Wang Yu turned around to see us. Fang Yao said to her, "This is Lawyer Zhao. He has something to discuss with you."

Her gaze lingered on me and Jiang Xiaoyu, and finally, she forced a smile, "What is it?"

I was afraid she might feel uneasy with the teacher here, so I turned to Fang Yao and said, "I want to talk to her alone. Thank you, Teacher Fang. I'll treat you to dinner this weekend."

Fang Yao understood, probably thinking I had some private matters I didn't want others to know about. She considerately left Wang Yu to me.

"Let's find a place to sit."

I still sought Wang Yu's opinion, as a familiar environment might make it easier for her to open up.

We ended up at a café near the school. She said she often came here to read.

The café was medium-sized, well-decorated. The owner, to attract more customers, had specially set up a memorial wall and a message wall. The most unique feature was a floor-to-ceiling window that the owner had turned into a photo gallery. The owner would take free photos for customers, and if they agreed, he would hang the best photos by the window. It was quite distinctive.

The walls inside were covered with photos, showcasing love, friendship, and family, all sorts, dazzling in variety.

Most of the messages on the wall were wishes or confessions.

In the midst of all those photos and messages, I found Wang Yu.

The date was last June.

"Wang Yu? Can I call you that?"

Maybe she was still a bit uneasy seeing me and Jiang Xiaoyu, two strangers. She just sat in a corner quietly, not saying a word.

To bridge the distance, I tried to find some random topic. I'm not good at this, but she nodded, and after that, a more silent scene ensued between us.

Jiang Xiaoyu was gloating nearby. I gave him an elbow.

He straightened up, "Sister, let's order this."

I was a bit puzzled, but I saw that Wang Yu seemed very interested, "Is this okay?"

She weakly nodded.

Great, at least we took a step forward. I glanced at Jiang Xiaoyu, not bad.

In that one hour at the café, Jiang Xiaoyu successfully made Wang Yu lower her guard around us, much to my admiration.

"The afterglow of the sunset shone on his profile. You could only see him bathed in soft light, and then you noticed he was holding your favorite author Higashino Keigo's book—Red Finger."

"Two hearts drew closer. You spent the whole afternoon together, chatting away, feeling like you met too late in life. You considered him your soulmate."

As I spoke, I watched Wang Yu. Her face grew paler; I knew I was right.

"You don't care about societal views, knowingly being with him despite his married status."

I paused, waiting.

"I didn't expect it. He said no one in this world understood him, that he was very lonely, and never thought he would meet a soulmate at this age. He said I was special, a gift from Heaven to him. My appearance filled the thirty-plus-year gap in his solitary life."

"You were indeed deceived by Xing Zhaoping."

With tears in her eyes, she nodded.

Jiang Xiaoyu frowned beside me, seemingly surprised I could say something so profound, and even more bewildered that someone could fall into a love trap so easily.

Seeing the time was right, I asked, "When did you find out about Xing Zhaoping's marriage?"

"Five months ago, a woman came to me and told me."

"A woman?" I took out Leng Fei's photo to show her, "Was it her?"

Wang Yu shook her head, "No, she was about thirty, had curly hair, and wore sunglasses that day. The rest... I can't remember clearly."

Not Leng Fei? Then who could it be? Besides Hao Mei, she didn't have any other friends around that age.