little Jiang to take a water sample from both inlets. He also instructed Liu Qi to take the detached valve connector back to the laboratory to have it tested.

Mu Chenyan had no idea what Wu Huai was thinking.

“Captain Wu, are there any new developments?” Wen Ya asked quietly. She had just walked out of the door that led to the main hall.

Wu Huai had not seen Wen Ya for several days. She looked weaker now than she did during the interrogation. There was a pitiful look in her dark, sunken eyes.

“Mrs. Yuan, we’re just here to collect some water samples to be tested.”

Wu Huai spoke gently. Wen Ya nodded before she murmured, “I hope the case will be solved soon.”

“Mrs. Yuan, do you mean that sincerely or…”

Wu Huai paused. He stared at Wen Ya’s pale little face sternly. He attempted to detect if she was hiding something by scrutinizing at her expression.

“Captain Wu, I honestly felt nothing when Yuan Zhe died!”

Wen Ya smiled gently and said, “You’ve been investigating this case for such a long time. You’re probably aware that Yuan Zhe was constantly abusing me. When he died, I felt like I’d finally escaped from him.”

Mu Chenyan and Su Qingcheng truly felt bad for Wen Ya when they saw the miserable smile on her face. “Wen Ya, don’t say that…”

Mu Chenyan tried to stop her.

“Chenyan, I’ve always been the biggest suspect. The things I said won’t change Captain Wu’s impression of me!”

Wen Ya turned to Wu Huai when she spoke. Wu Huai hesitated for a moment before he fixed his gaze on Wen Ya again. His deep voice echoed as he said, “Mrs. Yuan, that’s only true because you had a likely motive to murder him!”

“Yes, indeed! I’ve been enduring this torture for such a long time. It’s indeed a possible motive for me to kill my husband to get away from him. You did the right thing when you began your investigation by suspecting me. I don’t blame you for that. You asked me if I truly wanted the case to be solved, or if I was merely pretending. Well, I truly wanted it to end!”

Wen Ya paused. Tears glistened in her red-rimmed eyes. “You’ll see that I’m innocent once the case is solved…”

Mu Chenyan walked over and held Wen Ya while she sobbed. “Wen Ya, you’re definitely innocent. Don’t cry. The truth will be revealed sooner or later!”

Wen Ya smiled and glanced at the hall before she turned to Wu Huai. She said, “Can I go inside and look around?”

Wu Huai was unaware of Wen Ya’s intentions. He pondered and said to Su Qingcheng, “Little Su, go inside with her.”

Su Qingcheng followed his orders and followed Wen Ya into the hall. Nothing had changed since the day of the murder.

Aside from several cans of snacks and the coffee pot that they usually used, everything else on the coffee table including the tea set had been taken to the major crimes department as evidence.

Wen Ya went into the kitchen. She saw that the faucet and the connecting pipes inside the bottom cabinet were already removed.

The things inside the wine rack in the dining room were untouched. Wen Ya looked at the wine rack. She pointed at a container of sugar cubes at the top of the wine rack and asked Su Qingcheng, “Why didn’t you take this as evidence?”

Su Qingcheng took the sugar container down from the wine rack. She asked, “What’s inside?”

Wen Ya was puzzled and rather shocked. “Sugar cubes! Were you unaware that Yuan Zhe puts sugar cubes in his coffee?”

Su Qingcheng stared blankly. “We’d previously taken a can of sugar cubes to be tested in the laboratory! Those two reporters saw Mr. Yuan adding sugar cubes from a transparent crystal container. Does this container contain sugar cubes too?”

Su Qingcheng was confused. She examined the exquisite wooden sugar container several times.

This little purple can seemed like an antique. The borders on top were also rimmed with gold. Su Qingcheng would have assumed that it was a jewelry box if Wen Ya had not said anything.

“These are mint flavored sugar cubes. I don’t know where Yuan Zhe got them. He liked weird things. He’d add these strange sugar cubes to his coffee whenever he drank it. I thought that you took it away…”

Wen Ya took the wooden sugar container from Su Qingcheng when she spoke. She opened it to reveal the square sugar cubes that were neatly arranged inside. They were wrapped in a fine wrapper and placed inside the box.

“The box was previously full!”

Wen Ya was shocked. Her trembling hands nearly dropped the box but Su Qingcheng rushed over and took it from her. “Captain Wu, we have a situation here!”

Wu Huai immediately rushed over when he heard Su Qingcheng yelling. Su Qingcheng passed the box of sugar cubes to him. “These are Yuan Zhe’s special sugar cubes, but one cube is missing!”

*

Wu Huai brought the new pieces of evidence back to the police department. The forensic department took the sugar cubes and water samples from him to be tested in the laboratory.

Mu Chenyan’s heart was pounding erratically. Yuan Xuan said that he would pick her up after work, so she rushed out of the police department. Yuan Xuan’s car was already waiting for her outside the entrance.

“What’s wrong? You look upset!”

Yuan Xuan could tell that his woman was in low spirits. He held the steering wheel with one hand and held her palm in the other. He pinched and caressed it however he liked. His teasing soon made Mu Chenyan forget her worries.

“Drive properly!”

The woman blushed as she pushed his hand away.

Yuan Xuan was not annoyed by her rejection. He merely smiled and trained his eyes on the road in front of him while trying to glimpse any changes of his wife from the corner of his eye.

Mu Chenyan had a long day. She dozed off within seconds.

Upon waking up, she realized that they had not returned to Hibiscus Garden. They were at a hot spring resort in the mountains instead…

“Why are we here?”

The manuscripts that she wrote these past few days were only half done. She had initially planned to finish them at home, but she was suddenly dragged here. Her expression showed that she was a bit upset as the man pulled her into the hotel lobby.

“Mr. Yuan, should we adjust the temperature of the water in your reserved room again?” Mu Chenyan heard the receptionist say to Yuan Xuan respectfully.

Apparently, this man had planned everything beforehand. He had even reserved a room!

“It’s fine. Send over the Japanese food that I ordered earlier in awhile. My wife is very hungry!”

Yuan Xuan tugged at Mu Chenyan and smiled gently.

Mu Chenyan recalled that Yuan Xuan had previously mentioned a nice vacation spot that Shao Yibai had discovered. He said that he wanted to let her experience it. He was probably referring to this place!

There were numerous hot springs in Luo Hai but only a handful of them was authentic. The genuine ones were usually found in the outskirts of town. Yuan Xuan had definitely driven his sports car at an incredible speed to reach this place in an hour.

They were surrounded by green hills and crystal clear water. They felt as though they were in paradise when they entered their room. The interior of the room was decorated with Japanese furnishings. There was also a huge floor-length window in the main hall that allowed them to see past the horizon in one glance.

Outside the window, there was a staircase that led downward to a spacious open-air hot spring. As this particular hot spring could only be accessed through this path, the pool was only meant to be used by the guests who stayed in this room.

It was the beginning of autumn, and the night air was a bit chilly. Mu Chenyan was completely exhausted. When she saw the wide, pool-sized hot spring, she suddenly felt the urge to jump inside.

“I’ll go with you once we’ve eaten and rested!”

Yuan Xuan hung his coat inside the closet. He murmured beside Mu Chenyan’s ear, “I love playing in the water with you…”