On her first day back in Pengcheng, Shen Zhiwei goes out of her way early in the morning to meet Zhou Yanchuan, whom she has not seen in eight years. That night, her sister, who was buried eight years ago, uses facial recognition to enter a murder scene.
Cheng Yulan, a finance officer, is found dead in the Gray Tower livestream studio. The prime suspect, however, is livestreaming next door, and all 127,000 viewers can testify that he never left the camera's view. Everyone calls it a perfect alibi. Shen Zhiwei glances at the ring and the ice in the wineglass. "The 120,000 viewers aren't lying. They just all got the time wrong."
She came back to find out why her sister died on a livestream. He came back to find out why his father confessed to the same old case. Faces can be faked, voices can be synthesized, and records can be made to lie for someone, but no one can hide which finger they reach for first when they're afraid.
After that, in every case, someone tries to use "she agreed to it" as a get-out-of-jail-free card: agreeing to work overtime, agreeing to transfer money, agreeing to get in a car. Shen Zhiwei asks just one question: Did she say no afterward?
At her ordinary best, she exposes a perfect alibi. At her extraordinary best, she intends to dig up the whole chain that lets the dead keep borrowing money, dating, and serving as company legal representatives.
As for the ace lawyer who waited until late at night even after she stood him up, he never asks about the case. He only asks, "How bad does it hurt?"
