Chapter 29: The Little Sugar Figurine

So Ning Shuyi raised her question from another angle: “Why did she insist on having you accompany her to the movie? Does she not have any other friends besides you?” Cai Xin shook her head. “I really don’t know. In the beginning, I didn’t want to skip class. I told her, maybe she should find someone else to go with her, someone whose schedule is more flexible.

She told me that wasn’t possible. Her friends from school graduated two or three years ago; some are working, some are doing graduate studies. Even those in graduate school are busy applying for PhDs or jobs, so none of them can spare the time to go out and have fun with her.

After graduation, she’s been immersed in these exam prep classes—neither working nor attending school—and she’s drifting further apart from her friends who are either employed or in graduate school. She said there are only a handful of people she could ask—not only are some of them night owls who can’t get up during the day, but she also mentioned a cousin who’d love to hang out, but her aunt or maybe her mother keeps such a close eye on her that she can’t get out.

She didn’t want to see a horror film alone, so she kept persuading me to go with her.” Shuyi nodded. Although Yu Mengpeng hadn’t mentioned Wang Yuluo inviting her to the movies, she had hinted at it before—her mother, Wang Yuluo’s aunt, had very different standards for her niece and her own daughter: she was indulgent with her niece but strict with her daughter.

So Wang Yuluo not being able to invite her cousin along made sense—it wasn’t something an outsider like Cai Xin could just invent.

“When you two went to the movie, did you buy any snacks? Where did you get them?” Shuyi continued, gradually steering the conversation to the question she cared about most and watching Cai Xin’s reaction as she asked.

Cai Xin looked puzzled when asked about snacks, as if she couldn’t understand why the police would care about such things. “I didn’t buy any snacks. I thought about it—after all, I was seeing a movie with Wang Yuluo for free, so I shouldn’t be totally stingy.

I had planned to buy a snack combo at the cinema entrance. But because I was a bit late, when I arrived at the meeting point near the mall, Wang Yuluo was already there.

I saw her holding a bucket of popcorn. She’d already bought it. At the cinema entrance, they only sold popcorn and cola, and Wang Yuluo doesn’t drink cola, so I didn’t buy anything.”

“There were places selling popcorn near your meeting spot?” Shuyi asked.

“No,” Cai Xin shook her head. “I don’t know where she bought it from.

Now that you mention it, I just remembered something: Wang Yuluo seemed very protective of that bucket of popcorn! At first, she carried it herself. Later, when we went into the mall and she wanted to shop and look around, carrying the popcorn became inconvenient, so she asked me to hold it for her.

She half-jokingly warned me that the popcorn was hers and I mustn’t steal any; it wasn’t meant for me.”

Her words answered one of Shuyi’s questions: Wang Yuluo not only knew there was something unusual about the popcorn, but she bought it specifically for that purpose!

That meant the residue in her blood wasn’t from accidental ingestion, but from deliberately seeking it out—the likelihood she was poisoned before death greatly diminished.

“Did you actually eat any of that popcorn before or after the movie?” Shuyi pressed, knowing that even a small amount of the syrup could have harmful effects and carried a risk of addiction.

Cai Xin quickly waved her hands. “No, not a single bite! Really!

I have congenital diabetes, so I have to strictly control my intake of sugar and carbohydrates.

Even regular unsweetened popcorn sold outside isn’t something I can eat much of—best not to eat it at all. The popcorn Wang Yuluo bought had a thick layer of syrup, sticky and gooey. I wouldn’t dare touch it!

My mother is my only relative, and she’s not well. I still need to take care of her. How could I risk my health?”

Hearing this, Shuyi quietly breathed a sigh of relief. “When you met Wang Yuluo, how was her mood? Did she come straight from home, or had she been somewhere else beforehand? Do you know?”

“I really didn’t ask,” Cai Xin shook her head. “When I arrived, she was already waiting, holding the popcorn. I assumed she’d been there a while and felt bad about being late, so I apologized.

Wang Yuluo said it was fine, she’d just arrived and hadn’t waited more than a couple of minutes. If I’d been exactly on time, maybe she would’ve been late and I’d have been the one waiting.

Her mood… she seemed really good, much happier than she usually is in the prep class. Quite excited, probably because going out is more fun than being stuck in a classroom doing exercises.”

“There’s another detail I want to confirm,” Shuyi asked. “When you got there, Wang Yuluo had makeup on, right? Can you recall if she was wearing lipstick?”

The question was odd enough that Cai Xin looked blankly at Shuyi, but didn’t press for an explanation. She dutifully thought back and replied, “She definitely had makeup on—I’ve never seen her without it.

As for her lips… I don’t think she was wearing lipstick. No, I’m sure! When we were in the mall, she rummaged through her bag and said she’d left her lipstick somewhere else, wouldn’t have time to fetch it, so might as well buy a new one. The movie was about to start, and all the cosmetics were on the first floor—it’d be a hassle to go down. I suggested we wait until after the film, and she agreed, so we didn’t go downstairs.”

“Where was this ‘somewhere else’?”

“She didn’t say. She probably went somewhere else before meeting me, but she didn’t want me to know. I didn’t pry—I didn’t want to be insensitive and upset her,” Cai Xin replied.

That was honest, and given their pattern of interaction, Cai Xin had every reason to be considerate of Wang Yuluo’s feelings.

Shuyi had nearly run out of questions for Cai Xin and was about to thank her, but Cai Xin suddenly remembered something herself. She motioned for Shuyi to wait a moment, then took out her phone.