Irrefutable Evidence, and the Scapegoat Slips Away

Shen Zhihan wore a smile that didn't reach his eyes, his dark gaze revealing neither pleasure nor anger. "Oh, is that so? So I must have buried them here in advance?"

Gao Feifei was the first to cry out, "Impossible! That little grey cat was a gift I gave to Xia Kexuan. When I went to her place to play half a month ago, I didn't see it. She told me it had gotten sick and died, and I was sad about it for a long time."

Huang Liying chimed in hastily, "That's right, exactly! It died of an illness, so you can't pin this on our Xuanxuan."

Shen Zhihan let out a soft chuckle. It turned out that when a person was truly speechless, they really did just laugh.

He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Has he arrived?"

"He's here, he's here. Another two minutes, stop rushing." Something was said on the other end before the line was immediately disconnected.

Other parents spoke up in defense of Shen Zhihan and An'an, "Impossible! Looking at the state of decomposition of the carcasses, they've been dead for about a month. The Xia family only went bankrupt a few days ago; how on earth would President Shen have had the opportunity to enter the Xia estate and bury the remains here?"

"Precisely. Everyone saw before the excavation that the grass on this plot of land had grown over, and the soil showed no signs of having been recently turned or disturbed."

Xia Kexuan finally spoke up timidly, "Please, everyone, stop arguing. It's my fault. I... I'm keeping a secret from you all, but I don't want to talk about it. I'm begging you, please stop pressing me, okay? I really didn't do this, but I don't want to talk about it either."

Tian Wenhan's mother had previously taken note of Xia Kexuan because Tian Wenhan liked her. When he came home beaming with joy to tell her that Xia Kexuan didn't mind his weight, often played with him, and took good care of him, she had started paying attention to the girl.

She used to think Xia Kexuan was a sensible, lovely, and well-behaved child, but listening to her now, something felt profoundly wrong.

Could she be overthinking it? After all, this was only a four-year-old child, so why did she detect such a thick layer of manipulative pretense in those words?

Xia Kexuan's words sounded suspiciously like: *Hurry up and pressure me, hurry up and ask, hurry up and make me reveal the truth.*

Sure enough, Huang Liying stroked Xia Kexuan's head, her tone gentle, "Don't be afraid, Xuanxuan. Just say whatever you know; your godfather and godmother will back you up."

Before Xia Kexuan could reply, a man wearing a low ponytail and gold-rimmed glasses walked in, his voice laced with casual laziness, "Well, well, what's this? Have we discovered a crime scene?"

An'an couldn't help staring with curiosity at the approaching man. What a handsome, dashing uncle!

The ponytail man was tall and slender, looking somewhat lean. He gently pushed up his glasses and locked eyes with An'an.

An'an immediately flashed him a sweet smile.

She had no idea why she smiled, but she felt that the other person harbored no malice, so she decided to show goodwill first.

Shen Zhihan glanced sideways at An'an and caught the little girl grinning so widely at the man opposite them that her eyes disappeared into crescents.

*Heh...*

He let out an ambiguous, humorless laugh.

The man had already spotted the carcasses of the cat and dog on the ground.

The assistant trailing behind him froze in shock, initially thinking a human life had been lost.

The man reached out, and his assistant immediately handed him a pair of gloves.

One of the parents gasped in utter astonishment.

"Th-th-this isn't Lu Heng, is it?"

***

Lu Heng—a forensic pathologist reportedly hailing from the capital. With an illustrious background, he had been holed up in Haicheng for several years.

Possessing supreme technical prowess, he was an absolute titan in his field. Rumors had it that several neighboring cities had tried repeatedly to poach him.

Whenever an unsolvable murder case popped up somewhere, securing Lu Heng for the autopsy phase meant the case was ninety percent solved.

To think that Shen Zhihan had actually managed to invite such a heavyweight figure here!

This—this was using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

An even more surreal spectacle followed. Far from treating the matter perfunctorily, Lu Heng genuinely began performing an autopsy on the small animals.

"The kitten was strangled to death by someone gripping its neck. The puppy had both its hind legs broken, was placed inside a wooden box, and was buried alive to suffocate."

Lu Heng's analysis matched An'an's account word for word, even accurately deducing the approximate time of death for both the cat and the dog.

The crowd drew in a sharp breath of cold air and involuntarily turned their gaze toward Xia Kexuan.

Xia Kexuan was only four years old!

Principal Hu was equally thunderstruck.

Gao Feifei was crying so hard her eyes were swollen shut. "Give me back my Little Grey! Give me back my Little Grey!"

A voice rang out, "Don't blame Xuanxuan. I did it."

Following the sound, everyone watched as Xia Jing rushed onto the scene.

Xia Jing looked disheveled and was entirely bare-faced.

Upon seeing Xia Jing, Xia Kexuan's eyes reddened as she lunged forward into Xia Jing's arms. "Sister."

The sisters put on a deeply touching display of sisterly affection.

Shen Zhihan noticed An'an's gaze shifting back and forth between him and Xia Jing.

She even seemed to whisper something to the little black dog cradled in her arms.

Though Shen Zhihan was wearing a medical mask, his nose still felt intensely itchy, and he sneezed a few times, though he felt considerably better than before.

The desensitization shot he had just received was still taking effect.

"Are you gossiping about Daddy? Hmm?" Defying his usual cold detachment toward others, Shen Zhihan was infinitely patient and gentle in front of An'an.

An'an hastily shook her head. "No, no, not at all." But her guilty little expression gave her away instantly.

Because she *was* indeed gossiping with Little Black.

They were talking about how Daddy and this Aunt Xia Jing might have a secret romantic entanglement.

As if! When Xia Jing arrived, Shen Zhihan hadn't even deigned to spare her a single glance!

With that comforting thought, An'an brightened up again.

***

She disliked the Xia family, and that included this Xia Jing.

From across the way, a voice pleaded, "Xuanxuan, how could you be so foolish? Why take the blame for something you didn't do?"

Xia Jing looked toward the crowd, her expression dripping with genuine sincerity. "Everyone, it's my fault. You can beat me, scold me, condemn me, and judge me all you want, and I'll accept it all, but you cannot pin this on Xuanxuan."

Pausing briefly, Xia Jing continued, "A month ago, I was under immense pressure and feeling terribly low, so I went out and had a drink. I never expected someone to spike my drink with hallucinogens. When I came back, my mind was addorted, and I mistook the puppy and kitten for monsters trying to harm me. I... I truly didn't mean to. We had raised both of these pets for several months and regarded them as family. After I woke up, I was consumed by remorse. Terrified that Xuanxuan would find out and be heartbroken, I secretly buried them. Xuanxuan knows nothing about this."

An'an interrupted her flatly, "You're lying. If she didn't do it, then Xia Kexuan did."

Shen Zhihan gave a subtle hand signal, which Yu Feng understood immediately.

"This is the surveillance footage. Please take a look."

Shen Zhihan knew precisely when to deliver a crushing blow and how to execute a psychological checkmate.

Xia Jing's face instantly drained of all color.

The Xia estate had security cameras installed, but having had their assets frozen and being hastily turfed out, they hadn't thought of this detail in the panic.

On the surveillance screen, Xia Kexuan was shown alone with the cat and dog, her face twisted in a ferocious, malevolent snarl.

Xia Kexuan was seen using food to lure the animals before subjecting them to brutal abuse.

Who could have imagined that a mere four-year-old child could harbor such cruelty?

An'an reached out to cover Little Black's eyes.

Little Black was the puppy that lived next door. Having witnessed Xia Kexuan torturing and killing small animals with her own hands, it had been scared out of its wits, shivering in terror.

Later, hearing rumors from others that there was a child at Wenhan Kindergarten who could understand animal speech, it seized an opportunity when Xia Kexuan wasn't paying attention, sneaked into their car, and hid beneath the seat.

Being tiny and pitch-black, its fur blended seamlessly with the black car cushion.

When Xia Kexuan got out of the vehicle earlier, she had merely felt something trip her up without bothering to look down.

An'an had felt sorry for Little Black and smuggled it into the school.

And when Xia Kexuan tried to win her favor by claiming she wanted to adopt a puppy, Little Black could no longer contain its trauma and directly exposed Xia Kexuan's true colors.

With evidence ironclad and irrefutable, Xia Kexuan had no room to rebut, completely shattering Xia Jing's attempt to use her as a scapegoat.

Seeing the way Shen Zhihan doted on and indulged An'an, Xia Jing desperately clung to one last shred of hope. "Zhihan, I..."

Before the words could even fully leave her lips, a barrage of bird droppings landed squarely on Xia Jing's head.

A dense flock of ominous black crows suddenly swooped down from the sky, cawing furiously and bombarding Xia Kexuan and Xia Jing with a relentless stream of filth, while Ding Jianhui and Huang Liying failed to escape the onslaught either.