Chapter 28 Custody

"Oh? It has already been half a year since that incident, and they are still going through a divorce?" Kang Ge felt slightly surprised when he heard that Shi Shugao's energy had been lacking recently due to his messy divorce, which had begun to affect his work.

"Yes. Cao Bokai said he asked around among colleagues who have contact with Shi Shugao. He heard that although the child was born prematurely back then, they managed to save it. However, because of the premature birth—and the specific reasons behind it—the baby's health has always been rather poor since birth. It spent nearly a month in an incubator alone, and afterward, they spent a lot of energy and effort on and off seeking medical treatment. I guess their divorce was temporarily delayed precisely because of the child's health condition," Yan Xue nodded, relaying Cao Bokai's words.

"Fighting a divorce..." Kang Ge touched his chin. "Judging by that phrasing, it probably isn't as simple as an amicable, harmonious agreed divorce. They might be going through court proceedings. Wait a moment, let me verify this!"

Kang Ge was highly efficient and confirmed the matter before long. "Well, my guess was right. Shi Shugao and his wife are going through divorce litigation. The two of them primarily cannot reach a consensus on the child's custody and are both fighting for it. That's why the divorce wasn't finalized during the last court hearing; they are currently undergoing mediation and waiting for the next date."

"The child isn't even a year old... According to general handling principles, shouldn't custody usually be granted directly to the mother, or resolved through joint custody?" Yan Xue felt somewhat curious after hearing this.

"Conventionally speaking, yes, that is indeed the case. However, their situation is a bit special. Shi Shugao's wife firmly refuses joint custody. But on top of that, because of what happened back then, both of them lost their jobs, and her re-employment after changing jobs has also been unstable. Neither of them has a particularly secure financial income. Therefore, the court is quite worried about whether their economic conditions can guarantee the child's quality of life, and wants to persuade them to accept joint custody."

"Judging by this implication, it seems the two of them didn't accept such mediation?" Yan Xue understood.

"Right, neither of them agrees, so they couldn't reach a consensus. As for why Shi Shugao is fighting for custody and how much weight his actual motivation carries, it's hard to say. At the very least, it's certain that his wife is dead set on drawing a clear line between them! Not only does she want to leave him, but she also wants sole custody of the child. It's blatantly obvious that because of the previous events, if she doesn't hate him to the bone, she is at least utterly heartbroken."

"Just imagine the ordeal Shi Shugao's wife went through; it really makes one gnash their teeth in anger. It's not surprising at all. At such an important stage in life, she suffered emotional betrayal, physical blows, and bore immense financial pressure and mental stress to save the child, while her career was completely ruined with the loss of her job," Yan Xue clicked her tongue, feeling quite sympathetic. "So, Shi Shugao's wife certainly has reason to utterly detest both Shi Shugao and Cong Fangfang—the ones who single-handedly caused all this—and hate them to her very core."

Hearing her sigh like this, Kang Ge raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "So are you defecting to Luo Wei and Qi Tianhua's side now?"

"Are you kidding? How could I abandon my own views so easily!" Yan Xue glared at Kang Ge in feigned anger. "You underestimate me far too much! I just think that although Shi Shugao's wife hates those two to the bone, she is definitely not our suspect.

If the child hadn't pulled through back then, this matter really would be hard to say. But now it's certain that the child is safe and sound, and as a mother—even with a shaky financial foundation—she is still struggling to fight for full custody of the child. What does this indicate? It shows that the child is extremely important to her; she is not someone who would abandon her child just for a future unburdened life and remarriage. Naturally, she wouldn't take the risk of revenge that carries a sentence of life imprisonment or even the death penalty and ruin her own life in the process."

"Indeed. Someone who is utterly disheartened and holds no hope for the future wouldn't go to such lengths to fight for custody. Even if only to prevent her precious child from falling into the hands of her quasi-ex-husband, she would cherish herself extra carefully," Kang Ge felt the same way. "So this actually further proves your point."

"And isn't this a good thing for us as well?" Yan Xue thought of another layer. "If Shi Shugao's ex-wife utterly detests him, while her own suspicion of committing the crime is low, that practically gives us an important source of clues!"

"Well, you're right, but we have to take things one step at a time. Let's first deal with that alt account targeting Xinrui," Kang Ge pointed to the discussion group page Yan Xue had been browsing earlier, reminding her not to rush.

"I suspect that string-of-numbers account is being used by Xinrui, but I don't have any evidence to prove it," Yan Xue worried somewhat.

"That's not necessary. We aren't trying to catch someone using an alt account; with our current level of grasp, figuring out his style of operation is quite enough," Kang Ge didn't think this was a problem at all. "From the online chat logs of this account, it's not hard to notice one thing: the people he takes the initiative to chat up with relative enthusiasm are all girls who aren't very old, with petite, delicate, and cute styles.

However, looking at his approach, it's also not hard to see that as for the girls he strikes up conversations with effortlessly, once they switch to private chats, he quickly turns cold toward some of them, ignoring them in the discussion group while the other person seems to still maintain enthusiasm for him. From this, it's not hard to see that he is also the kind of person who disdains what is easily gained."

"Yeah, so when we use the alt account to add him later, we can't be too enthusiastic either. If we're too enthusiastic, we're afraid he'll unhook and run away before we can extract anything, leaving us working in vain. But we can't be completely unenthusiastic either; we have to dangle his appetite and lower his defenses..." Yan Xue clutched her head, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She was famous for her hasty temper, not for having a cunning mind. When it came to stakeouts or arrests, as long as the weaponry levels on both sides weren't too disparate, close-quarters combat was never a problem. But this kind of roundabout maneuvering, feeling each other out in the dark like acting out a classical stage play, was truly not her forte.

"Don't be afraid, I'm still here!" Kang Ge looked at Yan Xue's worried expression with a smile in his eyes. "I'm good at this kind of thing. All you need to do is let me take an atmospheric photo of you to prove that the holder of this account is the target Xinrui proactively approached that day."