Gem

"Is this the only style of umbrella your company has? Gao Qihui's umbrella is clear enough, but how can you be sure the one in Ye Tongsheng's pocket is the same model?"

"A dark blue canopy, a black vinyl underside, and orange stripes on the edge and top—it's the company's custom model. I have one too. When folded, it's about the size of a phone. It fits right into a pocket without taking up much space and is quite handy. So, I suggest you look for Ye Tongsheng in the subsequent surveillance footage using this umbrella canopy as a reference. You might find something new."

"Understood." Yuan Hang agreed readily, took out his work phone, and quickly made a call. Shen Zhengning listened as he coordinated the surveillance investigation with the person on the other end, calling him "brother," his gaze returning to the footage captured by the parking garage camera.

From the moment Gao Qihui's figure entered the camera's range to when he walked into the parking garage, the entire process took less than half a minute. Compounded by the darkness and the camera's angle, many details were just a blur, difficult to capture completely even when slowed down. But in that brief half-minute, the camera happened to catch the instant he closed his umbrella from the side.

On that damp night, during those ten minutes without surveillance, what could he have had time to do?

Yuan Hang finished his call and walked over. "Found someone to help check the subsequent surveillance footage. I'm still not quite clear, what exactly is wrong with Gao Qihui? Even if he and Ye Tongsheng were using the exact same umbrella, it doesn't prove they met that night."

Shen Zhengning lifted his eyelids and gave him a look as if he wanted to say something but held back. For some reason, there was a hint of pity in his eyes. Yuan Hang's internal alarms immediately blared. "What? What's with that look? What are you going to say about me now?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering," Shen Zhengning said, "your observation skills aren't that bad."

Yuan Hang: "I'm going to fight you academic prodigies..."

"It's understandable that you didn't know his umbrella was company-customized. But the difference between this type of umbrella and a regular one is obvious at a glance, isn't it? Didn't you find it peculiar seeing Gao Qihui using a Capsule Umbrella? Men don't usually buy Capsule Umbrellas, which are marketed as being light and compact, unless they're given for free."

Yuan Hang shrank back guiltily and said sheepishly, "That's true..."

"Now, back to the question you raised," Shen Zhengning said, pulling two video screenshots onto the screen to compare. "When Gao Qihui got out of the car at the intersection, the strap on his umbrella was undone and hanging down naturally. It was captured here, very clearly. But by the time he reached the garage entrance, the strap was fastened. Look—"

In a corner of the surveillance image, the dark blue strap, the same color as the canopy, was folded back and attached to the Velcro fastener, forming a teardrop-shaped loop. If one didn't look very closely, it was almost impossible to tell there was a strap there at all.

Yuan Hang stared blankly at the blurry dark patch in the pixelated image, speechless for a moment.

"Of course, just the anomaly of the umbrella strap isn't enough to be strong proof. It could be explained as a coincidence, an accident, a whim... But when such a coincidence appears with a criminal suspect, I personally prefer to call it a point of suspicion."

"Want to make a bet?" Shen Zhengning asked. "Bet that this isn't the same umbrella Gao Qihui was holding when he got out of the car."

"I don't bet against naturally talented players like you!" Yuan Hang bolted out of the office, his shout echoing from around the corner of the hallway, "I'm going to find the physical evidence first!"

"Hi sir, may I take a photo with you?"

Soothing, mellow music echoed through the banquet hall. Zhuang Mingqi sat bored in a corner at a long table decorated with copious flowers and black velvet. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he replied in a placid tone, "You can, if you promise not to only photoshop yourself when you post it on social media."

Zhuang Mingqi stood and raised his glass, clinking it against a transparent champagne flute, half-filled with champagne, that was offered from behind him. "Margot."

The green-eyed lady wore a crisply tailored, form-fitting black evening gown. Her pale gold hair was coiled into a low chignon at the nape of her neck. A white diamond necklace and earrings with geometric lines perfectly complemented the sharp elegance of her dress. Her smile was quite sly as she teased playfully, "Keith, no one would dare to carelessly alter your perfect face. You're today's surprise guest, you know."

"Is that so." Zhuang Mingqi lifted his eyelids with little interest, gesturing with his eyes toward the groups of handsome men and beautiful women not far away. "Look at the length of the queue in front of the 'photo spot.' Isn't it obvious who the real guests are?"

Tonight's Tavernier annual jewelry gala was held at the Hongwan Hotel in Shanghai City, and the organizers had invited a host of celebrities and fashion industry socialites to attend. The opening speeches and main presentation were over, and it was now time for the free networking session—in other words, time for all sorts of group photos to be taken and posted on Xiaohongshu.

An executive of Margot's status, the president of Tavernier, naturally had no shortage of people flocking around her. A handsome staff member like Zhuang Mingqi also caught the eye of some VIPs, who proactively asked for photos with him. But Zhuang Mingqi was passively socially anxious by nature; he always had the same expression in photos, so stiff he could be cut out and sent directly to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

Margot just smiled without speaking. Changing the subject, she asked, "The last time we met was at the boutique on Bond Street in London. You seem, hmm, a bit more relaxed. Has something good happened to you recently?"

Zhuang Mingqi froze for a moment, like a cat that was about to push a glass off the table, only to look up and find its owner watching it.

He maintained a posture of unyielding self-righteousness, his gaze shifting only half a degree to the right. His tone was as grand as when he had been on stage expounding on Tavernier's brand values and artistic pursuits. "Perhaps it's... that I've met my Sherlock Holmes."

Margot thought to herself that she really should have a photographer capture this classic scene of a young man in love. If Zhuang Mingqi had been wearing some jewelry, the photo could have been used for an ad campaign. However, being in love with Sherlock Holmes was a bit too strange. She asked quizzically, "Isn't it the Mona Lisa?"

Zhuang Mingqi: "You listen to 'One Last Kiss' too?"

Margot: "..."

"My apologies," Margot said, raising her glass without a hint of apology. "I sometimes forget you lived in the United Kingdom. Your understanding of Sherlock Holmes might be more, uh, unique than mine."

Zhuang Mingqi: "..."

Margot and Zhuang Mingqi had known each other for a long time; she was one of the few friends who understood his situation. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was the benefactor who had given him his big break. After graduating, Zhuang Mingqi worked as a designer at a jewelry firm in London called "Ashby." This brand, founded in the 1960s, was once famous, and its most renowned Black and White Swan diamond jewelry collection had even been acquired by the British Royal Family. Unfortunately, Zhuang Mingqi's timing was off. By the time he joined, the company had no impressive original designs left to its name. Only its legacy of goldsmithing skills remained, allowing it to barely maintain a foothold in the market by replicating antique jewelry.

Fortunately, when God closes a door, he leaves a window open. Zhuang Mingqi was the handle on that belatedly opened window—the year after joining Ashby, his camellia bracelet design won the company a grand prize at a world diamond design competition.

This design series was later jokingly dubbed "Orchid Cactus" by the industry—seven brilliant white camellias, some embedded with a thread of crimson, some bearing a scar of withered gold, others sprouting a pale green sepal. Each had its own imperfection, yet they bloomed in a lush cluster on a gold bracelet as delicate as a ribbon.

The bracelet caught the eye of Margot, the third daughter of the French luxury goods magnate, the Bouyer Family. After purchasing it at a high price, she commissioned Zhuang Mingqi to design a matching set. She wore the complete camellia jewelry suite to numerous events before personally donating it to the Paris Art Museum as a permanent collection.

At her direction, Tavernier, the famous jewelry brand under the Bouyer Family's group, acquired Ashby, taking the designers, craftsmen, and copyrights as a package deal. Riding this wave, Zhuang Mingqi leaped from a complete nobody to "Tavernier's outstanding young jewelry designer."

For a time, rumors circulated that the young lady's wedding was imminent, with gossip columns speculating that she must have taken a liking to the designer to be promoting him so heavily. But in truth, when Margot had specially traveled to London to commission the matching jewelry set, she had already laid her cards on the table to persuade him to join Tavernier: she empathized with the "imperfect yet still growing freely" concept the work tried to express and thought it was an excellent idea. She wanted to use this jewelry to convey an attitude, create buzz, and lead a trend, making it the first big splash of her new leadership at Tavernier, while also giving Zhuang Mingqi a chance to make a name for himself.

In short, it was all hype, with no substance. Zhuang Mingqi wasn't one to turn down money and had no reason to refuse a goddess of wealth knocking at his door. The two hit it off immediately. The only price was that once the story of kindred spirits finding each other spread, his professional standing would be tied to Margot's. Fortunately, Tavernier offered him generous compensation, and in all these years, they had not yet encountered a situation that would require them to sever ties.

"A jeweler and a Sherlock Holmes are not an uncommon pairing in detective novels, but it's surprising to see in real life." Margot's eyes swept over the brooch on the lapel of his black suit as she said with a meaningful smile, "But it's quite romantic, isn't it? Perhaps a true love's kiss can break the curse."

His brooch was from Tavernier's classic "Flowerpecker Bird" collection, which Zhuang Mingqi had redesigned himself. It was an owl made of platinum and K-gold, with diamond-encrusted feathers and sapphire eyes. In its beak, it held a sprig of Larkspur made from Tanzanite, which shimmered with a dreamlike blue-violet hue under the lights.

The floral language of Larkspur is serenity, freedom, and justice. Paired with the owl, the "bird of wisdom," it was clear that this person held an extraordinarily high place in Zhuang Mingqi's heart. It was hard to imagine what kind of person could earn such an evaluation from him.

Zhuang Mingqi noticed her gaze and looked down at the glittering owl. "Do you still believe in fairy tales?" he said lightly. "I thought that in the eyes of a competent jeweler, if a stone has a flaw that can't be polished away, it can't be set, no matter how beautiful it is."

"People are people, not metal or gemstones. You're trying to evade the issue, Keith," Margot said, cutting straight to the point. "Conflating concepts with metaphors is not a good habit. You can treat scars as an aesthetic in your designs, yet you have no confidence in your real self?"

Zhuang Mingqi deflated like a punctured balloon man and said sullenly, "Maybe."

"I, for one, think you could be bolder. Even a Sherlock Holmes would be captivated by you." Margot encouraged him with the kind of blind faith unique to close friends and family. "Romantic love is the nourishment for the flower of art. I've decided to start looking forward to your brand-new bridal collection right now."

For a dizzying moment, Zhuang Mingqi thought he was at a Halloween party—and had run into a real vampire. But since his boss had put it that way, what else could he say? He had no choice but to accept her blessings in full and reply sincerely, "Thank you for your appreciation, madam. In that case, can my remote work period be extended?"

"I heard you applied for half a year of remote work to return to your country and handle personal matters." Margot sized him up suspiciously. "Keith, you're not planning to use this time for your honeymoon, are you?"

"Of course not," Zhuang Mingqi met her gaze, bold and fearless. "Honeymoon leave would have to be counted separately, naturally."

Margot: "..."