From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Lu Qi made a trip to the forensic department, where the autopsy results had already come out. Yang Mufeng’s time of death was between eight and nine in the evening, and the direct cause of his death was the ingestion of a large amount of ricin. However, no trace of ricin was found in the glass at the scene, and it’s currently unclear how the poison was administered.

Lu Qi decided to arrange for some staff from that night to come and identify people. Chen Weiwei was still wearing the same clothes as the day before.

Two of the staff recognized Chen Weiwei as the woman who appeared at table 17 last night. The attire and height matched, but the hair color was different, and Chen Weiwei had just dyed her hair this morning.

The case seemed to be coming clear. Led by Li Zhong, the people believed that with physical and testimonial evidence, as well as a potential motive, they could basically identify Chen Weiwei as the culprit.

However, Lu Qi did not see it this way. Although plenty of evidence had been gathered, each piece was worth scrutinizing.

For instance, Chen Weiwei’s presence at the bar was debatable, because, due to missing surveillance, there was no footage of her entering the bar. The only person who could prove her presence at the bar was a server.

In such circumstances, the possibility of misidentification cannot be excluded.

While on her way to Xicha, Chen Weiwei barely stopped. From several surveillance videos, they captured her passing by Seven Star Bar. When she passed by the entrance, she didn’t even glance towards the bar.

Of course, these surveillances cannot capture every angle without blind spots, and they couldn’t record Chen Weiwei’s every move.

Li Zhong made a presumption of guilt, believing that Chen Weiwei had enough time to enter the bar and commit the crime during her trips back and forth.

Lu Qi patiently listened to Li Zhong’s opinion, but he still believed Chen Weiwei was innocent. Someone capable of meticulously planning a whole crime wouldn’t leave so many loopholes.

If the intention was to kill, why leave lipstick marks? Why leave fingerprints? Why leave castor beans at the store?

All this evidence seemed deliberately designed to direct the police investigation towards Chen Weiwei.

Lu Qi had too many doubts in his mind. Yang Mufeng’s cause of death was due to the ingestion of a large amount of ricin, yet no trace of poisons was detected in the glass in front of him. Could someone have taken Yang Mufeng’s glass after poisoning him and also taken his phone?

If Chen Weiwei was innocent, then there had to be another person at the scene, someone who not only knew Yang Mufeng well but also knew Chen Weiwei. This person could make Yang Mufeng lower his guard and drink the ricin-laced liquor while also acquiring Chen Weiwei’s fingerprints and hair.

Pei Lin specially made a trip to Jianjie Square, going to the mother and baby store opposite the nail salon. Absentmindedly picking out baby products, she observed the nail salon opposite, which had closed and suspended business. She knew Chen Weiwei had gotten into trouble.

Yang Mufeng was dead, and Chen Weiwei was being investigated. Pei Lin knew it might all be temporary, and that one day the police might suddenly appear in front of her.

There are no perfectly executed crimes in this world. If the police continue to investigate, sooner or later they’ll uncover the past relationship she once had with Yang Mufeng.

The clues she left behind still contained many flaws, including Xu Chunliang, who knew about her and Yang Mufeng’s affair. If he told the police about her asking for his help, the police would start suspecting her.

Thinking of this, Pei Lin suddenly became uneasy again and just wanted to flee immediately. But if she left now, wouldn’t that be as good as admitting guilt?

Pei Lin realized that Yang Mufeng’s death didn’t mean the end, but rather the beginning of a new torment.

Xu Chunliang accompanied Hua Zhuyue to attend the opening ceremony of the OMMIA Bar. This was the flagship store He Dong Group heavily invested in Pinghai.

He Dong Group’s general manager, Pan Weidong, had come to Dongzhou to personally host the opening ceremony. He had specially invited the popular idol Xie Weiting.

When Xu Chunliang and Hua Zhuyue arrived at the scene, they saw that the entrance of the bar was already surrounded by a solid crowd of fans.

Seeing the bustling popularity of OMMIA and then thinking of the bleak state at Seven Star’s entrance, Hua Zhuyue couldn’t help but sigh. President Ji Buyao was becoming increasingly indifferent. If this continues, their physical business will become worse and worse, and their market share will be continually squeezed by He Dong.

Pan Weidong, at twenty-seven, is the current general manager of He Dong Group. Unlike the typical profligate young generation living a hedonistic lifestyle, he is one of the few who successfully took over the family business. He studied abroad in North America during his entire middle school to university education, returning two years ago to single-handedly create the OMMIA brand in the Capital City.

In the past two years, the OMMIA brand has opened branches everywhere domestically, establishing twenty-one stores, more than half of which are in provincial capital cities.

This OMMIA in Dongzhou is the third in a prefecture-level city, and Dongzhou was chosen for its geographical location, its influence reaching surrounding five provinces.

In contrast to He Dong’s burgeoning development, Blue Star has hit operational difficulties in the past two years. Both Blue Star and Seven Star’s brands have stalled. Hua Zhuyue suggested to Ji Buyao to close some poorly performing stores, integrate, remodel, refine positioning, and rebuild the brand.

The proposal had been submitted, but Ji Buyao still hasn’t given her a clear response.

Seeing Hua Zhuyue, Lu Yumeng, the person in charge of Dongzhou OMMIA Bar and formerly SEVEN STAR’s manager, quickly came up to greet her. She had transferred to He Dong after resigning from SEVEN STAR, which was then replaced by Xie Chunlei.

Lu Yumeng was very apprehensive towards Hua Zhuyue, respectfully greeting, "Sister Hua!"

Hua Zhuyue smiled amiably at Lu Yumeng, "You’ve returned from Hu Hai?"

After leaving Blue Star, Lu Yumeng went to Hu Hai, and now she’s assigned to Dongzhou to manage OMMIA’s operations.

Lv Yumeng said, "It’s temporary. I’ll come back once things are sorted out here."

Hua Zhuyue nodded. Although there was no explicit non-compete agreement in their line of work, Lv Yumeng felt a bit guilty about jumping from Blue Star to a competitor. After all, Hua Zhuyue had groomed her; she wouldn’t be where she is today without Hua Zhuyue.

Hua Zhuyue introduced Xu Chunliang to Lv Yumeng, who hurriedly offered her business card.

Xu Chunliang exchanged business cards with her, noticing her title as the General Manager of the East China Region for He Dong Entertainment.

Hua Zhuyue asked, "Where’s President Pan?"

Lv Yumeng replied, "He’s currently entertaining Xie Weiting."

Hua Zhuyue said indifferently, "A current trending figure, huh?"

Lv Yumeng smiled, picking up on the hint of dissatisfaction in Hua Zhuyue’s tone, and quickly invited her and Xu Chunliang to a private room. Hua Zhuyue declined, saying she wanted to look around and learn.

Originally, Lv Yumeng intended to personally accompany them, but Hua Zhuyue waved her away, telling her to go about her business since it was their grand opening day and there was still much to do. Hua Zhuyue wasn’t fond of being followed around; she planned to appreciate the newly opened bar from a consumer’s perspective.

The OMMIA Bar boasted luxurious decor, and the staff were young and attractive.

Xu Chunliang picked up two glasses of red wine from a passing tray carried by a beautiful staff member, handing one to Hua Zhuyue.

Hua Zhuyue took a sip of wine and asked, "How do you feel?"

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "I’m not an expert, so I don’t really have much of a say."

"Compare it to SEVEN STAR."

Xu Chunliang honestly replied, "The decor is more luxurious than at your place, and the staff are younger and more attractive."

Hua Zhuyue said, "In this business, maintaining visibility requires constant innovation. Our business model is already outdated."

Xu Chunliang pointed towards the entrance to remind Hua Zhuyue that Xie Chunlei had arrived.

Hua Zhuyue cast a cold glance at Xie Chunlei, making no effort to hide her displeasure.

Xu Chunliang understood why. SEVEN STAR in Dongzhou had been plagued by scandals, largely due to Xie Chunlei’s poor management. Just look at the incident where Tang Tianyi publicly harassed Zhen Chun because the bar couldn’t ensure the safety of its guests.

Afterward, the bar failed to uphold justice by helping Tang Tianyi cover up the incident.

Xie Chunlei spoke with Lv Yumeng for a few moments before scanning the room and finally spotting Hua Zhuyue. He hurried over to her.

Xie Chunlei’s main purpose was to update Hua Zhuyue on the progress of the bar’s death investigation. He had just been to the police station, where the police had summoned several staff members, including him, to identify someone. A server had identified Chen Weiwei as being at the bar the previous night and drinking with Yang Mufeng.

Hua Zhuyue didn’t know Chen Weiwei, but she was relieved that the real culprit wasn’t a staff member of the bar.

Xie Chunlei said, "I just applied to the police for the bar to be unsealed, but they refused. Sister Hua, you’ll need to intervene. If this drags on, our bar will suffer significant losses."

Hua Zhuyue replied, "Why would I intervene? Do you think business would pick up even if it were unsealed now? The death incident has spread like wildfire. With the new year approaching, people will steer clear; who would visit SEVEN STAR?" She paused and added, "Besides, SEVEN STAR isn’t the only bar in Dongzhou."

Xie Chunlei sighed in frustration, "I don’t know what’s happening lately. There’s been an endless stream of troubles." As he spoke, he glanced at Xu Chunliang, knowing that this guy had already brought them quite a bit of trouble.

Hua Zhuyue said, "Perhaps you should look for reasons within yourself. Why didn’t you repair the bar’s cameras when so many were damaged?"

In front of Xu Chunliang, Hua Zhuyue showed him no mercy. Xie Chunlei flushed with embarrassment and said, "Sister Hua, I arranged it long ago, but the security team didn’t execute it in time. I’ll fire them immediately."

In Hua Zhuyue’s mind, the person who should be fired was him.

At this moment, Pan Weidong, accompanied by Lv Yumeng, walked over to them.

Pan Weidong smiled and reached out to Hua Zhuyue, "I’m honored to have you here, President Hua. Sorry for not greeting you sooner."

Hua Zhuyue shook his hand, "Congratulations on your grand opening, President Pan, and may your profits soar."

Pan Weidong laughed heartily, "Thanks for your kind words, President Hua. Let’s make money together and get prosperous. The market is vast and overflowing with opportunities." He was well aware, though, that they were competitors. The opening of OMMIA in Dongzhou was like snatching food from the tiger’s mouth, and Hua Zhuyue was undoubtedly displeased.

But the Blue Star Group’s influence had recently diminished significantly, so even if they were displeased, they had to endure it.