Chapter 73

Chapter 73

10:00 AM, Southern District Police Bureau.

"Watch your step."

Alpha Bureau Chief Qiu Weicheng called back to the group following him as he climbed the stairs.

It was the busiest time on a weekday morning, with officers constantly moving up and down the stairwell. Spotting their bureau chief leading a group, many stole curious glances—especially when their gazes inevitably lingered on the tall, striking young Alpha among them. Given recent media coverage of his work, some younger officers had already recognized him as the renowned LSA life scientist.

Qiu Weicheng stopped at a door on the third floor and knocked. "Captain Song."

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal a compact private office. Behind the desk sat a police captain in his fifties, peering through reading glasses at documents.

"Old Song, I’ve brought them to you. This is Captain Fang from the Guangzhou Major Crime Unit and Professor Xia from Xing'an."

Song Jianbai stood up. He wasn’t particularly tall and was rather lean. "Please, come in. My office is small, so bear with the crowding. Bureau Chief Qiu already briefed me—let’s talk inside."

With his task complete, Bureau Chief Qiu left, leaving only Song Jianbai, Xia Qing, and the others in the roughly ten-square-meter office.

"Captain Song, we appreciate your time today," Fang Puxin said gently. "One of the missing persons from the 531 incident is connected to our current case, so we wanted to ask you for some details."

"No need for formalities. I retire in two months," Song Jianbai chuckled. "That incident was indeed massive. Captain Wei and I were among the first on the scene before being reassigned to handle next-of-kin notifications. Feel free to ask anything, Captain Fang."

Across the desk, Fang Puxin and the others felt slightly reassured by the composed demeanor of the veteran officer. "Do you remember a missing university student among the victims? He was 21 at the time—Xu Zhangying?"

"Xu Zhangying..." Song Jianbai repeated the name, then removed his glasses and stood. From a metal cabinet behind him, he pulled out a faded blue plastic folder, its age evident.

"Ah, this young man," Song Jianbai said after paging through a dozen pages. He looked up at the group. "I remember him. Very distinctly."

Xia Qing and Fang Puxin sat across the desk, while Yu Mei, Qi Feng, and Song Yuli sat on spare stools nearby, tense as if awaiting a verdict from the old officer.

"What stood out about him?" Xia Qing asked.

Song Jianbai glanced at him, shook his head, and returned to the file. "Compared to the deceased, the families of the missing suffer more prolonged agony. Major incidents trigger emergency DNA testing—even the most charred remains are usually identified within twelve hours. But confirming a missing person involves endless uncertainty, and their families endure far more torment. That’s why I remember the missing and their families so well."

"And among them, young Xu’s family was the most... unique."

Xia Qing froze, looking down at the photo in his hand—the blurred image of Xu Zhangying’s back. Fang Puxin and Yu Mei frowned at each other. Xu Zhangying was spotted alive outside the tunnel—what family could he have had?

Xia Qing, however, asked evenly, "Why was his family the most unique?"

Song Jianbai paged through the file before answering slowly, "Not families—family. This Xu boy only had one relative. And that person was among the first family members to arrive at the scene."

Song Yuli blurted out, handing the news photo to the officer and pointing at the figure in white. "Actually, Captain Song, we’re here because Xu Zhangying wasn’t in that incident—he’s still alive. We believe this person at the scene is him. If he was there, how could he have had family?"

"Alive?" Song Jianbai jolted. He took the photo, scanned it briefly, then put on his glasses for a closer look at the figure in white. After a moment, he exhaled and stated firmly, "This isn’t Xu Zhangying."

Yu Mei was taken aback by the swift denial. "How? You’ve never met Xu Zhangying in person—how can you be so sure?"

"Young officer, I’m certain," Song Jianbai said, shaking his head. "Because I recognize the person in this photo. That’s Xu Zhangying’s only family!"

Fang Puxin and the others froze instantly.

What was going on? How could "Xu Zhangying" become "Xu Zhangying's family member"?

"Xu Zhangying was different from the other victims. He had no parents or elders in his family—only a brother around his age, a beta-gender university student from Beijing who arrived at the scene the very afternoon of the accident."

Yu Mei was nearly frantic—wasn't that Xu Zhangying himself?

Then who was the "Xu Zhangying" inside the tunnel?

Xia Qing watched quietly as Song Jianbai flipped through the old work logs, listening as the veteran officer slowly recounted, "Back then, when all the victims' families arrived at the scene, they were wailing uncontrollably. The ambulances parked nearby had to transport multiple people daily who’d collapsed. But this student wasn’t like that. He didn’t weep or cause a disturbance. He just stood there at the scene, watching the fire burn out, watching the firefighters go in one by one to carry out the remains."

"The news never published photos of the scene, but honestly, even us old detectives who’ve worked in criminal investigations our whole lives couldn’t bear to look for long. It was too horrific—bodies charred beyond recognition. To put it bluntly, we were all secretly relieved those people had died instantly in the explosion. Otherwise, the suffering would’ve been unbearable. Many were burned so badly they were contorted like gnarled roots—families weren’t allowed to view them.

But this student just stood at the tunnel entrance. Every time a body was brought out, he would look carefully, and then the firefighters would zip it into a body bag for DNA analysis. Later, as the DNA results came in one by one, the identified families left. Only he and a few other families of the missing remained.

Recovering the remains took grueling effort. It took until the fourth day to finish. And he stayed all four days. The fire chief, Old Wei, and I kept urging him to stop looking, but he refused to leave."

Though the old officer recounted everything in the plainest terms, a creeping numbness began to spread through the chests of everyone present.

"Finally, when it was all over, I went to pull him aside and said, 'Son, you should go.' But he looked at me and said, 'None of these are my family.'

"I couldn’t bring myself to say, 'Why try to ID them visually when they’re burned beyond recognition?' So I just said, 'Maybe, but we’ll have to wait for the DNA results. This afternoon, the government will hold a meeting to discuss compensation and survivor benefits. Go back to your hotel, rest, and eat something.'

"But when the meeting started, the young man never appeared. I never saw him again after that."

Yu Mei and the others were completely immersed in this horrifying and sorrowful narrative. Xia Qing looked up, clutching the photo in his hand as he asked Song Jianbai, "Do you remember that person’s name?"

Song Jianbai: "I remember he registered during the chaos on the first day, but back then, everything was jotted down in logbooks, so the records weren’t preserved. By the time the government tried to contact him one-on-one, he’d already disappeared. So to this day, I still don’t know his name."

Qi Feng shuddered slightly, rubbing her hands together before suddenly looking up. "If we want to confirm whether that person was Xu Zhangying, I could just find a photo of Xu Zhangying for you to see. Would that work?"

As she spoke, Qi Feng reached for her phone to search through her albums. But Song Jianbai shook his head and stood up again. "No need. I have a photo of that kid—documented by Evidence. All these years, I’ve felt uneasy about it, so I’ve kept it."

"Oh, so there is a photo," Yu Mei sighed in relief, watching as the old officer rummaged through the metal cabinet. She chuckled softly. "Wish you’d mentioned that earlier."

Fang Puxin: "That’s enough."

But after the reprimand, Fang Puxin also relaxed slightly, his gaze settling gently on Song Jianbai.

"Here it is."

Meanwhile, in Guangzhou.

Ye Zeli knocked on the Major Crime Unit’s door and smiled at Shao Qiaoqiao. "Our team’s investigator got in touch with an admin teacher. She has photos from a vintage digital camera."

Shao Qiaoqiao stood up, glanced at Tan Song, then smiled faintly at Ye Zeli. "Then come in quickly."

Yan Jianbai also looked at him. "Appreciate your help."

A beta female teacher walked in. She appeared to be around 30, with a no-nonsense air, carrying a crossbody bag. Shao Qiaoqiao pulled out a chair for her to sit beside her and took the old camera from her hands.

After asking, Shao Qiaoqiao learned the teacher’s name was Liang Bingzhi, who had worked in school administration for nearly eight or nine years.

"It’s our duty to assist the police."

A sharp clatter rang out as the keys in Ye Zeli’s hand fell to the floor.

Instantly, dozens of folders appeared onscreen. Shao Qiaoqiao clicked on the most recent one, backing up the files while browsing through them.

Everyone in the office turned to look at Liang Bingzhi. Shao Qiaoqiao was stunned: "You teach at No. 14 High?"

Liang Bingzhi tilted her head slightly: "Yes, isn’t this regarding Zhao Lanyue? I’ve coordinated with the city bureau before—I was the one who provided Zhao Lanyue’s records earlier."

"Oh, sorry about that! Our side must’ve messed up," Ye Zeli instantly understood the situation, speaking nervously while glancing at Yan Jianbai.

Yan Jianbai sighed: "It's fine. Qiaoqiao, make copies of all Ms. Liang’s photos so she didn’t come for nothing."

Zhang Qi added: "We might still need Zhao Lanyue’s photos down the line."

Realizing the misunderstanding, Liang Bingzhi brushed it off with a wave as Ye Zeli apologized to both the Major Crime Unit and her.

Shao Qiaoqiao quickly clicked through folders, transferring files while skimming through them. Suddenly, she let out a surprised sound: "Whoa, there are even old school photos of you."

Liang Bingzhi suddenly remembered and gave an embarrassed laugh: "Ah, right—I forgot to mention. I’ve had this mirrorless since high school and kept using it for a few years after I started working at No. 14 High School."

Shao Qiaoqiao smiled politely: "I’ll just skim through them. I won’t keep the folders with your personal photos—those are your privacy."

She rapidly clicked through folders, briefly checking the photos inside. But when she opened a new folder and clicked on an image as usual, she froze. A bone-deep chill shot through her.

She was so stunned she forgot how to even use the mouse. She stared blankly at the screen. Tan Song and the others hadn’t noticed her reaction yet, but Liang Bingzhi beside her suddenly laughed: "Oh my, there are even some candid shots I took back then."

Ye Zeli, standing behind Shao Qiaoqiao, glanced at the screen and chuckled: "Was that your school’s crush? He’s really handsome."

Liang Bingzhi reminisced nostalgically: "That was over a decade ago. We were wild back then—our No. 1 High School had two top-tier alphas at the time, and this was one of them."

Tan Song, who had been spacing out, snapped to attention at the mention. He looked at Liang Bingzhi: "You went to No. 1 High School?"

"Yep."

"Two top-tier alphas..." Tan Song exchanged a glance with Zhang Qi, recalling Qi Feng and Zhao Yang’s earlier discussion about Tang Youning. His eyes widened in shock: "That would’ve been around 12 years ago. So your school’s crush back then was—the Xing’an Group heir?"

Liang Bingzhi chuckled while looking at the photo and shook her head: "Oh no, though Senior Lin Shuhua was incredibly handsome and came from a prestigious family, our crush was the other top-tier alpha—even hotter and more popular."

Shao Qiaoqiao stared at the two figures in the photo, her face going ghost-white. Yan Jianbai noticed her expression and immediately asked: "Qiaoqiao, what’s wrong?"

Eyes welling up, Shao Qiaoqiao pointed at the screen, suppressing her trembling as she asked Liang Bingzhi: "Teacher, which one of them was the elite alpha you mentioned?"

Lost in memories, Liang Bingzhi didn’t notice the tension in Shao Qiaoqiao’s voice. She followed her finger and smiled.

"The one on the left. Unlike Senior Lin Shuhua, you probably haven’t heard of him."

"His name was Xu Zhangying."

Meanwhile, miles away in an office, Song Jianbai pulled out an old photograph. "Found it."

The veteran cop adjusted his glasses and studied the photo for a few seconds, as if recalling the young man from years ago. Soon, he bent down and handed it to Xia Qing across the desk.

Yet, just as Xia Qing gently took hold of the photo, Song Jianbai didn’t let go.

Xia Qing looked up, meeting tired but sharp eyes behind the reading glasses—eyes filled with deep astonishment.

"How strange... Why are you here?"

"The person in this photo—isn’t it you?"

With that, Song Jianbai finally released the photo. Xia Qing lifted it and saw a young man in white standing before ruins, his gaze captured perfectly by the camera. The forensic camera’s high resolution preserved every detail of his face with startling clarity—so much so that eight years later, Xia Qing was staring at his own reflection.

Fang Puxin, sitting beside Xia Qing, also saw the photo, and in an instant, his face turned deathly pale.

Song Jianbai sat in his chair, scrutinizing the top-tier alpha staring at the photo, his face filled with confusion. "No wonder I didn't recognize you. Weren't you a beta back then?—Your lover, Xu Changying, was the high-ranking alpha."

Xia Qing stared at the face in the photo that was identical to his own, and suddenly, a flood of memories rushed through his mind.

He suddenly understood why that figure had felt so familiar.

Because it wasn’t Xu Changying—it was himself.

Eight years ago, Xia Qing’s build was nearly identical to Xu Changying’s. After spending so much time together, even their small gestures had become almost identical.

So it wasn’t just him—even Qi Feng and Li Jiali had automatically assumed that figure was Xu Changying.

No one would have ever imagined that the person who reported the case eight years ago was him, the next of kin eight years ago was him, the beta eight years ago—was also him.

—"Xia Qing."

Xu Changying, standing by the window, suddenly turned his head. His eyes were sharp and steady as he spoke in a light, casual tone, "Do you find the world interesting now?"

"Yeah, interesting."

"Right? I think so too." Xu Changying smiled.

In that instant, all the mysteries of his past life cleared like storm clouds parting, suddenly revealing the full truth.

The smell of half-burnt gasoline, the seemingly inextinguishable red flames, the bodies contorted by the flames—none of this was him, not the person he was looking for.

—"Xia Qing, we’re friends now."

He could never forget him.

It was his fault. He shouldn’t have argued with him, shouldn’t have let him enter that tunnel.

But he still forgot.

—"Xia Qing, are you crying?"

Under the shocked, confused stares of Song Jianbai and the others, the top-tier alpha reached up and lightly touched his cheek.

No tears.

The tears from the night of the pier explosion didn’t belong to him—they belonged to Xia Qing from eight years ago.

Fang Puxin suddenly realized something. He snapped his head toward Qi Feng, only to see her ghostly pale, her expression shattered.

In the Guangzhou office.

Shao Qiaoqiao and the others sat frozen as the woman said with a light laugh:

"His name is Xu Changying."

"He was different from Senior Lin Shuhua. Though he came from an ordinary family, he was incredibly popular because he was handsome and had a great personality. Every year, the girls and Omegas adored him."

Ye Zeli asked curiously, "I thought it was the one on the right—he looks really handsome too."

Liang Bingzhi shook her head with a smile. "That was Xu Changying’s best friend, Xia Qing. Too bad he was only a beta."

"Speaking of which," Liang Bingzhi seemed to recall something and added, "there have been rumors in recent years that this Xia Qing is now Professor Xia from Xing’an Group. Looking at it now, they do look similar, but that's impossible. A beta could never become a top-tier alpha."

"Moreover, Senior Lin Shuhua never spoke to this Xia Qing back then."

Tan Song froze completely.

After a moment, he recovered and strode over to Shao Qiaoqiao's side, bending down to peer at the screen.

All he could see was a low-resolution old photo from a sports day, where two boys tied together in a three-legged race (a team race where pairs have one leg tied together) stood close at the end of the track. On the left, Xu Zhangying had his arm around the neck of the boy on the right. He seemed to have noticed the camera and was laughing while pointing toward it, signaling for the other boy to look.

But the other boy merely turned his face slightly, smiling softly as he gazed at Xu Zhangying's laughing expression.

That was Beta Xia Qing, whose very existence had been wiped away.